In a dramatic incident captured on dashcam video, a Maine police officer recently saved the life of a woman who was preparing to jump off a bridge into the Androscoggin River.

Topsham Police Officer Lucas Shirland was dispatched to the Merrymeeting Bridge after the department received a report of a woman sitting on the railing. He approached her and asked if they could talk; she nodded, but he noticed her looking down and scooting closer to the edge. Shirland knew he needed to act. “It was just gut reaction,” he later told WMTW News.

In a split second, the officer reached out, grabbed the woman and pulled her back over the railing and onto the safety of the sidewalk. She was taken to a hospital for further evaluation, though Shirland noted that she had told him she’d already been there earlier that day. Systemic issues such as a lack of inpatient beds mean the department sees frequent and recurring cases such as these.

“We deal with mental health calls on a daily basis, multiple times a day,” he said. In fact, the Merrymeeting Bridge has been the site of at least two other confrontations between police and people in crisis within the past several years. Both of those ended in officer-involved shootings after the subjects threatened officers with weapons.

This encounter, at least, has a chance of a better outcome. “She said she’s been suffering from depression for many years and just wanted to end it,” Shirland said. “I was just doing my job and, hopefully, she gets the help she needs.”