Original Newspaper Article
A private investigator travelling between King Williams Town and East London yesterday saved the life of a 21-year-old woman who tried to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge. The woman was allegedly about to throw herself off a bridge over the busy N2 near Nahoon Dam turn-off when Gonubie-based private investigator Christian Botha and his colleague Frans Molokome were driving past.
“We saw her preparing to jump off the bridge and we had to make a quick decision to save her,” said Botha.
He had to turn his vehicle around to try and find a road which would allow him to get close to the woman. “I was racing against time because he was not going to wait for me.” Once at the bridge, Botha and Molokome climbed out of their vehicle and approached the woman, who had not seem them.
“We noticed that there was a tow-truck driver who had stopped on the N2 below and was talking to her trying to stop her from jumping,” said Botha. “I walked up behind her and grabbed her just as she threw herself forward. How I did it, I don’t know. I was there just at the right time.”
The woman, a mother of two, alleged told Botha and Molokome that she had wanted to kill herself as she was being abused at home. “She said the only answer was to kill herself. You could see that she had given up hope on life,” said Botha.
Jan Bossert from Algoa Towing confirmed the incident and said he had seen the woman sitting on the edge of the bridge. “I just stood underneath the bridge and begged her not to kill herself. She was crying,” said Bossert. “As I was talking to her, a man [Botha} came from behind her and grabbed her as she was about to jump.”
The woman was taken to Cecilia Makiwane Hospital, Mdantsane. Police spokesman Captain Mluleki Mbi confirmed the incident. Botha said it felt good to have saved a person’s life. “This is something we will never forget.”