TRANQUILLE PAYPHONE HELPED SAVE LIFE OF A DAUGHTER

Editor:

I am compelled to write in response to all the negativity surrounding
our city's payphones.

Although I recognize these phones are being used by drug addicts, they
are not always being used for dealing.

For about seven years, my daughter was one of those addicts and,
although she most likely used the payphone on Tranquille Road to buy
her drugs, there was one call she made from that phone that saved her
life and the life of her family.

It was mid-November 2005.

I was hearing from my daughter about every two weeks, just letting me
know she was still alive.

She wasn't doing very well at all at this point and my stomach flipped
every time the phone rang, especially at night. Her spirit was almost
gone and I could hear in her voice, whenever she called, that she was
ready to give up.

The phone rang. It was about 9 p.m. and it was her.

I could barely understand what she was saying.

What I did make out was that she was finished, that it was going to
end that night, one way or another.

I knew what she meant.

She told me where she was and asked for my help. I told her I would be
there. I hung up the phone and immediately called the police.

The situation was handled as a suicide threat (which it was) and she
was hospitalized.

Thus began her long road to recovery. That was three years
ago.

My daughter is now working, going to school and is a beautiful,
vibrant, 25-year-old woman with her whole life ahead of her.

I can't help but hope that for some other parent and child, there is a
working payphone nearby to assist in saving a life.

I wish to remain anonymous only to protect my daughter from the
judgment still prevalent in our society when dealing with our victims
of addiction.

Name withheld by request