21-Year-old woman puts “notes of hope” on bridge where she almost took her life

• Paige Hunter once wanted to take her own life at Sunderland Bridge in England.
• But the words of two strangers who approached her, saying “You are worth so much more than this,” changed her life.
• Since that day in 2018, Paige has been leaving notes of encouragement on the bridge, which likewise saved many lives!

Paige Hunter, 21, once stood on the edge of the Sunderland Bridge in England, contemplating to end her life. If not for two strangers, who told her “You are worth so much more than this,” she might not be alive now telling this beautiful story.

“I was going through a lot at the time and dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder,” Paige told The Washington Post, but those words have changed her life.

The next day, she wrote exactly the words she received from the strangers, and posted the piece of paper with the note on the Wearmouth Bridge. Ever since that day in 2018, Paige has never stopped leaving uplifting messages at the bridge, hoping she would help struggling people not to take their lives.

In the past three years, Paige has decorated the bridge with over 1,000 signs!

“Don’t give up. Not now, not tomorrow, not ever, and “Even though things are difficult, your life matters” are just some of her “Notes of Hope.”

Paige received countless messages from strangers, thanking her for her initiative. One was Callum Doggrell, who told The Post that the notes kept him alive, despite his suicidal thoughts in 2019.

“I was going through a really rough patch, and I was at a point in my life where I didn’t want to be here anymore,” Callum said. But as he read one of Hunter’s signs, saying “Pause. Stop. Breathe. There are better options, and so many people who love you,” his life was “saved.”

People struggling with mental health and depression weren’t the only ones who took notice of Paige’s work. In 2018, the Northumbria Police Department also recognized her.

“Paige has shown an incredible understanding of vulnerable people in need of support,” the Police Chief Superintendent Sarah Pitt told BBC at the time. “For somebody so young, Paige has shown a real maturity and we thought it would only be right to thank her personally.”

This whole thing is not only giving hope to other people who are going through what Paige has gone through herself. In return, the 21-year-old is continuously getting better, finding what she does “definitely therapeutic.”

“I believe helping other people has helped me tremendously,” she said, adding: “I feel really grateful that I’ve been able to help people through my own struggle.”

This goes to show that everything happens for a reason. Paige has gone through that challenging time, so she can be an instrument to raise others up.

You have a beautiful purpose, Paige. We are proud of you.

Source: PEOPLE.com