Gene H. Barker saved a woman from falling, Akron, Ohio, July 30, 2000. Intending to commit suicide, a 34-year-old woman sat on a narrow concrete barrier along the edge of a highway bridge, at a point about 70 feet above a paved road. Barker, 59, retired mason, saw her as he drove across the bridge. He returned to the scene, then slowly approached the woman on foot and spoke to her over the course of a few minutes. The woman then told Barker she was going to jump, and she began to do so. From about four feet away, Barker lunged at the woman, who had left the barrier, and grasped her under the arms, securing her. The woman struggled with Barker as he leaned over the waist-high barrier and yelled at him to let her go. Other men who were nearby then aided Barker until emergency personnel arrived shortly and removed her from the bridge. The woman was taken to the hospital for treatment, and she recovered.
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