December

December...the most wonderful time of the year? For many victim/survivors December isn't the most wonderful time of the year.

I remember well the December of 1991. My husband, Mike, had just been killed in late November and then all of the sudden--everywhere I turned it seemed--people were jovial, celebrating, shopping, and going to parties. I wanted to shout, "Hey, don't you see what I'm going through?? How can you be so happy around me?" I went to the local mall because I felt like I had to buy our daughter something for Christmas. I wasn't there very long at all when I felt like I was being smothered...like I was having a panic attack. I had to leave.

Of course these strangers didn't know what was going on inside of me. I looked like any other young Mom at the mall. But inside, the grief was excruciating.

And so here we are in December. Many victims of drunk driving crashes are going through just what I went through. Yes, it may have been years ago when their loved one was killed by a drunk driver, but they are still hurting. Or, it may have been since last December that their loved one was killed and this is the first holiday season without them. And seeing people having fun hurts them. They wish their son/daughter/mom/dad/other loved one was with them to usher in the shopping season or eat cookies or decorate their home. And the reminder of how they died is brought to the surface once again.

Take time to breathe and reflect this December. And remember, this will be behind us in 30 days.

MAD With One "D"

I've just started to be calm enough to post this blog entry. For the last two weeks I've been mad with one "d"...because it happened again.

Roy McConnell and his 3 sons were killed two weeks ago by a suspected underage, drunk driver who blew through a red light in St. Petersburg, FL and violently crashed into Roy's car. All of his kids were with him in the car. All of their wives/girlfriends were waiting at the beach house for them to return. They never came home.

I knew Roy from church. He was a fine drummer, triathlete and family man. He told me more than once that he admired my passion for stopping drunk driving. He was a friend of MADD on Facebook. He believed in the good in people and was a strong man of faith.

This crash was 100% preventable just as every other drunk driving crash is! Someone made a choice to drive after drinking and he is now accused of killing my friend and his 3 sons...devastating a family and a community.

If we do nothing, if we say nothing, then we change nothing. Please help us end this violent crime.

Driver drunk in wrong-way wreck

A Long Island mother was drunk and high on marijuana when she drove the wrong way for almost 2 miles on a highway before smashing head-on into an SUV, killing herself and seven others, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

New Mexico Drunk Driver Fakes Death to Avoid Prosecution

Just when you thought things couldn't get any crazier, an alleged drunk driver in New Mexico faked his own death in order to avoid prosecution.

Even his defense attorney is disgusted stating, “I’ve been an attorney 30 years, and I’ve never had a client try to fake their death before," she said. "I’m flabbergasted, and I no longer want to be his attorney.”

She's Come a Long, Long Way: Drunk Driving Crash Survivor Mary Ann McCunn's Story

With the Olympics just around the corner, consider how a 17-year-old drunk driver changed the entire life of one active, 21-year-old gymnast, springboard diver and former cheerleader when he hit her and her fiancé on August 16, 1980.

Orlando resident Mary Ann McCunn is permanently disabled, despite 34 surgeries and endless failed bone grafts. Paralyzed from her left knee down, she must wear a leg brace or use a cane to support her left leg. She even had to endure antibiotic nails inserted into her bone for months at a time. A chronic bone infection, osteomyelitis, has killed her bone, tissue and everything in its path. She says the worst injury was being unable to bear children. “It really is a life sentence,” Mary Ann says.

Read Mary Ann's story.

Drunk Driving Crash Victim Jackson Vogel's Story

Friends and family have endured three painful years since Jackson Vogel of Fayetteville N.C. was killed in a one-car drunk driving crash. Ironically, early in the the morning of May 29, 2005, Jackson chose not to go to another bar with a group in Charlotte, where he was visiting a friend. But the 21-year-old Appalachian State University student did chose to get a ride home with his friend’s roommate, who was drunk. Read Jackson's story.

Drunk Driving Crashes Leave Many Victims: Remembering Mickey Barnett

In addition to the emotional toll she and her family have endured, Marilyn Barnett has also taken on plenty of extra responsibility since her oldest son “Mickey” died in a drunk driving crash.

At the time of the February 10, 2005 crash in Evansville, Indiana, Mickey was the proud father of a 3-month-old girl named Kaydance. “Part of my joy as a grandmother was watching Mickey with her,” says Marilyn. “I feel cheated.” Read Mickey Barnett's story.

Death of Family by Drunk Driving Falls on Deaf Ears

Some drivers are still driving drunk, even after Michael Gagnon received a 43-year sentence last Friday for killing nearly an entire family while driving drunk. Read the complete story from WTOL, Toledo.

