ALLENTOWN, Pa.- For years, the South 8th Street bridge in Allentown has been a place associated with tragedy.<\/p>\n
Now, one local actor and activist is using his own experiences with loss and mental health struggles to help others find hope.<\/p>\n
Angelo Maldonado Jr., who has lived in Allentown for nearly 20 years, has made it his mission to raise awareness and help prevent others from seeing the bridge as a way to escape their pain.<\/p>\n
The bridge stands 138 feet above the Little Lehigh Creek. About 80 people have died by suicide after jumping from the bridge.<\/p>\n
As Maldonado walked across the bridge, he described what comes to mind when he looks around.<\/p>\n
\u201cPain, anxiety, fear,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
For years, he says, people viewed the bridge as a way to escape whatever they were going through.<\/p>\n
\u201cYears and years of people just looking at it as a means of escape and just running away from whatever was going on in their lives,\u201d Maldonado said.<\/p>\n
He also knows that struggle personally.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know what it feels like because I also tried to take mine twice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Maldonado says the story of Ruth Aragon, a woman who survived a jump from the bridge, inspired him to take action.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe survived. You know, she is actually in a wheelchair,\u201d Maldonado said. \u201cBut from that point on, that was what drove me to come here when I heard that story.\u201d<\/p>\n
For two years, Maldonado pushed for protective fencing, organized prayer walks, brought members of the community together, raised awareness, and wrote letters to PennDOT and government officials.<\/p>\n
His efforts eventually helped bring protective measures to the bridge.<\/p>\n
But his mission to help others soon became deeply personal.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, on April 26th of 2017, my father took his life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
His father, a former Marine, actor, and father, says he wanted to keep his father’s legacy alive.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I got into acting, I got into acting solely because of my father,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I’d ask him if he was proud,\u201d Maldonado said. \u201cYou know, I would ask him if he was proud of me.\u201d<\/p>\n
He knows he cannot bring his father back, but says knowing his father would be proud continues to motivate him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe main thing is for him to be proud and say, you know what, son? You’re doing the right thing.<\/p>\n
Maldonado didn’t begin pursuing acting until 2018. Since then, he has built a career working in television and streaming productions.<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn’t even see myself doing anything other than this,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
His credits include FBI, Dope Thief on Apple TV+, Chicago P.D. and Power Book III: Raising Kanan, which was executive produced by 50 Cent.<\/p>\n
He has also worked with actors including Beanie Feldstein.<\/p>\n
Maldonado says his acting career has given him another way to connect with people, and now he is using that platform to raise awareness about mental health. He has about 115,000 followers on Instagram.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn comparison to other people that have millions, it’s nothing,\u201d he said. \u201cBut for a guy like me, that started from nowhere to have that type of platform, and it’s growing constantly.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says he tries to use that platform to make a difference.<\/p>\n
\u201cI try to do everything I can to just make a difference,\u201d Maldonado said.<\/p>\n
Maldonado says he plans to continue spreading positivity and reaching people who may be struggling.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy biggest prayer and hope for anyone is to never suffer in silence,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He also stresses the importance of therapy and having someone to talk to.<\/p>\n
\u201cTherapy is so important,\u201d Maldonado said. \u201cA lot of us think we don’t need it, or we think we’re crazy if we get it.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says having someone who understands you can make a difference.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving someone to talk to that understands you can change your life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, Maldonado wants people to know that their struggles do not have to define their future.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs long as you are breathing, you still have a lot more to achieve,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
His message is simple: keep going.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo go for it, because I’m not going to stop,\u201d Maldonado said.<\/p>\n
If you or someone you know is struggling with depression or having suicidal thoughts, call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ALLENTOWN, Pa.- For years, the South 8th Street bridge in Allentown has been a place associated with tragedy.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":297220,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[214,119,121,120,232],"class_list":["post-297219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-_homepage_top_stories","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news","tag-allentown-area"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297219"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297219\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}