David Parnell of Dresden, Tenn. was in prison in Oklahoma for selling drugs when his oldest daughter was born and didn’t meet her until she was two years old. That didn’t stop the father of seven from getting high on and dealing in methamphetamine.
Parnell spent 23 years addicted to drugs, tried twice to kill himself and nearly succeeded in February of 2003 when he shot himself in the face with a hunting rifle. The bullet went in under his chin, came out between his eyes and broke every bone in his face. Parnell survived the 2.5 hour ambulance ride from his rural West Tennessee home to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. His family members were expecting a telephone call telling them he didn’t make it. Somehow he survived, and three days later learned that his wife, Amy, was pregnant with their seventh child.
