This is a true story about alcohol and driving. For those of you who agree that it?s okay to drink and drive, don?t bother to read on. For those of you who disagree with some of my recent posts on a thread which involved driving under the influence, don?t waste your time reading this either. Because none of you got, or will get, the message.
In July 2004 a young man 28 years old was at a party at his fiancee?s home which is located outside of Athens. From what we learned later, there were about 25 people present, all adults. By adults I mean the young man, his girlfriend and their friends, plus older people - the girl?s parents and some of their friends. They were all drinking, some more, some less. The young man didn?t drink often but when he did, he drank to excess. He was drunk. Not fall-down drunk, but drunk. it was about 3:30 am, and he decided to drive back to his apartment in the centre of the city ? a distance of about 20 miles. His fianc?e and friends and family tried to convince him to stay the night and sleep it off but he was adamant and insisted on going. He had to get up early in the morning to go to work and wanted to wake up in his own place to avoid the drive to the city in the morning. So he got in his car and left. Shortly afterwards, four friends got in another car and went to follow him to try and convince him to let one of them drive him home. They caught up with him about 10 miles down the road and tried to get beside him in order to signal him to pull over. They couldn?t because he was driving so fast and swerving on the road and they were afraid to pull up beside him in case his car hit theirs. At some point he lost control, the car hit the protective bars in the middle of the road, spun around three times and crashed into the back end of a tractor-trailer that was parked on the side of the highway. The back corner of the tractor-trailer smashed through the driver?s window and hit him on the temple. The crash was so hard that his watch and shoes flew off and the seat belt ripped. Death was instantaneous.
I have never and will never understand why there wasn?t just one adult present who had the guts to stand up to him and take away his keys. Punch him in the mouth if that?s what he had to do to, to get the keys from him. But no one took the responsibility because everyone just assumes that it?s okay to drink and then drive. They always think that everything will be all right and the person will get home okay. Worst that could happen would be that the cops would stop him and he?d get a fine or spend the night in jail. This young man didn?t. He spent what was left of the night in the morgue.
That?s where we went the next morning to claim his body. His mother is my husband?s sister. The young man was our nephew and was their only child.
I went into the morgue to identify him and I will never forget that day. We arranged for the funeral parlor to come and pick up his body and drive the casket to his parents? home where it would rest for family and friends to visit until the funeral in the late afternoon. I will never, ever forget the scene of him lying in the casket in his parents? living room and the low wailing sound his mother made from time to time as she stroked his face and cried. Nor the look and sound of his father crying out ?Why?, why our son?? over and over in his disbelief that their only child had been taken from them.
At the time his father was battling lung cancer. He had done several rounds of chemo and had just had a new set of x-rays and blood test done that showed that the cancer was in remission. He called his son that night to tell him the good news but couldn?t get him as his son had left his cell phone in the car. After our nephew?s death, his father gave up hope and the will to live. He went back to smoking and hanging out late with his buddies and drinking. Anything to not be home and see the many pictures of his son that were in all the rooms of their home. The cancer spread to his brain and 15 months after his son died, he died also, leaving my sister-in-law alone in a city far from here, to grieve the loss of her son and husband.
As most of you know, there was a thread the last couple of days that involved someone drinking and driving. Many of you were outraged by some of the posts made by myself and other members here at MWO about the fact that the driver was drunk and put his child in danger and that it was a very dangerous thing that he did. You just didn?t get the message. Your reactions to our posts were that we ?ganged up on? him and ?crucified? him and slapped his face and so on and so on. You just didn?t get it. The message from all of us, whether it was stated as politely as you would have liked or not, was this?.DRINKING AND DRIVING KILLS. PERIOD.
In July 2004 a young man 28 years old was at a party at his fiancee?s home which is located outside of Athens. From what we learned later, there were about 25 people present, all adults. By adults I mean the young man, his girlfriend and their friends, plus older people - the girl?s parents and some of their friends. They were all drinking, some more, some less. The young man didn?t drink often but when he did, he drank to excess. He was drunk. Not fall-down drunk, but drunk. it was about 3:30 am, and he decided to drive back to his apartment in the centre of the city ? a distance of about 20 miles. His fianc?e and friends and family tried to convince him to stay the night and sleep it off but he was adamant and insisted on going. He had to get up early in the morning to go to work and wanted to wake up in his own place to avoid the drive to the city in the morning. So he got in his car and left. Shortly afterwards, four friends got in another car and went to follow him to try and convince him to let one of them drive him home. They caught up with him about 10 miles down the road and tried to get beside him in order to signal him to pull over. They couldn?t because he was driving so fast and swerving on the road and they were afraid to pull up beside him in case his car hit theirs. At some point he lost control, the car hit the protective bars in the middle of the road, spun around three times and crashed into the back end of a tractor-trailer that was parked on the side of the highway. The back corner of the tractor-trailer smashed through the driver?s window and hit him on the temple. The crash was so hard that his watch and shoes flew off and the seat belt ripped. Death was instantaneous.
I have never and will never understand why there wasn?t just one adult present who had the guts to stand up to him and take away his keys. Punch him in the mouth if that?s what he had to do to, to get the keys from him. But no one took the responsibility because everyone just assumes that it?s okay to drink and then drive. They always think that everything will be all right and the person will get home okay. Worst that could happen would be that the cops would stop him and he?d get a fine or spend the night in jail. This young man didn?t. He spent what was left of the night in the morgue.
That?s where we went the next morning to claim his body. His mother is my husband?s sister. The young man was our nephew and was their only child.
I went into the morgue to identify him and I will never forget that day. We arranged for the funeral parlor to come and pick up his body and drive the casket to his parents? home where it would rest for family and friends to visit until the funeral in the late afternoon. I will never, ever forget the scene of him lying in the casket in his parents? living room and the low wailing sound his mother made from time to time as she stroked his face and cried. Nor the look and sound of his father crying out ?Why?, why our son?? over and over in his disbelief that their only child had been taken from them.
At the time his father was battling lung cancer. He had done several rounds of chemo and had just had a new set of x-rays and blood test done that showed that the cancer was in remission. He called his son that night to tell him the good news but couldn?t get him as his son had left his cell phone in the car. After our nephew?s death, his father gave up hope and the will to live. He went back to smoking and hanging out late with his buddies and drinking. Anything to not be home and see the many pictures of his son that were in all the rooms of their home. The cancer spread to his brain and 15 months after his son died, he died also, leaving my sister-in-law alone in a city far from here, to grieve the loss of her son and husband.
As most of you know, there was a thread the last couple of days that involved someone drinking and driving. Many of you were outraged by some of the posts made by myself and other members here at MWO about the fact that the driver was drunk and put his child in danger and that it was a very dangerous thing that he did. You just didn?t get the message. Your reactions to our posts were that we ?ganged up on? him and ?crucified? him and slapped his face and so on and so on. You just didn?t get it. The message from all of us, whether it was stated as politely as you would have liked or not, was this?.DRINKING AND DRIVING KILLS. PERIOD.
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