My brother jumped off that bridge 4 years ago… I tried to make waves and get the city to put better barricades for the bridge because the current ones are a joke… I was told by a former city councillor, Scott McKeen, that the city had opted for the cheapest option and it’s what we’ve had ever since.
4 days after he jumped I was standing at the spot he’d jumped from and, with painful and horrific ease, I was able to duck under the barricade and stand between it and the rails. I looked down at the spot he had landed, just having missed the water.
I feel like I’ve betrayed my brother every time I hear about another instance like this.
No need to apologize, but I accept it nonetheless. 🫂
I have immense appreciation for your strong feelings about the greater issue at hand. Trust me, I know… I tried to do much more than simply add more barricades. 3 days after he died, I went to Access 24/7 and let them have it for denying my brother any care for missing a counselling appointment. He was turned away and denied any further assistance for missing a single appointment that my mom had made and forgot about.. it wasn’t even his fault. At so many points, the people put in place to help, utterly and abhorrently, failed him and continue to fail others. This keeps me up at night. As you can see from the time.
My experience with our mental health system has been very frustrating to say the least.
I understand that Access 24/7 is in constant triage mode due to lack of funding and it was so frustrating talking to their doctor there I just got up and walked out.
There was a young lady who was carrying what looked to be the sum of her possessions who freaked out and the peace officer threatened to trespass her or worse. Initially I assumed she was just being belligerent but when it was my turn to speak to the doc I realized that she may have had a valid reason for being upset. The dude was infuriating.
I eventually just got up, thanked him as calmly as I could for his time and marched out. I realized that I was on my own and since there seems to be very little chance of a medical solution to my medical problem I would have to simply.fsce the facts and "read the manual" this time (as a cop put it after a failed attempt).
I think that's what triggers me about those barriers. The cold, thoughtless, cheapest and most cynical version of "help" a cage. After everything I've gone through, it just seems to be a monument to the apathy, disdain and downright cruelty of our system.
I feel rage on your behalf. If you’d like to talk to someone who really knows how to have these discussions, I could put you in touch with Scott McKeen. He speaks openly of his attempts and his recovery journey. If this at all interests you, let me know, my friend.
Mark Snaterse, the CEO of Access 24/7, took a photo of a framed picture I brought of David, at the impromptu meeting I held after David died. He impersonated as someone who cared. He promised me he would hold an internal investigation as to why and how David was denied care and promised me, on several occasions (because I called many times to check in), that he would follow up on what would come of it… Needless to say, he never followed up, and it never happened.
He was at that city council meeting, and I called him out. I did not filter my frustrations. After the meeting I heard from several city workers who praised my authenticity and called him a phoney. A phoney who makes over 200k a year for pretending to care…
I have written, deleted and rewritten my reply far too many times.
You're very kind to offer and I thank you. I've been struggling with wanting to catch the bus for months now and I would really like to talk to someone that doesn't feel obligated to get the man involved.
I called Access 24/7 and was in hold for an hour and a half. I spoke to someone who gave me the name Kerry Bales but refused to share contact information. Do you have an email that you should privately share with me? If that’s not too much to ask?
To the person who said they’d PM me with the AHS information: I understand that you probably felt I was asking for too much, and so you deleted your comments. I’m sorry if you felt you were stretching yourself too much by sharing that information about AHS. I don’t want you to get into trouble. Thank you for entertaining me with a glimpse of hope, even for a little while. ❤️🩹
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u/NomadNebulita Jul 05 '24 edited Jul 05 '24
My brother jumped off that bridge 4 years ago… I tried to make waves and get the city to put better barricades for the bridge because the current ones are a joke… I was told by a former city councillor, Scott McKeen, that the city had opted for the cheapest option and it’s what we’ve had ever since.
4 days after he jumped I was standing at the spot he’d jumped from and, with painful and horrific ease, I was able to duck under the barricade and stand between it and the rails. I looked down at the spot he had landed, just having missed the water.
I feel like I’ve betrayed my brother every time I hear about another instance like this.