Michigan Man Sentenced to 43 Years in Prison for Ohio Drunk Driving Crash that Killed Five

Michael Gagnon, who caused a drunk driving crash in Ohio that killed five members of a Maryland family, was sentenced to 43 years in prison Friday morning. Gagnon had a blood-alcohol level three times the legal driving limit in Ohio at the time of the crash. Read the complete story from the Toledo Blade.

Woman Sentenced to 16 Years for Drunk Driving Crash that Killed Two Eugene Symphony Musicians

A judge sentenced a woman to 16 years Tuesday for assault, two counts of manslaughter and drunken driving. A jury found the woman guilty earlier this month of causing a crash that killed two musicians from the Eugene Symphony last year. Read the complete story from KATU.

Call for ignition interlocks on the vehicles of all convicted drunk drivers.

Drunk Driving Crash Changes Life in an Instant

What would you do, if a drunk driving crash injured your brain, and:

• your skull broke into 24 pieces?
• doctors predicted you’d remain in a vegetative state if you survived?
• you had to relearn to swallow, talk, see, balance, think, walk, tie your shoes, etc.?
• you had three surgeries to stop seeing double, then one and a half years of vision therapy?
• you could never drive again?
• your short-term memory continued to be frustratingly compromised?
• you were still paying off more than a million dollars in medical bills, nine years after your crash and injuries (and after your insurance paid)?

Read Joan Miller's remarkable story of survival after a drunk driving crash left her with severe traumatic brain injury.

12-Year-Old Arkansas Boy Faces Drunken-Driving Charge

An Arkansas preteen faces a drunken-driving charge after he and a friend drank his parents' beer and crashed his stepfather's pickup truck. The county prosecutor said that he will charge the 12-year-old boy with drunken driving and several other misdemeanor charges.

Read the complete story from the Arkansas Democrat Gazette.

Drunk Driving Crash That Killed Five Family Members Sparks Progressive Legislation in New Mexico

The tragic 2006 drunk driving crash that killed five members of a New Mexico family led to the state’s 2007 passage of a model law, which MADD hopes other states will consider.

When Paul Gonzales (36), his wife Renee (38) and their daughters Jacqueline (11), Selena (10) and Alisha Garcia (17) were all killed in the horrific November 11 crash, only 15-year-old daughter Arissa Garcia survived. At the time of the crash, the drunk offender had a blood alcohol content (BAC) level of 0.32 percent, four times the legal limit in New Mexico.
Read the complete story here.

Learn more about MADD's Victims Services.

Man Accused of Killing Four in Drunk Driving Crash Had Multiple Previous DUI Convictions

Bobby L. Frazier, 49, of Louisa, Ky., faces four counts of DUI resulting in death and a charge of third-offense DUI for the April 17 crash that killed 28-year-old John Michael Boone and his two children, Jordan, 3, and Michael, 2 , along with family friend Thomas "Reno" Hardwick, 29.

Read the complete story from the Huntington, W. Va. Herald-Dispatch.

Contact your lawmakers and urge them to require alcohol ignition interlock for all convicted DUI offenders.

Sandra Bullock’s Vehicle Hit Head-on by Drunk Driver

No one is immune to the dangers and devastation of drunk driving. Read the complete story in The Boston Globe or the Gloucester Daily Times.

Jarrod Knox – "Every Guy’s Best Friend, Every Girl’s Sweetheart”

Kim Knox felt she’d lost everything. Her only child, 18-year-old Jarrod, died in November 2005, following a night of drinking and playing cards with three adults who let him drive away drunk. At the time, Jarrod was a freshman at Eastern New Mexico University in Portales in Curry County, which had the dubious distinction of being the No.1 county for underage drinking in the United States.

Read Jarrod's complete story.

A College Student Honors His Mother’s Legacy Through Campus Leadership

Over spring break, 21-year-old Ryan Pitts is skiing in Utah. Ryan, a junior at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, is determined to make the most of the trip, despite the foot he broke last week.

Determination is nothing new to this student leader. He has overcome significant learning disabilities in his quest for a political science and psychology degree. Now he’s also focused on honoring his mother.

As a high school senior, Ryan was asked to give a speech about his hero. His choice was easy – his mom. Far from easy, however, was grappling with her death a week later. On a Friday night in June 2004, a drunk driver slammed into the family car at 90 mph. The 32-year-old offender had been drinking for eight hours prior to the crash and had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .28. The legal limit is .08.

Read more of Ryan's story.