When you look over at the Newport Bridge, right now, what do you think?

- I think of what other people think of when they're going through dark moments as I was that, you know, night.

- That night in June 2015, Mark Gonsalves jumped from the peak of the Newport Pell Bridge, plunging into Narragansett Bay.

Do you remember anything?

- I remember everything, everything but impact.

There was a lot of pain going through my heart that night.

I got some more bad news about employment, which kind of just topped everything off that I was already going through.

I waited for my girlfriend to go to sleep.

I took the keys, I emptied everything outta my pockets, got in the car and tried to make a few phone calls.

After that, I just punched the gas and drove about a hundred miles per hour.

And got to the top and slung the door open.

And it was easy to jump on top of the railing.

The railing's less than 48 inches.

- So you went there knowing that it was low enough for you to gain access to the edge.

- Oh yeah.

Yeah.

- You are a miracle.

You jumped and lived to tell the tail.

How was that possible?

- Every detail of how it went was a miracle.

From how I hit the water feet first.

The discs in my back down my spine burst out as everything is pushed down.

And Rhode Island Hospital being the only hospital in New England that has the only machine that could have saved me at that time.

- He was also lucky, because two pleasure boaters happened to be nearby when he jumped and fished him from the waters.

Do you feel like you were saved for a purpose?

- I do.

I definitely do.

- That purpose brought Gonsalves to the Rhode Island State House to testify in favor of Bill 7383, calling for a design study of suicide barriers and safety nets on all four of Rhode Island's major bridges.

- I'm a suicide survivor by way of Newport Bridge.

I had no weapon that I thought could do the job.

I had no pills to OD on.

I had a car to get into and less than a quarter mile to drive to the top of the Newport Bridge.

And because the railing's so low, that's why I chose the Newport Bridge.

In Rhode Island, there's a lot of money put into repairing potholes so we don't damage our cars, but I'm here to ask that we put some money into these bridges so we don't damage anymore lives.

- My name's Melissa Cotta.

- [Pamela] Melissa Cotta also testified at the hearing.

She witnessed a man's fatal jump from the Mount Hope bridge as she was driving by.

- That was a moment that I will see his face forever.

I can't believe it was six years ago, because it is so real to me and it matters that I do something about it.

- [Pamela] What she did about it was become Co-Founder of Bridging the Gap for Safety & Healing.

The group's advocacy helped pass that bill providing a million dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act for a barrier engineering study.

But she says, it was just the first step.

- We are advocating to put up temporary barriers while they complete the study and before the permanent barriers go up.

We need to put something up because the longer we wait, the more people that are gonna continue to jump.

And the current study is going to probably be completed somewhere at the beginning of 2024.

So we're looking at about 18 months or so, and that is an awful long time to keep our bridges unsafe.

From November, 2020 to November, 2021, we had 13 total jumps from our 4 bridges, so that's a significant amount.

The ripple effect is it impacts families, it impacts our community, it impacts the coworkers.

It impacts all the children growing up.

- [Pamela] Gonsalves believes the impact of safety barriers will be significant.

- Most of the times, it's done through impulse.

It's an impulsive thing.

If there's barriers, it will be just what it says the word is, "Barrier."

And then, the few minutes that they step back, they might have gotten a phone call of support.

They might have had just a second thought.

- What else needs to be done to put a barrier between people and suicide?

- The main thing is decreasing the stigma behind mental health.

A lot of people are afraid to come forward.

They're afraid to talk about it.

And people that need help are afraid to reach out because they might not get the help that they need.

- I would like to talk today about a health epidemic that is claiming the lives of tens of thousands of Americans each year.

I'm speaking about the epidemic of suicide.

- [Pamela] It was Rhode Island Senator, Jack Reed, who co-sponsored new legislation creating the National 988 Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

The simple three digit number connects callers in crisis to local mental health professionals 24/7.

(phone ringing) - Hello, you've reached BH Link.

This is Matt speaking, how can I help you?

- [Pamela] The 988 number went live in July.

- The idea that we're changing a number from a 1-800 number to 988, makes it that much easier to memorize and that much easier to reach out for help.

- [Pamela] Joe Ash is the Co-Director of BH Link, Rhode Island's hub for behavioral health.

He says the new three digit number works for people experiencing a mental health crisis the same way 911 is there in general emergencies.

Do you see any parallels between the push for barriers on our state bridges and 988?

- Absolutely.

And the idea of the 988 call line being a barrier is, (phone chirping) it gives the person in crisis the opportunity to step back for even a moment and really contemplate the impact of what their thoughts really mean and what executing those thoughts means.

One of the things that's special about our call center, specifically, is we are paired with a 24/7 walk-in triage center.

Our ability to not only respond to crises over the phone, but also to invite people into our doors and say, "Come get the help in person that you need."

- Now, let's talk about you possibly coming into the BH Link.

- So if anyone's looking for a comprehensive assessment with a master's level clinician, a nurse, a peer recovery specialist, they can come in, receive an assessment and referral to the appropriate level of care.

To keep them out of emergency rooms, to keep them out of inpatient hospital settings, we're really trying to divert calls from 911 that don't need to be going into 911.

Also, we have the ability to dispatch mobile crisis into the community and provide that consultation and assessment in the community.

And so, being able to have someone come to your home and check in with you is really a big step and a step in the right direction.

- You talked about trying to reach someone the night that you went off the bridge.

- Yeah.

- Do you think 988 would've helped?

- Maybe.

It's a voice on the other end.

- Hello, this is BH Link.

How can I help you?

- That has a Rolodex of resources and you know, somebody just to listen.

- [Pamela] Meantime, once the design study on safety fencing for the state's bridges is complete, there may be another barrier, cost.

They estimate it's going to be 5 million per bridge.

A lot of people will say, "That's a lot of money for this."

- How much is a life worth?

Is 5 lives not worth 5 million?

Because 5 people have died this year alone in Rhode Island on Rhode Island bridges; 5 people.

- Do you truly believe that these barriers are going to prevent suicides?

- Without a doubt, without a doubt they will.

It's too easy to jump these bridges and people are doing it.

It's a no-brainer.

These bridges need barriers.

Bridges that are built now get barriers.

Barriers will prevent people from dying.

- Some people, they already been through enough pain.

They've already suffered enough pain in their life.

And they just, they just want it to end, you know?

And that's what I wanted.

That to me was solving my problems.

- Now, when you look at the bridge, how do you feel?

- I feel like I succeeded in getting through times in my life that are meant to be.

Now I just hope that I could prevent someone else from making decisions like that and just keep it as a beautiful structure instead of using it for something so tragic and you know, dark.