Mother Praises Police for Saving Son's Life

I was in Pocomoke yesterday making my rounds with Councilman Malloy taking photos of the new restaurant and police department.  While walking the dock at the river we both noticed how swift the tide was.  The dark water of the Pocomoke River just seems to swirl  in spots and I have always been told it is the current underneath that is dangerous.  And if you have lived in Pocomoke any length of time you know the dangers of jumping from the bridge.  I've seen a few jump from there in my years of working downtown.  Many of us have watched them search those murky waters for the swimmer.

But there was one drowning that always stuck in my head (and he didn't jump from the bridge).... the swimmer who remarked to his friends  he would be "back for his boots" before he dove  from the river bank into the river claiming  he could swim to the Somerset County side.

I couldn't remember the young mans name.  But last night, while searching the internet for anything related to that hot summer  day  in Pocomoke I found the article below. 

How sad it is that some take their lives by jumping from a bridge and some lose their lives by jumping just for the sake of cooling off  on a peaceful summer day.

Even more upsetting are the events of this particular day written in the article below.  I had read about this incident before...  and sure enough!  A full account of this day is written in the book Why Do We Kill?  by Kelvin Sewell and Stephen Janis.  Two officers and a depressed young man could have all drowned that day.  The mother was so grateful...and her suicidal son also.  But that raises the question:  Was he thankful enough to turn his life around?

"If you think death isn't funny, you haven't been around it long enough.  Even in our last moments on earth, we don't lose our sense of humor.  Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say, even in death we rarely escape irony." Why Do We Kill- CASE FILE 9 /Failed Suicide
*Homicide Detective Kelvin Sewell is currently the Chief of Police for Pocomoke City on Maryland's Eastern Shore.*

The Examiner
Wed, 2008-10-08 03:00

An hour after one Baltimore City man jumped to his death Saturday morning from a bridge over Edmondson Avenue, another tried to kill himself at the same spot.


But the attempted suicide of a 28-year-old man was prevented when two Baltimore City homicide detectives investigating the earlier death tackled the young man — saving his life and earning praise from his family and the police department.


“I’m very happy,” said the man’s mother, Jackie Craig. “I am very grateful and thankful for their heroic efforts. Even my son wants to extend his gratitude.”


Craig said two detectives, Kelvin Sewell and Joon Kim, wrestled her son to the ground before he could jump off the bridge while investigating the suicide death of another man, who police say apparently killed himself around 8 a.m.


The first man, whom police have not identified, is believed to have jumped from the bridge, because he landed on his feet, said Detective Donny Moses, a police spokesman.


“It’s horrifying that another man had just jumped and I send my condolences to his family,” Craig said. “It’s just terrible, but they wouldn’t have been there to save my son.”


As the two detectives were investigating the body found in the 3200 block of Edmondson Avenue, they encountered a 28-year-old man intent on jumping off the overpass, said city police spokesman Sterling Clifford.


Sewell offered the man a cigarette, but the man took off his shirt and tried to climb over the railing, police said.


Sewell then wrestled the man to the ground, with help from Kim, keeping the 28-year-old from jumping. He was taken to a nearby hospital for evaluation, Clifford said.


Sewell was treated for a sprained knee and was later released from the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in the city, Clifford said.


“Detective Sewell did a fantastic job Saturday,” Clifford said. “... He is fortunate that Sgt. Sewell was there.”


Craig said her son has been suffering from depression. Court records show he has a history of five arrests and recently had been released from prison on an armed robbery conviction.


“He’s been going through some rough times, a personal crisis,” his mother said. “I just appreciate the officers were there to prevent him from hurting himself.”

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