Nellie Bishop's lesson to us all.

[Gob]

It can be a place of tragedy but The Gap has witnessed miracles, too.

Nellie Bishop is not the patron saint of those who would hurl themselves into oblivion from The Gap, there on the cruel cliffs overlooking the ocean, but she should be.

For look at her now. It is a bright, beautiful Tuesday afternoon, November 13, 1923. She is a strong, athletic young woman, in a long dress - until recently, a clerk with the railways, living with her parents at Kogarah - and there seems nothing to mark her out from the passers-by, other than the intent way she gazes at the rocks below.

And yet, suddenly, she puts down her handbag and climbs through the small fence. She does not feel afraid. Only determined.

She simply puts her hands to her face and ... leaps.

Why did she jump? It's complicated. To her family and friends, she seemed happy enough. But the misery that propelled her over the cliff was well hidden.

Certainly, a large part of it was a broken romance.

For Nellie, the love of her life had been one James William Gallagher, a fine, strapping young man whom she had grown up with. She had been so proud of him - if fearful, too - when, in 1915, he had marched away to the Great War.

Alas, although James had returned in 1919, walking, talking and with both arms intact and nary a wound visible, he was not the complete man who had left her.

Tragically, James had taken a bullet to his nether regions and so was fearful that having children was out of the question.

The shattered James tried to make the best of it, saying that, while of course he still wanted to marry her, he did not want children, anyway.

But Nellie did want children - it was the dearest desire of her life. The pain of their subsequent falling out broke her heart and also, at least momentarily, her mind.

At the instant she jumps, however, with the wind rushing around her ears and blowing up her dress, she bitterly regrets her action and decides she does want to live after all.

But it is too late! Or is it?

Through an extraordinary, once-in-a-century quirk of fate, a freak wave engulfs the rocks below with such a flood that she hits deep water instead. She's alive!

Two old Italian fishermen - the brothers Rosario and Vincent Diamente - are nearby and look over to see her hit the water. They row like mad things towards her. The brave fishermen get to her, just six yards from the cliff face, where she is furiously treading water.

In the roar of the waves, nearly dashing themselves and her on the rocks in the process, they manage to get her on their boat.

Nellie is taken to hospital, where she spends the night, and is released the next day to her astounded and relieved family.

The upshot? Despite the blackness that propelled her to jump, despite being firmly convinced that there was no way out for her, that death was better than life, she was totally, comprehensively and stunningly wrong.

For Nellie Bishop really did live happily ever after.

She fell in love again with a good man and had eight wonderful children. Five of them joined the police force and one, Bob Bradbury, became NSW's highest-ranking detective.

One of her dozens of grandchildren and great-grandchildren, Bill Bradbury, became a police negotiator and ended up spending a proportion of his life successfully talking people out of committing suicide at The Gap. He had a story to tell them ...

Nudging 90, Nellie passed away from natural causes in 1988 as the matriarch of a large and loving family. There should, at the least, be a plaque to her at The Gap, at the highest point where she jumped, telling something of her story.



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/miracle-at-th ... z1VikhttXa

[The Hen]

Thanks for that. It is nice to read a story when a person has managed to overcome their issues and enjoy living once more.

[loCAtek]

Except for poor James, he was the real brave one.

[The Hen]

And .... h-e-e-e-r-e-'-s Nellie.

[The Hen]

Nellie Bishop, 25, in her own words from a Sydney Hospital bed, as recounted by The Daily Guardian newspaper, which published her story on its front page on November 14, 1923.

"Everything was going against me, and the whole world seemed wrong. At last one thing came along and made me determined to end it all. … I can't tell you what.

"But I went out there determined to throw myself over The Gap. I picked the highest spot. It was easy to climb through the fence, but even had it been twice as hard, I would have got through somehow. I was desperate. I felt that what I was doing was the best thing - the only thing.

"I went to the edge of the rock and looked down. I did not feel afraid, only determined to end it all. My every act during those few minutes is impressed on my mind in such a manner that I will never forget.

"I jumped - and for a moment lost consciousness. But as soon as I touched the water, I became conscious again, and I felt myself sinking, down, down, down through the water, until I thought I would never come up again.

"But after what seemed an awful time, I reached the surface again, and my first thought was of the sharks. I must have forgotten my decision to die, for I struck out at once towards the rocks.

