Woman helps save teen from possible suicide. The outpatient clinician drew on ‘real life experience’

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Kaylee Latham was able to use her professional expertise as an outpatient counselor at the Institute of Living when she encountered a young woman up on a bridge, looking like she was ready to jump.

But Latham believes her life experience also helped her engage with the teenager and keep her calm until police arrived and averted a suicide attempt.

Latham, 29, of Manchester, did not have it easy as a teenager and could relate well to the young woman sitting above her.

“I became a therapist because I had a pretty rough adolescent period and young adult period,” Latham said. “I have some real life experience with some of this stuff.”

Latham has been with Hartford HealthCare since 2016, when she volunteered as a mental health worker while a student at Eastern Connecticut State University. She returned for a three-year program and is now a licensed professional counselor associate.

On July 20, it all came together on the Cheney Rail Trail in Manchester.

It was the first morning that Latham was able to take her 9-month-old golden retriever, Marley, for a walk before work and to beat the heat of the day. While she headed up the trail, another walker told her about the woman on the bridge. She ran down the trail to find the teen about 12 feet above her, overlooking a 40-foot drop.

“She was just sitting there swinging her legs, and so I just naturally didn’t want to make her feel bombarded,” Latham said. “I kind of had a sense of what was going on and so I took a picture. There’s an overlook, a park with a pond with fountains … and I slowly walked towards the middle of the bridge and engaged her in a conversation. She was very not talkative at first.”

While the woman was sitting with her head down and her hair hiding most of her face, Latham noticed she wore...