Despite owning a home perched atop a high cliff with a scenic ocean view in Sydney, Australia, Don and Moya Ritchie live on a plot of real estate that can best be described as something out of a bad dream. The rocky cliff is known as The Gap — the most notorious suicide destination in the country.<\/p>\n
While most people would surely move away, the Ritchies have stayed for almost 50 years, saving an estimated 160 people from taking the leap.<\/p>\n
Every morning Mr. Ritchie wakes up and looks out the window to see if anyone is \u201cstanding alone too close to the precipice.\u201d If he senses someone may be contemplating suicide, he approaches them and asks if they\u2019d like to talk over a cup of tea. \u201cI\u2019m offering them an alternative,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
The retired life insurance salesman says he\u2019s not \u201cburdened\u201d by the reality of what happens in close proximity to his house. Instead, he and his wife of 58 years have learned to look at it as a calling. He says it\u2019s wonderful to have saved so many, to have \u201csold them\u201d on life.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think,\u201d says Moya, \u201cisn\u2019t it wonderful that we live here and we can help people?\u201d<\/p>\n
In recognition of their efforts, the Ritchies were named 2010\u2019s Citizens of the Year. In 2006, the government recognized Don\u2019s efforts with a Medal of the Order of Australia, among the nation\u2019s highest civilian honors.<\/p>\n
Although Ritchie claims to have seen more saved than lost as a result of his reaching out to them, too many have perished. One teenager ignored his invitation and suddenly jumped as the wind blew the boy\u2019s hat back into Ritchie\u2019s outstretched hand.<\/p>\n
He later found out the teen had lived next door years earlier. His mother brought Ritchie flowers and thanked him for trying. \u201cIf you couldn\u2019t have talked him out of it,\u201d she told him, \u201cno one could.\u201d<\/p>\n
At 84, Ritchie has spent the last year battling cancer. But he remains optimistic that his efforts to save lives will continue even after his passing: \u201cI imagine somebody else will come along and do what I\u2019ve been doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Mr. Ritchie awaits his replacement, there hangs in his living room a painting of a [sunrise] which someone left in his mailbox. On it is a message thanking him for being \u201can angel that walks amongst us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Where do you live and who is it that needs your help? Like the Ritchies, most of us don\u2019t have to go searching for people in need, they\u2019re right outside our door. They may not be treading the precipice of a literal cliff, but they do walk precariously close to the edge of eternity.<\/p>\n
The word angel means messenger. God has given every believe a message to share with a lost and dying world. It\u2019s a message of hope, that promises eternal life to all who believe.<\/p>\n
Jesus said, \u201cGo into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone\u201d (Mark 16:15). Paul added, \u201cThis is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus\u201d (1 Timothy 2:5).<\/p>\n
Wherever you are, not matter how grim the need, say with Moya, \u201cisn\u2019t it wonderful to live here so I can help people?\u201d<\/p>\n
Then there will be angels who walk among us!
\n \u201cThe Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,\u201d (Isaiah 61:1).<\/p>\n
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\nAdapted from this source:<\/p>\n
< http:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/australian-angel-saves-lives-at-suicide-spot ><\/p>\n
Australian \u201cAngel\u201d Saves Lives at Suicide Spot
\nJune 14, 2010, 11:06 AM
\nAssociated Press Writer Kristen Gelineau<\/p>\n
In those bleak moments when the lost souls stood atop the cliff, wondering whether to jump, the sound of the wind and the waves was broken by a soft voice. \u201cWhy don\u2019t you come and have a cup of tea?\u201d the stranger would ask. And when they turned to him, his smile was often their salvation.<\/p>\n
For almost 50 years, Don Ritchie has lived across the street from Australia\u2019s most notorious suicide spot, a rocky cliff at the entrance to Sydney Harbour called The Gap. And in that time, the man widely regarded as a guardian angel has shepherded countless people away from the edge.<\/p>\n
What some consider grim, Ritchie considers a gift. How wonderful, the former life insurance salesman says, to save so many. How wonderful to sell them life.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t just sit there and watch them,\u201d says Ritchie, now 84, perched on his beloved green leather chair, from which he keeps a watchful eye on the cliff outside. \u201cYou gotta try and save them. It\u2019s pretty simple.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since the 1800s, Australians have flocked to The Gap to end their lives, with little more than a 3-foot fence separating them from the edge. Local officials say around one person a week commits suicide there, and in January, the Woollahra Council applied for AUS$2.1 million ($1.7 million) in federal funding to build a higher fence and overhaul security.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, Ritchie keeps up his voluntary watch. The council recently named Ritchie and Moya, his wife of 58 years, 2010\u2019s Citizens of the Year.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s saved 160 people, according to the official tally, but that\u2019s only an estimate. Ritchie doesn\u2019t keep count. He just knows he\u2019s watched far more walk away from the edge than go over it.<\/p>\n
Dianne Gaddin likes to believe Ritchie was at her daughter\u2019s side before she jumped in 2005. Though he can\u2019t remember now, she is comforted by the idea that Tracy felt his warmth in her final moments.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s an angel,\u201d she says. \u201cMost people would be too afraid to do anything and would probably sooner turn away and run away. But he had the courage and the charisma and the care and the magnetism to reach people who were coming to the end of their tether.\u201d<\/p>\n
Something about Ritchie exudes a feeling of calm. His voice has a soothing raspiness to it, and his pale blue eyes are gentle. Though he stands tall at just over 6\u20192\u201d (an inch shorter, he notes with a grin, than he used to be), he hardly seems imposing.<\/p>\n
Each morning, he climbs out of bed, pads over to the bedroom window of his modest, two-story home, and scans the cliff. If he spots anyone standing alone too close to the precipice, he hurries to their side.<\/p>\n