"Waves broke over me, and I thought I was going to be dashed on the rocks. Then I saw a boat, with two men in it, and I held up my hand.

"I am so at home in the water that I just could not let myself drown. The boat came in and picked me up. For a minute or two I was afraid they would be dashed on the shore, and rather than that I hoped they would leave me to die.

"But they got me in the boat, and took me round in the Heads. The men were talking in a foreign language, and I wondered what they were saying. I remember noticing the bait and the fish that littered the boat.

"I felt no pain till I was in the ambulance, when my back began to hurt, and now it's very sore. But I don't think it's broken, because I can move my legs.

"I want to get better now. I don't want to die, and I won't try to kill myself again. One experience like that is enough. They say I'm the first one to survive a jump over The Gap. It seems that I am not meant to die yet. I think it must be for the best.

"When I get better, I think I will leave New South Wales. I might do better somewhere else, and things may brighten up later."

[dgs49]

So tell me, is this the place they are referring to on the London Underground when they say, "Mind the Gap"?

[Gob]

[alice]

Alas, although James had returned in 1919, walking, talking and with both arms intact and nary a wound visible, he was not the complete man who had left her.

Tragically, James had taken a bullet to his nether regions and so was fearful that having children was out of the question.

The shattered James tried to make the best of it, saying that, while of course he still wanted to marry her, he did not want children, anyway.

But Nellie did want children - it was the dearest desire of her life. The pain of their subsequent falling out broke her heart and also, at least momentarily, her mind.

Except for poor James, he was the real brave one.

I agree with loCAtek.
Poor James came back from war injured and trying to make the best of things.
According to the article they broke up because she wanted children and he could no longer provide her with that option.

So I wonder how his life went after they broke up.

After the trauma of staring the bloody battles of war in the face and surviving, the tragedy of surviving with a life-affecting and permament injury, and the mental anguish of a broken heart after the rejection of the woman he loved (reinforcing any feelings of humiliation and uselessness he may have felt because of the nature of his injury) ... it would be interesting to know how his life turned out.

It would be really nice to hear that he, also, remarried.
And with or without grandkids it would be good to hear that he, also, ended up having a long and happy life.

This is a lovely story from the perspective of Nellie's family, and it's good that she survived and had a really lovely life.
It's a genuinely lovely, 'feelgood' story.

But I also wonder how poor old James fared

[Scooter]

According to the article they broke up because she wanted children and he could no longer provide her with that option.

It says he did not know whether he could have children, but that he did not want them in any case. Perhaps Nellie might have married him and hoped for the best, but he chose not to give her that opportunity. So I don't feel particularly sorry for him that she chose not to marry him.

[alice]

I was more looking at at the fact he had already suffered so much from fighting in the war and being injured etc, and then had the break up with Nellie.
She waited for him, and then had the break up with him
So his story up to that point seemed more tragic, just from the very, very brief article description.

And I agree with loCAtek, that up to that point he was the brave one - 'cos of the war.
He seemed to have endured more.

I wouldn't go as far as to feel sorry for him - I don't know him and don't know any more of the story of either James or Nellie than the article quoted as the topic starter.
I thought Nellie's story was lovely, but I do wonder how his life story ended up.
It would just be nice to think he also had a happy ending

edited to add .... I was a bit confused that you gave the impression I thought they were married - I double checked the article and it didn't say that. And I double checked my previous post and I didn't think I said they were ever married, just that they broke up/broken heart etc etc. So I just assumed you'd misunderstood something in my wording - unusual for you, but it happens, i suppose
BUT then I realised (after I'd posted this) ... My earlier post said that I hoped he had happily REmarried. Implying a previous marriage to Nellie. A slip-up that I hadn't even intended or noticed!! Not that it's important at all to the story or my two posts about it, but just wanted to correct myself and say that the 're-' part was a slip of the proverbial, or a slight lack in concentration, or something like that. Not meant to be there. Apologies for thinking to myself that you'd got it wrong - I should have known better

[Scooter]

I think I read somewhere that one of Nellie's grandchildren said that he was never heard from again.

[alice]

That was a quick response!!! - I edited my post above yours and the edit was intended for you

... And thanks for the update.