For Luhe “Otter” Villagomez, a class field trip to the Golden Gate Bridge provided him with the perfect opportunity to take a leap of faith – literally.
Villagomez, who was then 17, decided to jump off the famed bridge in 2011, plummeting more than 200 feet to the water below, according to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. He credits the decision to jump to his history of leaping off bridges in his hometown of Folsom, Calif. during his youth, telling two of his high school classmates that he jumped off the bridge “just for kicks.”
Upon landing in the San Francisco bay, Villagomez was assisted by a surfer – however, he doesn’t give him total credit for saving his life.
“They say the surfer saved me, but really I was like, on there,” Villagomez said during his interview with the Press Democrat, remembering how he also tried to surf back to shore.
He was lucky that he only suffered a broken tailbone and a punctured lung in the fall. Villagomez also received a five-day suspension from his school, as he was on a high school field trip when he made the leap.
Now 19 and a student at Santa Rosa Junior College, Villagomez leads a relatively normal life as a college student majoring in art.
Fortunately, Villagomez has learned his lesson and doesn’t recommend that others pursue the stunt. According to data from the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District, 315 people have died jumping from the bridge in the past decade alone.
“Don’t even try it,” Villagomez told Giovanni Armador and Jeramie Taylor, two Santa Rosa students who are working on a story about the jump, according to the Press Democrat. “If they asked me and then they got hurt, I would feel like I was responsible.”
