Take Back The Bridge is hosting a two-day event tomorrow and Saturday to bring awareness to suicide prevention and raise money for the Crisis Clinic of King County. This fundraiser follows recent reports of at least three attempted suicides from the Aurora Bridge within a single week. This has been an increasingly tragic issue for Queen Anne and Fremont residents and the families affected. According to statistics from Seattle FRIENDS (FRemont Individuals & Employees Nonprofit to Decrease Suicides), a person attempts suicide from the Aurora Bridge an average of once every three months, and the bridge is the nation’s second deadliest bridge for suicides.

Take Back The Bridge is a project started by Seattle Firefighter and Vine Christian Ministries Pastor, Heath Rainwater after he responded to a suicide attempt last spring at the bottom of the bridge, which resulted tragically. ”As a firefighter, I’ve seen many, many, many suicides.  What made this different is I saw this man fall in front of me.”  Helpless to prevent that attempted suicide, he hopes Take Back The Bridge will inspire people to ”build a better sense of community and bring more personal involvement into people’s lives.”

Get the full story including updates on the planned bridge barrier, a schedule of the two-day fundraiser and ways you can get involved, at our sister site, Fremont Universe.