A group of police officers are being hailed as heroes after saving a teenager who was threatening to jump from a bridge in Waterbury on Wednesday.
Police said a teen was up on a bridge over Interstate-84 ready to jump and that it was a bottle of water that helped bring him to safety.
Crews from NBC Connecticut caught footage of the tense rescue.
In the video, you can see the teen reach for the water and officers pull him off of the fence and away from danger.
This all happened on Wednesday afternoon when an ambulance crew reported a young man on the Highland Avenue Bridge over I-84.
The highway was shut down and police attempted to make contact, but learned that the teen only spoke Portuguese.
Waterbury, Naugatuck and Connecticut State Police all worked together to rescue the teen.
Local
With the help of translators, for nearly an hour, they talked to him and begged him to come down.
Eventually Waterbury police officer Cem McAvoy said that he thought about offering the teen water and when the boy reached down to grab it, that's when McAvoy grabbed him.
"I think I breathed the biggest sigh of relief I ever did in my life. Watching him up there was the scariest thing I've ever had in my career so far," Officer McAvoy said.
Officials said the teen was taken to the hospital where he is getting the help he needs.
SUICIDE PREVENTION HELP: If you are in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 or reach out to the Crisis Text Line by texting ‘Home’ to 741741.
