Volunteer Work Entry Number 1

My first attempt at volunteering towards my topic, drunk driving awareness, has not been so successful. I emailed the woman in the student health care center to see if i could volunteer for my Lang 120 class. After we emailed asking and answering questions, she said that I could not volunteer there because of their patient confidentiality policy. I completely understood but now I'm in the dark as to where I should volunteer. I'm going to try and talk to the people from the Red Cross and see if there are volunteer options there. The student healthcare center emailed me a little last minute so I'm going to have to call the Red Cross tomorrow.

My Experience with Drinking and Driving

My Experience with Drinking and Driving

According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), “on average, one in three people will be involved in a drunk driving crash in their lifetime”. Drunk drivers affect not only the lives of their victims, but also the victims’ family and friends. These statistics would easily be prevented if alcohol awareness had been more widespread. Having been in a car accident due to a drunk driver, I know firsthand the tragic effects of alcohol.

On July 4^th, 2011, two of my friends and I were riding home from Raleigh on Highway 64, going the speed limit, not doing anything wrong. Paige was driving my car because she agreed that since I drove up there, she would drive back. I was getting tired any way so, being responsible, I chose not to drive. We were going around a curve and saw lights that looked like they were on the other side of the highway. To our surprise, the lights were actually on our side and before Paige had a chance to respond, the car hit us head-on. I do not remember the actual hit, but when I woke up, I was so confused as to what happened to us that all I did was scream, “WHY?” I finally got myself together and that is when I saw that Paige was knocked out and Brianna, who was in the back, was not even moving. We had three women who helped and talked to us while we waited in the car for the cops to come. I remember looking at Paige and not even thinking she was going to live. There was absolutely no room for her legs. I still can hear her screaming, saying she did not even remember driving or where we were coming from. I kept calling for Brianna, just to hear that she was okay, but she would not respond. I did hear her moving around behind me, so it gave me some hope. We were all trapped in the car and could not get out until the first responders got there. The sheriff asked for my information and if I had Brianna or Paige’s house number since neither of them was able to give it. I tried to calm Paige down and prayed that all of us would be okay. Sitting in the car at that very moment, I did not think any of us would survive. I felt numb from all the adrenaline and assumed that was God taking me away. The ambulance arrived about forty-five minutes later. The firefighters had to use the Jaws of Life to get us out. I was the first one out and was sent straight to WakeMed. Paige was the second, then Brianna. I still cannot even imagine what my parents went through. They got the call saying that I was in the crash with two other girls and that I was sent to WakeMed that was it. They did not even know if I, there only daughter who they loved more than life itself, was going to live. My parents had to drive forty-five minutes with questions running through their minds, passing by and seeing my car and the condition it was in. The first thing my dad said when he got to the hospital was if I was even alive. I never had seen my dad cry up until he walked in. Paige’s parents visited me the next day and her dad could not stop crying. For the longest time, I blamed myself and my parents blamed themselves. It was not our faults, though. It was the drunk driver’s carelessness that completely changed our lives. There was nothing we could have done to prevent the driver running into us.

I ended up having internal surgery, a broken clavicle, and cuts and bruises everywhere. For at least a month and a half, I could not eat hardly anything without throwing it back up. I had the least amount of injuries. Paige broke every bone from the waist down, two of her ribs, her clavicle, and her arm, plus internal injuries. Lastly, my friend, Brianna, who was sitting in the back did not end up making it. She passed while on the way to the hospital. It was a miracle that Paige and I made it that night. All this was caused by someone’s decision to drive while intoxicated.

The whole experience was very traumatizing, especially since I remember every detail of the incident. Even after all the injuries I received healed, I am still healing mentally. Paige was hospitalized for three months, could not walk for five months, and is just starting to finish her physical therapy. In addition to what we had to go through, our loved ones had a lot to deal with also. My family and Paige’s family went through much emotional distress. Brianna’s family lost a member of their family that night. That, in itself, is more than anyone should have to go through. Not only was there emotional and physical scarring from the drunk driver, but we also were affected financially. My family had to pay for all the medical bills, an attorney, and many other expenses. Paige’s family had three months of medical bills to pay for plus all the physical therapy needed and other countless bills that came from this incident.         

This experience with driving while intoxicated has made sharing the awareness personal. Drunk driving is an easily preventable cause of death in the world today. I feel that spreading the awareness of drinking and driving can help narrow down the deaths that are caused by it. National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) made April the month dedicated to Alcohol Awareness including the effects of drinking and driving. Initiatives like these are needed in this community and can prevent accidents like what happened to me and my friends happen to others.