This was my oldest daughter, taken nearly 2 years ago. The 2 year anniversary is coming up soon, and I wanted to take a moment to blog about something very serious and an issue that I think we should all find time to sit with our teenage kids and discuss.
Kate and her fiance got into a car with a boy behind the wheel of a Chevy Camaro. They all had been at his place, drinking. He had no business behind the wheel, they had no business drinking or getting in the car with him. That night changed our lives forever. I nearly lost my daughter in her junior year of high school, and we lost my would be son in law.
My daughter is a walking miracle, and a testament to the ills of drunk driving. She is in the 2% of people living that survived the injuries she had. Most never make it from the accident scene. Her doctors have written medical papers on her, because they have never had a case before like her.
No parent should EVER get that 2 am call. It's one I never Dreamed id ever get. So, I ask every parent, every family member, every friend, anyone with a loved one, please stop for a second and have the talk with that teen or loved one. It takes 5 seconds to pick up the phone and make a call to a friend or loved one or even a cab. It's a 5 second call that could save the life of another person's loved one or even yourself.
Six months after my daughter was released from a rehab center, we lost 2 family members (my 2 female cousins) to a drunk driver who'd left a party, and hit them head on while they were on their way home from a cruise with their mom.
Drunk Drving has no place in our society, yet here it is. Seen daily across the nation. We have the power to end it, and even if you don't think at the time your getting through to someone your talking to, it might just be what saves their lives or somwone else's.
This is a picture of my Kate now. Nearly 2 years later. Still struggling with daily taskes, but living and thriving in a world she shouldn't have ever had to be in.
I'm a proud supporter of https://www.madd.org
This is Kate, almost a year ago at her Senior Graduation. Something she promised me would happen as the specialist team of doctors wheeled her down to surgery, less a year before this pic was taken. Her journey, like so many other victims of drunk driving, have been filled with pain and struggles.
Please help keep this from happening to another person.
Thank you for taking the time to hear Kate's story. Find pics and vid of her recovery at Facebook.com/#prayforkate.
