Cop who helped talk suicidal woman off NYC bridge vows to stick with her

Meet the New York City cop with nerves of steel — and a heart of gold.

She’s Det. Meghan Kinsella, who rushed to Queens’ Kosciuszko Bridge when she heard over her police radio that a suicidal woman was threatening to jump.

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<p>Det. Meghan Kinsella.
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<p>Det. Meghan Kinsella.
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When the 14-year veteran got to the scene, she ran up to fellow Det. Steven Stefanakos, to help, according to an NYPD account.

“I tried to convince her that no matter what, we would be with her every step of the way,” Kinsella said in a police department news release. “He would talk and I would talk. I didn’t even realize I was there for two hours. I was completely focused on her.”

The woman was distraught over marital and family troubles and Kinsella’s experience as a domestic violence officer made her a good tag-team partner with Stefanakos, a 24-year veteran and expert hostage negotiator with Emergency Service Unit Truck 10, the NYPD said.

“It was nice to have a female voice there to reach out to her,” said Stefanakos, who teaches officers how to interact with emotionally disturbed persons in crisis, the NYPD said.

Stefanakos was worried she was about to jump, because the woman, standing on a bridge ledge high above the Newtown Creek, had let go of a thick wire.

She took hold of the wire again when he asked if she has family, or children. It turned out, the Brooklyn woman is a mother of one, The Daily News reports.

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<p>Det. Steven Stefanakos
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<p>Det. Steven Stefanakos
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Stefanakos and Kinsella, who has no formal negotiation training, both have children and knew at that point they had made an important connection, according to the NYPD account of Monday’s drama.

“I’m a mom so I just wanted to get her home safe with her family,” said Kinsella, who works out of the108 precinct in Long Island City, Queens.

A video of the ordeal shows the moment the woman reached up to the hero and s-hero.

She is now in hospital and getting help.

Kinsella told the woman that she would stay in touch with her in the future, to make sure she is okay, reports The News in Wednesday editions.“I’m staying in contact and I’mgoing to reach out to her, she has my word,” Kinsella said.

Great to recognize the heroics of Det’s Stefanakos & Kinsella as well as PO Neumann today. http://t.co/nOSickFlSm pic.twitter.com/OhByMcxEq9

— Commissioner Bratton (@CommissBratton) April 7, 2015