Katie's Story
By: Haley Copeland
May 1, 2007, was the only day I remember that week. It was a rainy, dreary day when we had to attend the funeral of my seventeen-year-old cousin. Saying goodbye to my best friend and the person I looked up to the most was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. As a senior in high school, Katie had everything going for her. She was the captain of her cheerleading squad, had tons of friends, participated in basketball and softball, president of her school, in show choir for three years, a member of numerous organizations, and had a full scholarship to a music school in Tonkawa, Oklahoma. Little did she know her future would change in the blink of an eye.
When she started high school, she was guaranteed to make friends, and of course she did. She was one of the "popular" kids. She loved being with her friends, doing whatever they could find to do in that little town of Bristow, Oklahoma. Most of the time they found things to do, but they did not always make the best decisions. Katie started drinking her sophomore year of high school. She hid it well. I was the only one in the family that knew until the end of her senior year, when it was too late to help. As a young, naïve teen I was too afraid to tell anyone about her problem. I had no idea how bad her drinking had become. It turned from once in a while to an almost everyday occurrence. She was putting herself in very dangerous situations, from partying with people she did not know to driving home drunk. According to Janet Grosshandler, "When you get in a car, your chances of being in an accident are one in seven. When you get in a car slightly drunk or with a drunk driver, your chances drop to one in three" (Grosshandler 52). Looking back I often wonder if she even realized the consequences of drinking and driving.
Katie had lost herself in the midst of all her drinking. She was no longer the fun, loving, spontaneous person we had once known. She had become bitter and somewhat depressed. Her grades had started falling. She no longer wanted to be with her family, or be a part of her school activities that she had once loved so much; she only wanted to feel one thing, and that was the buzz from her alcohol.
As Katie's drinking spiraled out of control her life came to an abrupt end. It was the morning of April 28, 2007, when I heard the news that changed my life. We received a phone call from my grandma that was the worst phone call anyone could ever receive. She told us that Katie had been in a car wreck that morning around four and that she was pronounced dead at the scene. I had a gut feeling about the cause of the wreck before they told me: driving while intoxicated. That was exactly what caused the wreck. Katie had been out all night partying and was way too drunk to drive herself anywhere, but she stupidly got behind the wheel. Apparently she blacked out, ran off the road, and flipped her car seven times. She never woke up again. I felt a tremendous amount of guilt for the death of my cousin. I knew she had a severe drinking problem, and I did nothing to help her. Many times over the last couple of years I wish I would have said something to an adult about her problem.
The death of someone very special to me really opened my eyes to the dangers of drinking and driving. According to Christine Madsen, "Alcohol is directly responsible for thousands of deaths and injuries on the roads each year." On a day-to-day basis about eight young people die due to alcohol related accidents. I had never really given that much thought to something that did not pertain to me and had never happened to anyone I knew. Many laws have been enacted to deter drunk driving. Some people feel that these laws are restricting personal freedoms. Yet we need these laws to live together in a safe society. The laws enacted by the states are for the protection not only of innocent people, but also for the protection of people who decide to drink and drive.
I believe that prevention is an important way to combat drinking and driving. The best way to prevent drinking and driving is to just not do it. It is possible to have a good time without alcohol. Everyone should stick to the simple saying "Don't drink. Or don't drive" (Madsen 52). Young people may feel pressured to drink and drive but there are many ways to avoid it. You could volunteer to be the designated driver, get an Uber, or call a friend. There are many television ads and outdoor ads that promote safe behavior while driving. One catchy Texas billboard ad states "Drink. Drive. Go to Jail." These ads are intended to stress the importance of not drinking and driving. States and organizations such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving also promote safe driving with advertising.
I felt a deep compassion about speaking out against drinking and driving, so in high school I joined SADD (Students Against Drunk Driving). Our goals were to get community leaders involved, educate young people about the dangers of alcohol, teach prevention, and actions to protect people from drunk drivers. SADD had a part in setting up a program called Shattered Dreams at our school. This program acts out a drinking and driving accident using students from the high school as the victims and offenders. The students "witness" a drinking related accident scene complete with police, ambulances, and even death. Programs like this make the students realize the seriousness of drinking and driving and that it could happen to any of them.
Watching my cousin go through her last months of life not even being herself and dying from something that was preventable really opened my eyes. My family and I felt a tremendous amount of grief. I felt many different emotions during this time of loss. I felt anger towards her for being stupid, sadness for the loss, and anger and guilt towards myself for not doing anything to stop her. I knew what was going on, but I never spoke up and I felt like it was partly my fault that she never woke up again. This guilt was hard to deal with. I had a hard time dealing with daily life. I became very depressed and had to receive counseling to help me through the grieving process.
I have come to peace with myself now. I know that her death was not my fault. I have accepted the fact that she has gone, but I take her death as a learning experience. I learned a lot from losing her to such a tragic and preventable cause. I realized I would never want to put my family and friends through the type of pain that I was experiencing. When my friends and I go out I always volunteer to be the designated driver, or make sure we have an Uber, because I never want to lose another one of my best friends to this demon. I tell my friends about Katie's story in hopes that they will learn from her death like I have. I try my hardest to speak up when I see people around me doing the same thing. I feel like I owe it to them and Katie to speak out against drinking and driving and take the proper actions to help them. After her death I made a promise to my family and myself that I would never drive a car if I had been drinking or get in a car if the driver had been drinking. Sometimes it takes something as serious as death to learn a valuable lesson. I hope her death was not in vain, but that at least one person might not drink and drive when they remember what happened to someone with as much potential as her.
Works Cited
Grosshandler, Janet. Coping with Drinking and Driving. New York, NY: Rosen Publishing
Group, 1994.
Madsen, Christine. Drinking and Driving. New York, NY: Franklin Watts, 1989
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