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Dramatic rescue: North Bergen police officers grab suicidal girl, 16, high atop Palisades

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: A suicidal 16-year-old girl was balanced precariously outside a North Bergen bridge over the Palisades, contemplating the straight 200-foot drop, when a pair of township police officers grabbed her in a dramatic rescue before dawn this morning.

Photo Credit: TOP: Lenny DiBrango
Photo Credit: TOP: Lenny DiBrango

A jogger flagged down NBPD Officers Kevin Rodriguez and George Debal around 5 a.m. after hearing the West New York girl crying and finding her on the ledge of a retaining wall, high above River Road, on what locally has been called “suicide bridge,” Police Capt. Patrick Irwin told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.

Boulevard East 76th Street bridge

Wasting no time, the officers grabbed the teen, who was slipping in and out of consciousness.

“They secured the girl, held her there and kept her calm,” Irwin said.

They then summoned members of North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue, who strapped a high-angle harness to the girl and brought her to safety.

“It was needed because of the way she was positioned,” the captain told CLIFFVIEW PILOT. “Thank God she didn’t slip.”

She was then taken to Palisades General Hospital on River Road below.

PHOTO, TOP: Lenny DiBrango

 

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