My 7 Seconds In Hell...the Complete Story

Hello.

My name is Dale.

I'm going to discuss the dangers in involvement with illicit drugs, something I know a lot about from personal experience.  Actually, taking risks with drugs and taking other kinds of risks are in some ways similar.  In either case, when people act foolishly or hastily without thinking of the consequences they can cause themselves and others a great deal of grief.

A couple of true stories not involving drugs come to mind.

In one case, two children were left unsupervised by their parents.  And they began to play with matches and a candle.  They lit the candle and left it in a place where it went unnoticed for hours.  During the night the family awoke and discovered that their house was on fire.  The family escaped unharmed, but the house burned to the ground.

It was a foolish act and it left the family homeless.

On another day in another city, two adult men, both highly respected in their professions, were examining a revolver one of the men had recently bought.  It was a deadly .357 Magnum handgun.  The owner handed it to his friend for a closer look.  The gun was mishandled and fired accidentally, shooting the owner in his right thigh.  He later said it was the most terrible pain he had ever experienced.

It was a careless act in an unguarded moment and it could have been fatal.

All of you likely know of other tragedies that should not have happened but did.  Now I'll ask you to think back over your lives and try to remember whether you ever knew a man who set himself on fire.  Do you personally know anyone who set themselves on fire?

Well, you do now.  You're looking at him.  I was cooking up a batch of methamphetamine when the stuff exploded and instantly turned me into a human torch.  I was engulfed in flames from my waist up.

What I did was so dangerous that I might have died.

I had made meth many times and when I saw the spark that would trigger the explosion, I knew I was in trouble beyond my control.  In less time than it takes to strike a match I was covered in flames and burning.  I panicked and fell to the floor.

Then something extraordinary happened.  Something I can't adequately explain, other than by simply telling you that God stepped in and took control.  And that really says it all.

I was on the floor and burning for 7 seconds.

And then, whoosh, the fire was gone.  It was if a mighty hand had brushed the flames away.  I believe it was the hand of God.

There is no way the fire would have died naturally and so quickly.  If it had burned on, my life likely would have been over.

The photo on the cover of this book illustrates what I would have seen if I had been able to look into a mirror while I was caught up in a mass of flames.

I suffered third degree burns on both arms and I am permanently scarred, so I can't forget the agony of being wrapped in fire and the lasting effects.  I have had numerous surgeries and skin grafts.  I'm still trying to regain normal strength in my hands and arms.  The road to recovery goes on.  This long road began for me on December 14, 2011, a lonely night just 10 days before Christmas Eve.  I was attempting to use meth to put myself on a high, I suppose as a way to start the holiday season.  But I only put myself on a new low in my life.

That wasn't the end of it.  I soon sank lower.  In addition to my injuries, pain and suffering, surgeries and skin grafts, all brought on by my own act, I had a big debt to pay.  The judge sentenced me to serve 10 years in the Iowa State Prison for manufacturing Methamphetamine.

The good news is I'm now out on parole and I'm not wasting away in the state pen.

The best news of all, and it's the best news anyone could hope for or pray for, is that I've come to understand that God is with me and always has been, in good times and bad, and He has a plan for me.  Now I've started a far better kind of high in a new life.  And I want to tell you about that.

I now know that I could have avoided many of the bad times I have been through.  Planning ahead and setting long term goals weren't in my thoughts.  I just didn't realize that what I needed most was a closer walk with the Lord.  I should have known that from the beginning.

I was raised in a good and prosperous family.  I became a Christian when I was 13 years old.  My loving parents provided everything needed and most of what I wanted.  I had good intentions as a kid.  And I thought I had it made.  Today, looking back on those times, I can see that I didn't take seriously any difficulties I got into because there seemed to be no direct consequences.  It didn't occur to me that each time I got into trouble actually put another dent in my spirit.

So, as time went on, I got deeper and deeper into the habit of backsliding, letting the ways of the world influence me instead of following God's will.  Eventually, drugs took control of my life.  As a result, over the years I have been locked up more times than I can count.

