Cathleen Allison/Nevada AppealDavid Philips and his dad Mike talk Friday from their Gardnerville home about some of the things David has endured since his August 2007 drug overdose. Philips' left arm was damaged and his bicep removed during the many months of treatment.
Mike Philips slides his arm around his 17-year-old son David, and helps the boy rise out of his wheelchair.
"I'm taller than my dad," David says, just as proud of that fact as he is of his ability to stand.
"I wasn't taller than him before."
"Before" was Aug. 11, 2007, the day David was found unconscious and face down on the floor of a friend's bedroom 17 hours after he overdosed on heroin.
By the time paramedics got to him, David's body had started to "posture," or stiffen. He would have died had he gone unaided any longer. His heart stopped en route to Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno.
Deprived of oxygen, he suffered brain injuries and damage to his left arm.
For the past seven months, the high school junior has been working his way back to health, most of that time at The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research hospital in Houston.
He lives with his mother and her two boys in Houston and is going to school.
Last week, during spring break, David was able to come home to Carson Valley and spend a week with his father and brothers Ryan, 11, and Nick, 19.
It was a joyous homecoming.
The last time most of David's friends saw him, he was beginning to emerge from a three-month comatose state and was on his way to Houston.
"Mostly they ask me how I am doing. They're glad to see me and surprised at how well I am," he said.
He doesn't remember anything, including what lead up to the overdose, or the next few months.
According to court documents, he and about a dozen friends were at a house in Chichester Estates. Shortly before midnight Aug. 10, David and three others smoked heroin.
Cathleen Allison/Nevada Appeal photos David Philips is helped out of his wheelchair by father Mike in their Gardnerville home on Friday. Although doctors were initially skeptical about his chances of surviving, David, who can stand with a little assistance, is learning to walk again. 'I will walk again. I am positive of that,' he said. Below, the two talk about some of the things David has endured since his August 2007 drug overdose. Philips' left arm was damaged and he suffered brain injuries.
He returned to a friend's house and passed out on the bedroom floor.
His friend woke up about noon, saw David on the floor under a blanket, and thought he was just sleeping it off, according to reports.
Nobody noticed that he hadn't moved in more than 12 hours.
At 3 p.m., David's friends became concerned. They spent the next two hours trying to figure out what to do. Some thought he just needed more time to awake from the effects of the drug.
Everybody was afraid they would get in trouble, according to reports.
Finally, just before 5 p.m., the friend called his mother at work who immediately called emergency.
Over the months, Mike Philips said his anger has gone away.
"I was mad at David. I was mad at whoever sold him the drugs. I was mad at the people who left him lying there. But I am at the point where I don't have room for that now. It was tough on all of us, really hard. It displaced everything normal about our life."
Charges were dismissed against the 21-year-old who is accused of selling the heroin until David is healthy enough to testify.
David is not being charged.
"Obviously, it worries me. I don't think I have to worry about him making the same mistake again. His friends I know I can trust to keep an eye on him," Mike Philips said.
David lost one-third of his weight, dropping from 150 pounds to 103. He has gained back about 27 pounds.
His green Jeep is parked in the Philips' back yard waiting for the day he can drive again. For now, he is in a wheelchair, but he is determined to walk.
Mike Philips has developed a familiarity with medical procedures that no parent would want to know. He speaks knowledgeably about fasciotomies, and anoxic versus hypoxic brain injuries.
"I've learned medical terms I never thought I would need. I've learned kids do things I wish I never knew they do. It's been an eye-opening experience," he said.
"It's been a pretty tough road. I am definitely glad he is getting better, but I want to make sure these kids understand this is what can happen."
Planning a funeral
When David got to Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno on Aug. 11, Philips said doctors prepared his family for the worst.
"After they got him medically stabilized, the trauma doctor told me there was very little chance he would make it through the night. In my mind I began planning his funeral. His kidneys were failing, his liver and digestive system weren't working," Philips said.
But David had youth on his side.
"In the next several weeks, we got little bits of better news," Philips said.
For three months, Mike Philips stayed at his son's bedside in Reno.
"In August, September and October, I probably spent a total of three days in Carson Valley," Philips said.
David's family and friends were faithful, too, waiting for him to wake up.
"He wasn't really ever in a classic coma. One eye was open, the other was swollen shut. He could track movements with his eye," his father said.
David turned 17 on Oct. 7. His little brother, stepmother and friends went to the Toby Keith concert where they'd planned to celebrate his birthday.
Mike Philips stayed in the hospital, just grateful his son was alive.
David said his first memory is waking up at the Houston rehabilitation center three months after the overdose.
"I knew something was wrong, I just didn't know what," he said.
Gradually, family members were able to fill in the blanks.
"His ascent was so gradual, he got the information in little pieces so nothing was really a big shock," Mike Philips said.
His first word was "kiss." The first time he could eat anything he wanted, David asked for two Jack in the Box monster tacos.
Philips remembers when he began to believe his son was going to come back.
He was in the Oakland airport waiting for a plane to Reno.
David's mother called to say he could remember his parents' and brothers' names.
"I was standing in the airport and I was crying like a baby," he said. "I didn't even care."
Philips said doctors are cautious about the extent of David's recovery.
"His brain is working because he is getting better grades," Philips said. "One thing we found is that doctors are not willing to make a diagnosis with a brain injury as to how far these patients can come. The doctors from the beginning have all been proven completely wrong. Three months ago, he didn't have the ability to do much more than move his legs. Now, he can stand himself up. Hopefully, he'll come back completely."
New dreams
David returned to school in January in Houston and is taking a full course load: Biology, English, history, math, agriculture, teen leadership and art.
"I am getting better grades than I was at Douglas. I don't know anybody there, and I can really concentrate," he said. "My goal is to graduate with my class."
He said the kids at his new high school weren't curious about the boy in the wheelchair who showed up for the new semester.
"If they were, I would tell them I was in a car accident," he said. "I don't want that reputation."
"You've got a second chance to change that," his father said.
His other goal is to walk off the plane when he comes home in June.
"I am relearning to walk, slowly but surely," David said. "Hopefully, I will be walking by June. I'll walk again. I am positive of it."
He hopes to go back to Douglas for his senior year and graduate with his class in 2009.
He plans to go to college and become a physical therapist.
"They make bank," he said.
For now, the sports aspirations are on hold. David played football, basketball and wrestled.
His favorite sport is baseball where he played shortstop and pitcher.
"Those dreams are gone," he said, unsure about the recovery of left arm.
A few friends have dropped away since the incident.
"I lost some friends, friends I don't need anymore," David said.
"The beauty of it is he got reacquainted with old friends who are healthier to have," Mike Philips said.
Friends sponsored a spaghetti dinner for the Philips family in November raising $16,000 to help with medical expenses. Organizers invited the sheriff's office drug prevention officers to distribute information and answer questions.
"We want to make sure the community knows how much we appreciate their support and their prayers," his father said.
"I don't think we'd be here without the prayers," he said to his son. "You've got angels looking out for you."
Philips said every chance he gets, he talks to people about the consequences of his son's choice to use heroin.
"As well as David is doing, we want to make sure people don't think this is such a happy ending," he said. "We don't want to lose the importance of the message we're tying to get out: Parents can't be too careful with knowing what their kids are doing. They should trust their instincts and kids need to understand how dangerous drugs can be."
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