Speakers detail dangers of meth at MAMa presentation

It is safe to assume that anyone attending Thursday night’s Mothers Against Methamphetamine program at State Fair Community College left with no illusions about the true toll the drug takes on users and their families.

The presentation, organized by the Sedalia Chapter of Mothers Against Methamphetamine (MAMa) and the SFCC criminal justice program, featured guest speakers David Parnell, of Martin, Tenn., and Tiffany Eis, of Hiawatha, Kan., both former meth addicts whose addictions had near-deadly consequences.

Parnell, who tours the country sharing his story and recently published a book entitled “Facing the Dragon,” used often graphic images of abused children whose parents were meth addicts, and the charred remains of people killed in explosions after attempting to manufacture the highly addictive stimulant to demonstrate the drug’s destructive consequences.

“We do things on this drug that we would never have dreamed in our wildest imaginations we would do,” Parnell told the crowd.

With a small piece of gauze taped to his face following a recent surgery, Parnell then shared photographs taken after his own addiction came to a head.

On Feb.  21, 2003, following a fight with his wife, Amy, who was threatening to leave him over his drug abuse, Parnell attempted suicide by shooting himself in the face.

“It didn’t knock me out,” Parnell recalled, detailing the feeling of the gun blast and the screams of his wife as he lay on the floor of their home “trying to hold my face together.”

Some 30 surgeries, including multiple bone and skin grafts and the insertion of multiple titanium plates followed, as well as nearly a year spent “learning how to talk again.”

A self-described born-again Christian, Parnell credited his faith with helping him come to grips with what he had done and with helping him finally quit using. Following the incident, his wife suggested Parnell should share his story.

“I want (people) to know what drug addiction will do to them and their families,” he said. “I know I will never look normal, but my looks are a blessing from God. I am not embarrassed about how I look now ... what I am most embarrassed about is how I treated my wife.”

Despite his wounds and long recovery (he said it also took him nearly a year to finally escape cravings for the drug), Parnell said he hopes his survival will inspire current drug users who believe their lives have lost all value.

“As long as you are still breathing, things can always get better,” he said. “I feel better now than I did when I was in my 20s.”

Parnell was followed by Eis (the Democrat was unable to attend her portion of the program due to publication deadline), who planned to discuss her own addiction, which ultimately resulted in her near death from septic shock caused by an infection in her mouth. As a result, Eis suffered two strokes, had both legs amputated below the knee and had to have a heart valve replaced.

Following Parnell’s presentation, MAMa Executive Director Liz Rehmer told the Democrat she hoped attendees would leave with a better understanding of meth addiction.

“David’s is just an incredible story,” Rehmer said. “But it is a story of hope, too.”  

For more information on Parnell’s story, visit his website at facingthedragon.org.