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5 IN A ROW Knights continue reign over rival Sumter B1 VOL. 118, NO. 268 WWW.THEITEM.COM
Rough it with fiber
SATURDAY, AUGUST 31, 2013 | SUMTER, SOUTH CAROLINA
SEE HEALTHY LIVING, PAGE A7
TIPS FOR SUCCESS • Read food labels. • Eat more fruits and vegetables. • Drink plenty of water. • Increase fiber intake slowly. • Avoid sugary, processed foods.
60 CENTS
Pregnant woman hurt in grease fire 21-year-old remains in high spirits
BY MISSY CORRIGAN Special to The Item We always hear that we need more fiber in our diets, but why is it so important? While fiber is key to good digestive health and regularity, it can also help lower cholesterol, regulate blood sugar levels, reduce heart disease and prevent obesity. The American Diabetes Association describes fiber as complex CORRIGAN carbohydrates your body can’t digest or absorb. Soluble fiber, such as that in beans and fruits, binds with fatty acids and slows digestion so blood sugars are released more slowly into the body. These fibers help lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and help regulate blood sugar levels for people with diabetes. Insoluble fiber, found in wheat bran, whole grains, nuts, vegetables and other foods, helps keep your digestive system regular by hydrating and moving waste through the intestines. Fiber can help with weight loss and maintenance by making you feel full, thus reducing the amount of food you eat at each meal. For best results, choose fresh foods that are naturally high in fiber. Consuming these foods requires you to chew longer, which produces saliva that helps fill the stomach. According to the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine, the daily needs of fiber for men and women differ and change with age: 25 grams for women and 38 grams for men under 50; 21 grams for women and 30 grams for men over
FOUNDED OCTOBER 15, 1894
BY JADE ANDERSON janderson@theitem.com Marissa Dodd recently went from thinking about her son’s first day of kindergarten and fixing some French fries to fighting for her life and that of her unborn son. The 21-year-old was at her sister’s house Aug. 18 when the 9-week-old puppy, Coco, needed a bathroom break. So she fixed some grease to heat on the stove and took him outside. “I thought I had enough time,” she said. “I’d fixed French fires a few weeks before, and the grease took forever to heat up. I could smell the grease when I came back in, but I wasn’t thinking fire.” CONFRONTING THE FLAMES
She thought of using salt to put out the flames but it was in the cabinet over the stove. “So I got a potholder and was going to take it outside,” Dodd said. “I had to unlock the door, so I switched it to my PHOTO PROVIDED left hand, but I’m not Dodd rests at Joseph M. Still Burn Center in Augusta, Ga. She said it took nearly sure I got it good with the potholder.” two “torturous” hours to unwrap the wounds.
JADE ANDERSON / THE ITEM
Marissa Dodd, a 21-yearold Sumter woman, rests her burned arm on her pregnant belly. Due in October, she was severely burned in a grease fire Aug. 18.
PHOTO PROVIDED
Dodd is seen in a recent self portrait. She jokes she lost “most of her beautiful eyelashes” in the fire.
When she opened the door, the oxygen rushing in caused a backdraft, said Heather McLeod, Dodd’s mother-in-law-to-be. The grease fire exploded in Dodd’s face. “I saw it coming at me, and I threw it outside,” she said. Dodd remembered to stop, drop and roll. Her 5-year-old, Tristin, followed her into the yard calling, “Mommy, what is going on? Mommy are you OK?” Dodd screamed for help and SEE GREASE FIRE, PAGE A7
Longtime children’s advocate retires BY RANDY BURNS Special to The Item A dedicated advocate and a passionate fighter for children and families in Sumter, Clarendon, Williamsburg and Lee counties has retired after 28 years of service to South Carolina. Deborah Wilson, 3rd Judicial Circuit coordinator of the state’s Cass Elias McCarter Guardian ad Litem Program, was the guest of honor Friday at a retirement luncheon held at Sunset Country Club. For the past 20 years,
RANDY BURNS / SPECIAL TO THE ITEM
From left, Deborah Wilson, Emmly Dinkins, Mary Anne Mease and Bridgett A. Bryant honor Wilson’s service as the 3rd Judicial Circuit coordinator of the state’s Cass Elias McCarter Guardian ad Litem Program on Friday at a retirement luncheon held at Sunset Country Club.
Wilson has been responsible for training and supervising volun-
20 N. Magnolia St. Sumter, SC 29150 (USPS 525-900)
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teer guardians who have been appointed by the court to advocate
SEE WILSON, PAGE A8
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More than 50 colleagues, volunteer guardians, attorneys, community representatives, parents, family members and friends paid tribute to Wilson’s devotion to “doing the right thing” for children. Andrea Loney, former director of the South Carolina Guardian ad Litem Program, said Wilson was one of those unique people in the world with the ability and passion to work within the system to help
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