Teen Jumps Off Golden Gate Bridge, Survives

Call it a miracle: A 17-year-old boy yesterday jumped from the Golden Gate Bridge ... and survived. The teen, who was visiting the bridge on a class field trip, swam to shore with a surfer’s help. He was taken to the hospital and is expected to survive, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. While some classmates said he may have been trying “to look cool,” authorities are investigating the incident as a suicide attempt. Witnesses say he broke his tailbone and damaged his lungs, but a school press release stated that he suffered no serious injuries.

The surfer who helped him recounted seeing him fall: “I thought, 'Well, he's going to die,' and then it was a miracle when he popped up alive,” said the 55-year-old. “I paddled out there, and he told me he jumped 'for kicks.’ That's when I lost it and told him what he did was wrong, that life is precious." The surfer adds that "there was a stiff wind coming out of the south, and I think that broke his fall and helped save him." The boy dropped from more than 200 feet, making his survival highly unusual: 99% of those who’ve jumped from the bridge have died. (More Golden Gate Bridge stories.)