The Lethbridge Viaduct - Date/Photographer unknown.

4 June 2012

Do More to Stop Suicides Off Lethbridge Trestle

Lethbridge Alberta - The parents of two young men who jumped to their deaths from a Lethbridge railway bridge are asking officials to do more to keep suicidal people away from it.
 
The High Level Bridge, one of the biggest steel trestles in Canada, stretches across the city's Oldman River valley.
 
"The High Level Bridge in Lethbridge to me is a very dangerous place. I have a hard time even looking at it," said Darlene Quiroga.
 
Her son Cory was one of four people who jumped off the bridge last year.
 
"I go by it and I just turn my head. To me it means death."
 
Canadian Pacific Railway, which owns the bridge, has tried to deter would-be jumpers with better security and a sign advertising a suicide prevention hotline.
 
But Quiroga said there should also be barriers or higher fences.
 
Valerie Furgason, whose 17-year-old son Michael jumped off the bridge two years ago, also feels more should be done.
 
"I hate seeing that bridge... you know I see it every day," she said.
 
"I think we as a society should do everything in our power to try to save them."
 
Author unknown.