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CNN Sunday Morning

Suicide Attempt Helps Florida Man Bond With His Father

Aired September 09, 2001 - 08:46   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN ANCHOR: Back in May, depression led a Florida man to the brink of suicide, and then over the edge. But Hanns Jones survived that attempt and today he is grateful for it, because it may help him repair a relationship with his father, a man he never really knew.

This is a great story. Hanns Jones joins us now to talk about all of this, from Tampa. Along with Lynn-Marie Carty, who is founder of ReunitePeople.com. Thank you both for being here this morning.

LYNN-MARIE CARTY, REUNITEPEOPLE.COM: Thanks for having us.

MCEDWARDS: Hanns, we know that you had terrible injuries in your fall. How are you doing now?

HANNS JONES, ATTEMPTED SUICIDE: Before I say anything, I'd like to say thank you to the Holiday Inn and Gators on the Pass at Treasure Island. I'm doing quite well. Remarkable recovery. This is a halo, it's going to have to be on for a couple of more weeks, so...

MCEDWARDS: Take us back, Hanns, to that day in May, I mean, what was it that took you to that bridge and made you decide to jump?

JONES: I had a bad hair day. No, there was a lot of things going on in my life that, you know, kind of brought along things to that point. You know, I don't know that I can say that it was really any one thing in particular.

MCEDWARDS: Was it about your, the relationship you didn't have with your dad?

JONES: I don't, I don't -- no, I can't really say that. I've always wanted to meet my father and that's something that has been very important to me. I had a broken relationship as far as, you know, with my girlfriend, there were things that were going on. A lot of stress in general. I would say I fell in love.

MCEDWARDS: Oh, dear. You make this jump. People see you jump. And the way I see it described in the news stories here, you literally decide on your way down that this is not a good idea. You swim to shore? Tell me about that.

JONES: Yeah. Yeah. Well, you know, the will to live is a powerful thing, you know. MCEDWARDS: Well, what was it that made you decide you wanted to live?

JONES: Well, being alive is sweet. You know, it was really a beautiful moment in the sense that you're right there where it's all going to be taken away, it's all going to be gone, and you change your mind. I just, you know, I'm an important person in the sense that my life matters to other people and, you know, it gave me a sense that life matters to me. So, yeah, 200 feet and I swam to the shore and climbed on the rocks and waved down the Coast Guard. It sounds pretty incredible...

MCEDWARDS: Yeah, it's astounding, Hanns. And then Lynn-Marie, who is there beside you, finds out about you how? Lynn-Marie, can you tell us how you two came together?

CARTY: Well, I read about Hanns Jones on the front page of our local newspaper and I just was compelled to -- I realized that if anybody could find his dad, ReunitePeople.com would be able to locate him and I went to the hospital to visit Hanns and as soon as we met, I really could see that he had a lot of living to do and we were on a mission. And I knew our team of investigators would be able to locate his dad.

So, within six days we were able to call Hanns and let him know that we just spoke to his father.

MCEDWARDS: Well, Lynn-Marie, how did you find his father in six days? I imagine that's not typical of most cases.

CARTY: Well, in this particular case, I worked with all of our team on it around the clock to be able to locate him in such a short amount of time. On a normal case, sometimes it will take us a few weeks, maybe four weeks. We're at the point right now where a lot of cases, we're able to be a court-appointed intermediaries, where we get adoption files opened.

But in this particular case, we just did a lot of searching and a lot of looking and we wanted to make sure that we were able to find him as soon as possible so that Hanns could realize that the community and whole nation is in support of him. We just wanted him to have another chance.

MCEDWARDS: Well, and, Hanns, how do you feel about that? Now that your father has been found, you've had this support?

JONES: Oh, grateful is the word. Yeah, there is more to it. On my birth certificate, the dates of my, the age of my father is actually two years off and there was no social security number, no service number. You know, it was essentially looking for a needle in a haystack. I mean, I had looked for about ten years, so six days is kind of a miracle.

MCEDWARDS: Yeah, it sure sounds like it. Well, thank you both. We've got to leave it there, but I understand your reunion with your father happens Monday and we wish you well, Hanns, really. Thank you both.

JONES: Thank you very much.

CARTY: Thank you for having us. Thank you very much.

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