Saved in His Hour of Need
Mark Stodghill, Originally printed in the Duluth News Tribune, 05-17-07

David Adams was lying on the kitchen floor of his West Duluth apartment in a mental fog. He couldn't move his left arm. His cell phone was only 10 feet away. He couldn't reach it. He grabbed a plastic chair and started banging it against the window, doing everything he could to make noise. He couldn't pick himself up or even crawl. He screamed for help. He screamed so much that his voice went hoarse. It was Saturday, April 7. Easter Sunday was the next day. It, along with Easter Monday, came and went. On that Tuesday, Arrowhead Regional Corrections probation officers Cheryl Harder and Becky Pogatchnik went looking for Adams. Not because it was part of their job. They simply hadn't heard from him and were concerned.

The women had been supervising Adams in St. Louis County Drug Court. Adams entered the rehabilitation program overseen by the drug court after pleading guilty to altering a drug prescription to obtain 160 pain-killing pills rather than the 60 the doctor had prescribed. Adams had followed all drug court rules, passed all of the random tests for drug and alcohol use and was on the verge of graduating from the program and having the drug conviction dismissed. But then he missed a drug court appearance. That was unlike him, Harder and Pogatchnik said. They went to his apartment at 109 N. 27th Ave. W. Newspapers were lying outside his apartment. Letters were in his mailbox. The women walked around the neighborhood, asking if anyone knew or had seen Adams. Their inquiries were fruitless. "It was devastating to us that here it was Easter weekend and he doesn't have a soul that noticed him missing," Pogatchnik said. They called 911 and Duluth police responded.

The officer told the women that Adams had probably relapsed. "I said to the cop, No, this isn't a he-violated-his-probation kind of a feeling. This is a he's-lying-dead-on-his-floor kind of a feeling.' '' The officer put his ear to the door and heard a faint moaning. Other officers responded and went into the apartment.

Adams, 42, was found on the floor. The left arm he had been lying on was purple. He had sores on his body from lying in one place. He hadn't had food or drink in three or four days. He was transported to a local hospital.

Adams felt he was down to his last hour or two of life when rescued. "I was pretty well out of it," he said. "They said I had acute kidney failure, lung failure, pneumonia, everything was failing.
After weeks in intensive care, Adams now is in the Miller-Dwan Rehabilitation Center, where he is trying to rebuild the strength he lost on the left side of his body. The former 6-foot, 250-pounder has lost 30 pounds.

"I want people to know that these two ladies [Harder and Pogatchnik] are my saviors," Adams said. "Because nobody else would have come over. They were the only ones that were thinking about me." Adams didn't waiver when asked if a drug relapse had anything to do with what happened to him. "No, I've been clean for 16 months," he said. His probation officers believe him. He doesn't know what led to his medical condition.

"The doctors said it may remain a mystery," Adams said. "I was weakened by pneumonia and I wasn't taking care of myself. I smoke a lot of cigarettes and I had two abscessed teeth pulled the day before this happened." Harder, who also is an ordained Episcopal priest, has been a probation officer for 13 years; Pogatchnik for seven years.

"They demonstrated exceptional care and concern for one of their clients and the reward for that was a human life continuing," said Tom Roy, executive director of Arrowhead Regional Corrections. "We believe that we are doing life-and-death work every day in our system, but these two definitely demonstrated very tangible evidence of that. They both expressed that this was normal work for them and this type of humility says a lot about their character."

Harder and Pogatchnik were awarded their department's special public service award for their efforts to save Adams. Harder also received the individual excellence award as chosen by her peers for "consistent, excellent quality in all areas of job performance."

Adams will graduate from drug court after he pays the $1,000 bill he owes for his own electronic monitoring.