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