CHICAGO (CBS) — A Major League Baseball umpire who grew up and lives in Oak Lawn is being hailed as a hero, after saving a woman’s life before a game in Pittsburgh this week.
John Tumpane, 34, was jogging on the Roberto Clemente Bridge just hours before Wednesday night’s game at PNC Park, when he saw a woman climb over the railing, apparently to kill herself.
“I just approached her, and I said, ‘Hey, what’s going on?’ She said, ‘Oh, I just want to get a better look from this side of the rail,’” he said. “I just kind of put my arm on her shoulder, and I said, ‘Oh no, why don’t you come back on this side? You know, it’s the same view over here.’”
Tumpane said when the woman told him “No, I’m good,” he knew she wasn’t just getting a better view.
“She said, ‘Just let me go, it’ll be better off that way,’ and I said, ‘No, come on, let me buy you lunch. Why don’t you come back on this side, and we’ll talk things over. It’ll all work out,’” Tumpane said.
Tumpane, and then later a couple other people, then held on to the woman until more help arrived.
“A couple times slipped her legs off the ledge, and became dead weight, and I just was thinking that this has got to be a good ending, and not a bad ending,” Tumpane said after the game.
His grandmother, Kathryn Tokars, said it’s just like her grandson to stop and help someone.
“He showed just the type of person he is. He comes from a family that would be just indicative of the situation,” he said. “He’s a caring person, a Christian person, and just an all-around good guy; a lot of personality.”
Tumpane said after police and paramedics eventually helped bring the woman to safety, he promised her he would never forget her.
“This was an unbelievable day, and I’m glad to say that she can have another day with us, and I’m glad I was in the right place at the right time,” he said.
from CBS Chicago http://ift.tt/2s67X9G
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