Officer, man he saved from suicide to speak in Memphis

Nearly 15 years after Kevin Briggs helped Kevin Berthia stop his suicide attempt at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, the two will share their story with a Memphis audience.

Briggs and Berthia are the keynote speakers Tuesday morning at Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare’s annual Dennis H. Jones Living Well Network Mental Health Breakfast. As the two detail their encounter on the bridge, Briggs said he hopes the audience will learn how to talk openly about their emotional health and help someone who may be suffering. “We bring a lot of emotion into this for a reason, as both Kevin (Berthia) and I suffer from a mental illness,” said Briggs, a retired highway patrol officer who had experience deescalating suicide attempts on the bridge. Berthia said he felt overwhelmed that day as all the past pains he buried resurfaced all at once. To help him, Briggs said he focused on “whatever ray of hope or sunshine” was in Berthia’s life: his child.

“That would be No. 1 in most people’s minds,” Briggs said. “So I thought, ‘Let me focus on this and see where it goes.’ That’s what eventually brought him back.”

Allison White, supervisor of Methodist’s Living Well Network, said Briggs and Berthia’s message will help inform people how to help those who are struggling and direct them to the right resources. The Living Well Network, a free service, connects people with the right behavioral health provider for their needs.

The network saw referrals increase in 2019 as medical providers talk more about behavioral health with their patients and people openly discuss mental health on social media and through other channels, White said. “If it’s under the behavioral health umbrella, it’s hard when you’re struggling to know where to turn for help,” she said. “We do that for them.” More information about the event, which takes place at

The Hilton Memphis on Ridge Lake Boulevard, is available on Methodist’s website.

If you or someone you know may be struggling with suicidal thoughts, you can call the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) any time of day or night or chat online. Crisis Text Line provides free, 24/7, confidential support via text message to people in crisis when they dial 741741.

Max Garland covers Fedex, logistics and health care for The Commercial Appeal. Reach him at max.garland@commercialappeal.com or 901529-2651 and on Twitter @Maxgarlandtypes.

JOHN STOREY/THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE VIA AP In this March 11, 2005, photo, Kevin Berthia is talked out of jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge by California Highway Patrolman Kevin Briggs in San Francisco. During his 20 years patrolling the bridge, Briggs has managed to talk many despondent people out of taking the fatal fall.