D.C. is installing temporary barriers on the bridge that carries Connecticut Avenue over Rock Creek Parkway after the efforts of a woman whose fiancé died there by suicide.
Peter Tripp jumped off the Taft Bridge in 2022.
“His sense of morality and ethics was unmatched,” his fiancée, Dr. Chelsea Van Thof, told News4 in September 2022. “He was gentle and kind and thoughtful.”
She was outraged to learn the Duke Ellington Bridge just a few blocks away from the Taft Bridge had safety barriers installed in 1986 to deter people from jumping.
“The fact that the same bridge, essentially, one has a life-saving barrier and the other one doesn’t, blows my mind,” Van Thof said.
She champions suicide prevention, including getting barriers on the Taft. First, she posted stickers along the bridge that read, “Don’t jump.” Then, she got the city to install suicide and crisis hotline signs at both ends of the bridge.
Now, the city is installing temporary barriers while it plans to erect permanent barriers next year, extending the height of the current rails.
“I’m relieved that it’s up,” Van Thof said. “Everyone along the way told me, Don’t get your hopes up.”
She had been told others had tried and failed to get barriers installed on the bridge.
“I’m glad you were all wrong,” Van Thof said. “And also, thank you, because it motivated me, and that’s the old me, because it made me angry, so it’s like it made me more determined because … I needed to convince everyone why this was so important, and I needed people to care as much as I did, because statistically, it’s important. And for this bridge in particular, it’s important because it’s responsible for over 50% of jumper suicides in the District. And at large, mental health efforts are important. And so, for all of those reasons, I needed to educate all the naysayers. I needed to prove everyone who doubted the effort wrong, and honestly, it helped keep me going.”
The temporary barriers will be completed this month, and the permanent barriers will be completed in the fall of 2026, according to a D.C. Department of Transportation spokesperson.
“It’s very surreal, because that time of advocating for the barrier and really being hellbent on getting it done and honor Peter and to save lives, it almost feels like a fever dream, now,” Van Thof said.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or chat live at 988lifeline.org. You can also visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional support.
from Local – NBC4 Washington https://ift.tt/risnvuE
0 Comments