About a week ago, this story came across my proverbial “desk,” and it gave me pause. One, because with stories like this, one always wants to be sensitive and tread lightly. Two, because the subject matter hits very close to home for me.
On July 23, Lieutenant Mike Hotz responded to a call about a man standing on the Victory Memorial Bridge, contemplating the Cumberland River below. As painfully familiar as this scenario sounds, it’s nonetheless an extremely serious circumstance that sometimes doesn’t always end so well.
Lt. Hotz knew what this gentleman needed was love, not judgment. No gaslighting to believe his problems are imaginary or that they’re confused. What this young man needed was someone to see him. To hear him. To understand that the thoughts in the head are very real and have very real consequences that bleed into current reality.
“Hey man, my name’s Mike. Can I just holler at you?” Lt. Hotz approached the man with sincerity, an earnest desire to simply listen. Instead of running on primal instinct to maybe rush the man and attempt to grab him away from the edge, Hotz’s experience and empathy took over. “I just want to help you talk through this, this worst day of your life. And I know it is,” he said to his vulnerable new companion.
As a veteran of Metro Nashville’s Crisis Negotiation Team, Hotz understood that a split-second could mean the difference between having a conversation with someone away from danger and watching someone take the remedy for their pain into their own hands. It was his care for a fellow human being, though, that saved that man’s life.
Lt. Hotz never let up, never broke the connection with this hurting soul. It’s the kind of pain Hotz said he was too familiar with, being a combat veteran himself. “Unfortunately, I’ve had more experiences than I can count with the brothers that I served with overseas going through mental crisis and having suicidal thoughts.”
This draws me back to how this story, and stories like it, are so close to me. I almost lost someone very important to me several years ago. Eventually, they came to live with me, and we worked on healing together. With everything within me, all I can hope is that I did the right thing more than I messed up. I do know that my love for this person was the only real truth that mattered to me. It’s this same overwhelming desire to help someone in need, someone who needs love, that drove Lt. Hotz to do what he did next.
“I’m not gonna try nothing crazy… I promise you to the Lord himself,” Hotz assured the man still clinging to his escape. And then…
“I love you. It’s gonna be alright.”
These three words seem so miniscule, so simple. Yet the weight those words have are enough to make entire empires fall, are enough to make anyone stand up straighter. Or even save someone from despair. With kindness, Lt. Hotz reached out his hand, offering it to the man. That first bit of human contact broke down the walls, and the gentleman welcomed Hotz’s embrace with heavy sobs.
The Bright Side
Fortunately, the outcomes–both from Nashville and from that someone close to me–were positive, and the world is blessed to have these two individuals still bringing light to everyone around them. If it were not for love, for the true connection another human being has with another, who knows what would’ve happened. I won’t dwell on it more than necessary. What I will say is that love has a power that people still don’t fully understand. They minimize it when the emotions get too large, then boast about how sacred it is when the words get used more than on special occasions.
Lt. Hotz understood the power of something bigger, much higher than ourselves. If the creator of all things divine and on earth shares that love with us, imagine the might of that love when we share it with someone else. Everyone needs love, in this day and age it seems so much more now than ever. We must be careful not to give in to despair. It’s easy to become entrapped by pain, but we cannot give in to despair. We are built from love, and it is love that will revive us once again.
If you or anyone you know is having thoughts of self-harm or suicide, please reach out to someone(s) who is familiar the situation and is available to talk. If in need of more professional guidance, dial the Suicide and Crisis Hotline or a volunteer organization like Samaritan’s Hope, which has a 24/7 hotline as well. You can reach both by dialing 988.
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If you enjoyed this article, read about youth answering the call to provide mental health support to schools in Colorado.
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