North Carolina Cop Talks Suicidal Man Off Bridge, Then Gives Him a Hug

A Raleigh police officer has become an internet celebrity after North Carolina Department of Transportation footage of him saving and hugging a suicidal man on a bridge went viral.

According to WRAL, Officer Dan Hicks came across a man sitting on the ledge of a bridge that crossed Interstate 440 on Wednesday. Hicks stopped, slowly approached the man and tried to have a personal, non-authoritative conversation with the man.

It worked, as Hicks was quickly able to convince the man to leave the ledge and approach him. As soon as he did, the officer pulled him in for a hug.

“He got a big old Dan Hicks bear hug, whether he wanted it or not,” Hicks told WRAL. “The other part of it was he was not going to be given the opportunity to go over that bridge again. He got to stand there with me for a second and get that hug. Call it tactical, call it compassionate, I think it was probably both.”

Check out the footage below, via NCDOT:

Check out WRAL’s interview with Hicks here:

[h/t CNN]
[Image via screengrab]

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