Girl Survives Leap Off San Pedro Cliffs

What seemed like a normal sunny day in San Pedro on Feb. 25th, 2009 actually was. Our cliffs are beautiful but they are sadly the home too many people that feel hopeless, depressed, unappreciated or just plain finished with life. This was the case for a young 16-year-old girl who survived an apparent suicide attempt Wednesday, jumping from the cliffs of San Pedro as her mother and a police officer watched helplessly.

Remarkably, the girl lived from this drop to the bottom and seemed to have sustained only a severe knee injury, after falling some 90 feet onto shoreline rocks below. She was airlifted by helicopter and taken to County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, where I am sure plenty of evaluations were conducted.

My son and I heard all the helicopters, sirens and loud speakers that afternoon so we decided to take a walk down to see what happened this time. Usually and sometimes weekly, sirens are the afternoon music here. Sitting right on the edge of the cliff was this young girl just starring out at the ocean, she definitely had the look of someone ready to take the plunge, sadly enough. She was not alone though, her mother was right there to witness the entire ordeal and let me say, I could not imagine that kind of horror as a mother.

She'd had an argument with her mother and indicated she might be suicidal. The mother called 911 when the daughter left, on foot towards Point Fermin Park. The mother followed, and shortly after, police arrived. One of the officers got out of the police car and it was a matter of seconds that the girl spotted him and her mother, not happy about the proposed rescue, she yelled profanity at them, warning them to stay back or she would jump, they moved in a bit closer and she jumped as the Officer and her mother watched, again I could not imagine!

Paramedics made their way down to administer aid to the girl, who was going into shock. A Fire Department helicopter then dropped a basket and she was airlifted to the hospital for treatment. This is what I did not understand though, as a community we should be distraught over this, looking for a solution or something. Instead, we just walk down, take a look and walk back home, discussing it over an afternoon coffee. As my editorial suggests, this is common practice along our cliffs but what is more apparent is the "shush" factor that our town seems to have adopted repeatedly!

I have lived here all my life and for as long as I can remember, news is just too difficult to find here. We have a local paper, we have am alternative paper (with a view all his own by the way) and we have plenty of writers, photographers and joggers with cell phones...where is our news? If it is news about an upcoming local attraction, it is advertised everywhere, if it is a new local musician or artist, we are sure to hear about them but if it is crime related or an issue that will essentially make our perfect small town just a bit more tainted, it is a little harder to find. We do not live in a perfect world and this also means we do not live in a perfect town! I want to know the news, good and bad. I want to know when there are more of these "rehabs" taking resident in my neighborhood (there are many) and I want to know when "shady" people are walking up and down our streets, checking out garages, I really do!

Back to the topic at hand, this poor girl. I am really hoping that she is given the emotional help she needs, I am really hoping that this grabs the attention of our City Officials. I am really hoping that there are more free resources to people like this young girl and her family...I am really hoping for change!