Look at that beautiful little girl and how happy she is dancing with her Daddy. Little did either of them know that this dance was going to be their last, or shoud I say her last.
Look at this man's face and tell me you don't see a kind hearted giving person. His life was taken from him as well.
Now look at this limo and realize that two lives were taken this night. 1. Was the beautiful little girl, 2. Was the kind hearted man. Now here's their story and where it all ended.
July 2, 2005 is a day that will be burned into the families of those two innocent people FOREVER.
On the night of July 2, 2005 after leaving their daughters wedding Christopher, Denise, Jennifer, Neil and their two daughters Kate and Grace piled into this very limo. Little did they know that only after being in this limo for a short time would their lives come to a screeching halt.
24 yr old Martin Heidgen had 14 drinks and for some odd reason decided to get behind the wheel of his truck and attempt the drive home. After driving northbound in southbound lanes for about 2 miles Martin hit the limo head on at about 70 miles an hr, killing Stanley the limo driver immediately. In the back seat was a scene from a horror movie. Christopher, Denise and Neil were all piled on top of each other Grace was also piled somewhere in the wreckage. Jennifer managed to climb out of the limo with an injured leg searching for her little girl kate who had been laying down on the limo seat. Jennifer got back into the wreckage trying to find kate and emerged with something that would stop everyone dead in their tracks and leave them with nightmares, Kate's head. Kate had been decapatated by her seat belt. Jennifer calmly walked to the side of the high way and sat down with Kate in her lap while watching the rest of her famly being cut from the wreckage. After and hour of watching her life fall apart the cop came and told her it was time to go, Grace needed her now. She calmly looked at the trooper and said " NO I am not going anywhere, I am not leaving Kate". The trooper finally convinced her that he would take Kate and watch over her, it was Grace who needed her now.
Stanley was a 59 yr old limo driver who always offered drunk drivers FREE rides home and incidentally was killed by one. His sons explained his as being the best dad, with a huge heart and great love for them and could not wait to be a Grandpa.
Kate and Stanley's lives were stollen from them in one of the most traggic accidents I think I have ever seen. As i watched this play out on Oprah I could do nothing but cry. They did not deserve this, they did not deserve to be taken from their families and in such a traggic manner.
I have sat and thought about this story all day long. We all have been in a situation or know someone who has been in a situation where drunk driving was involved, and never would any of us think that this could happen to us. For those who drink, drinking one seems harmless and it seems as though you are fine to drive and you would never do anything to harm someone else. But because we are a very selfish society we think that just one will be ok and we will be ok to drive, so we do, we get behind the wheel.
I plead with everyone who reads this to stop being selfish and the next time you drink and think your ok to drive, picture Jennifer sitting on the side of the road with her daughters head in her hands, and know IT DOES HAPPEN! It will happen to you, it happened to them!
To check out the full story go to: http://www2.oprah.com/tows/slide/200706/20070601/slide_20070601_284_101.jhtml
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