LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A near tragedy connects Charles Smith and Louisville Metro Police Sgt. Christina Beaven.
The two met several years ago, when Beaven helped Smith while he was hanging from the Clark Memorial Bridge.
"I just kept feeling that God was telling me to go," said Beaven, who was patrolling downtown Louisville at the time. "It was very clear to me — I needed to go."
When Beaven arrived at the bridge, she found Smith "on the outside, hanging on with his arms wrapped."
"I was beating up myself, and somebody else was helping me beat up myself," Smith said. "So, it was just too much pressure for me. I wanted to end my life."
The Clark Memorial Bridge in downtown Louisville
"He had been there for about 45 minutes, and he was exhausted," Beaven added.
Smith said Beaven talked to him "like a mother would with a child."
Charles Smith
"She told me that I was special and had a lot to live for," he added.
"I told him I loved him; that God loved him and that God had a plan and purpose for his life," Beaven said.
Smith and Beaven walked away from Clark Memorial Bridge that day but lost touch. Years later, their paths crossed while they were on opposite sides of social unrest.
For months, the demand for racial justice has been very loud and very visible on the streets of downtown Louisville. Smith is not a regular protester but has attended a few of the demonstrations.
"Just to see a change," Smith said. "Change in the community."
Beaven, meanwhile, has been on the front lines as hundreds of people have taken to the streets to demand justice in the Breonna Taylor case.
"It's been stressful on all of us," she said. "It's a stressful time for everybody."
LMPD Sgt. Christina Beaven
Protesters at Jefferson Square Park on Sept. 23 began marching after a grand jury announced its decision in the Taylor case. Amid the tense moment, Smith and Beaven reconnected on a busy East Broadway.
"I hadn't seen her, but I never forgot her," Smith said. "... I just went up to her and said, 'Hey, Ms. Lady,' and I gave her a hug."
"He said, 'You don't remember me, do you?'" Beaven recalled. "I said, 'I do, but I can't place it.' He said, 'You talked me off of the bridge.'
"My eyes started to fill with tears," she added, "because I've been looking for him for the last couple of years."
Smith said he's never forgotten the message Beaven shared with him on the bridge.
"I can accomplish anything and beat anything," he said.
Despite the recent stress and pressures of the job, Beaven said reconnecting with Smith provided some much-needed joy.
"I took this job because I love people," said Beaven, who shared a picture of her and Smith to Facebook. The picture has accumulated thousands of likes, shares and comments.
"I said, 'You know, this means so much to me, I want everybody to have a little hope,'" she added.
Beaven has spent the last several years working a beat in west Louisville. She is known for connecting with the people she's sworn to protect and serve.
"I treated everybody with respect and try to love people for who they are," she said.
Now that Beaven and Smith have reconnected, they plan to stay in touch.
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