Beachy Head

Not far from Eastbourne, a faded pink British beach resort you'll find the breathtaking cliff of Beachy Head. In summer it's overcrowded by mainly senior tourists who come out for the day to gape at the old lighthouse or to picnic at the edge of the 165 meters high cliff.

But it's a totally different kind of visitors that gave Beachy Head its morbid reputation. Every year an average of 20 people jumps from the cliff towards their death. It makes Beachy Head the #1 suicide spot in the world.

Gary Russell, a now retired coast guard, brought more than one hundred bodies up. "Why they do it, I still don't know". His colleague: "If you start thinking about reasons, you will become a mess yourself".

99% of the persons who jump don't survive.

"Men tend to jump over the edge, women prefer to slide" knows Dr.John Surtees, a medical archivist who investigated all cases from the last 30 years.

A phone booth near the cliff gives a last opportunity to hold on to life.

From here you can call the "Samaritans" for emotional guidance. But those who already have made up their mind won't let themselves be stopped by a social worker.

Bill Hull did make a call before he jumped, "to let my wife know where I was". The jump from Beachy Head was supposed to bring him peace, to make an end to his unbearable depressions. "It's not a trip to paradise, it's a way out of hell". But his "way out of hell" ended at a ledge halfway down. He is paralysed  now, using a wheelchair to move around. Six years after his jump he has the courage to go back to Beachy Head. Just like then a bus brings him up to 15 meters from the edge. Just like then, the wind blows fiercely. And just like then, there is a rescue helicopter hovering in the sky. One more suicide that summer.