Layout made by Beautiful ScarsDrunk Driving Enforcement will continue to be a top priority for the NHTSA, noting NO Improvement in last year’s alcohol-related fatalities numbers. In 2006, 15,121 fatalities involved a driver or motorcycle operator, pedestrian or cyclist who had a .08 or above BAC (blood alcohol concentration) compared to 15,102 in 2005..In 2006, 42,642 people died in traffic crashes, a drop of 868 deaths compared to 2005.“There is a personal story behind these statistics and for every alcohol and non-alcohol related fatality, the family left behind is shattered forever,â€NHTSA collects crash statistics annually from the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico to produce reports on fatalities and injuries.
Hi Folks, I’d be honored if you took ten minutes and decided to read this. Please sit down and learn about my story.
I just wanted to have a good time you know, after a long week of school and a hard week of practice. The coach has been hard on us since we made it to states. People drink all the time and nothing bad ever happens, I mean hey everyone knows my dad and how much he can drink, he’s always out having fun most people say he’s a better driver when he’s drunk than when he’s sober!! Everyone says we are so much alike and I’m going to prove it tonight.
I was da man yo, I met this great girl at the party we were having so much fun, she even let me take her upstairs if you know what I mean! I was pounding down the beers left and right after that, I was having the time of my life. I beat all of my buddies at beer bong pong and was still able to do a keg stand! To this day I don’t think anyone has beaten the record I set that night. Then again maybe that is because they know what happened to me, but we’ll get to that in a little bit. It was 3:30 A.M. when I noticed the time, when I hugged my mom good bye after dinner I promised her I would be in by 1 A.M. and not a second later because I know she will be up worrying, but I was I having so much fun, I’m sure she will understand - anyways I’m 18 what is she going to do? Ground me for the rest of my life! My friends practically carried me out to my car on their shoulder because they knew I was the champ! We all made sure we had our story straight so our parents would never know what we were up to that night. I got in my car, well my sister’s car - she let me use it when she was away at college. The team had the windows painted and everything for the championship, she would be proud of how far we made it. I started up the car, cranked up the music and headed home. Little did my friends and I know, that would be the last night we would ever get to spend together.
I was feeling good, so what I drank some beer … ok a lot of beer, but people drive after partying all the time, even my dad - so he has no room to yell at me. I was almost home, I was rounding the corner by the baseball field where I played my first game, and where I hit my first home run. And all of a sudden I didn’t know what hit me it must have been that last beer and shot combination I had, this wasn’t good I felt like throwing up and I felt like I just got off one of those spaceship rides at an amusement park - stuff started spinning. I lost it … I crossed the double yellow lines and hit an on coming car …I spun sideways, and my car kept going down the hill, I think by this point I had thrown up, I really don’t remember. The car was sideways and I knew what was coming … there was a guard rail ahead, and below it was the river that I had played in so many times. The car and I went crashing through the guard rail … I was waiting for the cold water to come rushing in the car - but it didn’t happen I had landed upside down on a rock ledge. There was broken glass everywhere - I could smell the gasoline. I could feel the warm blood running from me, I think my collar bone was broken and both my arms. It was really hard to breath, my chest slammed up against the steering wheel when I hit that other car. Oh my god, I hit another car, I wonder who it was, and if they are ok. Then I thought about my mom, I loved her so much, and I would do anything to take this back … and my team, they need me for states, and my sister’s car - she is going to be so mad. Oh my God, what have I done? Is help coming, I need help I can’t hang on much longer.In the distance I heard sirens, someone must be coming for me.
Everything is starting to go black, I feel so light, I hope they hurry, I don’t want to die. I can’t die I’m only 18 years old, I have my whole life ahead of me. I swear if I make it out of this alive I’ll never drink and drive again, I swear it. Finally I hear voices, and people talking on a radio … I want to scream, “I’m here, help me“, but I can’t my body is shutting down. Someone looks in the car with a flashlight … I heard him say, “he’s bleeding bad, this is a real mess, we are going to need the jaws of life down here, hurry†… “I don’t think this kid is going to make it†… “just incase we get him out get the hospital on alert, he is going to need blood, and have a surgery team standing byâ€.Wait no this isn’t happening, it can’t end like this, not here, not in this car, not now. Someone tell my mom I love her, and tell my dad he was a cool dad, I know he did the best he could with me. Tell my sister I hope she does well in school, marries a great guy, and it would be really nice if she could name her first son after me. Tell grandma she will have an angel waiting for her in heaven when she gets there, make sure you play with Sparky everyday and he loves it when you scratch his ears and tell him he is a good dog. Let the team know I’m sorry for letting them down, and they better win states for me.
I hear them cutting me out of the car, but it’s time for me to go now, God needs another angel to help pour out the rain. I promise I’ll be watching over you all. Then it all went black, the fight was over, the pain was gone, and I wasn’t inside the car anymore. I was standing next to the men working to free my body, one man was crying, it was my dad’s friend Bill. I felt so guilty watching them work, someone must have called my mom and dad because they showed up at the scene. The cops wouldn’t let them near the car to see me, my mom was crying so hard, and my dad was trying to be strong, but when Bill told him I was gone he lost it.
It took them almost an hour to free me, when I saw them pull me from the car I couldn’t believe what my body looked like … all the blood, and I was pale, there was a huge gash on my forehead and my body was so limp it was falling all over the place. They were trying to be careful with me as they hauled me up the cliff. They covered me with a sheet, just like in the movies and loaded me into the coroners van.
