Frostbite Victim Says His Cell At Silverdale Detention Center Could Leave Him Fingerless

CHATTANOOGA, TN, (WDEF)-For over three weeks David Stewart has struggled to grasp even a coke can.

He says he got frostbite while being held at Silverdale Detention center that could leave him like this for the rest of his life.

Stewart said that it was so cold inside the cell, that he could see his own breath and there was ice on the bars.

"They put me down in a real cold cell, almost 80 degrees up in medical and then when I got down in that cell they put me in, you could see your breath.

54 year old Stewart, a married father of 2, says his crime was possession of marijuana and he feels losing his fingers is not a fair punishment.

"Noticed my fingers were grey when I got out on the 17th, they were cold and numb, day or two later is when they started, the tips started turning black"

Stewart’s attorney Gary Massey says no one deserves  to suffer like this.

"It is shocking that a person can be treated like this in the United States, especially here in Tennessee where we care about people, we like to think that we care about people"

Massey says he will be working with Stewart and his family to bring about change.

"To make our jails in Hamilton County a safer place and especially the one at Silvderdale, even if they have only committed a small misdemeanor like Mr Stewart or something heinous, nobody deserves to be in a freezing cell."

Steve Owen of Corrections Corporation of America says he is surprised by Stewart’s plight.

"I’ve been with this company for nearly 19 years and I am not aware of any incident of frostbite reported by inmates or employees for that matter in any of our facilities nationwide."

Stewart says he hopes that those being held in our local jails across East Tennessee do not meet with a similar fate over the coming days regardless.