Drinking and Driving

 It was 10 years ago that I had the car accident that changed my life, some for the better and some for the worse, I have never made it a secret that I was DUI, I believe people need to know that; I wasn’t really a drinker until  just a few months before my accident, I can make excuses but they are just that, my marriage was falling apart, all the same old same old, but I made a very bad decision that night and thought I could drive home, I couldn’t. I don’t remember most of what happened, I remember somebody asking me if I was okay and I wondered why? Then I looked up and saw cows peering around the tree I had crashed into, I remember the Trooper asking me if I had been drinking and me telling him that I sure had. I remember the Trooper being with me in the hospital, asking if I agreed to a blood draw and I said yes, I took responsibility for what happened, I asked if I had hurt anybody else and was told no and thanking God for that. The hospital staff was nice to me and tried to be gentle but I didn’t feel anything, not yet anyway. I remember they called the orthopedic surgeon at home and since his wife was working he brought their 9 month old baby with him. I had a lot of serious injuries, I had broken my right ankle, crushed the heel, broke my right ring finger, the tendons didn’t heal and it is weak and crooked still, I had open and closed head injuries that have resulted in a weird type of amnesia that I really can’t explain, I also have trouble making new memories and I have forgotten so many things, things I should remember. I had to pay fines, go to court, spent 48 hours in jail and I lost my driving privileges for a year and after that I had to carry an insurance policy with a higher premium for 5 years. But, I feel that this was actually an act of God, He had given me several warnings to change what I was doing and I didn’t listen, so this was His way to stop me.  All I went through could have been much, much worse. The first night I spent in jail was horrible and I started to cry and then I told myself to stop, I did this to myself and this was the consequence, so I did stop and just sat there listening to the sounds around me and just couldn’t understand why in the world someone would do it more than once? I see on the news some people have lots and lots of DUI arrests, and I wonder what in the world is wrong with these people. I told the Trooper that I wish someone could film what I was going through and show it to high school kids, if one person saw what I went through and it stopped them it would have been worth it.  I had been and still am very opposed to drinking and driving and believe me if it can happen to me it can happen to anyone. Someone even asked me if I had more understanding of drunk drivers after my wreck and I said no, I deserved what happened to me, I have always said if you drive drunk you deserve what happens to you and I felt that way then and I feel that way now. It is not something I am going to repeat and I am so very thankful that I was able to survive and hope that what happened to me may stop it from happening to someone else. Please, please, if you drink don’t drive, have a designated driver and if you are the DD, stay with non alcoholic drinks, the life you save might be your own.