AMPUTEE TELLS STUDENTS HOW HE BUILT HIS PRISON

Publicized in: Herald Tribune, Venice, FL, Section B, Page 1
Publication Date: October 7, 2005

 

The audience may have been mostly ninth-graders, but Dan Davison wasn't about to sugarcoat his message to them. Davison spoke to students at North Port and Venice high schools about how he was hurt by the choices he made with his life. Wherever you end up in life, you put yourself there. One student said, It was really touching about how he changed his life. It makes me feel I should do better in my school life and my home life.    

 

Sarasota Herald-Tribune (FL){PUBLICATION2}

Amputee tells students how he built his prison with drugs

October 7, 2005
Section: B SECTION
Page: BV1
    CHRISTOPHER O'DONNELL chris.odonnell@heraldtribune.com

The audience may have been mostly ninth-graders, but Dan Davison wasn't about to sugarcoat his message to them.

With his metal-claw hands, Davison first lifted one prosthetic leg, then another, over his head. 'This is the prison I made for myself, that I will live with until the day I die,' he said.

At age 28 and strung out on cocaine, Davison fell, banged his head and passed out on a frozen pond in Chicago. Exposed to minus-40 wind chill for 13 hours, his hands and lower legs were frostbitten and had to be amputated.

More than 10 years later, Davison refers to his claws and prosthetic limbs as props and uses the sight of his injuries to hammer home a message for students: 'Wherever you end up in life, you put yourself there.'

Davison, 39, spoke to students at North Port and Venice high schools Thursday about his days as a drug-dealing musician and the accident that changed his life.

For the students who attended the talk at North Port, the event was not easy viewing.

After removing his jacket and trousers, Davison removed the claws and surgical mitts from his hands, which were amputated just above the knuckle. Then he removed the surgical socks that covered the stumps of his legs.

Students gasped. A handful left the auditorium, while others looked away.

'Life is a do-it-to-yourself program,' Davison told the students. 'Hooks for hands, steel for legs: my choice.'

The youngest of five boys, Davison grew up on the south side of Chicago in an environment where crime and drug use were rife. By the time he was 15, Davison was playing bass guitar and selling drugs to fund his drug habit.

Despite some arrests, his life continued in a similar vein until the accident in February 1995 on a pond close to his home.

By the time he had been taken to the hospital, his vision was almost zero, his ears were black, and his hands and toes were frozen stiff.

In the next few days, his vision returned and his ears recovered, but gangrene had set into his hands and feet. The doctors amputated his right leg above the ankle and the left below the knee. Cruelest of all for a musician was the loss of both hands.

Davison describes his recovery from the ordeal as a roller-coaster ride.

'Some days I was thinking I was lucky to be alive,' he said. 'Others, I wouldn't open my mouth, sometimes for a week, because I was so frightened I would cry and not be able to stop.'

He found the courage to move on when he was moved to a rehabilitation unit at Loyola University and saw people battling more severe disabilities.

A big part of his recovery came after he was introduced to sailing in specially adapted yachts. He has participated in competitions for the disabled in international and America's Cup events.

The Naples resident went a step further by setting up the Society of Handicapped Achievement, Rehabilitation and Empowerment -- or SHARE -- to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities. The group purchased modified sailing boats from Australia, including one that allows quadriplegics to sail it without assistance.

The program is funded by the money Davison receives from his speaking engagements. In addition to his message about drugs and taking responsibility for your choices, Davison also speaks to younger children to try to dispel the apprehension they may have for people with disabilities.

The 70 Venice High School students he addressed are part of the New Deal program, which helps students who have been identified as in danger of dropping out.

'They were mesmerized; you could have heard a pin drop,' teacher Leslie Wilkinson said. 'These are kids that have not made very good choices, so this is particularly meaningful.'

Davison's visit was organized by Beth Holcomb, who runs drop-out prevention and alternative graduation programs at both schools.

'Judging by the kids' attentiveness, I think it will really impact them,' Holcomb said. 'It becomes pretty real when he strips down.'

For a moment it was too real for North Port student Victoria Kovtunovich, 16, who said she had to look away when Davison uncovered the stump of his left leg. Nevertheless, Davison's story had made her think about her own life.

'It was really touching about how he changed his life,' she said. 'It makes me feel I should do better in my school life and my home life.'

Caption: STAFF PHOTO / BERT CASS / bert.cass@heraldtribune.com
Dan Davison, a former drug addict and musician, reveals his prosthetic leg Thursday to students at North Port High School. He lost both legs and hands to frostbite while he was unconscious. Davison spoke to students at North Port and Venice high schools about how he was hurt by the choices he made with his life. 'Wherever you end up in life, you put yourself there,' he told the students.

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