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Sometimes being a hero is more than just being in the right place at the right time.

FOX 9 first met Jason Gaebel and Kwame Anderson last summer after they noticed a man threatening to take his own life by jumping from the Earl Street Bridge onto I-94 below.

“I feel honored,” said Anderson. “I feel like I’m on Cloud 9. It’s the best day of my life to help someone in need.”

The pair spotted the man while delivering kegs to a nearby bar and persuaded him to come down by offering him a beer.

“I think about that day every day,” Anderson said. “It was an extremely pivotal day in my life.”


Both men were given Chief’s awards from the St. Paul Police Department for saving the man’s life.

Anderson says he now works the night shift so he can talk with school children during the day about suicide prevention and depression awareness.

“I’m trying to reach out to more than just the one person on the bridge that day,” Anderson said. “If I can help keep a kid from doing what that guy did, then I’m doing God’s work.”

As for Gaebel, he says he ran into the man they saved a couple weeks ago. Hearing that he appreciates what they did for him is all the thanks he needs.

“Gave him a hug and said, by the way, I never got that beer. I said you can have a beer at my house. But glad he is doing good, better for himself,” he said. “I’m glad I was there for him.”