'Stolen lives' centre of MADD campaign
By CARLOS VIEIRA
Barrie Advance
Dec 01, 2008

Peter Chagnon was accustomed to getting phone calls in the middle of the night.

His home phone number was close to that of a local eatery, and he frequently had calls at 1 and 2 a.m.

One night, however, the call that woke him up was not a wrong number. His son, Jason, was on his way to the hospital after being involved in a crash with a drunk driver.

“I personally don’t understand what’s wrong with the people who drink and drive,” said Chagnon, with tears in his eyes.

It was around this time last year when Chagnon was told to drive to Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto because his son was on his way there. Jason had broken all of his ribs, his lungs had collapsed and he had a lacerated liver. Worst of all, Jason had severe brain damage.

“Doctors told us there was a 95-per-cent chance that our son would never come out of his coma.”

The night it happened, Jason had gone to a party with friends. A few were drinking, and thought it was OK to drive. They didn’t get very far, said Chagnon. The vehicle hit a truck, killing one of Jason’s best friends and leaving Jason in a vegetative state.

“Jason has lost his mind. I’m not dad anymore. To be funny, he used to call me ‘pops’ and I’ve looked at pictures at what it was like then. I wanted him so much to be happy, get married and have a career, but now that will never happen. (The Jason I knew) died there that night and the pain never goes away. I wish I had a magic lamp that I could rub and get just one wish. I wish that none of this had ever happened.”

"There is nothing that I can say that is more impactful than that story,” said Jason Larkin, president of MADD Barrie/Simcoe. “There is a need for MADD but there really shouldn't be.”

In Canada, four people are killed every day due to drunk driving, Larkin said.

“Why do we tolerate it? Stop senseless killing on our roads.”

Larkin said the problem is that people see a friend have too much to drink, but do nothing to try and stop them from driving.

“They don’t take action and they let the person get in the car. If you get stopped by a RIDE officer, be sure to thank him for being out in the cold making sure you get home safely,” said Larkin.

Representatives from various regional Police and Paramedic forces helped kick off Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Red Ribbon campaign recently.

MADD Canada tries to prevent impaired driving through education programs, as well as giving support to the victims of this crime. Every dollar received from donations goes right back into the community via educational programs and victim support.

“I would like to acknowledge the victims of this senseless crime,” said Barrie Police Insp. Jim Farrell.

He said the efforts of the provincial government are essential to the continuing effort to crack down on impaired drivers.

“They’ve come out with stricter rules for drivers under the age of 21 and have increased the RIDE program’s funding to $38,000."

Bill Grodzinski, the OPP chief superintendent, said last year the RIDE program stopped around 800,000 vehicles while dishing out 342 criminal charges and 869 12-hour suspensions.

“Driving is a privilege not a right,” said Grodzinski.

Not only does the program prevent alcohol-impaired driving, it also prevents people who are drug impaired from taking the wheel. When the provincial government passed Bill C2 – a law to give roadside tests to drug-impaired drivers – it gave police officers more power to take drug-impaired drivers off the road.

In addition to all the RIDE programs, and the MADD Red Ribbon project, the paramedics also play a role in saving the lives of drivers who have been directly affected by drinking and driving.

“All day every day, paramedics will be there to help save people from this senseless carnage,” said Andrew Robert, director and chief of the County of Simcoe Paramedics.

“Without people with passion, communities don’t improve,” said Robert, referring to the many hard-working MADD volunteers who bring awareness of this painful subject to the community.

“Lives are not lost, they are stolen when someone gets hit by a drunk driver,” Robert said.