GRESHAM, Ore. (KOIN) — Zachary Laxton estimates he’s done about 2,200 rides in his year and a half driving Lyft. Most have been standard and fairly forgettable, but that changed last week on a trip over the Burnside Bridge.

“Me and a passenger were driving over the bridge and we noticed a man walking towards us on the bridge,” Laxton recalled. “And then he got up on the railing.”

Immediately, Laxton pulled over on the busy bridge and dialed 9-1-1. He reported what he saw.

“He was looking down,” Laxton remembered, “and in my mind, he was contemplating it.”

“He said that he was just going to jump head first and end it all.”

Laxton’s passenger was able to talk the man off the railing before police showed up. Laxton said it was an example of being in the right place at the right time with the right person.

“Having the passenger with me gave me the confidence to do it,” Laxton said, “and I don’t know if I would’ve stopped without her.”

Lyft heard about Laxton and his passenger’s act of kindness. They’re donating $500 in their names to Out of Darkness, a suicide prevention foundation. The foundation is also having a walk in Portland on Saturday morning at Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum.  

It’s an experience that Laxton said he’s never seen before.

“It doesn’t feel real until it happens, until you see it in person or someone you know attempts it or does it,” he said.

But it’s an experience that does happen. On the Burnside Bridge are signs that say “There is hope,” with a phone number for a 24/7 crisis line. The sign represents Laxton’s takeaway from all this: that there is, in fact, hope.

“Just as a society, mental health is definitely an issue and there’s a stigma on it and there shouldn’t be,” Laxton said. 

“Letting someone know that you care and you’re there for them is really a big deal.”

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