"Just hanging on to her and at times when she wanted to go the other way, I was like, 'not on my watch,'" John Tumpane said in a press conference Wednesday night.
The Major League Baseball umpire stopped a woman from jumping off the Roberto Clemente Bridge before Wednesday night's Pittsburgh Pirates game at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.
"I was able to mouth to one of the gentlemen in back, and said, 'Call 911, call 911,' and they did," he said.
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Tumpane was walking across the bridge on the way from his hotel to the park, where he was scheduled to work behind the plate.
He came across a woman in distress, apparently preparing to jump from off the bridge.
He said he locked his arms in hers and offered to buy her lunch, desperately trying to coax her back to safety.
"At that point she said, 'Just let me go, it'll be better off that way.' And I said, 'No, let me buy you lunch, we'll talk this over, it'll all work out,'" Tumpane said.
During the press conference, he said between innings he would look at the Roberto Clemente Bridge over the center field wall.
"This was an unbelievable day and I'm glad to say that she can have another day with us," Tumpane said. "This isn't about me. I appreciate the opportunity but honestly, this is for her and people that care about her. I'm just glad it's a positive story and not a sad story."
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