Picture of the Day

This is Chen Si. Every weekend, he stands at the Nanjing Yangtze River bridge, which is home to the world’s highest suicide rate. Then, he stops people from jumping. During his lifetime, he has saved more than 321 people

Every weekend, Chen travels 25 kilometers to get to the bridge, arriving at 7:30 in the morning. He patrols the bridge on bike and on foot. If he meets somebody who wants to jump from the bridge, he talks to them and persuades them not to do it. In case he’s not there when someone needs help, he has also written his number of the bridge for people to call.

One of the reasons Chen can help these people is because he understands what they are feeling. Many of those who commit suicide on the bridge are not actually from Nanjing, but migrants working away from home in the city. Chen said that he was once one of those people, upset by life and far from home, but he has found that there is so much more to live for and doesn’t want anyone wasting their lives like that.