|
Michael's Message
Watch the video at http://www.wptv.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoId=3270@wptv.dayport.com
Reported By: Kelley Dunn
News Channel 5 WPTV
Michael Tiedemann...was Vero Beach's version of the karate kid.
He took his first class at the age of 10. And quickly rose to the top....earning a black belt..and becoming an instructor.
Brad Alumbaugh/Michael's father: "He gave me the honor and the privilege of being a proud father..standing on the sidelines cheering him on as he achieved 1st, 2nd, 3rd place trophies in many tournaments."
Michael was a good kid. He was on the honor roll...and had a good relationship with his parents.
They talked about everything..including drugs.
Brad Alumbaugh/ Michael's father: "He told me when we had a discussion about drugs..dad I gotta say no everyday--everyday I have to say no."
But in October of 1998...Michael said yes.... to GHB.
A secret he never shared with his parents.
Debbie Alumbaugh/Michael's mother: "My husband Brad knew something was wrong and confronted him at first he denied it..but Brad kept on him...Michael looked down and said dad we smoked pot tonight."
Brad Alumbaugh/Michael's father: "He was high I thought this was not the proper time to discuss this..we would do that tomorrow...I didn't get that chance...my son died that night."
Michael Paul Tiedemann was 15 years old.
His father found his lifeless body the next morning.
The Alumbaugh's would wait an agonizing 12 weeks...before toxicology reports would reveal Michael's secret.
He had taken GHB.
Debbie Alumbaugh/Michael's mother: "He was my baby--he's gone. One wrong choice..and it was a deadly."
Brad Alumbaugh/Michael's father: "What I'm about to share with you is horrendous sight..this sight still haunts me in the night ...causing me to sit straight up inbed."
Determined that no other family live their nightmare...the Alumbaugh's founded a drug awareness program called, Michael's Message.
They travel to middle and high schools sharing every detail of their family tragedy...no matter how shocking.
Brad Alumbaugh/Michael's father: "This is how we found our baby boy that morning. He was laying on his waterbed with his eyes staring at the ceiling..his mouth was hanging open...his tongue swollen to such a point that I couldn't close his mouth. As I looked closer his arms were stretched out to the side of his boy and his hands were in a claw position..you could see he tried to roll himself over...but that's what ghb does. It paralyzes your gag reflexes...he wasn't even able to call out to his mom for help. The medical examiner told me my son died aslow agonizing death that night..gasping for air."
Their speech is meant to leave a lasting impression. From the autopsy to the funeral plans..
The Alumbaugh's relive their pain and suffering hoping to save others.
Brad Alumbaugh/Michael's father: "As we began to walk away I couldn't help myself..I had to have one last touch...I rubbed his ear and said goodbye lil buddy."
A father's grief...a mother's message---today it's being heard around the country.
The Alumbaugh's have spoken to over 350-thousand students and parents since they founded Michael's Message.
Sometimes the feedback is immediate, as it was at Watson B. Duncan middle school.
Other times it takes a few months.
Debbie Alumbaugh/mother: "You receive a letter...I was confronted and when no didn't work..I pulled out my card and told them about my friend Michael. If those business cards along with our message help--I'll print hundreds of thousands of them."
When school resource officers from around the country gathered in Orlando this summer--the Alumbaugh's were invited to speak.
Debbie Alumbaugh/mother: "The more glow accessories they have earrings, necklaces, rings, anything that sparkles and glows is very intense to them on this drug."
The drugs. GHB along with ectasy and ketamine are the new club or designer drugs."
Their nicknames---
Debbie Alumbaugh/mother: "MDMA...they call it ectasy and refer to it as the happiness pill or the hug drug."
And the way dealers market them to our children....change by the day.
"MDMA pills are easily hidden--they're thrown into m and m's, skittles, pez containers that were popular as kids --they're back because they slip them in their and everyone thinks they're eating pez candy.""
Knowing what to look for...and sharing Michael's Message can literally save a life.
Lindsay Welch-Greensboro, N.C.: "It touches your heart to say you've gotta make a difference...that's what they're trying to do--we can be a soldier for them."
Cody Myers/Riverton, Wyoming: "To be able to bring this back to our administration and say this is a message we need to bring to our school."
One family's loss.
"It's something you never get over--you just don't."
"We were the house the kids came to."
"This happened to my baby."
"That's why we are here today--out of love -in hopes of preventing another family from enduring the sorrow that we lived."
The Alumbaughs have written their personal story in this book..Michael: Who would you leave behind.
Michael's Message: The Fatal Effects of GHB
Michael
Brad and Debbie Alumbaugh
|
|
By Lindy Thackston
First Coast News
JACKSONVILLE, FL -- Not everyone's date rape drug story is a tale of crime.
Meet 15-year-old Michael and his mom Debbie.
"I feel he's changing lives and saving lives," said Debbie Alumbaugh.
Debbie is one proud mother.
She remembers the Wednesday night Michael brought home a good progress report. Normally, only allowed out on school nights for karate lessons, Debbie let him go to the movies. His dad was awake when he got home.
"I could tell that Michael was high," said Brad Alumbaugh. "He looked down at the floor and he said Dad, we smoked some pot tonight, and I just took a deep breath that night looking at him and in my private thoughts I thought, as his father, how should I handle this situation? I'll do that in the morning."
Michael never missed the school bus, but a friend called and said Michael wasn't at the bus stop.
