By Gina Gomez
Jan 19, (THAINDIAN NEWS) A British radio DJ has attracted a lot of negative attention for playing rock band Van Halen’s popular song ‘Jump‘, while police authorities were trying to convince a suicidal woman who was attempting to commit suicide by jumping from a bridge. Radio show host Steve Penk, reportedly played the track after receiving a request from a listener who was stuck in traffic which ensued as the authorities were trying to stop the woman from jumping off the highway bridge.

The incident has received immense media attention as a number of mental health experts have condemned the disc jockey’s behavior and a listener has also described the incident as “pathetic and nasty”. The DJ sparked controversy since he stated before playing the song that he empathized with the drivers who were stuck in the highway traffic as four lanes were closed while police were negotiating with the woman. However, the woman jumped off the bridge some time later but managed to survive as she sustained only minor injuries. Apparently, police authorities have ruled out that the Van Halen track had propelled the woman to jump as she could not have heard the song while attempting to leap from the bridge.

However, Steve Penk, who is also the owner of Revolution Radio, has defended his action and emphasized that he did not make any reference to the woman. Moreover, the radio show host expressed surprise at the amount of coverage that the incident is receiving and reiterated that he would not apologize for playing the song which has been considered to be ‘inappropriate’ by many.