It Was a Simulated Car Crash at Lyme-Old Lyme High School—And No One Could Look Away

There are some lessons no one should learn the hard way, and one of them is that drinking and driving can have fatal consequences.

Last week, Lymes' Youth Service Bureau staged a mock crash at LOL High School, with dramatic enactments by High School seniors George Logan, Paul Burdick, Lindsey Scott and Brenna Visgilio of a fatal accident from the 911 call to the arrest of the driver to the funeral of the friend who died in the crash.

For Old Lyme Police, Fire and Ambulance services, it was an opportunity to practice the skills they are called upon to use all too often. The Lymes' Youth Service Bureau stages these mock crashes about once every four years, but every 29 minutes someone dies in an accident caused by a drunk driver. 

After the mock crash, Greg Prevost, Chief of Westbrook EMS, James Jake, Chief of Old Lyme EMS, Brett Flynn of Old Lyme EMS, and President-Elect of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Colleen Sheehey-Church of Madison, whose son Dustin died in a vehicle driven by a drunk driver, gave students a dose of reality with moving stories of their own experiences with fatal accidents caused by drunk drivers. 

"Twenty years ago, I responded to an accident and the patient was my brother," said Prevost. "The hardest thing I ever had to do was to go tell my parents. He was with a couple of friends, drinking and driving. We deal with it on a regular basis. Nine times out of 10, it's because of stupid decisions."

The number of faces streaked with tears at the end of the presentation suggested that many students had taken this particular lesson to heart.