Unexpected hero rescues suicidal woman with 6 simple words

An RTA bus driver witnessed a woman preparing to kill herself and decided to intervene.

On February 16, Damone Hudson was driving his usual bus route around Dayton, OH when he noticed a woman. She was standing on the wrong side of the rail on the Main Street Bridge, which spans the Great Miami River.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Surveillance footage revealed what happened next.

Hudson stopped the bus beside the woman, who was staring out at the river. She was dressed in what appear to be white sneakers, black leggings and a white coat.

She was staring out at the water with one hand clutching a blue backpack when Hudson opened the bus doors and slowly made his way off the bus.

"Why don't we come back over on the side of the rail?" he asked her. "...Hey miss, why don't we come back on this side of the rail for me?"

He then stepped entirely off the bus and the video surveillance was unable to capture what he said next - but Hudson later told WHIO he approached the woman and said, "Ma'am, you look like you're having a bad day, you know."

Then he said the six words that made all the difference: "Can I give you a hug?"

As the woman turned to him, he continued speaking and motioned for a passerby to call 911. By the time police arrived, the woman was already back on the correct side of the railing.

Hudson simply let authorities take over, got back on the bus and continued his route.

Jason Allen of Dayton reported Hudson is "one of the best bus drivers we have."

Hudson has been a driver for RTA for 24 years and, thanks to the amazing job he did with the suicidal woman, he will be formally recognized at the RTA Board meeting on March 17th.

Many have already called him a hero but Hudson explained: "I wasn't trying to be heroic. I just saw someone that looked like she was definitely in pain or trouble and I just wanted to make a connection. ...I know that every person's struggle is different and everybody's going through something, but you always want to continue.

"Life is a roller coaster, right? You [go] up, you're going to come down. But you've got to think 'I'm going back up' and hopefully it's going up for her now."

Patty Tackett, a Dayton police detective, explained: "There is not a right or wrong approach to that. It's about drawing from personal knowledge and experiences in those instances. He did a great job and again I think it goes with our gut instincts."

If you, or someone you know, is having suicidal thoughts, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at (800) 273-8255 or visit their website here.

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