A woman out shopping has told how she saved the life of a man threatening to jump from a footbridge over a motorway.
Christine Redmond, 68, said she wanted to share her story to encourage more to be done for people suffering with mental health issues.
And she believes the railings on the bridge over the M67 in Tameside are far too low - and should be heightened or altered in design.
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Christine, from Audenshaw, Tameside, told how she dropped her shopping bags then grabbed the man and pulled him backwards to safety.
"He indicated that he was fed up," she said.
"He had boots on with no laces and he was slightly unkempt.
"I know a lot of people who say they hate crossing that bridge.
"When you walk across, the railings only go up to your waist - it's not very high.
"There were three young kids in front of me and it would have traumatised them - it would have been awful.
"I did not think of my own safety. I just grabbed him and that was it."
Retired Christine, who worked in children's services, was walking across the bridge after a shopping trip at the time.
"It was just surreal," she said.
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"I walked over the bridge with my bags and things. There were a couple of kids in front of me then I just saw the chap - he was about 30 yards away.
"He had got one leg over the railing with the motorway underneath. He was trying to get his other leg over.
"Had he of sat on that railing he would have fallen, there is no doubt about it.
"I put my shopping down and put my arms under his shoulders and pulled him back. He did not want to come back.
"I told him to put his legs up slowly and pulled him back off the railings.
"He turned to me and I asked him if he was alright and he just said 'yes' - then 'thanks very much'.
"He shook my hand.
"He said thanks for saving my life.
"I offered him money and told him to get a coffee.
"He seemed grateful that somebody took the time to stop him."
The Manchester Evening News isn't identifying the bridge involved.
Christine said the man, who she believed was aged in his 40s, didn't give her his name and walked away before she could speak with him further.
"Something definitely needs to be done about the bridge," she said.
"It isn't safe".
In 2019, council bosses claimed highways chiefs were yet to agree to make the bridge safer.
At the time, a Highways England spokesman said it was not always possible to make structural alterations to bridges.
The M.E.N. has previously reported on the 'Bridge the Gap' project, which has seen handwritten messages of support attached to dozens of bridges over motorways across the region.
National Highways said there were no current plans to increase the height of the fencing, but said it was exploring plans to improve lighting along the bridge and cut back vegetation.
They said they were currently in the process of increasing the height of parapet fences on five other structures in Greater Manchester.
A spokesperson for National Highways said: "We take this issue to heart and work with a range of organisations with the aim that no-one attempts to take their life on our roads.
"We work closely with the Samaritans and are members of the National Suicide Prevention Alliance and Greater Manchester Suicide Prevention steering group.
"We are always looking for ways to improve our practices, both for colleagues and the public, to enable prevention."
