To the editor:
I read with great interest Marche Pittman’s self-absorbed account of how he came to wreak havoc on the Town of Columbus and surrounding areas on Feb. 17.
He begins with a rather bizarre telling of how the social stigma of epilepsy has affected his life—bizarre in that his fear of having a seizure apparently led him to abandon the medication that has held his condition in check. I can’t help but think his logic is a bit fuzzy when he argues that this decision was based in part on the fact that he hadn’t had a seizure since 1998; maybe that’s because he was on medication?
Then he blames his neurologist.
But truly I can appreciate his wanting to go off the drugs and can understand why he might be willing to assume the attendant risks. What I can’t understand is his decision to drive with absolutely nothing but wishful thinking suggesting his epilepsy would not return. Under North Carolina law, a person who has a seizure typically loses driving privileges for between six and 12 months to ensure he is medically stable. Surely Mr. Pittman could have applied the same standard to stopping medication?
Also remarkable is Mr. Pittman’s apology to the “people who witnessed the wreck and suffered as a result of it.”  But perhaps this was merely poorly worded and was intended to include the businesses that lost thousands of dollars that day or those others of us who were merely inconvenienced by the loss of heat and power and water.
“I wouldn’t,” he claims, “intentionally hurt any of you for anything in the world.” But certainly he intentionally chose to take the wheel with no regard for the welfare of others.
Mr. Pittman’s arrogance and poor judgment are mind-boggling. His only saving grace that day was luck: instead of a school bus, he merely struck utility poles.

– Nancy Pemberton,
Tryon