© CLIFFORD OTO/THE STOCKTON RECORD / USA TODAY NETWORK
(Brooklyn, NY) – Hero cop Hak Kim says the breakthrough came when he started discussing his famiily. The NYPD lieutenant, a married father of three, helped save a 25-year-old woman alongside officer Brendan Giardino this week. Recently released body-cam footage shows the pair of cops helping to talk her down on Wednesday, as the distressed woman was considering jumping and committing suicide.
“My name is Lieutenant Kim, okay? I don’t know what kind of trouble you’re having, what kind of problem you’re going through. We’re gonna help you out. Save your life — it’s not worth it,” he said, “Trust me, I got three kids…I don’t know if you have a kid. We care about you, okay? Don’t do this.”
With officer Giardino supporting him and giving him a hand, Lieutenant Kim scaled the bridge’s steel structure and moved toward its cables, where the woman was holding on. It was a wet and slippery day but Kim felt he had no time to wait for a harness or other response team.
The perilous situation was immediately apparent to officer Giardino, who spoke to Eyewitness News: “It’s a dangerous condition for the fact that there’s vehicles traveling on the roadway and that there’s also heavy rain that day to make the steel platform slippery,” he explained. And it wasn’t just a quick climb up for Lieutenant Kim — he had to scale a 25-foot section of steel lattice work to reach the woman.
It took close to an hour to convince the woman to come down before she was taken to Woodhull Hospital for evaluation. Lieutenant Kim held on to her leg the entire time. Officer Giardino told Eyewitness News “It’s a good feeeling… We do care about the community. We wanna make sure everybody gets home safely.”
If you’re in distress and feeling overwhelmed or considering suicide, you’re not alone. Help is always available 24/7 by calling the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Just dial 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255). If you don’t feel like calling, text TALK to 741-741 or visit 988lifeline.org. The help is always confidential and free.
