In just over three months, Midgley Bridge has been the site of four suicides — the most recent coming on Sunday, Dec. 6.  

At just after 2 p.m. emergency personnel responded to the bridge after receiving a call of an apparent suicide.

The Sedona Police Department assisted with traffic control while rescuers from the Sedona Fire District brought the body up from the canyon floor.

According to Coconino County Sheriff’s Office’s Lt. Kelly Barr, the victim was identified as 41-year-old Suzanne Marie Wilson of Sedona.

This suicide comes on the heels of others who took their own lives off the bridge on Aug. 27, Oct. 5 and Oct. 25. By comparison, from 2004 to 2014, according to the CCSO, there were eight total.

SFD Battalion Chief Jayson Coil was the one who reported Wilson on the bridge and witnessed her fall. He said a family member called him to say they saw a woman walking on the bridge and they were unsure of her intentions. Coil, who was at Station 4 in Uptown, immediately started driving to the scene after requesting dispatch to send an engine and ambulance and to notify law enforcement.

When he arrived, Wilson was standing on the outer portion of the bridge, facing it while holding onto the railing.

“I parked about three feet from her and turned off the siren,” he said. “I jumped out of my vehicle and my thought was to close the distance between us. Because of our size difference, I felt confident that if I got a hand on her, I wouldn’t be putting myself at risk.

“She didn’t say anything to me and all I was able to get out was ‘Don’t.’ And that was it.”

He immediately looked over the edge to see if he could see her and to try and ensure that she was not the only jumper. He said unfortunately there were people both on the bridge and below whom he fears saw Wilson fall.

“I don’t know what the lasting consequences may be for those who witnessed her fall,” he said. “From what I have read some suffer from post-traumatic-stress-like symptoms. And even though we’re trained, I hate having to send anyone down on those types of rescues.”

Normally, CCSO sends its search and rescue team to lead in body recoveries from Midgley. But because they were on other calls, they said it would be two hours before they could get to the scene. Concerned that additional people would see the body and not being completely certain of Wilson’s fate, Coil sent SFD’s team down into the canyon for the recovery.

For Coil, Wilson’s suicide reminded him of his family’s own tragedy. Five years ago his older nephew was on his way to Phoenix, where he was being treated for cancer. He was struck by a drunk driver and killed. Never having fully dealt with the grief of losing his brother, Coil’s younger nephew took his own life two years later.

“I don’t know the level of pain people go through who commit suicide,” he said. “But I do know, intimately, the hurt and angst felt from those loved ones left behind.

“Sunday night, I was sitting there doing some research and kept asking myself if there was anything more I could have done to help her [Wilson]. Then I wondered what more we can be doing to help prevent Sedona from becoming known as a suicide destination. I’m not sure what the answer is but something needs to be done.”