Five years ago, 37-year-old Loti Nambombe stood on the edge of Manchester’s Greengate Bridge, ready to end it all. But just when he thought there was no way out, a stranger came out of nowhere and stopped him. That moment changed his life forever.
After years of wondering who that man was, Loti set out on a mission to find him, and what he discovered was a journey of healing, connection, and unexpected common ground.
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Loti struggled with darkness and despair before his life was saved
On January 11, 2019, Loti was standing on the edge of Manchester’s Greengate Bridge, ready to jump. “I was in a place that I would never wish anyone to be in, I call it darkness, I couldn’t see any light, the tunnel was never ending, so I thought.”
He described himself as the life of the party, always the joker, always trying to make people smile. “If you know me, then you know I am a happy-go-lucky guy, the life and soul of the party, the joker the fool, if I could make you smile that makes me happy.”
But despite all the love around him, Loti felt completely alone. “I have got children that I love more than anything, but when you are feeling that low nothing makes sense, you could be surrounded by love but still feel alone.”
The emotional moment before Loti made his decision to end his life
Loti spoke about the week leading up to his decision to end his life, sharing that he was purposely trying to push his loved ones away by picking fights.
“He said: ‘Instead of me saying to people, ‘I don’t want to be in your life,’ I was thinking I am going to p*** you off. I was trying to push people away every day.'”
On the day he decided to take his life, Loti went through a normal day—he worked, hit the gym, and then went for a walk that evening. But things took a turn.
“I started crying, tearing, screaming, saying ‘I don’t want to be here.’ I started walking up steps where the bridge is, so I stood at the edge, underneath was the M60 motorway.”
The stranger’s unexpected intervention helped save Loti’s life
Loti said that out of nowhere, a man with a dog came up to him, along with his 13-year-old son, and started talking to him.
“He was getting closer, and I kept asking him to step back, get away from me.” The man didn’t back off, though. He sent his son home with the dog and decided to stay with Loti, trying to talk him down the bridge.
“He said there are other ways, he said he was here to help, I remember saying ‘you don’t know anything about me, you don’t know my story or anything I have been through.'”
Loti had a life-changing moment when he met Andy
Loti remembered Andy was “very calm” and somehow, without Loti noticing, he managed to pick up the phone and answer a call from Loti’s friend, who rushed to the scene to help.
“I was angry when she appeared, but because he was so calm towards me, I couldn’t be angry with him. He was holding me, and then she took over and hugged me and wouldn’t let go.”
Suddenly, Loti said, “All of a sudden there are sirens everywhere, all the cars had stopped on the M60, and I stood there crying. I didn’t want to be here, but they kept me here.”
Loti went on a long search to find his savior
Over the next five years, Loti couldn’t stop thinking about the stranger who saved him. He decided he was going to find him, but all he knew was the man’s name — Andy. So, three years after his suicide attempt, Loti went on social media to share his story, hoping Andy might come forward.
Sharing a picture of himself on the bridge, he wrote: “Three years ago today I attempted to jump off this bridge, the 11th January 2019, so every year I celebrate being a survivor. I am looking for the man who helped me that day, Andy, if you see this, please get in touch.”
The emotional reconnection between Loti and Andy after five years
Five years after Andy Hartley talked him off the bridge and saved his life, Loti finally met him.
“From that day, I’ve become an advocate, even more for mental health, and now I manage a charity called Make Life Kind.”
The unlikely hero, Andy, had his own struggles with mental health
Andy shared that he had his own mental health struggles over the years and even thought about ending his life at one point. “I felt like I was extremely mentally alone, and I just did not want to be around.”
Loti and Andy discovered they had surprising common ground
Jake finally got the chance to sit down with Andy and it turned out he had a lot more in common with Loti than he thought.
Andy shared: “I was also on medication for deep d********n. And I suppose with that tiny little light of, okay, I’m feeling a bit better, I stood on the scales and looked at 18 stone and thought enough is enough.”
The determined search effort to find Andy was carried out by journalist Jake
Journalist Jake started looking for Andy and got help from another investigative journalist, Orla O’Brien. “She asked Loti to send a subject access request, so they could get any info Manchester police had about him.”
After a few weeks of searching through records, looking at social media pages, and even visiting a pub near the bridge, Orla found out that the bridge was “a hot spot” for suicide attempts.
The power of connection saved Loti’s life and brought awareness to mental health
Andy is “really big on raising awareness about mental health issues. He actually has his own story to tell.” He told Loti that it was because of his own struggles with mental health that he believes he was able to recognize what he needed to do that night.
“To try and get out of my hole, I was under a crisis team at Oldham Hospital. I had numerous visits with them. The crisis team was lifting me up.”
Andy and Loti’s story proves that even in our darkest moments, one person’s kindness can save a life.
Last Updated on November 28, 2024 by Reem Haqqi
