But he found hope... and wants you to have it too.
He had climbed over the railing of the overpass crossing State Highway 52 and was balancing on the narrow ledge, ready to drop in front of any oncoming semi and finally end it all.
The police had arrived on the scene and ordered northbound traffic stopped at the intersection about a mile before the bridge. But one semi had been early and unknowingly headed toward the danger zone.
Officers stayed a short distance away from the distraught man - not wanting to precipitate his jumping - while they talked to him.
Thomas McConnell did not die that day of July 30, 1992. But it would be over a decade longer before he would find the hope and ability to change his life.
This wasn't the first time he had considered suicide. And most people today probably think he had drunk himself to death, he explained. Even when recovering in a Crisis Unit he tried to hang himself.
"I wrecked my wife's life, my sons lives... " McConnell's voice struggled with emotion as he recalled 30 years of addiction, 20 years of it in Cannon Falls.
"People knew me as the town drunk." McConnell could consume a lot of alcohol. He might have a .3 alcohol level and look perfectly normal. Consider that this is usually accompanied by unconsciousness and possible death.
He remembered the time he broke into Brewster's Bar. It was recorded on camera. He didn't take any money. He just stole a bottle of whiskey.
"Most people," McConnell revealed, "have never met the real me."
But in 2005 he found a reason and the help to survive. The reason was Jesus Christ and the help came from people.
Some of them were committed by their own belief's, like the pastor of First Baptist Church, Brad Berglund, and his congregation. Also, some were professionals like the police and those working in detox programs.
McConnell's history tells of his alcohol-addicted life beginning when he was 15 years old in 1976. When he was 16 he watched his mother dying. At only 41 years she had become an emaciated 95 pounds. He would carry her from room to room to ease her discomfort.
After she died his father told him to get out.
A stint in the military is where he met his wife. In 1985 they came to Cannon Falls. They were married 18 years. They have two boys.
His addiction led to stays of homelessness here and in the twin cities. For a few months he slept behind a fence in the alley behind the Cannon Falls public library. Because of the bushes he was not seen. The cardboard is still there. He would hear people put their trash in a barrel just a few feet away.
Also a few feet away was his stash of alcohol hidden in the bushes along the alleyway.
He would sleep off the alcohol by laying down next to the river in the park or even on the steps at the police station.
The last time he was dropped off at a detox center he was so out of it that he couldn't fill out the application they gave him. They told him he could do it later and he was accepted.
That was Teen Challenge in Minneapolis in 2005.
McConnell completed their program in 2007. At his graduation ceremony, Cannon Falls Interim Police Chief, Rich Wisniewski spoke on his behalf.
The first time Wisniewski recalled seeing McConnell was the day he had been holding onto the bridge with one hand, planning to jump. And he had seen him through the years as he struggled with his alcohol problem.
Today McConnell is in the Assemblies of God ministry program. He just received a promotion to being Men's Resident Advisor at TCMI (Teen Challenge Ministry Institute) in Minneapolis. He explained, "I don't dwell on the past, but I don't forget it either."
His advice to others in a similar situation? "There's hope."
"If you are alive and above ground, there is peace for you and a new life and freedom for you... You don't have to die or lose everything. There's so many people in your life that want to help you."
McConnell is one of them.
Just leave a message for him when you call: 1-612-Freedom.
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