The accident made the newspaper the next day and everyone knew, they were all so sad, but I couldn’t do anything about it. My body was laying lifeless on a cold metal table. Later that day the funeral director showed up at my parents house to make the arrangements for my funeral. The damage was to extensive for an open casket funeral, but they decided to burry me in my uniform. They picked out a really sharp looking casket, it was metallic black with silver handles and a white interior. Only the best for their little boy. The viewing was scheduled to be held in three days, the day before the championship game. Mean while back at the morgue they cleaned and embalmed my body. Granted I’m dead and I will never need my body again, but it’s kind of freaky what the morticians do when they embalm a body...
*The body is placed on stainless steel or porcelain table, then washed with a germicide-insecticide-olfactant. The insides of the nose and mouth are swabbed with the solution.
*Rigor mortis (stiffness) is relieved by massage. (Rarely but sometimes, tendons and muscles are cut in order to place the body in a more natural pose if limbs are distorted by disease, e.g., arthritis.)
*Massage cream is worked into the face and hands to keep the skin soft and pliable.
*Facial features are set by putting cotton in the nose, eye caps below the eyelids, a mouth former in the mouth (cotton or gauze in the throat to absorb purging fluids). The mouth is then tied shut with wire or sutures. (Glue may be used on the eyelids and lips to keep them closed in an appropriate pose.) Facial hair is shaved if necessary.
*Arterial embalming is begun by injecting embalming fluid into an artery while the blood is drained from a nearby vein or from the heart. The two gallons or so needed is usually a mixture of formaldehyde or other chemical and water. In the case of certain cancers, some diabetic conditions, or because of the drugs used prior to death (where body deterioration has already begun), a stronger or "waterless" solution is likely to be used for better body preservation. Chemicals are also injected by syringe into other areas of the body.
*The second part of the embalming process is called cavity embalming. A trocar — a long, pointed, metal tube attached to a suction hose — is inserted close to the navel. The embalmer uses it to puncture the stomach, bladder, large intestines, and lungs. Gas and fluids are withdrawn before "cavity fluid" (a stronger mix of formaldehyde) is injected into the torso.
*The anus and vagina may be packed with cotton or gauze to prevent seepage if necessary. (A close-fitting plastic garment may also be used.)
*Incisions and holes made in the body are sewn closed or filled with trocar "buttons." The body is washed again and dried.
*Nails are manicured, any missing facial features are molded from wax, head hair is styled, and makeup is used on the face and hands. The body is dressed and placed in the casket (fingers are glued together if necessary).
Source: http://www.funerals.org/faq/embalm.htm
Yup, that’s what they did to my 18 year old body. Told ya it was freaky. The memorial service was really nice. Everyone was there, my mom looked … well terrible, she hasn’t slept or ate since it happened, and all she has done is cry. My dad is trying to pretend it didn’t happen, and my sister can’t stop crying. They set up really nice pictures of me from when I was little all the way up to my senior pictures. They played my favorite music too. I think the whole school was there, I know my whole team was there, the coach too. I heard my friend Tommy talking to me when it was his turn to walk by the casket, he’s blaming himself, he said he should have never let me get into that car that night. But the truth is it’s my fault, all of this is my fault and I should have known better. They were always telling us not to drive drunk in school, but I thought it would never happen to me.
Two more days passed, and nothing much changed. Today was the day I was going to get buried. Everyone showed up dressed in their best and trying to be strong for my family. The pastor spoke such kind words, recalling memories from when he baptized me, in a small town you don’t forget things like that. My sister got up to talk about me, she told a funny story about one time when I was 5 years old and ate dog food just because mom told me not to. And my friend Johnny spoke of that time I hit my first home run and won the game for my team at that park I passed right before the accident. They all brought back such great memories. I didn’t want it to end, but I knew it was going to, it was inevitable. 45 minutes after it all began people were leaving the funeral home, getting in their cars and making the drive to the cemetery. The funeral home staff picked up my casket with me inside and slide it into the back of the hearse, slammed the doors shut, and began the 15 minute drive to the cemetery.
My mom didn’t know it, but I was sitting right next to her the entire way there, I wanted so badly to comfort her as she stared out that window not speaking a word to anyone the entire way there. When everyone got there my dad, coach, and 4 teammates walked over to the hearse and grabbed those silver handles. Together the six of them somehow had the strength to carry me to my final resting place and sit me down on top of the supports over that six foot hole in the ground. The pastor said one last prayer and everyone laid a rose on top of my casket as they passed by one last time all knowing it would be the last time they would be physically close to my body. They all hugged my family before they got in their cars and drove back to the church for lunch, but my family stayed behind. We all knew what was going to happen next … they were going to lower my body down into the vault, seal it and cover it with dirt. Not even I was ready for this … I was screaming and crying, “No wait … I’m not ready, I was supposed to graduate this spring, I was supposed to go to college and make my family proud, I didn’t even get to tell them I love them one last time … they can’t put me in the ground, I’m going to be so alone down there … it’s not supposed to be this way, please I’ll do anything to take it backâ€. But no one heard me, and I couldn’t take it back. Soon my family had left to join the others at the church.
By the way, two months later my parents got a phone call from that girl I was telling you about, it turns out she is going to have a baby, and I’m going to be a dad. She told my mom she is going to name it after me if it’s a boy, Jason jr. Sounds pretty cute huh? I like anyways, I guess that means my sister is off the hook if she ever has a baby boy! And, “hey mom and dad, I promise I don’t have any surprises left for youâ€.
That my friends is my story. Don’t let it happen to you. You all have choices, please make the right ones.
© Copyright 2007, All Rights Reserved T-MILLS
This story was written by Tif,it is not a true story but it is what we read and hear about each and everyday.
