Drunk driving victims share stories
October 7, 2013
On September 23rd, 2013, Helen Witty and Stuart Flacks visited Palmetto Senior High School to discuss the tragic repercussions of drinking and driving. Coming from two firsthand victims of drunk driving, the words spoken to students throughout Palmetto High School were earnestly taken to heart.
“It was heartbreaking listening to the stories of these people. Listening to them speak really changed the way I think about drinking,” freshman Ethan Paikowsky said. “It doesn’t only affect you. It affects so many people.”
Witty spoke about the last time she saw her daughter, Helen Marie, who was killed by a drunk driver in June 2000.
“She said to me, ‘I’ll be right back, I love you.’ And I never saw her again,” Witty said.
These words sent chills down the spines of the students scattered around the media center. The words, so bluntly spoken, forced the student body to reconsider the magnitude of drunk driving—the concept that it does not just put one person in danger. Drunk driving affects countless families and lives.
“She saw that car spinning down the bike lane and there was nothing she could do,” Witty said. “Nobody should have to do that because of a drinker.”
The heartbreaking tale of Helen Marie is told from a mother’s perspective. Stuart Flacks, a victim of a drunk car crash in 1981, also told his personal story.
Flacks limped in to the media center and appeared in front of the crowd. The students were speechless. Before beginning to speak, he just stood there for a few moments.
“Who am I? I’m just like you. You’re just like me,” Flacks said. “I have a physical disability. True. I’m not mentally challenged. I’m sharp.”
Flacks addressed the attitude of invincibility among teenagers.
“I thought I knew everything. I knew nothing,” Flacks said. “It happens. It happened to me. Why not you? You think you’re special? I thought I was special.”
Flacks reminds the students that just because something is popular, it is not always right.
“I bought into peer pressure,” Flacks said. “Follow the herd, you get killed. I could have been dead.”
