 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Sobering stories help evoke a prom pledge
By MAUREEN BYRNE AHERN SEMINOLE -- Ashley Elliott says she is one of the lucky ones. She survived after a drunken driver slammed into her parked Firebird last summer. Ashley, 17, says it was bad enough that the driver could have killed her and a friend as they stood next to her car in front of her friend's house. But she says she couldn't believe what he did next. "He got out of his car still drinking his beer," she said Tuesday before juniors and seniors at Seminole High School. Her incredulous statement brought some chuckles from her peers, but Ashley's serious talk was to make a point: "If you're drinking this weekend, please have a designated driver," she said. "I don't want to come back to school on Monday and find out some of my friends were hurt or killed." Ashley's somber words were part of the school's hourlong assembly for Prom Promise, a national campaign to prevent drinking and driving on prom night. Law enforcement agencies take turns staging mock DUI accidents or inviting people to share their tragedies of losing loved ones at the hands of drunken drivers. For most teenagers, the prom is a memorable time. But it is also a time for parties -- and alcohol. Ashley, a senior, told her classmates she didn't want to sound "preachy." She said she knew some of them would drink Saturday night when the school presents its prom at the Coliseum in St. Petersburg. Just have a designated driver, she urged them. Eileen Pearson of Clearwater wishes her daughter would have done the same. Yvonne Meyers was 18 when the drunken friend she was riding with ran a red light. A direct hit from an oncoming car killed her. Along with Ashley, Mrs. Pearson was one of a handful of people who spoke to the students in the school's auditorium. The 800 teenagers giggled and talked as they waited for the program to begin. But the chatter soon was replaced with silence and occasional gasps as they listened to the horrific details in some of the stories. Ashley, who plans to study medicine at Purdue University in Indiana, said she asked the school's resource officer if she could share her story with the students. She said she figured they might be more inclined to take advice from a peer than an adult. She told them about the night of the accident last July. She was standing next to her car saying goodbye to her friend when they saw the truck coming straight toward them. It hit her car at 47 mph, barely missing them. Ashley's friend suffered two broken ribs and some internal bruising. Ashley sprained an ankle and a knee and broke some of the tiny bones in her wrist. She said the muscles in her right leg also were injured and she may need surgery. Ashley wore a cast on her wrist for four months and had to rely on help from her mom for simple tasks like getting dressed and cutting her food. The injuries prevented the accomplished athlete from being on the swim team or tumbling during cheerleading in her senior year. She competed in track, but says her performance was hampered because of her leg injury. "I lost a lot of different things because of someone else's carelessness," she said. But, she says, she's thankful to be alive. Pinellas County sheriff's Deputy Dave Swanson, Seminole High's resource officer, says the students are encouraged to sign Prom Promise cards that say they won't drink or take drugs. But stories like Ashley's and the others who spoke Tuesday really make a difference, Swanson said. "Hopefully, they make an impact on every student so they will make the right choices on that special night," he said.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From the Times South Pinellas desks |
