A mum has praised her ‘hero’ sons and their friends after they rushed to help a man who was standing on the edge of a city centre bridge.
Karlet Manning was driving the four teenagers over the Mancunian Way when they spotted a man standing on the wrong side of the railings.
Certain that he needed help, the four youngsters insisted that Karlet turn the car around and return to the scene, where they found a young man standing on the bridge.
Karlet, 38, stopped the car in the road and rushed over to help him while her sons and their two friends called the police.
The group waited with the young man, believed to be in his twenties, until officers arrived and took him to safety.
Speaking afterwards, Karlet said she is incredibly proud of her sons Andre, 13 and Kaiyson, eight and their friends Jabriel and 12-year-old Latif.
“The compassion they showed was amazing,” she said. “Boys can be silly. But as soon as they knew someone needed help they told me to turn back.”
The group was travelling home to south Manchester just after 9pm on Tuesday (August 21) when they spotted the man standing on the bridge.
“As we were coming over the flyover we saw this,” Karlet said. “Someone said ‘there’s a man ready to jump’. We came off at the roundabout and we were debating what we’d really seen. But we knew we had to turn back.
“I got out of the car and spoke to him. He was quite muted but I knew to keep up the dialogue. I asked if he was going to jump and he shook his head.
“I told him ‘If you think nobody cares, at least you know me and the boys care because we have gone all the way around the roundabout and come back.
“I told the kids to call the police and they arrived after about ten minutes.”
At one point Karlet feared the man may jump and asked her son to help. She says Andre calmly placed his hands on the man’s shoulders and told him, “it’s going to be all right.”
Karlet, who works for the Big Life Group, said the incident shows how important it is for young men to talk about mental health.
Coincidentally, she had just taken the four children to a Kids of Colour event at the Nexus Cafe in the city centre where they learnt about racism within the mental health system.
“It was quite traumatic but I was so proud of the boys for trying to help someone and for having that compassion,” said Karlet.
“It’s something they will never forget. But I think it also shows how much we need to speak about mental health rather than internalise it.”
After the dramatic incident, Karlet drove the four boys to a supermarket where she treated them to ice cream.
Samaritans (116 123)samaritans.org operates a 24-hour service available every day of the year. If you prefer to write down how you’re feeling, or if you’re worried about being overheard on the phone, you can email Samaritans at jo@samaritans.org , write to Freepost RSRB-KKBY-CYJK, PO Box 9090, STIRLING, FK8 2SA and visit www.samaritans.org/branches to find your nearest branch.
CALM (0800 58 58 58) thecalmzone.net has a helpline is for men who are down or have hit a wall for any reason, who need to talk or find information and support. They're open 5pm to midnight, 365 days a year.
Childline (0800 1111 ) runs a helpline for children and young people in the UK. Calls are free and the number won’t show up on your phone bill.
PAPYRUS (0800 068 41 41) is a voluntary organisation supporting teenagers and young adults who are feeling suicidal.
Depression Alliance is a charity for people with depression. It doesn’t have a helpline, but offers a wide range of useful resources and links to other relevant information depressionalliance.org
Students Against Depression is a website for students who are depressed, have a low mood or are having suicidal thoughts. Bullying UK is a website for both children and adults affected by bullying studentsagainstdepression.org
The Sanctuary (0300 003 7029 ) helps people who are struggling to cope - experiencing depression, anxiety, panic attacks or in crisis. You can call them between 8pm and 6am every night.There are other depression charities.
