Suicide takes the lives of nearly 30,000 Americans every year according to Suicide Awareness Voices of Education. 

However, a Tarleton State University senior was able to hold back that number by one.

On July 17, Blake Pryor, a criminal justice major, was driving down State Hwy. 45 on his way home from work when he spotted a woman on top of the overpass near Round Rock. 

“I don’t know the reason why I (stopped),” Pryor told Media Relations. “I was coming up the bridge and assumed the car had a flat tire or broke down. No one wants to be stuck on a bridge, and, when I saw the woman for the first time, I noticed something was wrong because she was visibly distressed. I connected all the dots and then figured she was trying to jump off the bridge.”

When pulling over to assist, Pryor said the first thing he told the woman was he was willing to talk for as long as she wanted.

“She told me she did not want to talk and wanted to jump,” Pryor said. “I kept talking to her and she calmed down after awhile. Then the police arrived and she started lunging towards the edge. I stood in between her and the edge, pushed her back and wrapped my arms around her.”

Pryor said he was telling the woman that “her choice was a final choice and there was no turning back once she jumped.”

“I also shared a story with her about a family member who committed suicide and how his parents handled that,” Pryor said.

By then, Round Rock police officer Chis Cox arrived and restrained the woman.

“It’s not every day you find or come across someone like Blake,” Cox said in an interview with Media Relations. “If he wouldn’t have been there, I can guarantee she would have jumped.”

The Round Rock Police Department’s Assistant Chief Troy Evans and others at the agency thanked Pryor for his actions by presenting the Tarleton student with a “Challenge Coin.”

When asked if he believed he was a hero, Pryor said “Not at all, just doing what I have always been taught to do by my parents and the Lord.”

Even though Pryor doesn’t consider himself to be a hero, he saved a woman from taking her life. 

According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, someone in the country dies by suicide every 13.3 minutes.

“It’s not worth it, no matter how difficult something is or how bad you think your life is there’s always a way out,” Pryor said. “Talk to someone and get help for you and most importantly, help yourself.”