The day that will remain with me forever.
Craig and I on my high school graduation, 5 months prior to the accident.
Most of you know how difficult it is for me to talk about this. I do not like to think about or remember this day. A lot of memories and exact dates of the days after are hard to remember, it was a very difficult time in my life. This was the day that my brother Craig was almost killed by a drunk driver.
Craig and I havn't always had the greatest of relationships. I like to blame most of it on our 6 year age difference but, 1996 was a year that things were getting better. He was turning his life around, had a good job, was planning on getting his license, etc. It seemed as though 1996 was a turnaround for his life, a turnaround for everyone.
November 25th, 1996. I had just come home from an overnight with my little brother Joe and my girlfriend at the time, Melissa. Joe and I walked into my house, my Dad yelled at me, with tears in his eyes, "where the hell were you, we've been trying to get a hold of you all night?!", (it's hard to imagine, but in 1996, everyone did not have cell phones Mom and Dad had no way of getting a hold of me), I was going to tell him where I was, but, my Dad is not a man to cry, and I was shocked, I was worried.. The only thing I asked him was "What's wrong, where's Mom?".
My Dad begain to explain that, my Mom was getting ready for work and received a phone call at 4:00a.m. from the Froedert Memorial Hospital Chaplin and he said that my older brother Craig, was involved in a drunk and driving accident, and was unresponsive. He told me that he may not be around much longer and I should go to the hospital to possibly say goodbye. Craig, 24 years old at the time, was in a coma, at Froedert Memorial Hospital, on life support.
A view from the driver's side.
He was in a car coming home from a concert, and his car was involved in a minor car accident with a drunk driver. Everyone got out of the car to check the damage, and check on the other driver. Craig went to the front of the car he was riding in, and another drunk driver, within 10 minutes of the prior accident, slammed into the back of the car Craig was in, at about 70 miles an hour. Craig was standing infront of that car.
A view from the rear impact.
He flew about 70 feet and landed on his head. He had injuries like of missing teeth, broken jaw and but worst of all.. My brother had a brain injury. He was rushed by ambulance to the hospital. When I got to the hospital with my Dad, my parents had to make a very hard decision. A decision, nobody wants to answer. To decide to get Craig brain surgery to help reduce the swelling of his brain, or to let him die. Mom and Dad chose the surgery. They removed a portion of front left temporal lobe.
I'll never forget when Craig got out of the surgery and I got to see him again. His face was so swollen that he looked like a sumo wrestler. His head was bandaged up, and he was again, on life support. While waiting in the ICU waiting room (where we spent hours upon hours), I actually got so used to being there that when I came from work I was so bored that I would sit behind the unmaned desk, answer the phone and tell people how to get around the hospital. You have nothing to do, but wait and wait, and watch TV, but you know that it's really bad, when you get to see your brother on the evening news being put into the back of an ambulance.
Craig remained in his coma until early February 1997, and had to be retaught how to walk, talk, eat, basically everything. I was an 18 year old man that had to change his older brothers diaper, watch my brother struggle to walk, talk, and live because of a drunk driver. It was alomst like having a 24 year old baby brother.
On February 7th, 1997 he came out of his coma. My Mom and Dad went to visit and there was a sign above his bed saying Happy Birthday Mom. The nurse said it looked like he wanted to communicate that day so they gave him a pencil and communicated. December 1996 he was moved to Sacred Heart Rehab and then April 1997 he was moved to Lakeview in Waterford, WI, where he remained until his 25th birthday, August 28th, 1997, when he came home for good.
Craig graduating from the brain injury program.
12 years later, we are blessed that Craig is alive, able to hold down jobs, and gets better everyday. I really don't know what I would do without him. I am so proud of him in how far he has come and how cool he is. So if I can give you some advice. Please think before you drink. DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE! Like I tell all my friends, if you need a ride, call me, 1am, 2am, 3am, I don't care. If if saves your life or someone elses... It's worth it.
One last thank you, Mom and Dad, thank you for making that hard decision, to keep my brother alive.
Craig in Colorado in April 2008
Craig and my Mom at the 2008 MADD walk in Milwaukee.
Drinking and Driving Help Websites
Mother Against Drunk Driving (MADD)
Drunk Driving Facts
Teen Drinkin and Substance abuse help
StopDrinkingAdvice.org
