An Oakland Raiders fan may have saved a woman’s life on Sunday after she jumped from the third deck of the Coliseum following the team’s loss to the Tennessee Titans. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the woman climbed to the top of section 301 — an upper deck area above the end zone that is covered with tarps and closed to the public during games — and jumped about 45 feet down to the level below.
Two men on the concourse below are said to have tried to persuade the woman not to jump. When she did, a 61-year-old Marine Corps veteran helped break her fall.
“He saved her life quite honestly, at his own expense,” Sgt. J.D. Nelson of the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office said on Sunday night. “This guy 100 percent saved her life. She’d be dead now.”
The woman was reportedly knocked unconscious and taken to a local hospital, where she was last reported to be in critical condition. The man suffered serious injuries but was conscious and is expected to survive.
“He just couldn’t imagine having people see that,” Nelson said. “He said it was a reaction. Even now, at the hospital he’s very concerned about her. He’s a real compassionate person. Raider fans get a bad reputation, yet here’s this guy that went way over and above what most people would do to try and save this woman.”
Unlike the Buffalo Bills fan who stumbled and fell from the upper deck last weekend, police believe the woman was attempting to commit suicide. It is unclear why. What we do know is that we have spent a lot of time criticizing Raiders fans for some of the incredibly stupid things they do. On Sunday, one of them may have saved a life.
H/T Deadspin
