For hours, 64-year-old diver Althea Cole reasoned, pleaded and even joked with a distressed woman who she said was determined to end her life near Flat Bridge. Even after Cole had to rush into the Rio Cobre and pull the woman from the water, she said the stranger remained intent on dying, leaving her and others to continue reasoning with her until police arrived. “All mi deh yah talk to the woman, she still determine fi kill herself, cause she say a Flat Bridge she ago do it,” Cole told THE STAR. Cole said the encounter began when a woman exited a taxi that stopped beside her shop. “She say, ‘Evening’, and mi look pan her good,” Cole recalled. The woman approached Cole and made several requests, including to make a telephone call. Cole said she eventually handed her the phone, but noticed that the stranger repeatedly sighed during their interaction. Cole said she and others began talking with the woman and soon realised she was experiencing serious personal difficulties. Cole said the woman spoke about her three children as well as difficulties she was facing. As the conversation continued, however, Cole said the woman made her way towards the river. “Mi affi run go jump in a the water and take the woman out a the river,” Cole said. But the veteran diver said the woman continued expressing a desire to die, prompting Cole and others to remain with her and keep talking. Cole said she tried different approaches to reach the woman, including sharing details about her own family and encouraging her not to give up. The woman, according to Cole, also disclosed that she had previously tried to commit suicide. Cole said she remained with the woman and continued reasoning with her while contacting the police, who later arrived to assist. Clinical psychologist Dr Paul Smith said conversation can be critical during a suicidal crisis, even when a person appears convinced that death is the only remaining option. “Suicide is just the end product. There is something that must have led up to it,” Smith told THE STAR. He explained that people experiencing suicidal ideation may not always reveal the depth of their distress to relatives and friends. “Some of them might just cover up. People ask how they are doing and they say that they are fine,” he said.  Smith, who has worked on a suicide helpline, said listening without judgement can make a significant difference when engaging someone experiencing a suicidal crisis. He cautioned against immediately responding with guilt-inducing questions about how suicide would affect the person’s children or relatives. “Listen to their story. Everybody has a story, and there are dark moments in their lives where they say, ‘No, life doesn’t make sense. I have gone through a series of disappointments’,” Smith said. “Sometimes you can talk them out of it and point them to resources that might be available, and it might open a glimmer of hope for them,” he added. Smith stressed that there can also be an important distinction between wanting to die and desperately wanting emotional pain to stop. “Some persons find themselves in deep emotional desperation and can’t find their way out.” For others, he said, hopelessness may come after a succession of setbacks. Smith said his experience has shown that even people who appear to have reached that point can sometimes be reached. “Luckily, I have been able to talk quite a few out of it, but when I do that, I make sure to point them to resources and I make sure to follow up as well, to know that somebody is in their corner,” he said. “They want to know that they are not alone.”