Lasting Scars: One man's story with meth

It’s been about three months since Michael was placed in the Westville Correctional Facility, still dealing with immense pain from the accident.

 "I have times were it’s like I forgot. I try to take my left arm and try to raise it way up. It’s like ‘ah man, you’re not supposed to do that,” said Pine.

This is Michael’s new normal.

"The higher I get, the more pain it puts me in to cause I mean, it, you can see it stretches and pulls the skin all up my side,” said Pine.

Michael’s outer burns are obvious, but he said his some of his organs are scorched as well.

 "I run a high risk for COPD ‘cause my lungs look like my outside does,” said Pine.

The burns, the never-ending pain, these are the side effects of a meth lab explosion Michael said he never thought would happen.

While he was under the influence of meth, he felt physically invincible.

“It’s not just a drug that gets you high. For cooks, the whole process, you get high off of cooking,” said Pine.  “It’s really more of an adrenaline high, but you do get a high off of cooking,” said Pine.

Michael stated the income he was making from manufacturing meth and seeing his friends enjoy it took his high to another level.

"I think that’s why a lot of people are still grasped to it and on it, because they think we’re having a good time, but nothing bad has happened to them yet,” said Pine.

But he said it will.

Meth just didn’t just severely burn Michael Pine, it also destroyed his family: his wife and three children.

Although she was doing the drug too, Michael’s wife, Deidre said at the time of the accident, she had come to a breaking point with her husband and meth.

"I tried to stop him. We had a video camera and I used to tell him to sit down and record a message because if you don’t come home, I’m not going to be the one to break your kids’ hearts,” said Deidre Pine.

The Pines said they know their situation has been rough on their kids.

"They do have their moments where they get down and depressed. And a lot of times it’s after I get out of the shower and if I don’t have a shirt on or anything. They’ll come up and rub the scars and ‘I wish Daddy you wasn’t burnt and I wish that night never happened,” said Michael.

Both said the kids now know what happened that night.

"They know what was going on. They know it was wrong, but they’re still glad they have their Dad,” said Deidre.

And he said it’s his wife and kids that keep him going.

"I just hope that when the time comes when I get to come home, they’ll let me make it up to them,” said Michael.

As he goes forward, Michael will always be reminded of his past.  He bares just a few examples of the lasting scars that meth will eventually leave behind.

Michael and Deidre are both sober now and ready to start a new life together.  They wanted to be an example of the horrific effects that meth leaves behind.

That’s why they shared their story with you.

The earliest, Michael could be released from prison is October 2013.