Emotional Video Shows Police Officer Saving Man from Jumping Off Bridge: 'We Can't Replace You'

Mar. 15, 2025

Louisville Metro police officer Ali Thomas and another officer help stop a firefighter from jumping off the Lincoln Bridge on Oct. 9, 2024.Photo:Louisville Metro Police Department

Louisville Metro Police Department

A Kentucky firefighter-turned-police officer is being honored for helping save a man from jumping off of a bridge.

Louisville Metro police officer Ali Thomas found the unidentified man in distress on the Lincoln Memorial Bridge on Wednesday, Oct. 9, Assistant Chief Emily McKinley said at anews conferenceon Wednesday, Oct. 16.

Body camera footage from the incident showed Thomas approach the man, who was wearing a firefighters shirt, had hopped over the railing of the bridge.

Eventually, the man began talking to Thomas, who offered him reassurance and support. “That is material s— and that can all be replaced," the officer said in the video. “She can be replaced. Your personal stuff can be replaced. We can’t replace you.”

A second officer then arrived at the scene and helped Thomas lift the man back over the railing.

1st Division Officer Ali Thomas speaks with reporters at a news conference where he was honored for saving a firefighter’s life.Louisville Metro Police Department

“It’s a huge relief,” Thomas said, according toFOX affiliate WDRB. “I helped somebody out. I don’t know. It’s real emotional just talking about it now, you can probably tell in my voice. I just didn’t want nobody to jump.”

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Thomas joined the LMPD March 2021 after he retired from the city’s fire department, which he joined in 2000.

McKinley said Thomas has a big heart, and believes was put on the bridge that day for a reason. “We cannot be more proud of Officer Ali,” the assistant chief said at the press conference, later adding, “He’s serving our community well.”

Thomas said he has been part of the rescue portion of calls about jumps from bridges, but saw “a different side” of these kinds of incidents that Wednesday.

“I just didn’t want anybody to jump,” he explained, perCBS affiliate WLKY. “So that’s all I was thinking.”

Thomas’ heroics are a reminder of why some people become police officers, McKinley said at Wednesday’s press conference. “This is why we took this job,” she said. “We took this job because we want to help people.”

source: people.com