In Mexico, a human life was recently saved with a promise of free tacos.
Police in Mexico City were able to save a man who threatened to commit suicide by promising to buy him tacos, according to a report from the Spanish-language Mexican news website Azteca Noticias, which was translated to English in the online news site complex.com.
Taco is a traditional Mexican dish composed of corn or wheat tortilla folded or rolled around a variety of fillings, including beef, pork, chicken, seafood, vegetables and cheese.
Mexican police officers found the unidentified man ready to jump off a bridge early Tuesday morning. Sources said the young man wanted to end his life because he was "lonely and depressed in Mexico City." He reportedly came from the state of Guerrero.
A video footage shows a police officer talking to the man, who was drunk at the time, telling him to get off the ledge and inviting him to go eat tacos.
The man then answers in Spanish, "Yeah, I'm craving some [tacos]."
The man hesitates for a while, but the police officer assures him that the police will pay for his tacos.
A paramedic then approaches and convinces the man that "life is beautiful" and that he doesn't have to end it in that way.
The man was finally persuaded to abandon his suicidal plan and the police brought him the tacos he was craving for. He was then taken to a mental health facility.
The man was one of an estimated 350 million people worldwide estimated by the World Health Organisation to be suffering from depression.
Depression is one several suicide risk factors that also include bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, alcoholism, or drug abuse, according to health authorities.
Suicide resulted in 842,000 deaths in 2013 up from 712,000 deaths in 1990, according to recent studies. This makes suicide as the 10th leading cause of death worldwide.
The Christian faith considers suicide an offense towards God due to its belief in the sanctity of life.
