Since the bridge opened in 1937, 1,300 people have lost their lives by launching themselves off the walkway. But now a $2 million (£1 million)study has been commissioned to look at ways of building an inexpensive and effective “suicide barrier” across the 1¼-mile (2km) structure.

Part of this is the work of John Hines, 23, who suffers from bipolar mood swings and tried to kill himself by jumping from the bridge four years ago. He said that he knew he had made a mistake the moment he catapulted over the 4ft high railing and began his free fall into the water 220ft below. After a mid-air change of heart, Mr Hines managed to get his body into an upright position and came to under the water, with a fractured ankle and two shattered vertebrae.

He saw light above him and swam for the surface. “I remember it like it was yesterday. At the top I took this huge gasp of air,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “It’s like I was reborn that day.” Today Mr Hines has a titanium cage in his back and is still undergoing treatment for his mental disorder.

For most jumpers, he said, suicide is an impulsive decision. “Most people see the bridge’s beauty; the mentally ill see an opportunity for a romantic way out,” he said. “What they choose to ignore is that hitting the water at that speed is a gruesome way to die.”

Until recently it was feared that an effective suicide barrier across the bridge would ruin the appearance of the landmark, which spans the opening of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean.

Attempts to build a barrier failed in the early 1970s and again in 1998. But the issue has refused to go away, especially after a documentary maker managed to record 19 suicides off the bridge for a 2004 film.

Those who have taken the four-second plunge include the founder of the Victoria’s Secret underwear shops and the eldest son of Pierre Salinger, the former White House press secretary. Opponents to the barrier say that it is a waste of money and that jumpers would find other ways to kill themselves.

The bridge district is facing a $70 million budget deficit over the next five years, so most of the estimated $25 million cost of building a barrier would have to come from elsewhere.

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