A TAXI DRIVER stopped a young man jumping from a Kilkenny bridge today, the 50th such incident in the city in less than a year.

Derek Devoy, the founder of Taxi Watch Kilkenny, told TheJournal.ie that volunteers were on their way to Croke Park when the incident occurred.

“There was around 20 people on the bus going up to fundraise and myself and another lad were in my car. We were coming across a bridge in Kilkenny and spotted a young lad sitting on the ground.

“I knew straight away that something wasn’t right so I got out of the car and spoke to him for about five minutes until the guards came.”

The young man was taken to a local Garda station where he was assessed by a doctor.

Devoy says that since Taxi Watch was established in Kilkenny last November, 50 people have been helped on local roads and bridges by taxi drivers.

The charity is working with the Thomas Hayes Fund to establish a suicide crisis centre in Kilkenny. The public can donate here.

Helplines:

• Console  1800 247 247 – (suicide prevention, self-harm, bereavement)

• Aware 1890 303 302 (depression, anxiety)

• Pieta House 01 601 0000 or email mary@pieta.ie - (suicide, self-harm)

• Teen-Line Ireland 1800 833 634 (for ages 13 to 19)

• Childline 1800 66 66 66 (for under 18s)

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