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The 12-Year-Old Boy Who Fell Off A Famous Bridge Twice In One Day
England’s Tyne Bridge was the site of continued trouble for an adventerous child
People have misfortune all of the time where some mishap befalls them. There are others that may seem unlucky by experiencing such incidents on multiple occasions. Then there is the true story of a 12-year-old boy named Brian Hepple, who actually fell off of England’s famed Tyne Bridge twice in the same day — and survived.
The Tyne Bridge was built in 1928 following three years of construction by King George V to span the Tyne River as a way to connect Newcastle Upon Tyne and Gateshead. An arch bridge that is 193 feet above the water at its high point, it is approximately 1,276 from shore to shore with 85 feet of clearance underneath for those traveling by boat. It represents the most modern iteration of a bridge in that area, as there had been a number from the past, starting with one built by the Romans in the 2nd Century A.D.
A number of people have fallen from the bridge over the years, with the majority unfortunately being fatal. In short, if you were unfortunate enough to take a plunge off the bridge, odds are you wouldn’t make it to land alive again. The exception to this was a 12-year-old boy named Brian Hepple. In December, 1964, he fell off…
