Sarasota officers celebrated after saving man's life during mental health crisis
Officers save man during mental health crisis
Three Sarasota police officers are being called heroes after saving a man during a mental health crisis. FOX 13's Danielle Zulkosky reports.
SARASOTA, Fla. - Three Sarasota police officers are being called heroes after saving a man during a mental health crisis.
Timeline:
The man was sitting on the top of a parking garage in the early morning hours on Friday, March 27th.
Officer Michal Banasiak arrived and started speaking to the man to try to convince him to get down.
Two other officers arrived on scene shortly after to help.
The man reached out and asked for help opening a can. That was when Officer Banasiak managed to grab the man and pull him off the ledge.
"This was life and death situation," Banasiak said. "So, at that time, the adrenaline was just like, I dumped all the adrenaline. I was extremely nervous."
Local perspective:
He credits the training that the Sarasota Police Department gives these officers.
"I was extremely calm. I guess immediately the training kicked in," Banasiak said. "And I'm like, all right, I'm just going to stop, calm down, we'll just talk to him. I can't do much right now. All I can do is just talk."
What we know:
There are a lot of tools in an officer’s belt, but when it comes to a person experiencing a mental health crisis, all you have is your voice and your understanding.
"I can promise you, I know that you saw a lot of cars, a lot of cops, but you are in zero trouble," Banasiak said to the man during the crisis.
It only took five minutes for this officer to convince this man to come down.
What they're saying:
He said his past profession helps him to better connect to people.
"I was in the restaurant business, probably it helped with establishing the rapport with the person, because that's what I've done for the past 15 years, just listening to people," Banasiak said.
Officer Orlando Perez was one of the officers providing backup.
"We came up, no lights, no sirens," Perez said. "Even the headlights, we shut them off before we even arrived to the sixth floor. Not coming up fast, just nice and easy."
The other officers helped take the man safely to the hospital once he came down from the ledge.
"The fact that that person reached out and said, hey, can you help me with this? That's a golden opportunity," Perez said in reference to the man asking for help with the can.
Why you should care:
They want to bring awareness to this issue. According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the US.
"Please reach out, talk to someone, and take care of your mental health," Banasiak said. "Because today is that day that you don't feel well, but this will pass. It's gonna get better, and there's a lot of help that we can offer."
These officers know they are not mental health experts, but they have the ability to save a life.
"It doesn't mean that I got a great experience that now I'm like a specialist- not at all," Banasiak said. "Every single one of those situations will be different. I can only wish that every single one will end the way this one did."
What we don't know:
The police were unable to share any information about the man's condition due to privacy concerns.
Resources
If you or a loved one is feeling distressed, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The crisis center provides free and confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to civilians and veterans. If you or someone you know needs support now, call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org.
The Source: Information in this story comes from the Sarasota Police Department, statistics from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and interviews done by Fox 13's Danielle Zulkosky.