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Heroic brothers prevent suicide from motorway bridge
Mancunians Shimmy and Danny Liefman restrain 'extremely distressed' girl
August 30, 2018 13:15
Mancunians Shimmy and Danny Liefman restrain 'extremely distressed' girl
August 30, 2018 13:15Salford brothers Shimmy and Danny Liefman have been hailed as heroes for preventing a teenage girl from jumping from a motorway bridge in Manchester.
The girl had climbed over the side of the bridge on the M60 when she was spotted by the Liefmans, who were out cycling.
“Straight away, I told Shimmy to call the police and I went over to her to tell her that there was another way,” Danny, 37, told the JC.
“She was extremely distressed and shouting, saying that nobody cared about her. I could see she had cuts on her arm.
“I just tried to stay calm and told her that we cared about her and that we wanted her to live. She kept saying ‘why’? I just told her that no matter how bad she thought things were, they could get better.”
The girl told them that she had tried to take her life before and had just been released from hospital.
The brothers kept her talking until another member of the public arrived and the three helped to restrain her.
“We didn’t want to wait for the police,” Danny Liefman explained.
“We made eye contact and grabbed hold of her arms through the railing to keep her still. It was a risk but I could not imagine what would have happened if we hadn’t done it. I held on and just kept talking to her.”
The police and fire brigade arrived with a lift which was used to bring the girl down to safety.
Mr Liefman said the brothers had benefited from the experience of volunteering for Misaskim, a charity supporting those experiencing crisis.
“I deal with tragedy every day. I talk to people who have lost loved ones and we help arrange burials.”
North West Motorway Police tweeted: “The distressed female on the bridge is now safe. A huge thank you to the members of the public who stopped to help.”
Mr Liefman said he would like to know “where the girl is now and how she is. Even just to take her a box of chocolates and wish her well.”
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