I became hooked on meth the first time I tried it.  I had used marijuana and cocaine and everything else I could get my hands on.  But meth was different.  I was on it like a little fish on a big hook.  And I couldn't get off.  My only goal was to get high.  Before meth, my life was more or less normal.  I would go fishing, take in a movie or hang out with my friends.  When I discovered meth, all of that stopped.  Meth was easy.  I learned how to manufacture the stuff, so I no longer had to buy it.  Whenever I wanted to get high I would just cook up a batch.

All that certainly had its downside.  Each time I was arrested I would pray to God to just get me out of this mess and I would change my ways.  While I was in custody someone would always say “God brought you here”.

At first I thought, “Are you crazy?  Why would God do that?”  And I was told that He had a reason.  He had plans for me.

I began to ask myself and others, “What plans?”  I would pray for an answer and I would sit and listen for the answer until my ears felt like they would fall off. In time I was always released back into the world, and I would seriously try to mend my ways.

On the outside and back in society I would try to do God's will, go to church, and stop hanging around with the wrong crowd.  But after a few weeks I would find myself back in my old ways and pushing God farther away, again. That is until the next time I was in trouble.  Then, once again, it was “Oh God, please help me!”

Over the years I admitted myself to drug rehab on three separate occasions.  And again I was always told “God brought you here for a reason.  He has plans for you.”

So I thought, “Help me out here.  What plans?”

I kept trying, but I couldn't find the answer.  My mistake was that I was trying to figure it out on my own and I forgot about asking God to help me understand it.

Several years ago while I was heavy into manufacturing and using meth, the mobile home I was renting burned to the ground.  Everything in it was lost, or so I thought.  A few days later my landlord called and told me he had something that came out of the fire and I might want it.  I went to pick it up and was shocked to see it was my new Bible.  My mom had just given it to me.  It was untouched in the fire.  There was no fire damage, no water damage.  The Bible came through the fire when nothing else did.  My landlord told me how God burns the chaff off the wheat so that only the good will be left.

For several months I walked a straight line.  But then I fell back into my old ways and was sent to prison.  After being released, again, I decided to move out of Florida and try a fresh start in another state.  I didn't realize that unless I included God, the move would not help.

Almost immediately after making the move, on that cold December night in Iowa, I found myself cooking up more meth in an attempt to gain another cheap high.  Then came the explosion that engulfed me in flames and put me on the floor like a fallen tree, burning and expecting to die.

Finally, I got it.  The message was clear and horribly painful.  God's grace allowed me to live.  Now I want others to know what I've learned.  Hell is real.  The fire and the pain are real.  So, it's obvious to me, Heaven is also very real.

My life changed forever the night the explosion set me on fire.  It was a wakeup call from God.  And this time, I did wake up.

I can imagine God looking down and seeing the mess I was continuing to make of my life.  He allowed me to feel the heat and pain of the flames.  It was as if He was saying “If you don't change your ways, this is what you will face for eternity.  Choose me or choose eternal fire.”  I chose God.

What that means is I can experience God's kingdom here on Earth and I have life after death for eternity.  When I understood that, I sensed that everything was going to come out all right.  And I knew that God wanted me to do something important with my life, for Him.  He wanted me to tell people how I messed up for so many years, but that he was watching over me and had rescued me when my life seemed to be over.  So I know that whatever happened from then on would be a part of His plan.

I thought I was ready to go out at once and counsel people on all the pitfalls of having anything to do with illicit drugs.  In that way I would keep them from making the same terrible mistakes I had made over and over again.

But it wasn't going to be that easy.  It wasn't time for that part of the plan to be put to work.  First came the 10 year prison sentence.  And I thought, “How is this helping the plan?”  It did help, I soon discovered.  In fact, going to prison turned out to be a real blessing instead of a curse.  It was a sentence that gave me an opportunity for intense Bible study without distractions, and a chance to learn a lot more about God and His Word.

Late one night, while I was being treated in a hospital as an outpatient, I heard a sermon on TV.  The preacher was talking about how God uses fire to purify, to take all the impurities out of something that is contaminated.  I thought, “Huh? Can it be any clearer? God is speaking to me.”

Then along came the Brothers in Blue.  This is a Christian program for prisoners, and through it God's big picture for my life finally clicked into place in my brain.  What helped me come out of the darkness and see the light was a message that one of the program's inspirational speakers delivered to us.

