#FindMike campaign – Mental health campaigner Jonny Benjamin meets the man who saved his life after Twitter appeal
Earlier this month Jonny Benjamin began a search for the man who prevented him from taking his own life on a bridge, and through the power of social media, has been able to meet and thank him.
Benjamin, who was suicidal after being diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, launched a campaign on Twitter and Facebook using the hashtag #FindMike – although he didn’t know the name of the man who saved his life on Waterloo Bridge.
He was approached by a stranger who offered to buy him coffee. “He was very calm and said ‘Please don’t do this... you can get better. Let’s have a coffee and we can talk about this,’” said Benjamin. “He reminded me of what people do every day so the normality of it was really inviting.”
He agreed to go with the man, who was in his early twenties and on his way to work. He climbed back over the railings to safety, where police had arrived to look after him. But he never got to know the stranger’s name.