David's hope

COEUR d'ALENE - David Carson is thankful for another shot at life.

The 24-year-old Coeur d'Alene man was in a coma for two months after a friend choked him to restrain him at a New Year's party at a Post Falls home in 2010.

After being hospitalized for nearly six months, Carson is starting to talk and walk, but he still can't see and requires assistance for all daily activities.

Family, including Carson's wife Ashley, say it's a miracle he has come this far and David now realizes how fragile his life became.

"I'm most thankful that I have a second chance," David said from a wheelchair. "This has brought me closer to God."

A spaghetti feed and silent auction fundraiser will be held for David on Saturday at the Ross Point Baptist Camp, 820 S. Ross Point Road, Post Falls. Lunch is from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and dinner from 4-8 p.m.

The family needs to raise $27,500 so David can have adult stem cell therapy in China. A biotechnology company there specializes in non-embryonic stem cell research. The treatments are for medical conditions such as brain and spinal cord injuries and optic nerve damage.

The funds would cover the costs for the treatments, therapy, travel and room and board at the hospital for the 40-day stay. David, Ashley and a relative leave for the trip on Feb. 10.

David has insurance that covered his local hospital stay and physical therapy after the incident, but it doesn't cover the treatments in China.

Aside from seeing bright light and some color, David is blind. Ashley said that, while there are no guarantees, there's a good chance that David will be able to see again after the treatments.

"We're praying," Ashley said.

Ashley said the moment was emotional when David started to come out of a coma in late February after doctors began to wonder if he ever would.

"We told him that Ayden (the couple's 3-year-old son) wanted to watch 'Jungle Book' with daddy and we knew he understood what we were saying because he started crying," Ashley said. "That was really amazing. It was a miracle.

"We were told at best David would be able to move his eyes, but most likely he would never wake up and be in a permanent vegetative state. So he's definitely come a long ways."

The choking incident

David knows people and has retained a lot of memory. But he doesn't remember the New Year's party.

Ashley said David had been drinking and was distraught because the couple's 6-week-old boy Jayvas passed away a year earlier on New Year's Day 2009.

"He started pushing people and one of his friends put him in a choke hold to calm him down," Ashley said, adding that another friend assisted by holding him down. "(David) vomited and it went into his lungs and his airways became blocked so he ended up in a coma. I don't think they were trying to hurt him."

Mike Pluid, a friend who worked with David at the Hayden Les Schwab tire store, is the one who put a choke hold on David.

Pluid said David became physical with two women that night, including Ashley, and he had wrestled with David twice earlier in the evening to get him to stop.

Pluid said the choking incident was a split-second decision that he regrets, yet still defends.

"I did what I thought was necessary at that time ... to calm the situation down and get him away from the girls," Pluid said. "It sucks to have to do that to your friend. I wasn't expecting anything to go wrong. I was just trying to help, and it backfired. I felt bad because I'm the one who got David and Ashley to go to the party (with fellow employees and their families)."

Pluid said he released his hold as soon as David settled down and took him inside when the situation became dire.

Pluid said David wasn't acting like himself that night.

"It was like there was someone else inside of him taking over," Pluid said. "That wasn't David. It was the alcohol."

Pluid said he didn't keep in touch with David for several months after the incident due to tense times with some of David's relatives. But he has re-connected with David and Ashley lately and is assisting with the fundraiser.

"I finally got man enough (to see David)," Pluid said. "Last year was hard. But I'll be around this year and hopefully every year after that. I'll be around for David and Ashley whenever they need me."

No charges were filed after the incident. The prosecutor's office said the investigation showed that the family didn't want to pursue charges at the time, David became out of control and some at the party acted to defend others.

Looking ahead

Pluid said it was a tragedy that he lives with every day.

"I can't do the things that I want to do with David anymore," he said.

David said he appreciates Pluid's visits and wishes that Brandon Harwood, the other man who helped restrain him, would come around.

"I wish they would've kept in better contact," he said.

David said he was going through a tough time before the incident.

"Usually I calm down if people leave me alone," he said. "I don't understand why they didn't leave me alone."

Ashley said the family's focus has been on helping David get better.

"Ayden has a dirt bike and he tells his dad to get better so he can fix it," Ashley said.

David said he's hopeful that he'll be able to see his family and read again soon.

"This has made me appreciate life more," he said. "I took a lot of things for granted before."