The speaker used the game of golf in a symbolic illustration of how God works on our lives to improve us.  He explained it this way: God first creates a shiny new golf ball and places it on a tee.  The ball represents us.  It can be any of us or anyone else that God is working to improve.  Sitting on that tee, we get all excited.  We're ready to go and waiting for the blow of a big club to send us on our way.  We will rise high in the sky and fly down the fairway to the green.  But God says “STOP!  Just sit right there.”  In my case that meant a 10 year prison sentence to hold me in a place without distractions that would keep me from giving God my full attention.  He wanted me to learn patience, to study Him and His Word, and to be cautious.  He didn't want me to go flying too fast down the fairway and miss the many wonderful things in life along my journey to the green.  So, instead of taking off like a rocket, I should go a step at a time, pushed gently by a putter the whole length of the fairway.  In that way I could study, learn and be filled with knowledge of God.  This is continuing to improve me so that I can do His Work correctly and be fruitful in helping others to find Him.

My life has been a messy series of events that combined to create a mosaic as sordid and painful as some of my experiences.  But I don't have any regrets and I don't look back in despair.  Why?  Simply stated. It is because the twisted path I was on for many years finally led me to Jesus Christ and salvation.  Many people never find God.  I did.

For decades I was always searching for something and was never satisfied with what I found.  What I was really searching for but didn't know it was Jesus Christ.  Without Him my life was empty.  I tried to fill the void with drugs, but that only made my life worse.

The bottom line of my story is that it isn't about me.  It is about Jesus and how He pulled me out of a hopeless lifestyle.  I can never repay the love and faithfulness of Jesus.  That's the beauty of God's grace.  By His grace we are saved.  One thing I hope my expedience will do is emphasize that no matter how bad things get you can change and restart with a clean slate.

It took me a long time to realize that to turn around a life gone wrong you have to make a firm decision for change and then act on that decision.  I finally understood that I had to change because the further I traveled through life without God, the more difficult the road back would be and the more likely it was that I would not live to make it back.

We never know how much time we have on this earth.  Life is a breath.  You inhale your final breath and then release it.  And that's it.  It's all over.  No more chances to change anything.

When I set myself on fire, I could have died in my sins with no time to put my life in order.  But God brought me out of the fire and showed me the way to a life eternal.

I personally know that Jesus Christ is real and is waiting for each of us to come to Him and join His flock.  He will make a way clear to anyone willing to follow Him.  He is there for all of us and He will meet you and move into your life if you open yourself to Him.

In Revelation, chapter 3, verse 20, He said:

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”

Please note that the following pictures were taken after the explosion and are VERY graphic.

Here a few pictures of my time in the Navy...

Now a little about my background before the drugs took control of my life, for those were very good times in my life.  I was raised on a farm in a very small town in Florida along with my two brothers and two sisters.  We all worked in our Papa's fields planting vegetables and pulling weeds when we weren't playing and messing the rows up or running away from Papa, because he was chasing us with his hoe!  Even with the playing you still worked hard because you knew that at noon, Granny would have dinner ready for you and boy would it be good!

Then there was always fishing in Papa's pond.  You could always count on him having it stocked with his favorite kind of fish that he liked to eat.

Once I got into high school I met a girl and fell in love with her, but she didn't feel the same way towards me so I enlisted in the Navy to see the world.  I spent my time on the USS Garcia FF-1040, which is anti-submarine warfare ship.  I did two tours in the Mediterranean as a machinist mate.

My best friend in the Navy was James.  One night he hit me so hard in the jaw it required stitches, he took me to the doc to get me stitched up.  I didn't feel a thing....too drunk.  Later I asked him what happened and he said that I threw up on his bed and wouldn't clean it up!  Guess I deserved those stitches after all!

As I said earlier, I enlisted in the Navy because of the girl in high school, but lo and behold, while in boot camp, we got married.  Which turned out to be the biggest mistake of my life!  To this day I feel like if I hadn't married her, I would probably still be in the military.  Anyhow, water under the bridge.  We got divorced and life went on.

Several years later I met a girl that be pregnant with my first son Joshua.  Boy was I proud when he was born!  I was a daddy and before I could even get used to the idea, along came my second son Joseph!  And yes, even prouder!  Here I've got all I have ever wanted, two boys!  That's it, don't need any more!

