TACOMA, Wash. - Police scene photos are flash frames from 15 minutes of eternity for Terri Wallace.
She was one of the first to grab hold of a 45-year-old woman desperate to end it all Wednesday afternoon.
“(She said) 'Let go me, I want to go over,' and she continued to fight with us the whole time," said Wallace.
Wallace was one of just four people to help after the woman stopped her car on the bridge.
She made it all the way to the ledge but the bridge already claimed too many for Wallace.
“You think about it later when things calm down. I actually lost three friends on the bridge, so I think I pay more attention on the bridge," she said.
As people were holding onto the woman through the bars, another good Samaritan got up and went to the woman's car. That's where she says she found the reason why the woman wanted to kill herself. She saw a foreclosure letter on the woman's home. But she also saw something else - pictures of the woman's young children.
“Her beautiful, beautiful kids, I can't get that image out of my mind. I'm so grateful if we did anything we allow her family and her kids to have their mommy on Thanksgiving," said Michelle Smith.
Smith kept talking.
“I started talking to her and telling her she's loved," she said.
She said even those who didn't stop, still helped.
“I'll tell you one thing, there were people driving by praying, I hope that woman makes it," she said.
She did. 15 minutes after they first grabbed hold, police, State Patrol and fire arrived and pulled the woman to safety.
But Smith believes on this bridge, and that day people’s faith in each other was also saved.
“I'd like think that everyone has that in them, and they would do the same thing. They would all pull over," she said.
The United Way of Pierce County is now accepting donations for the woman's children. The woman was not seriously hurt in the suicide attempt.
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