The material presented
here is not Al-Anon Conference Approved Literature. It is a method
to exchange
information, ideas, feelings, problems and solutions on a personal
level.
Last night i had the misfortune to witness first hand the tragic consequences of a drinker out of control.
My friend, and don't get me wrong he is one heck of a guy when he is sober, had been out with some mates drinking and celebrating finding a new job after being unemployed for over 18 months. He had also been using the old cannabis sticks. His choice. Nothing to do with me. His life.
Sadly, around 11pm last night a whole hullabaloo could be heard outside and i could smell smoke. At first i thought it was someone having a party and a bar b que. then i heard an almighty explosion, shouting, screaming and i knew something was wrong. i dashed outside in my pjs to see what was going on. i even forgot to put my slippers on in my haste. i have never been so scared in my life.
all manner of people were running about shouting and screaming. in the next field on the campsite i could hear my friend wailing. i could see a raging inferno shooting higher than the pine trees and i knew my friend was in trouble. i raced across to see if i could help, find out what was happening. i knew it was my friend's place ablaze.
the stupid, selfish, idiot of a man had only gone a put some chops under the grill to cook and had fallen asleep! his caravan was totally ablaze and i didnt know if he was alive or dead. i panicked and screamed his name. eventually someone told me he was out, very smoke damaged but out and in the waiting ambulance being treated. thank god for that! i asked one of the fireman if i could go to my friend. he said no. they had by this time put the blaze out and were looking for my friend's dog. he was nowhere to be found. they searched for over an hour. some of us searched the fields, in nearby bushes, in people's gardens, anywhere we thought he might be hiding calling his name over, and over, and over.
finally they found him. curled up under what was the bed, he'd been too frightened to move. they said he would have died from smoke inhilation. thank god. he was unreckognisable. i accompanied my friend to the hospital and he was released early this morning once his C02 levels came down to an acceptable level. he has lost everything, his home, his money, his clothes, his ID, and he now has to live with the knowledge that he killed his own dog.
this disease takes so many innocent victims. its vile. its merciless. i hate it.
our dear departed furry friend was buried in the woods this morning, a beautiful wooden cross was made out of the branches he loved to run in, and a memorial plaque is being made for him over the next couple of days. people have laid flowers. people have sat and cried next to him. the other neighbourhood dogs have been looking for their friend on the dog walk. everyone is subdued, shocked and saddened by this tragic loss of an innocent life. many are angry.
i am coping, just. my HP is working overtime and i am being strong for others who don't have the knowledge of this devastating illness. my friend is an alcoholic, drug user who has just hit rock bottom. i pray this is his wake up call and puts him on the road to his recovery.
my only comfort at this extremely sad time is that my beloved furry friend, who i walked daily, occassionally looked after overnight, and who adored my own dog is now whole again at Rainbow Bridge.
I'm with you! It's stories like this that remind us how horrific the disease is. I'm sorry that your friend is in the grips of it and it's consequences. I'm also very sorry for your loss.
Such a sad illustration of the innocent victims that this disease can mow down.
I'm so sorry for your loss.
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Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could... Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense. - Emerson
The ex A was left with our two dogs for a while when I left him. I had agonized long and hard about leaving him because I felt he would not care for the dogs. He didn't. Within a month they were skin and bone. He left them for days on end. They were nervous, withdrawn and jumpy.
Eventually his disease progressed to that he left them tied up to a tree for days on end. He allowed one of his drug buddies to beat the bigger dog regularly. Marjuana and crack were more important than the dogs. He never did hit bottom. For some people there is no bottom. For some people death is the bottom.
I took my dogs away from him that was a very hard thing for me to do for many reasons. He had me hooked on that I had to care for him and the dogs for months. I did of course because I did not feel they should be victimized by the disease.
My heart broke over the way the ex A abused and neglected the dogs at the same time his disease, the unrelenting passage of sucidal and parasuicidal behavior was never clearer. Self hate abounded in his life and he spread his hate everywhere.
My dogs are recovering now and they are secure, happy and well nutured no matter what.
I am so glad you could be there for your neighbors dog. I am so happy that the dog had the friendship and love of your dog and a kind neighbor.
