Diagnosed with schizo-affective disorder six years ago, he thought he’d never be able to be happy again. He stood up on Waterloo Bridge in London, ready to jump.
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Jonny was very depressed, and ready to end it all from the Waterloo Bridge. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, came a man who urged him not to jump and offering a conversation. Jonny says: “He was saying things to me like: please don’t do this mate, please don’t do this. Let’s just go for a coffee, let’s just talk it over.” And at first, I just tried to ignore him. I just wanted to block him out. I just wanted to jump and go through with it. But then he was very persistent. He was very understanding, very, very kind. And he started saying to me, “you can get through this. You can recover.”
After he decided not to jump, Jonny was taken by the police to receive emotional help. And he was unable to identify who was the man that saved him.
Six years later, Jonny has recovered and he started an online campaign to find the man who had listened, talked and persevered. He called him Mike. His videoblogging and twitter hashtag #findmike went viral.
A couple of days ago, he found his Mike—called Neil in reality—and met him to finally thank him.
All I did was listen to him, said Neil. An incredible act of human kindness, says Jonny.
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Extended story in The Guardian
