Injured Raiders fan on saving jumping woman: No regrets ‘at all’
A lifelong Raiders fan is crediting his training as a Marine for his life-saving reaction to a woman who jumped from a ledge at Oakland Coliseum over the weekend.
Out of the hospital and recovering, Donnie Navidad, 61, told local media he felt obligated to try and catch the woman after she leapt from third-floor seating onto a second-floor concourse about 45 feet down.
“When you react to something you react without any hesitation at all and you just do what you got to do,†Navidad told KTVU. “Had I not done it, that would’ve been etched in my brain for the rest of my life.â€
About 4:30 p.m., the woman dangled her legs over the ledge while others urged her not to jump. When she leapt, Navidad put himself between her and the ground, absorbing much of the fall. Navidad was injured and the woman remained listed in critical condition Monday.
Had Navidad not been there to break her fall when he tried to catch her, she would have died, officials said.
“Without him doing that, there’s no question what would have happened,†said Alameda County sheriff’s Sgt. J.D. Nelson.
Sitting on his couch wearing a Raiders polo, his left biceps and elbow purpled with bruises, Navidad told KCBS-Bay Area he couldn’t bear to see the woman perish.
“I even yelled up to her not to do it,†he said. “She’s a young lady that’s still got a whole lot of life left in her.â€
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Twitter: @josephserna l @cindychangLA
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