Marquand fishermen pull suicidal woman from Diversion Channel

From the frigid water, the woman begged the three fishermen to let her die.

It was what she wanted, she told them. It was why she jumped from the bridge on Interstate 55 Friday afternoon, and fell the 14 feet into the unusually high waters of the Diversion Channel.

But the three generations of Fischer men -- Bob Fischer, his son Richard Fischer, and Bob's grandson Nathan Vomund -- were hellbent on saving her life.

They had been bow fishing, had driven from their homes in Marquand, Mo., to Cape Girardeau to try to catch some bighead carp. They hadn't had any luck.

As their 14-foot johnboat floated under the bridge along I-55 at about 2:30 p.m., they heard someone talking on the bridge. They looked up to see a woman in her late 20s, sitting on the side of the bridge, legs dangling.

Before they knew what was happening, they saw her stand up and jump.

They turned their boat around and paddled to the woman. They reached into the water for her, but she fought back. At one point, she even tried to bite them.

"Leave me alone!" she yelled at them. "I want to die!"

Richard Fischer told her that there was no reason to kill herself. Life was never that bad.

"I told her that her life was no worse than mine," Richard Fischer said. "I haven't been able to find a job in six months. I've got three other mouths to feed. I have bills so stacked up, I don't know how I'll ever pay them. I told her she didn't have to do this."

The woman shouted back that nobody cared about her. That they didn't understand.

Bob Fischer told her they did, that's why they were trying to save her life. The men reached in and grabbed her by the arms. She finally let them.

"You're not alone," Bob Fischer told her. "We're here. You think nobody cares, but we do. We wouldn't be here holding on to you if we didn't. You're the reason we're here."

They pulled the woman to the bank of the Diversion Channel. By this time, the incident had been reported to the authorities and emergency responders from Cape Girardeau and Scott City were situated along the bank. A Cape Girardeau fireman waded into the water and pulled her out.

From start to finish, the incident took place in about 15 minutes.

The woman was taken by ambulance to Southeast Hospital for psychiatric evaluation, police said.

The authorities said the woman was lucky the men were there.

"I think the fact that there was a boat already in the water mitigated the situation from getting any worse," said Mark Hashheider, assistant chief for the Cape Girardeau Fire Department. "We were en route, but it would have taken time to get a boat in the water. The water temperature would have become a concern. She's lucky there was someone close."

After the commotion had died down, the three men were packing up their gear and about to head home. They all agreed that they were glad they were able to help someone who felt so alone that she wanted to end her life. Or maybe it was just a cry for help, Bob Fischer said.

"We came here to catch some fish," Bob Fischer said. "We caught her. There's no reason to kill yourself. I hope she remembers that."

smoyers@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent Address:

Diversion Channel, Scott City, MO