Marcia Leathers
Special to the Sun

This is the time of season when people wait for miracles, hoping for them to happen. Ten months ago Shannon Pappas of Lake Isabella decided that she was done waiting for a miracle and decided to make her own. On a downward spiral of drug use and bad decisions, Pappas looked to our local law enforcement for help.

Pappas was using drugs heavily for two years when her miracle came in the form of a Kern County Sheriff's Deputy, Mike Dorkin. Feeling out of control with no one to turn to for help, she asked Deputy Dorkin if she could please speak to him. Pappas stepped out of the car, leaving her three-year-old daughter sleeping in the passenger seat and walked around back to discuss her situation. "A voice within me started talking, it wasn't me, I believe it was God," she said. Pappas told the deputy that she was using drugs and needed help to stop. "Please arrest me so I can get the help I need, and take my daughter from me. I am not being a good mom," she said. Deputy Dorkin was taken aback by her request stating, "What a great first step."

Shannon Pappas’ sacrifice and positive changes have made a new life for her and her daughter.

Pappas was arrested that night and released the next day. She began her journey, starting rehab the following week. Her daughter was put into the home of Mary Erwin, the sister of Pappas's boyfriend while she worked on getting her life back on track. "It was the hardest thing I have ever done in my entire life, giving up my daughter," said Pappas. Being severely addicted to methamphedamine for the last two years, she began a path of clean living. This included going to meetings nightly where she was asked to share her past experiences and what she was going through now. It was through these meetings that Rodney Bethell of Mt. Mesa came to know Pappas.

Bethell met Pappas through College Community Services and heard her story there. "She was the only person to reach out to me and give me words of encouragement," Bethell said. Bethell was watching the Hallmark Channel one night when there was a commercial about an upcoming special, “Heroes with Regis Philbin.” and he could think of only one deserving person, Pappas. "How many people can walk up to a police officer and tell them to take their child away from them out of love for that child?" Bethell said this was the most selfless act he had ever heard of and decided that others could benefit from this story. He submitted it to the Hallmark Channel on Dec. 10. "We will have to wait and see if they think the story is as inspirational as the rest of us think it is," said Bethell.

Pappas is enjoying her new drug-free life. Her inspirational story and her dedication to her new way of living is starting to rub off on her friends and her family. Her boyfriend has been drug free for several months and her dad has also been drug free for over a month. Deputy Dorkin has seen Pappas from time to time during her recovery and said, "You can tell by looking at her that she has been through some positive changes and that she is a totally different person."

Pappas is living day by day making the most out of her life. "I had the best Thanksgiving I have ever had, it was the first time that I was not high." Dec. 12 was the most rewarding day, after 10 months of being separated, she finally got her daughter back. They spend a lot of time together. "I am finally enjoying being a mom," Pappas said. Her daughter looks at her and says "Mom I am so happy, I love you in my heart."