dharmablossom

oh hi, look, it's the journal I haven't used since 2007.

Glimmer of hope for drug coma girl
From the archive, first published Thursday 28th Feb 2002.

Teenager Amy Pickard should have the world at her feet, working to realise her dreams. Instead she has been in a coma for eight months.

Since Amy was found unconscious in public toilets in Hastings last June after taking heroin, her family has lurched from one tragedy to the next.

Amy's baby, Summer Louise, died on the day she was baptised, five days after Amy gave birth to her by Caesarean section while still comatose.

Tiny Summer Louise was to have been the bond sealing Amy's love to boyfriend Michael Morfee, 22, himself struggling to wean himself off a heroin addiction.

He was so distraught at the death of his daughter and the plight of Amy he returned to the same public toilets where Amy was found unconscious and overdosed on heroin.

It is a sequence of events almost beyond comprehension.

The only glimmer of hope to emerge from such despair is Amy has taken her first major step towards rehabilitation.

The Argus joined Amy on her first full day yesterday at the Royal Hospital for neuro-disability in Putney, London, where she had her first shower in eight months.

She was transferred there from the Conquest Hospital in Hastings where she had been receiving treatment round the clock since last June.

Her mother, Thelma, 48, has kept a constant vigil beside her daughter, giving up work as an auxiliary nurse and promoting the dangers of heroin.

Mrs Pickard, of Sandown Road, Hastings, said: "I've got to be here for her. I can't let her down. Although she is unable to communicate I think she still feels my presence.

"I talk to her all the time telling her the news from home. I'm not sure whether she is able to absorb what I am saying but I still talk to her."

Although Amy has been in Putney for just 24 hours, her ward is already surrounded with reminders of home.

Pictures of her as a healthy youngster cuddling her elder brother David are pinned on walls alongside snaps of her giggling with her mother.

A diary compiled by staff at the Medway Maritime Hospital in Kent, where Summer Louise was born, sits on a desk near her.

Tears well in Mrs Pickard's eyes as she reads extracts in another appalling reminder of the havoc heroin can wreak.

Below the pictures of Amy lies Amy herself, a shadow of her former self.

Her cheeks are pinched, her skin deathly pale through being fed intravenously for the past eight months.

Mrs Pickard said: "All Amy wanted was to be a good mum to Summer Louise. That's all she wanted out of life.

"She was going to be the best mum in the world. Everything was in place, all Summer Louise's clothes had been bought along with everything else. But, as it turned out, she never got to hold her beautiful daughter in her arms.

"Amy was also madly in love with her boyfriend Michael, although a lot of people have said he was just a junkie.

"Michael had a tattoo with Amy's name inside a heart. He had left a space for Summer Louise's name but he died before he could complete it.

"In the end the heroin controlled him. It appears Amy was just standing by his side, trying to help him off his addiction.

"But she didn't tell me that. She probably didn't want to worry me. I suppose it's not in the nature of kids to be open with their parents, although I was her best friend and still am.

"We're like sisters, always laughing and joking. I just want her back."

Amy could not be in better hands than at the 230-bed Royal Hospital, a charity set up in the mid-18th Century by author Charles Dickens for people with profound brain damage.

Set in magnificent grounds with ornate ceilings, Amy will go through a 12-week assessment period to decide on the best way to treat her.

Medical director Dr Keith Andrews said: "We have got a long and hard journey ahead of us with Amy.

"But we have a fantastic team here which is expert in every area of rehabilitation so she's in good hands."

Mrs Pickard is staying in hospital lodgings for £13 a night to support Amy during her transition.

She said: "The facilities are fantastic. If there's one place where she'll pull through this nightmare it will be here.

"The staff at the Conquest Hospital in Hastings have been fantastic to Amy. They went beyond the call of duty.

"But there has come a stage where she needs more specialist help. This is where she needs to be now."

The fondness with which Amy was held at the Conquest is evident from the mass of mementoes from its staff, including a blouse, earrings and dozens of goodwill messages.

As well as the fight for Amy's survival, Mrs Pickard is also on a crusade against heroin.

Her views may appear controversial, given Amy's circumstances, but Mrs Pickard believes cannabis should be legalised.

She believes police resources could be better deployed in the fight against class A drugs, like heroin.

She said: "Heroin is pure evil. It has wrecked so many young lives. I'm determined Amy is not going to be just another one."

I just bought this halloween costume... www.pinupgirlclothing.com is the shit.

i'm sure more than one person reading this knows the quote, "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain" from the movie the wizard of oz.

have any of you ever thought about this quote and how it applies to us in our everyday life? in the wizard of oz, the man behind the curtain is pretending to be something he's not - someone bigger, better, smarter, who can tell you what to do, meanwhile talking down on you. but in reality, behind the curtain, he is a simple man hiding.

"pay no attention to the man behind the curtain" truly means, those who speak down on you who don't even know you, are just simple individuals hiding from themselves, and to pay no mind to them.

someone who I consider family to me, i've known her since I was 9 years old, her mom finally committed suicide. she attempted it a few times before and everything seemed like it was finally looking up for her- she had her own place that was nice, she was going out..
she was a smart woman, she attended Syracuse University, I know whenever I saw her she always had a lot to say. she left behind two daughters and people that knew her who were always concerned about her well-being. rest in peace janis, 8/28, you couldn't find freedom in your life; now I hope you are set free.


Spanish lady come to me, she lays on me this rose
it rainbow spirals round and round,
it trembles and explodes
it left a smoking crater of my mind
I like to blow away
but the heat came round and busted me
for smiling on a sunny day.

my kitten died june 30th, he got hit by a car

some drunk asshole in my neighborhood probably
pieces of shit

uh, i "learnt" how to drive stick today.. its scary D:

his wife of 50+ years, my grandma, died march 26 (3.26) and he died today, june 23rd. (6.23)

3.26 and 6.23 are eachothers numbers backwards.

pretty cool huh?


i'm sad but we all knew it was coming

leave a secret. comments are screened

i want a blue topaz ring from fire and ice soo badly

:[

i've been looking at different jewelery from there all day, it's so pretty


i want it :[

ingredients you'll need:
any kind of whiskey
2 lemons
powdered sugar
a cherry

for one drink:
2 oz blended whiskey
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp powdered sugar
1 cherry
1/2 slice lemon

blending instructions:
shake blended whiskey, lemon juice, and powdered sugar with ice.
decorate with the half-slice of lemon, top with the cherry, and serve


whiskey sours are so good, i could live off of them..

so add me