"So as I made my way to Michael's room I could hear his alarm blasting," said Brad. "When I opened his door, I, I just wanted to run, something wanted to run from the horrific scene. When I opened our baby boy's bedroom, I saw Michael, his eyes were just glaring at the ceiling and his mouth, it was hanging wide open."
"October the first, 1998, was the last day of Michael's life," said Brad.
"The medical examiner told me my son died a slow agonizing death that night."
"The kids they just seemed like they had a code of silence, you know?" said Brad. "They wouldn't tell us hardly anything."
But the medical examiner did.
"(Debbie) got a call from the medical examiner informing her that he indeed died from GHB," said Brad.
GHB doesn't bring on euphoria, but rather a dreamy stupor, or coma-like sleep.
Known for its use by date rapists, Michael took it willingly.
"It was his first and only time, brought into our home by his best friend," said Debbie. "Their friend isn't going to tell them, look, it's going to make you sick, it's going to make you vomit, and you're going to lay in your own mess. All they tell them is it's awesome."
Their child, smart and strong, died alone.
"That is what the date rape drug does, that's what GHB does," said Brad. "It paralyzed his motor systems and if there'd been a fly on his nose he wouldn't have even been able to lift his arm to swat the fly off."
"We have to break that code of silence because it does hurt and it does kill," said Debbie.
Brad and Debbie had shared Michael's message with more than 300,000 students.
"Every town we go to, everybody has a story, and that's a shame that everybody has a story to share," said Debbie.
They pass out GHB detector cards.
It takes one drop to see if someone spiked your drink. Visit www.michaelsmessage.org for more information.
They wrote a book that just became required reading in one Florida high school.
Michael's story is saving lives.
"I know we're doing what he wants us to do," said Debbie.
And for that, she's one proud mother.
For more on Michael's Message, and date rape drug detector cards, visit http://www.michaelsmessage.org/.
Related article:
Created: 2/7/2007 9:46:06 PM
Updated: 2/8/2007 7:58:34 AM
Edited by Lindy Thackston, Reporter
Hometown News
Anti drug message is being proclaimed loud and clear
Posted: 2007 Feb 16 - 01:33
By Robin Rinke
Staff writer
FORT PIERCE - When Michael Paul Tiedemann died of a drug overdose in 1998, he was a sophomore at Westwood High School and it changed his parents' lives.
Michael, the youngest son of Brad and Debbie Alumbaugh, was only 15 years old when he died after using the drug Gamma Hydroxy Butyrate, known as the date rape drug.
The parents say they believe one of Michael's best friends brought the drug GHB to their house.
The experiment went bad, and the death of their son, Michael, left them, and a community in shock.
Michael's father said one year after his death, Michael appeared to him in a dream and gave him a message to give to youth.
"In the dream Brad saw Michael standing. Then Michael spoke and said, 'Dad, you don't have a clue about the drug use of my generation. You need to go out and tell them the truth,'" Mrs. Alumbaugh said.
They took that message to heart. They founded Michael's Message, a nonprofit organization. The couple educates the public and youth about the dangers of the illicit drug GHB and other designer/club drugs, as well as prescription drugs.
They speak in schools, community centers and anywhere they are invited.
Michael's message has touched more than 300,000 teens.
"We use a different approach, informing students of the poisons such as muriatic acid and floor stripper that are used to make these drugs. Michael's Message gives students tools and a better understanding that they can no longer just say 'no,' but teens must help their friends say 'no,' " Mrs. Alumbaugh said.
Many students who hear Michael's message never forget it.
"I had the privilege of hearing the Alumbaugh's speak at Vero Beach High School when I was a senior. I remember feeling sad about their loss," said Megan Friesen.
"I feel like they definitely helped kids that were using drugs or thinking about using them by giving pertinent information on the effect and harm. It's information that you don't forget," Ms. Friesen said.
The Alumbaugh's are providing that information through another source.
They took four years to write the book, "Michael: Who Would You Leave Behind?" is the story of their fight against drug abuse.
"The book and how it all came together is a special story in itself," Mrs. Alumbaugh said.
Through a ghostwriter and editor, they wrote Michael's message. Then, right when they needed it, a representative from the Educational Media Corporation, Earl Soronson, saw the Alumbaughs' presentation at a conference in Georgia and offered to publish the book.
"After the presentation Mr. Soronson told my husband that he believed in what we were doing and wanted to publish the book for us," Mrs. Alumbaugh said.
Recently, a motor home was given to the organization to help them travel throughout the nation proclaiming the message.
"Six new tires are needed for the bus, but we know they will come," Mrs. Alumbaugh said.
For more information or to donate to the organization, visit the Web site www.michaelsmessage.org or call (772) 464-7612.
Gulf students hear "Michael's Message"
 Gulf High School hosted an educational drug awareness program called Michael's Message on April 23, 2002.
Michael's Message Foundation, Inc., was founded to educate the public about the dangers of GHB and other designer drugs by Brad and Debbie Alumbaugh, the parents of Michael Paul Tiedemann, who died in 1998.
Michael's parents have shared "Michael's Message" with students, parents, and community leaders throughout Florida. They have testified before the Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy, and Human Resources in Washington.
Students in grades 9 through 12 attended the presentation in the Activity Center during the day, and a parent forum was held from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. to allow Michael's parents to share their message with parents and community leaders.
School social worker Wendy Kall promised that Michael's Message would be a powerful and moving presentation, and afterwards students who attended the presentation agreed.
More information is available at http://www.michaelsmessage.org/
|
2/7/2007 11pm report