Teen Survives Golden Gate Bridge Jump

Note to teenagers: These kinds of dares don’t usually end well. A 17-year-old boy on a high school field trip to the Golden Gate bridge leapt off and lived. He told the surfer who rescued him that he did it “for kicks.” The school district said he received no severe injuries from the 220-foot plunge. The fall kills dozens of people each year, usually with massive internal injuries and skull fractures. Students say the boy recently transferred from another school, and one classmate said, “He did it to try to look cool.” Nevertheless, the California Highway Patrol is currently investigating the incident as an attempted suicide. After all, 99 percent of the estimated 1,500-plus people who have jumped from the bridge since it opened in 1937 died from the fall.