Nov. 4--Six years ago, David Parnell took an assault rifle, pressed the muzzle to his chin, pulled the trigger and blew his face apart.

At the end of his rope after 23 years of heavy drug and alcohol abuse that had culminated in an addiction to methamphetamine, Parnell decided he had nothing left to live for and tried to take his own life.

The pictures that were taken at the scene are horrible, difficult to watch and the audience in the Ohio County Community Center's auditorium gasped at what they saw Tuesday night, as Parnell shared the story of how drugs and alcohol almost cost him everything.

"We will do things on this drug that we never dreamed in our wildest imaginations we'd be capable of," Parnell told the audience.

Instead of dying, however, Parnell survived. In the back of the ambulance, he came to terms with his addiction and discovered the way he would eventually conquer that addiction.

"I met Jesus in the back of that ambulance," Parnell said. "If I let go of Jesus, I could be back running with the devil tomorrow."

Parnell now calls himself a recovered meth addict, recovering alcoholic, ex-convict, father of seven, devoted husband and motivational speaker. He's told his story across the country and across the world, sharing with others the mistakes of his life in the hope that others will come to their senses and abandon a life of drug abuse or that they will avoid such a life altogether.

"If we catch people in the early stages of addiction, we can get them help and help them more easily," Parnell said, encouraging parents to be proactive not only in educating their children, but in policing and keeping tabs on them as well. "Young teenagers and young adults are killing themselves every day with this stuff."

Parnell's presentation in Hartford was the work of the Ohio County Alliance for Methamphetamine Prevention, better known as OCAMP. His words and the photographs he shared, not only of his experience but of the horrors many others experienced because of meth, made a difference for those who turned out, said Ohio County Sheriff Elvis Doolin.

"He held the attention of the people and the information he put out there had very much of an impact on people," Doolin said. "We've been out in the community trying to educate. To have a program like this back up what we've been saying is a good thing."

Doolin added that such a program is necessary because it echoes something that Parnell also noted in his presentation, that the fight against methamphetamine is not just a fight that law enforcement must champion.

"We, law enforcement, cannot combat it alone," Doolin said. "We need all the help we can get, and it's not just law enforcement's problem. It's everybody's problem."

Buddy Shrewsbury, OCAMP coordinator, said the seriousness and the impact of Parnell's story is why they chose to ask him to speak.

"It's not me standing up there showing pictures. It's more real. We wanted someone that would have an impact," Shrewsbury said. "He speaks from the heart. It's not fake. It's reality."

Parnell said he enjoys the opportunity that he has with his life now, to try and help others set their lives right or keep them right.

"To me, it is a great honor. I never did anything that made me feel this good," Parnell said.

Parnell added that his message has meaning for people both involved in drug abuse and those who have yet to get involved. For those already there, Parnell said, he wants them to know they can make it through. For those not there yet, he wants them to know their lives are so much better without it.

"It's got to be a two-fold message," Parnell said. "To the ones that are using, I try to give them hope. You can always recover. And if you never try it, you don't have to worry about it."

Most of all, Parnell said, he's thankful that he has been given this opportunity. Thanks to faith and second chances, he said, he hopes to keep on helping others. Scarred as he is from what happened six years ago and the 30 surgeries he's had since then, he still considers how he looks and what he does a blessing.

"I look like this for a reason. God kept me here for a reason," Parnell said. "It makes you thankful for the right things."

Dariush Shafa, 691-7302 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

To Learn More

For more information about David Parnell's story and the dangers of methamphetamine and drug and alcohol abuse, visit www.facingthedragon.org.

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