Three 'hero' tourists stopped a tragedy on Charles Bridge

Three tourists from the Netherlands stopped a 19-year-old woman from Ukraine from jumping off Prague’s Charles Bridge early Friday morning. The tourists noticed the woman was behaving strangely at the edge of the bridge and managed to pull her back in time.

Giancarlo Lamberti, who is involved in the TOP 09 party for Prague 1, witnessed the event and posted an account on Facebook. He helped to interpret for the three Dutch rescuers to find out what had happened, as the woman did not speak English.

The woman, who has not been identified due to privacy concerns, at first denied that she planned suicide, but then she admitted that she started counting to three before jumping.

“When she was at number three, [the Dutch tourists] managed to successfully prevent her from jumping. We immediately called the police, who quickly came with an ambulance. Until the moment of arrival, we talked to the girl and reassured her,” Lamberti wrote.

“We managed to keep her in one place and keep her calm, safely waiting for the police to arrive. Now the girl is safe. I would like to wish the guys from the Netherlands a more pleasant first visit to Prague, but they deserve a huge thank you for saving a human life. They are heroes,” he added.

Lamberti said he had just heard from a friend about the legends surrounding St. Christopher, who is depicted on a statue on the bridge railing. He is the patron of rescue workers and also intercedes against sudden death, among other things.

On his way home, Lamberti decided to take a detour over Charles Bridge to look at the statue. If it had not been for this coincidence, he wouldn't have been on the bridge to help.

“When I look at the whole situation retrospectively and with the context of the statue of St. Christopher, chills run down my spine,” he said.

He also urged people to look after their mental health. “[It] is very important these days and cannot be underestimated,” he said.

Police spokesman Richard Hrdina confirmed to news server iDnes that the police received a report of an attempted suicide just before 4 a.m. on Friday. The woman was taken to the psychiatric department of the General University Hospital (VFN).