The article tells of a series of incredible suicide attempts that for various reasons ended not in death but in rescue and severe injuries. Special attention is given to a man who jumped into Niagara Falls and survived 45 minutes in icy water, as well as other striking cases from different countries. The piece makes one think about how often such desperate acts turn into an unexpected chance at life.

An unsuccessful suicide attempt the day before ended for one 40-year-old man who decided to end his life by jumping into Niagara Falls. According to Niagara Parks police, one of the tourists noticed a man about 40 years old climbing over a wall. A few seconds later, the unknown man jumped into the Horseshoe Falls.
Some time later, the man was spotted in the Niagara River, but when rescuers offered to pull him out of the water, he refused, continuing to swim down the river. As a result, the rescue service had to call in a helicopter.
In the end, the man, after jumping from a height of 56 meters and spending 45 minutes in icy water, not only remained alive, but also got away with a minor head injury and hypothermia.
This is not the first case of such a rescue: in 2003, another suicide attempt ended with the person surviving after jumping into Niagara Falls.
Just over a month ago, an Italian jumped from the fourth floor and got away with only broken legs. A year ago, a young Frenchwoman tried to take her own life by jumping from the first level of the Eiffel Tower - from a height of more than 50 meters. As a result, the 25-year-old woman was taken to the hospital with serious injuries, but survived.
In China, a suicide attempt turned into a show: while the police spent six hours persuading a woman who intended to kill herself to leave the roof of a high-rise building, enterprising merchants set up sales of water and biscuits on the crowded streets. One of the vendors even began selling binoculars so that those who wished could see what was happening in all its detail. According to the newspaper, many people stood for hours with their heads tilted back, afraid to miss the decisive outcome. To the disappointment of those present, after six hours of negotiations the police managed to convince the woman to abandon her intentions.
A suicide attempt also ended in failure for a Montenegrin, undertaken in February of this year. A 52-year-old resident of Montenegro's capital, Podgorica, having written his own obituary and comfortably settled into a coffin bought in advance, shot himself in the head with a pistol. The bullet pierced both his jaws, exited through his nose, and then shattered a shop window. The suicide survived; no vital organ was damaged by the shot.
However, some suicides survive even after five shots to the head. That is how many times an 84-year-old Argentine shot himself in the head (and once more in the chest) last year. After that, he did not even lose consciousness.
And in 2006, doctors in the head of an American from Oregon, who came to a local hospital complaining of a headache, discovered 12 nails. The patient himself was never able to explain what had happened to him. But, presumably, the day before, after taking drugs, he attempted suicide with a construction nail gun. The man fired 5-centimeter nails 6 times into his right temple, 2 times behind his left ear, and 4 times into the left side of his head. The nails went in so deeply that they looked like ordinary scratches from the outside.
All of these people remained alive, and most of them later sincerely thanked their rescuers. So is it worth taking such risks only to later realize that life is still worth living?