Damien Echols
Benefitting Rocky Mountain Feline Rescue
Damien Echols grew up as a Metallica-listening, Wicca-dabbling, non-conformist teenager in southern bible belt country. When three 8-year-old boys were found dead in the woods of West Memphis Arkansas, the police immediately turned to Echols and his two friends Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley. In 1994, Damien was sentenced to death and spent 18 years in prison including 10 years in solitary confinement. In order to keep his mind active, Damien turned his cell into a monastic-like sanctuary and practiced meditative rituals for up to eight hours a day. It was during this time that Damien met his wife Lori, who assisted in the uncovering of new DNA evidence that would eventually free him. Damien shares that we can all escape our own individual prisons, whether mental, emotional, or physical, and come out on the other side thriving.
Wise Words
“Every kid should have at least one person in their lives where they know this is the person that I go to when things are bad, when things are hard because this is the person that loves me, and this is a person that is going to take care of everything.”
“If there’s something in your life that you love wholeheartedly, and you don’t know how you’re going to monetize that, or use it to survive in the world in some way, don’t worry about that. Just focus on doing what it is that you love and let the rest of it work itself out, which it tends to do in one way or another.”
Links
Damien’s Twitter: @damienechols
Damien’s Facebook: @damienwechols
Damien’s Website: damienechols.com
Charity: Rocky Mountain Feline Rescue