Amarah's Corner: Father shares daughter’s tragic story

Hi! My name is Amarah. Kids are important to Jesus, and they’re important to me, too.

“Kids like me” are kids and adults of all ages whose parents are, or were, drug addicts, and alcoholics; kids who have suffered, or who are suffering, abuse and neglect on multiple levels; and kids who are victims of bullying.

Manda, Part 1

Mann Spitler knows firsthand how drugs can affect a person’s life. He and his wife, Phyllis, lost their 20-year-old daughter, Manda, when she injected herself with a lethal dose of heroin March 30, 2002. Spitler spoke to Batesville High School students March 10, 2011, and told them Manda’s story, which he has repeated over and over again to public and private groups since December 2002, just nine months after the death of his only child. “Manda did not wake up one morning and say, “Today is the day I’ll find some heroin.” “Manda was the best thing that ever happened in my life, and even though Manda had parents who loved her unconditionally, had good friends, went to good schools and had good teachers (....) she let the beast of drug addiction take-over her, and that beast still haunts me because addiction is a family disease,” he emphasized. “There is one quality that should have protected Manda. She was able to make people a little better than when she met them (....) “This was a happy, joyful child. Then Manda turned 13, and there was a huge transition.

Manda’s girlfriend started her on the first drug, cigarettes (....) nicotine was the beginning & got her brain going for other drugs. It became a secret life for Amanda. She was a girl who wore her heart on her sleeve. She gave her love, trust and devotion to someone else before someone earned it (....) This made her susceptible to manipulation. “It is my hope that all of you here today earn devotion and respect before you give it away.” Spitler’s daughter graduated from high school, but decided not to go to college right away because she had a boyfriend and didn’t want to chance losing him if she went away to school. So she got a part-time job. “Manda went to school the next year. The first semester was good, but during the second semester, everything went downhill (....) She had a new boyfriend.

He was dealing with a heroin addiction and all the legal problems that go along with it. She was driving him around to court. “She was not doing heroin as far as we knew at that time.” However, the father knew she had experimented with other drugs, including alcohol and LSD. “She went on to another boyfriend, and this was her last one, Daniel (....) Within three weeks, Manda was injecting heroin. “She began to lose more weight and get dark circles under her eyes (....) One morning, she was eating breakfast and got a scoop of cereal a little ways from her mouth and froze with her eyes closed (....) I’m certain she did heroin that morning. “That Thursday morning, she crashed her car,” and said she hit an opossum. “The police were there (...) taking a report.

The car couldn’t be driven so I got her in my car, and she started nodding off in the passenger seat. I asked her if the story was true or if she fell asleep (....) Because Manda was able to get out of that car even though she was high on heroin, the cop bought it.” Spitler said his daughter had almost completely depleted her savings account and was lying about where she was spending the money. “Ten days before she died, she admitted to her mom and dad that she was addicted.” Prior to that, Daniel was arrested for dealing drugs and put in jail. “Her drug-dealing boyfriend was in jail, she was broke and in a couple hours, she would be ‘dope sick,’ which is 10 times worse than the flu, and she was afraid of that.”

Why did she start using heroin? “She thought it would be fun. Now she was not taking the drug because it was fun, but because she didn’t want to be sick.” The young lady spent three days in the hospital, came home and then went back for two days before returning home. “A couple days later, the phone rang, and it was Daniel (....) I made Amanda hang up the phone, and she was very angry with me. “Then we gave Manda two choices: You can continue to live here at home without Daniel, and we’ll do everything we can to get your life back on track or you can go with Daniel. She chose Daniel, who was living in his Mustang. Spitler recalled that later she came home, and “my greatest comfort was every day she was home, there were no drugs, no Daniel (....) that was wrong. Retrieved from http://www.batesvilleheraldtribune.com/news/local_news/heroin-death-she-thought-it-would-be-fun/article_26ca9e08-158e-5cb2-b1cc-560d7fea10f5.html

Please stay tuned next week for, Manda, Part 2.

Remember, Jesus Loves You, and Jesus is Lord!