BEL AIR, Md. — "It was, it was a million reasons that in my brain that I felt like I needed to go."
Kevin Berthia is a survivor.
"For somebody who's in a dark place and we get to that point of wanting to end it and we look down in that water, we see peace," he says. "We see not having to be a burden anymore."
At 22 years old, he went to the Golden Gate Bridge for the first time, with a plan to jump.
A police officer sat and spoke with him for 92 minutes.
"I just was simply going off a voice of compassion and empathy," he recalls.
In Baltimore City last month, officers spoke with a 32-year-old man for sixteen and a half hours before they were able to pull him from a balcony ledge.
It's a vital part of the job officers across the country deal with, including Bel Air Police Corporal Alex McComas.
In a town of around 10,500 people, this year, two people have died by suicide at the Bel Air Parking Garage.
McComas told us how he and his partner saved a life there last November.
"I immediately just began to speak with her, you know. Corporal McComas, Bel Air Police Department, here to help, tell me your name," said McComas. "In that position, my thought is, I definitely don't want to startle. So your demeanor is very soft, very approachable, not a law enforcement get down from that wall. And I was able to approach on her left side."
The woman in Bel Air, that night in November, seemed despondent.
"I was able to get close enough where I put my hand on her left shoulder. And that was, in my mind, a response of I'm here to stop anything but a sign of comfort that we're here to help," he said. "And then Corporal Kaufman came around from my backside, and we just kind of looked at each other with that time to move. And we were able to pull her off the edge."
They saved her life.
Including the two this year, the town lost five lives to suicide at the garage since 2015.
"What happens is people in the neighborhood start to identify it with a suicide hotspot, and then if they start to have suicidal thoughts, they might think about that spot," says Dr. Paul Nestadt, a Johns Hopkins researcher who studies suicide prevention.
"In some ways, that's a tragedy," he says. "In other ways, it's an opportunity. Because if we know that people are going to be going to that spot when they're attempting suicide, we can put up barriers in that spot, we can put things like signs or cameras."
The Town of Bel Air has put some of those measures in place to prevent suicides.
"On the parking garage itself, there's signs that say, call, and it's got a phone number up top," says McComas. "The garage is outfitted with pan-tilt-zoom cameras, and there's also a set of motion detectors up there on both of the elevator entrances and then as well as in the center for vehicles."
"Because suicides are so impulsive in that way, if that attempt can be thwarted or is non-lethal, they have a very good chance, not just of surviving that day, but of continuing to survive, because the impulse passes, they get treatment," says Dr. Nestadt.
We don't have a precise number for successful suicide interventions at the Bel Air Parking Garage, but the Town Administrator says there have been at least 9 life-saving interventions.
WATCH: Saving lives at the Bel Air Parking Garage:
Berthia and Nestadt agree that creating space for people to talk about how they're feeling is vital.
"We need people that create safe places for people so they can solve their own problems," says Berthia.
"That stigma and that inability to talk about it can lead people to think when they're having these thoughts that they're unusual or they feel wrong," says Nestadt. "When it's acknowledged that these are actually relatively common thoughts, that's something like one in five young people in America have had suicide thoughts in the last year. We open up the door to seeking help."
If you're worried about a friend, it's important for you to talk to them.
"The best thing you can do is to ask directly, not beat around the bush, but say something like, have you been thinking about ending your life? Asking them directly might not always result in them being honest with you and saying, yes, I have, or no, I haven't, but it certainly opens the door so that they know that if they do feel ready to have that conversation, you're someone they can go to," says Nestadt.
Berthia has started a foundation aimed at helping to open up that conversation and putting all the resources in the same place.
"I believe in a world that if we can just be open and honest about where we're at and get the necessary help that we need," says Berthia. "It is never too late. To take control of your life because you deserve to see it get better."
If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, or visit 988lifeline.org.
