A Dublin website has revealed the astonishing story of how a young Irishman saved a total stranger's life in the nation's capital a couple of years ago.
Humans of Dublin was started by photographer Peter Varga in August of last year, and takes inspiration from social media-revelatory Humans of New York - a photograph and a brief chat with a total stranger from the nation's capital which is later posted to their Facebook page.
But when HOD bumped into young Jamie Harrington, aged just 17, they could hardly have expected anything as uplifting as the story he told them.
I was just on my way to the American sweet shop to buy some Gatorade,
Jamie says,
when I saw this guy in his 30s sitting on the ledge of the bridge. I just thought, "wow..." I stopped and asked him if he was okay, but I knew from the look in his eyes he wasn't, and he didn't say anything either, but I saw tears coming from his eyes.
The Balymun native continued:
I pleaded with him for a while to come down and sit on the steps, and eventually he did. We sat on the sidewalk on the south side of the Liffey and talked for about 45 minutes, about what was happening to him, why was he feeling that way... I couldn't leave him there alone, but I had to go, so I was going to ring an ambulance. I told him they could help him feel better.
But he was like "please, please don't call them, I'm fine, I just want to walk around for a while, I'm gonna be okay!" I told him to please let me ring an ambulance, that I wouldn't sleep knowing he was just walking around alone. So I rang it, and he was taken to St. James Hospital.
Here's where the story takes an incredibly heartwarming turn. Jamie told HOD,
I got his number so I would know what was going on with him for a good while... And about three months ago, he texted me that his wife is pregnant, they're having a boy, and they're naming him after me.
Can you believe that? They're going to name their child after me...He said in that moment that I approached him, he was just about to jump, and those few words saved his life. That they're still ringing in his head every day. "Are you okay?" I can't really understand how these few words could save his life, but he told me, "Imagine if nobody ever asked you those words..." "
It's a wonderfully poignant point made by the man in question, and a story brilliantly told by Jamie who deserves all the recognition he gets.
Naturally, the Facebook reaction to the story was overwhelmingly positive:
Hats off to Jamie for being an absolute top man, and also to the Peter and the folks at Humans of Dublin for allowing us to use their picture and quotes.
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