About this time I had started a small business with my step father in the auto glass industry and was doing well.  And that was when my first real drug addiction began.  I was introduced to crack cocaine for the first time.  I had never seen nor heard of it before, and no idea of how to even do it.  But once they showed me how there was no stopping me.  Soon both my son's mom and I were spending everything we had on crack.  She never had to work, my business was doing well.  But she decided she wanted to go to work.  At the time I didn't realize it was because she was cheating on me.  I soon caught her, and she moved out to her boyfriend's place, leaving our boys with me. Soon enough her boyfriend kicked her to the curb and I allowed her to come back, only to be cheated on again.  This time I ended it for good.  She left, and the boys stayed with me.  Unfortunately so did my crack habit.

It got worse and worse.  Late one night I called my mom and asked her if she would come over.  Once she got there I confessed to her what I had been doing, I couldn't stop and I needed help.

The next morning I went to rehab for the first time.  When I arrived there I was told “God brought you here, he has plans for you.”  I spent 21 days there.  My boys went to stay with my mom.

When I came back home, my life became completely off the chain.  I started having wide open parties where anything goes 24/7.  And sad to say a lot of the times my 2 young boys were there while all of this was going on.  I thought I was a good dad because I had them with me, not realizing what I was subjecting them to by surrounding them with the lifestyle that I was living.  By doing so, I was setting them up for failure, turning our family into as dysfunctional of a family as you could get.

After a while started thinking, hey, these kids need a mom and ended up marrying the first woman I met.  DUMB!  DUMB!  DUMB!  And I thought that I was in love!  HA!  It lasted 2 whole weeks!  I woke up and she was gone.  Now a sane person would say good riddance, but see, my mind was messed up totally with drugs, so what did I do?  Send my kids to my mom's and go after her all the way to Missouri.  This lasted for several months, but by this time my mom wasn't letting my kids come back until I could prove I could take care of them.  I couldn't even take care of myself, so what did I do?  I took off to Belize, South America, to “find myself”.  I guess you could say I returned only to continue to use crack so I decided to go back into rehab, but this time a more intense one.

I ended up going to a place called Dunklin Memorial near Okeechobee, Florida....down a 14 mile dirt road in the middle of the swamps.  It is an all-male Christian based camp that is self-sufficient.  They have a working sawmill/pallet shop, that is where I worked.  A cattle ranch that raised beef for us to eat, and a farm for our vegetables.  Monday-Friday from 6-7 was quiet time where we would go somewhere by ourselves and be alone with our thoughts and God and write our thought down.  We would then go to class and study the Bible and discuss our addiction and what caused our addictions until noon.  After lunch we would spend the rest of the day working at our jobs.  There were no phones, no TV, no radios.  Families were allowed to visit only on the weekend at church.  This was a year long program.  Did I mention that when I first arrived there that the person meeting me told me “God brought you here, he has plans for you”?

I left after 6 months.  Now remember, as I said, this camp is situated in the middle of the swamps down a 14 mile dirt road.  One way in and one way out.  And if you leave early, they do not give you a ride out, YOU HAVE TO WALK OUT!

I stayed clean for a while and thought I was doing pretty well, but as any good crack head, first time it was offered, I caved.  It was all downhill again.  This time it didn't take me quite as long as the first time to realize I needed to go back to Dunklin, so I went back there to the swamps.  Going in is easy....you get a ride.

Once again they accepted me, and once again I was told “You know God wants you here for a reason, he has plans for you.  Stop running”.  Two weeks later I was down that road again.  I was starting to recognize certain alligators that I had seen before and I think they recognized me, which was not good!

I told myself this time I will make it and I will not fail!  But fail I did.  I ended up learning how to make meth.  I know it sounds bad, but meth did get me to stop using crack.  They call that replacing one drug for another, so it is a lose, lose situation.

I began cooking meth in my parent's backyard late at night as my parents and sons were sleeping.  This went on for months.  We eventually moved it to my brother's garage to get away from my parents.  After the people who I was cooking with started getting careless, I started getting paranoid, so I went back to Belize.  While away, my brother's place was busted and my oldest son was living there at the time.  I came back and took him to Honduras to keep him away from the trouble.  What I didn't realize is it didn't matter where I took him.  I had already done the damage years earlier.

