I came home to my apartment one morning. It was a really nice morning. The sun was shining and the temperature was pretty mild and comfortable. It was early spring, the time of year when the weather is perfect in Austin, TX.
As I started climbing the outdoor stairs to my second floor apartment, I heard a noise behind me. When I turned around, I saw a guy on the back porch of the bottom level apartment in the adjacent building. He was hanging himself with a belt from the deck of the second floor apartment above him. He must have just kicked the stool out as I got home because he was swinging and clearly still alive.
I shouted to my wife to get a knife and I ran back down to where the guy was and held him up until my wife got there and we cut him down. He was crying and talking about his girlfriend or something. He was pretty intoxicated on something but I don't know what. Someone from inside the apartment came out and said they'd take care of him and make sure he got help so I left. It was weird. I think it was more of a cry for help than a real suicide attempt, but it was real enough.
I never saw the guy again and his apartment was vacant not too long after that so I don't know what ended up happening to him. I doubt that he killed himself, but who knows.
