Personal price of drunk driving choices

BY STACI WILSON

Sam Thomas speaks to young adults about their choices in life.

But he wasn’t given a choice in the event that now motivates him to reach out to students.

Just over five years ago, Thomas’ five-year-old daughter, Megan, was killed on her way to a church service in New Milford Twp. by a drunk driver.

It is her death – and life – that pushes him forward to talk to people about their life choices.

On Thursday, May 5, Thomas, of Horseheads, N.Y., spoke to Montrose Area High School juniors and seniors on the day before their prom. The week before, he was at Mountain View and this week, Thomas will bring his talk to students at his alma mater, Blue Ridge.

“Some of you are making decisions every day that lead more toward death than life,” Thomas told the students.

He showed a drunk driving video, introducing it by saying, “If you pay attention, this will change your life,” Thomas said.

He hit fast forward through a couple of the more graphic scenes and after the video told students he did that because “The truth is you can’t handle it. Bodies flying through windshields, limbs off, jail – that’s reality.”

“You’re in a position – as a teenager – where you can set standards in your life. Live by standards; live by your convictions. Put things in your life that matter,” he told the teens. “Will you take a stand or fall when pressured?”

He asked the students to identify the second most important thing in their lives.

It confronts you with what the number one thing is and sets the top five priorities in your life, Thomas said.

“My number one is people,” he offered. “I fully believe people matter. Life matters.”

“You’ve got to think about this, because if you are going to say people matter you can’t just say it and not acknowledge it by your lifestyle,” Thomas said. “That’s a hypocrite.”

Megan is buried outside of New Milford – near where Thomas grew up. “I firmly believe with all my heart, my daughter should not be dead,” he said.

Thomas spoke about the crash that claimed his daughter’s life; the impact that dislodged the seats in the mini-van she was riding in; and the driver that fled the scene and was found five hours later at his home sleeping. “His blood alcohol content was still over the legal limit,” Thomas said.

Megan died in the helicopter ride to the hospital. Thomas was at a different event that night and was not with his family. It wasn’t until he arrived at the hospital hours later that his wife Marci told him his daughter had died.

“I have never been through a harder thing in my life than hearing those words,” he told the students.

He also spoke about the impact Megan’s death has had on his family and others. “The hurt is immense,” he said.

But he said, he and Marci have chosen to celebrate Megan’s life.

“I carry a lot of life lessons from her,” Thomas said as he spoke about her enthusiasm, spunk and love of life. “She really let her light shine but it was snuffed out by one ignorant act.”