I Have Zero Tolerance for Drunk Driving

by Steve Dunford 

There were two stories I shared links to this weekend that was a dagger to my heart. One was Sunday right after I came home from church, it shredded my heart.  I broke down and cried for fifteen minutes.

Another one made me mad as a hornet.  It was when I read that Darren Kinnard was injured in a traffic accident at the hands of a drunk driver.

Since the inception of Sports Extra, the world stands still for me around 10:20 p.m.on during football and basketball season.   When I am covering a game, I set my DVR for it.

I guess you can officially call me a member of the media now.  One of the greatest things is the connections you have to meet some great people.  One of them is Darren Kinnard.

He is one of the most gracious individuals that I have crossed paths with.  I have appreciated his encouragement for this green writer.

He is the face of High School Sports in Southern Illinois.  There are fans, play-by-paly men and most of all the student athletes that represent their respective high schools. Darren Kinnard represents us all.

There are tens of thousands like me that does not miss Sports Extra.  If you are in a high school gym and you see someone with a WSIL camera, when someone has a conventional three point play, you can here his signature phrase “Deuce and Abuse” buzz through the gym. I usually say we will see that on Channel 3 tonight.

I had zero tolerance for drunk driving for a long time.  This is why when he was injured that my blood began to boil.

My wife (and no comments about our marital status) was in a wreck similar to his about nine years ago.  The drunk drivers, blood alcohol level blew the scale.  There was also drugs in his system.

The wreck was on Route 148 south of Sesser, near Dr. Spence’s office.  It was the 13th of December and was starting to sleet.   The guy thought he was turning into a driveway and turned right in front of my wife.  She ended up in a field about 100 yards off the road, narrowly missing a telephone pole.

One of my jobs at the time was working at Walmart in Mt. Vernon.  There is nothing worse than getting a call that your wife is in a serious accident.  The ride from Mt. Vernon to the emergency room at Franklin Hospital was the longest in my life.

She will have trouble with her left foot the rest of her life, because the floorboard came up with the clutch.  She was in or 1989 Ford-F150.  If she was in our car, it would have been bad.  I usually drove the truck.  Those Ford trucks in that era were as solid as a tank.  I think that is the reason why the injuries were not as bad.

A group of state troopers told me that she was inches from the wreck being a fatality.  God still has work for her to do on this earth.

The Lord happened to put people in the right place at the right time.  Kevin Acosta, an IDOT worker that lives in Sesser, stopped and shut the truck off and stayed with my wife along with some passersby that we did not know.

Gale Burzynski came up on the wreck.  He picked up my son at school, who was in the third grade at the time and talked to him.  My son looked up to Gale and I thank God he was there.   He told Tammy that he would see to Andrew.  His wife Earline fed him, and had their grandson Joshua come over, who he was buddies with to play with him to take his mind off things.

I saw first hands the effects of drunk driving through this experience.  My wife was on her way to pick up my son at school.  Darren Kinnard was an innocent bystander on Crenshaw road that night.

After I heard the news of the accident Saturday night, I began to go trough my Facebook page an look at prom pictures, as Sesser-Valier, West Frankfort and Thompsonville were having their proms that night.

T’ville is my hometown.  I spent most of my adult life living in Sesser.  I live in West Frankfort and substitute teach on occasion in the district. I have a soft spot for a lot of young men and ladies, and I loved looking at their pictures.

Please don’t take this as I am trying to be holier than thou.  I prayed for each kid.  I prayed they would make wise choices.  I asked the Lord for them to have a good alcohol and drug free time at their post prom, and have an alcohol, drug, and abstinence free fun evening they would remember the rest of there lives.

I did not hear of one student from Southern Illinois involved in a drunk driving accident.  I know they were praying the same thing.

I was young and stupid for a while.  If a teenager is reading this, please make wise choices in your life.

I hope intertwining my experience with what happened to Darren painted a picture of why I loathe driving while intoxicated.  For those who enjoy adult beverages, please be responsible.

The legendary voice of the Salukis, Mike Reis tweeted that he is home now and will be on the seven day DL.

Get well “Deuce and Abuse.”  There are a lot of people in Southern Illinois praying for you.