A Washington teen named Jordan Holgerson was hanging at a local swimming hole last Tuesday where she was mulling the idea of jumping off a 60-foot bridge into the Lewis River. But once she got out on the ledge and realized how extremely high 60 feet actually is, she realized that maybe she didn’t feel like falling three stories after all, KGW8 reports.
Unfortunately, one of her so-called “friends” had a different idea.
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Instead of doing the normal thing like, you know, respecting Holgerson’s choice or offering a hand to help her back over the guardrail, KGW8 reported that her “friend” just decided to take matters into her own hands—by shoving Holgerson off the bridge and sending her plummeting into the water below.
In video footage of the incident, Holgerson repeatedly says, “no, I won’t go,” before an unknown woman plants her hands on Holgerson’s back and shoves her. The unsuspecting fall broke Holgerson’s ribs and ultimately landed her in the hospital, where she’s now recovering.
“I have five broken ribs, air bubbles in my chest, and I have a punctured lung,” she later told KGW8 from PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver, Washington. “I could’ve died,” she added.
It’s unclear who, exactly, the woman was, or why she thought it would be a funny idea or whatever to shove Holgerson while she was literally saying “no,” but the Clark County Sheriff’s Office has reportedly opened an investigation to decide whether the shove was possibly criminal. No arguments on how it was just a supremely shitty thing to do, though.
All legal questions aside, Holgerson told KGW8 that the “friend” has apologized, but apologies don’t exactly heal a chest full of busted ribs.
“I’m very upset with her,” Holgerson’s mom, Genelle, said in an interview with the Daily News. “She is an adult, and I’m sure she should have known better. She could have killed my daughter.”
It should go without saying, but: Friends don’t push friends off bridges, guys. Sure, friends may pull stupid pranks on each other or help cement their heads in microwaves for internet glory, but this is a step too far. Next time you’re bored of waiting for your friend to jump off a dangerous ledge or whatever, maybe take a deep breath and think of the golden rule to friendship: Try Not to Be a Complete Asshole.
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