You could call Lawrence Police Officer Sam Harvey a hero, but ask him about his actions Wednesday afternoon on the Kansas River bridge, and he’ll say it was all in a day’s work.

It started as a routine call. Harvey, a 10-year-veteran of the force, responded to what’s known as a welfare check after a call from someone concerned about a man in the 800 block of Connecticut Street.

“We couldn’t find him in the immediate area, so we kind of broadened our search a little bit,” Harvey said.

Harvey, who works as a patrol officer on the day shift, was heading north over the bridge when a bicycle without a rider caught his eye. When he looked closer, he noticed a man in his 40s climbing on the outside of the metal railing that lines the bridge.

“I pulled up real fast and jumped out to get closer to him,” Harvey said. “He climbed down to the second railing from the ground and was hanging off that by one hand.”

Without hesitation, Harvey grabbed hold of the man, who at this point was dangling over the dam’s rushing waters. Harvey held on until help could arrive.

Lawrence Police Officer Sam Harvey saved a man from throwing himself off the Kansas River bridge on Wednesday. Harvey, pictured Thursday on the north bank of the Kansas River, has been on the Lawrence police force for 10 years.

“I grabbed his hand and wrapped it around the railing,” he said. “I just wanted to make sure I could hold onto him and keep him right there with me until another officer could get there and we could both pull him out.”

Harvey, with help from fellow officers, eventually was able to pull the apparently suicidal man to safety. The man was then transported to Lawrence Memorial Hospital to undergo mental health screening.

In the end, everyone walked away from the ordeal physically unharmed. Harvey said he was just doing his job.

“It’s great,” he said. “It feels good to be able to help somebody out. It always does on a day-to-day basis, but this was a little bit different.”