Saskatoon actor intervenes as man attempts to jump off University Bridge

Monika Holman says she was walking down the University Bridge on Wednesday on her way to a rehearsal for a Fringe play when she saw a man starting to climb over the edge.

“My first thought when I saw him was, ‘Okay, this isn’t something you can walk away from,’” she said.

Holman started talking to him, and she says another woman who was pushing a stroller joined her. They were trying to encourage him not to do it.

The exchange was tense. She says she felt powerless. They were trying to be encouraging, and he didn’t always seem convinced.

“I just felt so useless. Honestly, we were doing all that we can but at the same time, it’s like, we’re pretty powerless. Whatever happens, it’s up to this guy, you know?”

She says the man didn’t talk a lot, but they found out he had been in the hospital, treated for depression. Holman says he still had the hospital bracelet on his wrist.

When another passerby came on a bike, she quietly told him to call 911. She says the police arrived quickly; the officer gently coaxed the man back.

During the exchange, she said it wasn’t quite fear she felt.

“I wasn’t necessarily scared so much as, like, ‘Well, this is happening. This is what you have to do now.’ I was a lot more shaken afterwards.”

After leaving the scene, Holman says she ran to the rehearsal to try to burn off the adrenaline.

Now, she’s looking to educate herself.

There are resources available for people considering self-harm, and for those interested in learning how to intervene in mental health crises, there’s training available like mental health first aid, and applied suicide intervention skills training, or ASIST. 

"Just having mental health first aid would be a lot more comforting to me because I walk and run and bike on that bridge all the time," said Holman.

“I’m just glad that it turned out the way it did; that he was okay," she said.

“One of the things that I told him …there’s people that care ... If you don’t have friends, then I’m your friend now.”