Mervyn van Ginkel
HOSPITAL TRAGEDY AVERTED

2 December 2009. The Tshwane Fire Services received a distressing call from a local district hospital. A teenage girl was standing on a ledge of the hospital building and threatening to jump off. Within minutes, Mervyn van Ginkel, Leading Fire Fighter and High Angle Rescuer, with his team from Innesdale Fire Station responded to the scene. An Aerial Platform from Wonderboom Fire Station was also dispatched.

When they arrived at the scene, they saw that the young girl was perched on the ledge of the hospital’s 3rd floor. She seemed traumatized and it was clear that her attempt to jump could happen any second. To make matters worse, the aerial platform that is normally used for incidents like these could not gain access to the area where she was standing.

On scene hospital staff and police negotiators had been talking to the teenager for quite some time, but she refused to show any reaction. At this point, Mervyn felt that he might succeed in persuading the teenager not to jump. He climbed through a broken window onto the ledge of the 4th floor. Hanging over the side so as not to scare her, he managed to make eye contact with the girl.

Mervyn tried to calm and reassure her that he was there to help her in her time of need. He noticed that she was extremely depressed and unhappy about something.

He continued talking to her, letting her know that he has children of his own and that he didn’t want anything to happen to her. Mervyn attached a cold drink to a piece of string and lowered it towards her but she did not want to accept it. The cold drink was an attempt to get her mind focused on something else, and so find a gap to get through to her. Unfortunately, it didn’t work.

Because she didn’t respond, Mervyn was instructed to stand down.  After some time, the police negotiator who had taken over from Mervyn asked for him to have another go as he himself was making no progress with the teenager. 

Mervyn returned to his previous position on the 4th floor and with the help of Leading Fire Fighter, George Vosloo, Mervyn donned a full body harness in anticipation of a rescue mission. When looking down, he noticed the girl had moved around the corner of the building, and out of sight. They now had to react fast.

George quickly attached a rope to Mervyn and lowered him down to the ledge of the 3rd floor. Mervyn then walked on the ledge to the corner of the building, but he could not go any further as the rope was too short. Mervyn took a calculated risk. He detached the rope from his harness and walked on the ledge to where the teenager was standing 30 metres away.

As he approached her, he turned his back to the nearest window where District Commander, Johan Meintjies, re-attached the rope to Mervyn’s harness. He then slowly moved closer, all the while talking to the young girl with a calm and reassuring voice. Once again, Mervyn offered her the cold drink that he had with him. Again, she refused.

Mervyn placed himself between the girl and the edge of the ledge to prevent her from jumping. After gaining her confidence, which took quite some time, he finally persuaded her to place a safety rope around her waist. It took all his skill to get to this point and he was worried about her state of mind. Mervyn convinced her to walk with him around the corner to an open window.

Initially, she did not want to move but after Mervyn had gained her trust, she slowly started walking with him. As they approached the window, Mervyn sat down on his haunches and let her step on his knee to climb through the window. At this stage, she froze. It seemed like she had changed her mind. Mervyn realized he had to react quickly. He grabbed her and lifted her through the window from where District Commander Meintjies and his crew pulled her to safety.

Mervyn could not believe the applause he received from the hospital staff and people on the ground who had watched the whole drama unfold.

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