Mike Koran L. Lykken 1021 Composition 03/09/13 Mike Koran (left) and Doug King (right) “ I’m Doug. And I’m a survivor. ” “ I love to have fun! It is in my blood. ” Doug speaks this way as if to show signs of life enjoyment behind scarred mental anguish. This is a man who was diagnosed dead in the back of an ambulance and fell into a coma. Doug is not lying when he says he likes to have fun because he is a man suffering from a severe brain injury due to his passion for fun and the thrill of excitement. He was young and doing want any young boy likes to do with a four-wheeler and that his go fast.
Laura Stone, writer for dontjudgeme. com, writes; “ Speaking of those toys… While speeding on his quad (ATV) sans helmet, he smacked into a partially hidden tree stump and flew up in the air an estimated 80 to 120 feet, coming straight down on his head. As he lay there convulsing, the ambulance made its way through the bracken to him. He died in the back of it as they raced back to the hospital, but was able to be brought back to life. He fell into a coma and stayed there for twelve days. ” Doug is still looking forward these days and has a recent change in his life.
Doug King is a part of Brevard County down here in FL. He lives in Melbourne which is the city next to Palm Bay and his area holds most of the shopping. It is similar to popular Minnesota twin cities shopping spots Maplewood mall/ Rosedale mall combined with a Robert or lake street. Doug believes in honesty, hard work, and perseverance because he is such an interesting character that when you first meet him, you see that he is so outgoing, that it doesn’t even make sense to ask any questions. He has a tremendous background full of life but he also suffered a lot of tragedy.
He now is a `” hoarder”, for many reasons, but one in particular is due to a brain injury he suffered which resulted in permanent disability. We will go further into this tragedy and its detail because this man had died, for 12 days to be exact, and that lead him to hoarding. He does this as an action of hoarding to establish a memory bank full of material or trash that symbolizes a certain memory. This has worked as a tool for Doug and he tends to need the items to remind him of certain things in the past.
Doug reminded me of Forrest Gump by the way he was continuously bringing up life stories and they were similar to the way the movie had such a personal and dramatic story line about one man’s life. Doug is open about his father committing suicide, about his death experience, his hole in his neck from; ripping a feeding tube out after he awoke from his coma. When you first get to know Doug this could all be said with in the first 10 minutes of meeting him because of his outburst of outgoing personality.
He explains his tragic four wheel incident by saying “ I can’t remember anything from before my coma but I read stories and I was shown pictures. I was in a coma for 12 days after dying in the back of an ambulance. I was brought back to life, stayed in the coma, woke up and freaked out. ” He told the story with such poise that you knew he had told this story plenty of times. He explained how his brain damage crippled everything in his life. I started to get the feeling that Doug enjoyed sharing his story so much that he must have had accolades that he talks about. I was just on hoarders the T. V. show! ” he answers to me. I am in disbelief! I ignorantly (but necessarily) search Google for him as we are talking. It turns out that Doug King was on an episode of Hoarders. “ Doug is one of those rare people whom soap operas love to put in their stories: his traumatic brain injury was so great; all memories before that tragic day were wiped clean. This was when his hoarding began. ” Laura Stone wrote in this article on a critique magazine company running under the domain of heydontjudgeme. com. There you are thinking to yourself why doesn’t this seem odd? It’s my life and I am comfortable with it but even the show had me staying in a nice hotel for the time they were shooting the episode because they didn’t want me to feel any urges to try and get more stuff while they were gone. I need things to keep my brain working right and when I don’t have them I go and get them wherever I can. ” Doug says. “ I like to make people laugh when I do something I call common comedy which I define as the old fashioned jokes that we all heard as a kid.
I’ll ask a question like (Have you ever got caught jacking off in the closet? ) and the person or people will say no and that’s when I tell them (Good hiding spot aint it!? )” Doug laughs and says that this is what he calls “ common comedy. ” Doug is as innocent they come because he is like a child in an adult body and he tries his best every day to keep positive. Doug does not have many accomplishments in life but he proceeds to fight his condition and it’s a blessing that the show helped him out.
Doug feels the need to keep this mindset going in his life but friends and family are scared that he will not be able to keep it up over time without the proper help. They are concerned for him and they know he is a special person with unfortunate events. Doug is taking it one day at a time. “ I am trying to get into fire fighter class since I did the show. They firefighters of Brevard County inspired me during filming because they showed up and showed they cared. They were interested in seeing the show and its process and they knew I had lived here a long time.
They were concerned on how I was living because I didn’t have electricity or water and I was open to many dangers among me. I found ways to live like this and they were shocked because I have the disability. I told them I am a HHH hoarder. I am an honest honorable hoarder. I honor the smallest piece of item I have even if it is trash. I don’t have much and what I do have I keep. ” Doug may not be the best citizen that this country offers but he is just as important as anyone else. His profile can inspire people to either help someone they know or just others in need of this condition that haunts so many people.
The world and the people in it can help individuals like this simply by caring enough to help. Doug was fortunate to find a solution to his problems and not everyone will be able to be on hoarders. After the show Doug found that he had new opportunities. His house looks great compared to the way he had it and it is something he enjoys now. He has found new ways to turn his hoarding habits into healthy environment tasks such as cleaning. He has been working on finding new tools to fight against helps him feel connected to memory.
These are as simple as organizing, collecting, and formatting his personal belongings in order for his OCD over memory retention. I met Doug after the show and he is a fixture around the area. “ With the power fully restored, he’s now living in his house and working with an organizer to keep his house clean. His sister Amy takes him to his regular therapy sessions, and they’re growing closer again. Doug is the kind of guy who just deserves a break, and I hope these good things coming his way keep on coming. What a sweetheart of a guy.
To learn more about traumatic brain injury and the resources available (medical and legal), go to www. braininjury. com” Laura also wraps up her piece with this statement. Dougs Office: http://www. aetv. com/hoarders/pictures/season-6-17213370/#Doug-office-before http://www. aetv. com/hoarders/photos/season-6/doug-living-room-before. JPG http://www. aetv. com/hoarders/photos/season-6/Doug-living-room-after. JPG CITING: www. AETV. com/hoarders LAURA STONE @ http://heydontjudgeme. com/2012/09/18/hoarders-6-2-doug-ruth/
