What started out as a normal work day for Breakthru Beverage delivery men Jason Gabel and Kwame Anderson turned into the day they saved another man’s life by talking to him and offering to share a cold beer.
While making their delivery rounds in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Wednesday, Gabel and Anderson noticed a man hanging onto the outside of a fence on an Interstate 94 overpass, according to KMSP. Gabel told KMSP that it was “heartbreaking” to witness and that once they realized he was suicidal, they called 911.
Anderson asked the man what he was doing and explained to him that if he was thinking about jumping, he didn’t have to, according to the Pioneer Press. “You don’t know me, you don’t care,” the man told the two men, according to WCNC.
Anderson, who is a comedian as well as a fan of actor Denzel Washington, said he thought about the movie Inside Man and decided he had to keep the man entertained, because “if I wait for police, this thing may be over.”
“I was thinking, I got to build a rapport and give him all of his demands. But first I got to get to know him, so I asked him his name and where he was from,” Anderson told WCNC.
The two found out that they had similar upbringings, the man had a house nearby and they could relate to each other's problems.
While many would think the arrival of police officers would have provided a moment of relief, Gabel told KMSP that he noticed the man tensing up and he convinced the officers to allow him and Anderson to continue speaking to him.
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"I could feel tension in the air; he was intimidated by white cops. I said my helper is an extremely intelligent guy. I said I think we can talk this guy off the ledge,” Gabel explained.
Anderson and Gabel talked to the man for about an hour and made the offer to share a beer. “If you come down from there, do you want to get a drink with me and talk about what’s going on?” Anderson asked the man, according to the Pioneer Press.
When the man accepted the offer, Anderson ran to get a 12-pack of Coors Light from the truck. Anderson told WCNC that when he returned with the beer he told the man, “If you come down off that ledge, this whole pack is yours.”
Their conversation was enough to get the man to come back into the safety of the overpass, where paramedics were able to apprehend him and take him to Regions Hospital for an evaluation.
The men are heroes, but it’s a rescue that almost wasn’t. Gabel said that if they’d taken their normal route, they wouldn’t have been on the bridge, and he credits the switch to divine intervention.
“We have a route that we do every Wednesday, and that wasn't the way I would normally go,” he told WCNC. “It wasn't part of the plan, but it was God's plan.”
Also, Anderson wasn’t supposed to be in the truck that day and had been scheduled to start a new role in the sales department.
St. Paul Police Department Sergeant Mike Ernster applauded the two men for saving the life of another person. He told the Pioneer Press that beer has been bringing people together for a long time, but today “it brought people together in a life-saving way.”
If you have thoughts of suicide, confidential help is available for free at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Call 1-800-273-8255. The line is available 24 hours, every day. If someone you know appears to be contemplating suicide, visit Bethe1To.com for assistance.
memototheworld on August 18th, 2018 at 16:36 UTC »
Poor beer. It's get all the blame when it comes to fisticuffs, yet not enough credit for bringing men together for thousands of years.
Mannedavid on August 18th, 2018 at 15:23 UTC »
cracking a cold one open with the boys > suicide
AllIDoIsTie on August 18th, 2018 at 13:41 UTC »
One of my relatives is a truck driver and has his share of suicidal jumpers either off of bridges or in front of his truck. He says he still gets anxious whenever he is on 'auto pilot' mode consciously because he might miss a jumper. Go truck drivers!