| Substance abuse prevention speakers take the topic | | | | revoked). The 61 year-old lady barreling down the |
| seriously, but sometimes I wonder just how many | | | | road in a large Chevy truck, driving drunk at 4:40PM |
| others do? I suppose as a substance abuse | | | | on a Tuesday afternoon, hit my car repeatedly |
| prevention speaker who knows the pain and torment | | | | (completely totaling it and nearly killing me) without |
| personally from an experiential level, I am more apt | | | | stopping, attempting to flee the scene of the |
| to see the danger in substance abuse and drunk | | | | accident, after which she hit and totaled a parked car |
| driving. | | | | before being arrested by police. |
| I grew up the son of a mother (a former high school | | | | For nearly five months I drove numerous rental cars, |
| cheerleader and honor graduate) who was an | | | | while battling my insurance company to be financially |
| alcoholic and substance abuser. As a child I saw my | | | | compensated to purchase a replacement vehicle for |
| beloved mother self-destruct and torment my | | | | my automobile totaled by the negligible drunk driver. |
| grandparents as a result of alcoholism and using | | | | Even worse I spent days and nights in hospitals and |
| every drug imaginable. Ironically, my mother (a | | | | doctors’ offices receiving medical treatment |
| former drunk driver herself) was killed when crossing | | | | after the accident for injuries, which still cause me |
| the road as a pedestrian when an 18 year-old drunk | | | | pain and trouble to this day. The added stress and |
| driver hit her – killing her on impact. | | | | strain medically and financially also negatively affected |
| Dead on arrival, police awaited the return of the | | | | my marriage, as logistically my wife and I shared the |
| young drunk driver who left the scene of the | | | | one vehicle the drunk driver totaled. |
| accident. Upon returning, the police video (which I | | | | Personally encountering the crooked and fraudulent |
| later painfully watched) showed the young man | | | | business practices of tow truck companies, medical |
| crying and screaming, “I can’t live with this | | | | professionals, insurance claims adjusters, and car |
| on my mind!” | | | | salesmen added additional aggravation and suffering |
| As a former lifeguard and fitness trainer I don't drink | | | | to my life at a time when I was most vulnerable. |
| alcohol to this day. Yet I don't condemn those who | | | | Nevertheless I somehow persevered and battled |
| do and kindly serve as the designated driver | | | | through it all to stand tall, becoming a voice of |
| whenever anybody close to me drinks. | | | | conscience to substance abusers, drunk drivers, they |
| After a childhood of pain and hell as a result of | | | | who prey on victims of catastrophic accidents, and |
| substance abuse and drunk driving, I myself was hit | | | | those suffering through seasons of tragedy turning |
| and nearly killed in July 2008 by a drunk driver (a | | | | their world upside down. |
| two-time DUI offender driving after her license was | | | | I guess God spared my life so I can speak to others. |