CASUALTY OF METH

Darien South responded to a house fire at 234 Holly Hills in Deep Gap which
damaged his life forever, and now his family hopes to prevent others from
suffering the same fate.

South, a volunteer firefighter, felt heat after the fire appeared to be out,
so he opened an access panel to see if the fire was smoldering beneath the
floor.

A blast of chemical gas rushed over his face, and he almost immediately lost
his breath, had a severe headache and began coughing up blood.

He was transferred to the hospital, suffering respiratory failure on the
way. He spent the next six days at the hospital, four of them in intensive
care. South had suffered exposure to phosphene gas and hydrochloric gas,
among other by-products of a methamphetamine lab found at the home.

Christopher Lee Greene was charged with several counts in relation to the
lab. Last week, he was found guilty of manufacturing a Schedule II drug and
possession of immediate precursor chemicals with the intent to manufacture,
sell and deliver a controlled substance. He was found not guilty on a charge
of assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury. That charge was
added in response to South's injury.

Greene was sentenced to 20 to 24 months in prison for the two convictions.
Meanwhile, South has been under a doctor's care since that night and is
disabled, having lost 45 percent of his lung capacity.

South testified at the trial about his injuries, and said he isn't bitter
about Greene's sentence but wishes there were tougher laws to inhibit other
would-be meth cooks.

"With the laws the way they are, the judicial system can't do anything with
them (offenders)," South said. "I've not been angry or held a grudge, but he
gets two years and I've got the rest of my life to deal with it."

South's mother, Mary South, had started a petition campaign last year asking
for tougher penalties for meth lab offenders. Part of the problem is that
offenders are often back out and cooking again, creating a vicious and
dangerous cycle.

Mary plans to take the petitions to Raleigh and present them to the General
Assembly. She estimates she has collected about 1,300 signatures.

Mary South has already sent 225 letters to state Sen. Virginia Foxx and
state Rep. Gene Wilson asking for their support.

In January, she met with Ashe and Watauga commissioners, who adopted
resolutions asking for the tougher laws. She sent copies of the resolution
to all 100 counties, though not all have adopted it.

While the petition drive started long before Greene's trial, Mary said, "I
am very disappointed that the jury didn't find the defendant guilty of the
bodily injury assault charge. Through his disregard of the law, the
defendant was manufacturing meth, the chemicals caught fire and the toxic
gases produced caused permanent damage to my son.

"This man is going to spend only two years in prison for what he has done.
Yet through his criminal act he has put my son in a form of prison for the
rest of his life.

"In my opinion, he should have been charged with the bodily injury assault
as well as with robbery because my son has been robbed of his health," she
said.

Darien can't work, though he is receiving benefits from several fire
fighters' associations.

He's constantly on medication to prevent pneumonia, has regular shots and
must carry an inhaler to keep his air waves open.

He has breathing tests every two months that show his lung capacity
continues to decline.

"A lot of times I feel like I'm suffocating," he said.

He also had nasal surgery to remove scar tissue that lessened his ability to
breath. He sometimes has to stay in bed for two or three days at a time, and
is not supposed to lift more than 30 pounds. If he's ever cleared to return
to work, he'll be limited to desk jobs.

"I can't get out and play with my three kids," he said.

He said he's concerned that other emergency responders and law enforcement
officers will face the same dangers as meth labs proliferate.

"It's a big danger," South said, listing some of the toxic substances found
at the scene where he was injured.

The list included toluene, murietic acid, hydrogen peroxide, acetone,
antifreeze and red phosphorous from the strike plates of matches, among
other things.

There were 18 reported injuries in the state last year among people
responding to meth lab fires or conducting investigations, though Darien was
the most severely injured among them.

"I won't be able to fight fires again," he said. He had wanted to be a
fireman since he was a boy, and still stays in touch with his friends in the
Deep Gap Fire Department. He hopes to get his emergency medical technician
certification.

Mary has been in contact with N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper about tougher
laws and said Cooper plans to present new laws for the short session of the
General Assembly.

She said while the proposed laws are welcome, she hasn't seen anything in
them that addresses injuries to emergency personnel and law officers. She
said it wasn't fair to ask fire fighters to take the risk unless the laws
supported them.

"We owe it to our law enforcement officers, our emergency personnel and our
fire fighters to do all we can to see this doesn't happen again," she said.

"This (petition) will show our legislature that we as citizens have a right
to be protected from these meth offenders by putting into place stronger
laws that will prevent them from being arrested and then turned loose again
to do the same thing over again."

Mary South plans to present the petitions to the legislature next month.