My brother served a year in prison and re-dedicated his life to the Lord.  I was so proud of him.  I just wasn't ready yet.

Now my youngest son I haven't talked much about.  He is the one who I owe for helping me still being alive today.  He was the one who found me after the explosion and called the ambulance.  He had moved to Iowa to work with me and fell in love with a girl up there.  Now they have a beautiful baby girl!

I was very angry at my son for the entire time I was prison in Iowa.  He would never visit.  I felt this was wrong and held it against him.  I have taken this to the Lord many times and he has finally answered me.  What right do I have to hold any resentment???  Where was I when they needed me, wanted to be with me, and I was too busy getting high?  So I have no right to hold any resentments towards either of my sons.  I'm also proud to say that my oldest son has a healthy and very handsome boy!

I am now back in Florida, out on parole and doing well.  I attend weekly meetings at Leland Family Ministries located in Bartow, Florida.  This is a recovery and restoration resource center for recovering addicts.  They offer a wide variety of ministries for us to use.  There is the Recovery for Life Project, The Meth Free Project, The Handyman Ministry, and The Food Pantry and Warehouse.  I would highly recommend to anyone with problems with addiction that they consider checking with them to see what they have to offer.  They also have a full fitness gym with an onsite trainer, and it is all free of charge.

I also attend church at the First Baptist Church at The Mall in Lakeland, Florida.  On Wednesday nights I attend an all men's group called Wingman.  I am currently taking a course for drugs and alcohol.

All through my book I have spoken about how I have been told “God brought me here, he has plans for me”.  I'm by no means saying this is his plan for me, but until I am certain of what his plans are for me, I am led to believe that this is what I need to do.  The poem on the next page I have no credits or claims to.

I destroy homes, I tear families apart, take your children, and that's just the start.

I'm more costly than diamonds, more precious than gold,

The sorrow I bring is a sight to behold.

If you need me, remember I'm easily found,

I live all around you – in schools and in town,

I live with the rich; I live with the poor,

I live down the street, and maybe next door.

I'm made in a lab, but not like you think,

I can be made under the kitchen sink.

In your child's closet, and even in the woods,

If this scares you to death, well it certainly should.

I have many names, but there's one you know best,

I'm sure you've heard of me, my name is Crystal Meth.

My power is awesome, try me and you'll see,

But if you do, you may never break free.

Just try me once and I might let you go,

But try me twice and I'll own your soul.

When I possess you, you'll steal and you'll le,

You do what you have to – just to get high.

The crimes you'll commit for my narcotic charms,

Will be worth the pleasure you'll feel in your arms.

You'll lie to your mother, you'll steal from your dad,

When you see their tears, you should feel sad.

But you'll forget your morals and how you were raised,

I'll be your conscience, I'll teach you my ways.

I take kids from parents and parents from kids,

I turn people from God and separate friends.

I'll take everything from you, your looks and your pride,

I'll be with you always – right by your side.

You'll give up everything – your family, your home,

Your friends, your money, and then you'll be alone.

I'll take and take, til you have nothing more to give,

When I'm finished with you, you'll be lucky to live.

If you try me be warned – this is no game,

If given the chance, I'll drive you insane.

I'll ravish your body, I'll control your mind,

I'll own you completely, your soul will be mine.

The nightmares I'll give you while lying in bed,

The voices you'll hear from inside your head.

The sweats, the shakes, and the visions you'll see,

I want you to know, these are all gifts from me.

But then it's too late, and you'll know in your heart,

That you are mine and we shall not part.

You'll regret that you tried me, they always do,

But you came to me, not I to you.

You knew this would happen, many times you were told,

But you challenged my power, and chose to be bold.

You could have said no, and just walked away,

If you could live that day over, now what would you say?

I'll be your master, you will be my slave,

I'll even go with you, when you go to your grave.

Now that you have met me, what will you do?

Will you try me or not?  It's all up to you.

I can bring you more misery than words can tell,

Come take my hand, let me lead you to HELL.

I would like to dedicate this book to my grandkids T.J. & Paisley, in hopes that their generation will learn from our mistakes and make better choices in life.

Please send all comments to:

Dale Garrett

garrettdale@yahoo.com