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The Times Advocate, 2008-10-29, Page 12Crossroads 12 Times -Advocate Wednesday, October 29, 2008 "Learn from me," says drunk driving survivor EXETER — South Huron District High School students got an up close and personal look at the aftermath of drink- ing and driving last week when, from his wheel- chair, Kevin Brooks of British Columbia told the students about the night he got behind the wheel and ended up paralyzed. The presentation was organized by members of Ontario Students Against Impaired Driving. SHDHS teacher Dave Mcleod said, "I've been a teacher for 20 years and I've had to attend a num- ber of funerals. I've talked to parents of kids who were killed from drunk driving and that is the most stressful part of my career. I don't want to attend any more." Brooks said only a few weeks before his accident in June 2000, he was camping with friends "and double -fisting." Out of beer and wanting to get more, Brooks tried to drive away but his friends wouldn't let him, saying "look at your legs, don't you want to skate- board again?" "That's what friends are for," said Brooks. "Who else is going to be around to stop you from making bad choices?" Brooks told the students he was known as "the Creature...I was out of control." The night of his acci- dent, Brooks attended his sister Haley's graduation and says he thinks about that night a lot. "I didn't see it would change my life." After the graduation, Brooks went to a party and as it wound down, decided to drive away and although his friends again tried to stop him, he shrugged them off. Brooks stopped at his family home for beer and said as he stared at his car, he felt something was telling him to go to bed but he ignored it. Brooks headed for another party and said he didn't remember any- thing for the rest of the night. As the party ended, Brooks said his friends called a cab. "I could have walked home or called for a ride...my par- ents said call anytime. The ride was there...but I hopped in the car." Also getting in with Brooks was his friend Brendan. Brooks said he remem- bers an intersection with a choice to go left to another party or turn right and go home. "I went left...I was going too fast for a sober driver. I was inexperienced, going too fast and drunk." Brooks said he came to a corner that he didn't make and hit a curb. His car was thrown in the air and rolled several times, finally stopping upside down. Brendan hit his head and Brooks was badly cut, along with a fractured vertebra "I was swollen and bruised and my arm was torn to shreds. The doc- tors and nurses were try- ing to save my life." Brooks said his family saw "a blank stare...there was nothing there." His chances of survival were 30 per cent, said Brooks, whose first mem- ory after the party was waking up and being unable to move, with doctors talking to him. To allow him to breathe, Brooks said a hole was cut in his throat, leaving a scar the size of a golf ball he still carries. On heavy medication, Brooks said he had night- mares about people after him and the medical staff having conversations about letting him die. "I was pretty sure it was real." Thinking he had to help himself, Brooks started pulling out tubes and hit- ting those around him, forcing the staff to strap him down. "I don't remember the lights, sirens, ambulance or the blood and glass," said Brooks. - CAR ACCIDENT SURVIVOR KEVIN BROOKS and a collapsed lung. His one good choice of the night, said Brooks, was wearing his seatbelt. Without it, he said he would have either been thrown through the windshield or else with the car upside down and a punctured lung, he would have drowned in his own blood. "I don't remember the lights, sirens, ambulance or the blood and glass," said Brooks. At 5 a.m., Brooks said his family got a phone call to come to the hospi- tal immediately. "It was hard for my family to see me like that f o r weeks...there were 10 tubes in me." Brooks said there was a tube in each nostril as well as "one below the belt buckle. That was my summer." As he came off the med- ications, Brooks went through CAT scans, infections and needles, but his mother was always there. Asking her why he couldn't move, his moth- er replied that he was paralyzed. Brooks told the stu- dents, "most of my life, there was no wheelchair. I was like you, active, young and happy. I was trying to move my legs Graphic evidence — Paralyzed drunk driving survivor Kevin Brooks spoke to students at South Huron District High School last week, which was sponsored by members of the Ontario Students Against Impaired Driving, including from left, teacher Dave Macleod and students Laura Gehan, Emily Wurm, and Rachel Mungar. Below left is the car Brooks was driving. (photos above Pat Bolen/below sub- mitted) and they wouldn't go. I couldn't wiggle my toes. I was freaking out but I couldn't scream, I had to take it." Explaining the accident, Brooks' mother said there had been a car accident. "It didn't make sense," said Brooks. "I drove that road every day." Brooks said while he and his friends had been in cars many times that they shouldn't have been, "somehow, we got home. It was just luck and tak- ing chances doesn't always last." Brooks said he remem- bers thinking that he hoped it had just hap- pened to him but his mother said, "Brendan's dead." Brooks said, "I didn't think it could get worse. It instantly did. My moth- er was shaking and I knew it was real." Despite the accident, Brooks said Brendan's family supported him and asked for donations for a wheelchair for Brooks. "I needed support so badly," said Brooks. "I wasn't sure I wanted to make it. I was untied, I could have just pulled out a breathing tube." But he said he decided he wanted to live. "I have no regrets for so many reasons. You can learn from me instead of your- self." Three years ago, Brooks said one of his friends hanged himself and he remembers see- ing the family crying and trying to make sense of a senseless death. "That could have been my fami- ly," said Brooks. Brooks said he decided never to quit. "It's worse for the family that has to deal with loss and try to answer why." Brooks said the number one killer of high school students is car accidents and the second is suicide. "Never follow though on it. People love you, need you and want to help you succeed. Quitting is never an option and leaving crap for others to deal with." Before he could go home, Brooks said he had to learn how to do almost everything again, including how to breathe, which he said was the hardest physical thing he ever had to do. When visitors came to the hospital, Brooks said they weren't prepared for what they saw. "Before, I was six foot tall and loud. Now I was withered and helpless...big tough guys were crying." Finally able to eat, Brooks said he wanted steak and chicken wings. "I got canned pears and water." As he began to relearn some of the skills he had lost, Brooks said there was still a black cloud hanging over him and he had to face the family of Brendan. When he called, Brooks said Brendan's father said, "We don't blame you...you both made the choice to get in the car," but it got tougher when Brooks' girlfriend left him. "I hit rock bottom. I started to cry and could- n't stop. It was all gone and there was nothing I could do." Brooks told the stu- dents,"You can do any- thing you want, whenev- er you want. It's a gift and I threw it away." Brooks said his sister, who has just turned 13, has made the same wish for him every year in the hope that he would be able to walk again. "It breaks my heart but I can't give it to her," said Brooks. "I've learned a lesson I want to share so maybe you won't make the same mistake." Brooks had an empty chair beside him in his presentation and said it is for his buddy. "He's always beside me. I'm telling you our story so it never becomes your story." Brooks told the students if they were about to make a bad decision that they should just wiggle their toes to remind themselves of what he lost. "Is it worth it? No."