If you’re feeling down and don’t think life is worth living, I would like to introduce you to Nashville, Tennessee Firefighter Tacey Fortner!

On the day before his 49th birthday, Tracey put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger!

“Immediately, I thought my ear drums were busted out. I thought how can I even have this thought. Why am I even thinking my ear drums were blown out? I ought to be dead. I believed I would be dead in a minute. I was lying on a blanket to do this. I was there for several minutes waiting to die. I could feel the blood coming out. I could hear it coming out. I stayed on the ground and rolled over on my right side thinking the blood would come out quicker. I was hoping to hurry up and die.”

While waiting to die, Tracey was consumed with anxiety.

“I thought if I could stand up, I’m going to smoke a cigarette and try to calm down. I slowly started to stand up. I couldn’t believe I was standing up. Then I stood all the way up and lit that cigarette. Now I am in my garage at this time. As I was smoking the cigarette to calm down, I am walking about the garage slowly expecting to die any second. Then I finished that cigarette.”

As the seconds passed like hours, Tracey didn’t die. Instead the veteran Firefighter decided to call for help!

“I am part of 911. That was very uncomfortable for me---knowing I would know the guys that showed up. l was on the ground on a blanket to kill myself. ”

Tracey, who spent only four days in a trauma unit, says his survival has brought him closer to God.

“Oh my goodness, yes sir! I have been a Christian my whole life. But since the day I lived through the shooting and swallowed a huge container of meds---I know the reason why I am still alive. God saved my life!”

Since the suicide attempt, Tracey’s story has stopped others from ending their lives.

“Of course I have these two wounds on my head that are still healing. People ask me what happened to my head. I tell them the story. Already, since September 10th, three people have told me I saved their lives after hearing what happened to me. They were all getting ready to kill themselves.”

In light of the suicide attempt, Tracey offers this message of hope to people that are battling depression.

“If I could have gotten help years ago I wouldn’t have been in that spot. My message is this: get help if you’re thinking about suicide. There are all kinds of places to get help. Talk to your family or pastor. Make an appointment with a counselor and tell them what’s going on in your mind. Get it out! Don’t do what I did.”

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