I saw the man on bridge and said ‘you don’t want to do this... I won’t let you’

AN HEROIC teenager from Doveridge saved a man in distress on a bridge, just months after his twin brother took his own life.

Ryan Locker had been driving along the A500 with his parents when he spotted a man standing on a bridge on Sunday morning, July 18.

The 19-year-old stopped his car and, with the help of his dad, brought traffic to a halt, before supporting the man until police arrived.

The incident was all the more poignant as it happened the day after Ryan had his first birthday without his twin brother, Devon, who jumped from a bridge last October.

Ryan was on his way to a clay pigeon shoot with his mum and dad, at around 10.40am when he spotted a man on a bridge with his head in his hands.

He said: “I spotted a guy standing on the bridge. He had his head in his hands. I turned to my dad and said, ‘That doesn’t look good.’

“I knew he was going to jump and I had to do something quickly.

“It was my first instinct because my brother had jumped off a bridge in Longton.

“I jumped out of my car and stopped the traffic, my dad stopped the traffic on the other side. I ran all the way up to him as fast as I could.

“I spoke to him and said, ‘You don’t want to do this, I’m not going to let you do it.’”

Police arrived a short time later and Ryan, who is going to Keele University to study sociology and geography in September, was allowed to go on his way.

He added: “I shook the guy’s hand and went back to the car. It had been mine and Devon’s birthday the day before - my first birthday without him. It felt like I had done something for him by helping the guy.

“Devon had been suffering with his mental health for a while, I knew he wasn’t good. He was suffering so much mentally.

“I really want to help people before they get to that stage. It was my immediate reaction to help.”

Staffordshire Police has confirmed that they were called to a bridge over the A500.

A police spokesman said: “Police were called following reports of concern for a man. Officers attended and a woman reported seeing a man on the bridge.

“She told officers that her 19-yearold son had got out of the car in order to assist the man.

“The man was on the right side of the railings when officers arrived. Officers thanked the members of the public.

“The man was arrested on suspicion of breaching his bail conditions.

“He remains in police custody while inquiries continue.”