NYPD Officer Christian Campoverde saved a man from jumping from a Queens Center Mall balcony last week. (Photo: NYPD News)
ELMHURST, Queens – A hero cop saved a man’s life by asking him a simple question: do you want a hug?
Officer Christian Campoverde was Christmas shopping with his family at Queens Center Mall last week when he heard a distraught man mumbling that he wanted to kill himself, according to the NYPD News.
Campoverde, who was off-duty at the time, noticed something didn’t seem right with the man and followed him to a balcony area where the man had one leg over a railing. There, Campoverde began to talk to him about why he wanted to end his life and as both strangers connected, he said “Is it OK if I give you a hug, do you want a hug?”
The man replied with a yes and was taken safely by EMS for evaluation.
“I just saw somebody who needed help,” Campoverde, who finalized the NYPD’s Crisis Intervention Team training the week prior, said.
The training focuses on assisting officers on how they can recognize signs of mental illness, respond to such calls and helping someone in a crisis.
