Depression can negatively affect how a person feels, thinks, and acts. If left untreated, it can lead to feelings of sadness, emotional problems, physical problems, and worse thoughts of self-harm and suicide. One 47-year-old father wanted to end his life after depression symptoms overwhelmed him. Sadly, he had no intention of just killing himself. Instead, he took his two-year-old twin daughters in a car with him and drove off a cliff and into the water. Thankfully, there happened to be a hero at the right time and at the right place who jumped to their rescue before anyone was fatally injured. One early morning police officer, Jonathan Wiese, a San Diego police department member, received a call from the twins’ mother saying that their father took the girls without permission. The mother had filed for divorce due to domestic violence. According to the call, their father was suicidal and was suspected of having a firearm. The officer immediately began tracking the man for the safety of everyone in the car.
The father started sending alarming texts and calls to the twins’ mother, hinting how he wanted to end his life and possibly his daughters. Authorities feared that the man might do something and rushed to get to him. Their greatest fear was that he might attempt to drive his vehicle off the Coronado Bridge. So, they needed to act fast to save the girls and their father. Fortunately, with the assistance of emergency dispatchers, they tracked the man’s cellphone to Sunset Cliff. However, his car was not on the cliff. It had already landed in the water 50 feet from the cliff and started sinking slowly. The father was on a suicide mission because the three of them were not wearing seat-belts. His twin daughters were seated on his lap when the car fell dozens of feet below.
Officer Wiese, a K-9 handler, had extra resources to save the twin girls. He was among the first cops to arrive at the scene and needed to act fast. He used his 100-foot dog leash to move down the side of the Sunset Cliffs. Wiese looped the dog leash around his chest and under his armpit. By that time, other officers had arrived. He threw the other end of the leash to the officers, and they lowered him over the edge. The teamwork of all the officers made it easy and fast to save the girls. Thanks to his heroic act, Wiese saved the girls from drowning in the Pacific Ocean coastal waters. Officer Wiese managed to get the father and the girls out of the water unhurt and alive. He proved he was a true hero to the world.
