Posted: 11/1/06
Facing the dragon...
And a gym full of students
 After the program, some students stopped by to say thank you to Parnell. |
By MaryHelen Swanson
David Parnell, the speaker at the assembly at Rush City High School last Friday, had his first joint at 13 ñ his father gave it to him. He believes it started a 23-year battle with a dragon of monumental proportions that almost ended his life.
Parnell wanted the young people that day to know they could face that same dragon, even though most people think addiction wonít happen to them.
Still, thousands and thousands of dollars later, through pain, destruction and agony and two suicide attempts, Parnell doesnít put the blame on his dad. ìI didnít have to take drugs,î he said.
It was a choice. A bad one.
By the time he was a senior in high school, Parnell was using many drugs.
He then married his high school sweetheart and abused her.
After leaving that relationship, he went to Texas and got hooked on crank (one of the many names for methamphetamine).
In the beginning it made him feel strong, he had a lot of energy. He married again.
His addiction grew, he started hallucinating, as addicts do, and believed there were people
all around him. They call them ìshadow people.î
He became mean and violent.
Then his wife tried meth and got hooked on it the first time.
Later when the children came along, he thought he was a good dad because he did not do drugs in front of them. He went to a back room in his house.
One day he was fighting with his wife and threatened her with a shot gun. She called the police. He became suicidal, common among drug users because of the depression it brings on.
He heard whispers, saw people moving around the house, and heard a manís voice.
ìThe ëdopeí talks to you, he told the students.
The students in the gym that day sat silent as Parnell rolled out his story before them in one long hour and a half speech, nonstop.
Parnellís depression led him to ask if Jesus (he was a born again Christian) would forgive him for the terrible things he had done.
One day he tied a rope in the rafters of the barn to hang himself. He had the rope around his neck and then realized it was too late to change his mind.
In his struggle, the rope, an old rope, broke. His sister found him on the ground.
He then went to a preacher and was clean for five months.
In three weeks he was back using. Heíd gone from 200 pounds to 160. He couldnít think clearly.
Meth, he said, robs people of the ability to love and have compassion. Thatís why parents beat their kids.
Parnell went heavily into the issue of child abuse, showing graphic pictures of children seriously harmed, or killed by parents on meth.
ìChildren are the true victims of drug abuse,î he said.
In Tennessee, where he is from, child abuse increased over 500 percent in the last decade due to drug use.
Children are not only burned, beaten, etc. when parents are doing meth, but neglected when parents, coming down from it, pass out for days.
Pictures of filthy, trashed homes where children have to fend for themselves when parents are ëdowní were shown.
Some students squirmed a little but they continued to sit in silence.
It was when Parnell showed the physical changes that meth does to users that a low murmur was heard from the bleachers.
But the graphic pictures of skeletal-like bodies and especially the gruesome tooth and gum destruction ñ brought loud expressions of disgust.
Parnell continued with his story.
A weapon in the hands of a meth user is bad. He shot up his home with over 200 bullet holes trying to get the ìshadow peopleî he imagined were there.
Years into his marriage, and with six children, his wife quit using. She and their children went to church as they tried to live a more normal life.
But Parnell was still so suicidal, still using, that one day he blew off his face with an SKS rifle.
With a warning on the screen on the gym wall, and Parnell telling the students they didnít have to watch or could leave, if they needed to, he showed the extremely graphic photos of the crime scene that day.
Still conscious, even after shooting away his mouth, nose and much of his face, with blood spewed all over the bedroom, Parnell said in his head he immediately thought, ìWhy did you do that?î
You donít know how many people you are hurting, he said, when you use drugs or attempt suicide. I thought it was only me.î
Killing yourself is never the answer. This he stressed.
Parnell survived, obviously. Heís had more than 20 surgeries and has perhaps that many more to go.
He believes the Lord saved his life twice.
His wife stood by him all the time. Three days after the shooting he became aware that she was at his side telling him she loved him ... and that she was expecting their seventh child.
ìWhy not suicide?î he asked the students.
ìBecause you never know whatís around the corner.î
Parnell talked about the ingredients in methamphetamine, all chemicals that can kill you.
Meth eats you up inside as well as outside, he said.
It causes you to be angry and abusive. Seventy-five percent of drug addicts started using as a teen.
Drugs, he went on, rob you of your hopes and dreams.
He ended his presentation with more hopeful words: Anybody can recover.
Heís been sober 3 1/2 years. He craved meth for about a year; the cravings differ for each individual.
It took him 4 months to get his energy back.
He still has dreams that haunt him, but he said he can live with that.
The powerpoint presentation ended with a family picture: Parnell, his wife and seven children, the oldest 13. They are all smiling.
The dragon has been slain.
Parnell travels the country telling his story to students and adults. For more information on David Parnell go to his Web site: www.facingthedragon.org.
Comment from Mary Leibel, 11/8/06
His presentation made such an impact on my kids and I have 4 teenagers. I wish I could have been there to hear him. My daughter was so moved she said she almost threw up with the graphic pictures. All in all my kids were scared of what can happen to them if they choose to get involved with such drugs. Thanks to the Rush City School for having Mr. Parnell as a guest.
Comment from Jo Simon, 11/16/06
I would just like to thank Dave for comming to my school and talking about his addiction that he once had. I learned alot from it and it scares me to see what happens to someone who is on very addicting drugs. It is amazing how things like that can destroy your life within seconds. In my family I had people who were using and I'm glad that there was one person that saved their lives from using the drug and this person was God. I am glad that the people in my family are done using because they sure make a difference and it makes me happy. If God was not part of their life I don't know anyone else who could save them except for their one child named Katy. She is like a hero to them.
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