Some he speaks with are fighting medical problems, others suffering mental illness. Sometimes, the ones who jump leave behind reminders of themselves on the edge – notes, wallets, shoes. Ritchie once rushed over to help a man on crutches. By the time he arrived, the crutches were all that remained.<\/p>\n
In his younger years, he would occasionally climb the fence to hold people back while Moya called the police. He would help rescue crews haul up the bodies of those who couldn\u2019t be saved. And he would invite the rescuers back to his house afterward for a comforting drink.<\/p>\n
It all nearly cost him his life once. A chilling picture captured decades ago by a local news photographer shows Ritchie struggling with a woman, inches from the edge. The woman is seen trying to launch herself over the side – with Ritchie the only thing between her and the abyss. Had she been successful, he would have gone over, too.<\/p>\n
These days, he keeps a safer distance. The council installed security cameras this year and the invention of mobile phones means someone often calls for help before he crosses the street.<\/p>\n
But he remains available to lend an ear, though he never tries to counsel, advise or pry. He just gives them a warm smile, asks if they\u2019d like to talk and invites them back to his house for tea. Sometimes, they join him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m offering them an alternative, really,\u201d Ritchie says. \u201cI always act in a friendly manner. I smile.\u201d<\/p>\n
A smile cannot, of course, save everyone; the motivations behind suicide are too varied. But simple kindness can be surprisingly effective. Mental health professionals tell the story of a note left behind by a man who jumped off San Francisco\u2019s Golden Gate Bridge. If one person smiles at me on the way to the bridge, the man wrote, I will not jump.<\/p>\n
By offering compassion, Ritchie helps those who are suicidal think beyond the terrible present moment, says psychiatrist Gordon Parker, executive director of the Black Dog Institute, a mood disorder research center that has supported the council\u2019s efforts to improve safety at The Gap.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey often don\u2019t want to die, it\u2019s more that they want the pain to go away,\u201d Parker says. \u201cSo anyone that offers kindness or hope has the capacity to help a number of people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kevin Hines wishes someone like Ritchie was there the day he jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge in 2000. For 40 agonizing minutes, the then-19-year-old paced the bridge, weeping, and hoping someone would ask him what was wrong. One tourist finally approached – but simply asked him to take her picture. Moments later, he jumped.<\/p>\n
Hines, who suffers from bipolar disorder, was severely injured, but eventually recovered. Today he says if one person had shown they were not blind to his pain, he probably would never have jumped.<\/p>\n
\u201cA smile can go a long way – caring can go even further. And the fact that he offers them tea and he just listens, he\u2019s really all they wanted,\u201d Hines says. \u201cHe\u2019s all a lot of suicidal people want.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2006, the government recognized Ritchie\u2019s efforts with a Medal of the Order of Australia, among the nation\u2019s highest civilian honors. It hangs on his living room wall above a painting of a sunshine someone left in his mailbox. On it is a message calling Ritchie \u201can angel that walks amongst us.\u201d<\/p>\n
He smiles bashfully. \u201cIt makes you – oh, I don\u2019t know,\u201d he says, looking away. \u201cI feel happy about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
But he speaks readily and fondly of one woman he saved, who came back to thank him. He spotted her sitting alone one day, her purse already beyond the fence. He invited her to his house to meet Moya and have tea. The couple listened to her problems and shared breakfast with her. Eventually, her mood improved and she drove home.<\/p>\n
A couple of months later, she returned with a bottle of champagne. And about once a year, she visits or writes, assuring them she is happy and well.<\/p>\n
There have been a few, though, that he could not save. One teenager ignored his coaxings and suddenly jumped. A wind blew the boy\u2019s hat into Ritchie\u2019s outstretched hand.<\/p>\n
He later found out the teen had lived next door, years earlier. His mother brought Ritchie flowers and thanked him for trying. If you couldn\u2019t have talked him out of it, she told him, no one could.<\/p>\n
Despite all he has seen, he says he is not haunted by the ones who were lost. He cannot remember the first suicide he witnessed, and none have plagued his nightmares. He says he does his best with each person, and if he loses one, he accepts that there was nothing more he could have done.<\/p>\n
Nor have he and Moya ever felt burdened by the location of their home.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think, \u2018Isn\u2019t it wonderful that we live here and we can help people?\u2019\u201d Moya says, her husband nodding in agreement.<\/p>\n
Their life has been a good one, they say. They raised three beautiful daughters and now have three grandchildren to adore. They have traveled the world, and their home is decorated with statues and masks from their journeys. Ritchie proudly points out a dried, shellacked piranha – a souvenir from their vacation to the Amazon, where he insisted on swimming with the creatures (to Moya\u2019s dismay).<\/p>\n
Until about a year ago, the former Navy seaman enjoyed a busy social life, regularly lunching with friends. But battles with cancer and his advancing years have taken their toll, and now he spends most days at home with Moya, buried in a good book. His current read: the Dalai Lama\u2019s \u201cThe Art of Happiness.\u201d<\/p>\n
Every now and then, he looks up from his books to scan the horizon for anyone who might need him. He\u2019ll keep doing so, he says, for as long as he\u2019s here.<\/p>\n
And when he\u2019s not?<\/p>\n
He chuckles softly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI imagine somebody else will come along and do what I\u2019ve been doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
He gazes through the glass door to the cliff outside. And his face is lit with a smile.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Despite owning a home perched atop a high cliff with a scenic ocean view in Sydney, Australia, Don and Moya Ritchie live on a plot of real estate that can best be described as something out of a bad dream. The rocky cliff is known as The Gap — the most notorious suicide destination in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1675,2090,2312,3658],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6117"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6117\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}