Late last month, a Louisville Metro Police Department officer assisted a woman on her morning run when she witnessed a man attempting to jump off the Clark Memorial Bridge near downtown Louisville.
The officer on the scene, Detective Kyle Willis, called the runner, Kristen Keeling, the “angel on the bridge.”
“That lady that was there, she’s the hero in this,” Willis said in a Facebook post from the police department. “I truly believe that.”
The officer called for backup and tried to talk the man down, but a passing woman—Keeling—quickly intervened. She approached the man, spoke with him, and eventually convinced him not to jump. The officer praised the woman’s quick thinking and heroic actions, stating that her intervention likely saved the man’s life.
The LMPD’s post includes a bodycam video of the incident. The footage shows Willis arriving on the scene to see Keeling attempting to stop the man from jumping a second time. Holding on to the man with both hands, Willis instructed Keeling to help him call for additional backup while calling for help from stopped motorists.
“She didn’t have to do anything. She could have jogged right past and went about her day. Her character and morals are demonstrated with her willingness to get involved... and save a life,” the post from LMPD said.
Now, the mayor of Louisville has honored Keeling during a weekly press conference.
"A citizen and an LMPD officer came together with an act of heroism, selflessness, concern, and courage to help someone else in our community who was in need," Mayor Craig Greenberg said during the press conference.
During the press conference, Keeling, a mother and teacher, spoke about her role in the incident. “I was trying to call 911, and stop him. And I think it was like the ultimate multi-task," Keeling said. "I grabbed him by the waist, and had my hand on his arm, and he was just, like, we were just talking, and I asked if, you know, we could leave the bridge."
“I don’t think there’s really a lot of training that you could do,” Willis said during the meeting. “I think it’s just time and experience, but even in that situation, I may have looked calm, I may have sounded calm. It was definitely a very traumatic situation.”
If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.
Laura Ratliff is a New York City-based writer, editor, and runner. Laura's writing expertise spans numerous topics, ranging from travel and food and drink to reported pieces covering political and human rights issues. She has previously worked at Architectural Digest, Bloomberg News, and Condé Nast Traveler and was most recently the senior editorial director at TripSavvy. Like many of us, Laura was bitten by the running bug later in life, after years of claiming to "hate running." Her favorite marathon is Big Sur.
