NATCHEZ — It took a bullet splitting apart his face for David Parnell to leave his methamphetamine addiction behind.

The Tennessee native told his story of drug use and abuse against a backdrop of horrifying pictures of meth users and victims to a group of drug court professionals in Natchez Wednesday afternoon.

“Meth, in my life, was one of the most destructive drugs I’ve come across,” he said.

Beginning slow with alcohol and marijuana, Parnell jumped to cocaine and finally found his “drug of choice” in meth.

Years of meth abuse resulted in two marriages — one of which is still thriving today — spousal abuse, two arrests and two suicide attempts.

The first suicide attempt was by hanging, but Parnell said God was watching over him that day and after he passed out, the rope broke.

The second attempt had been creeping up on Parnell for a while, he said he recalls a dark voice telling him he should die, that he had no reason to live.

The actual attempt itself was sparked by his wife, a recovered meth addict, saying she was leaving Parnell.

He grabbed a rifle and pulled the trigger. The bullet tore through his face and exited between his eyes, Parnell said.

“I felt my face blow apart,” he said. “Meth is a strong stimulant, and I was awake for everything.”

When he woke in the hospital three days later, he said he wanted to share his story and hopefully keep others from using meth.

Thirty surgeries later and a reconstructed face, Parnell travels the country for speaking engagements.

Wednesday landed him at the Natchez Convention Center for the Fifth Annual Drug Court Training Conference for the Mississippi Association of Drug Court Professionals.

The conference has an attendance of 250 people and will last through Friday.

Convention Center Director Walter Tipton said the conference has only one planned meal, so attendants should be moving about in the community often.

Tipton said this is the first time the conference has come to Natchez, and he hopes they will return for future conferences.