In the News

Grieving dad trying to stop drunk drivers
Winnipeg Free Press
By Erin Madden
June 28, 2010

It's been more than seven years since Patrick Mowbray was killed by a drunk driver, yet for his father, Doug Mowbray, every day is still a struggle.

Patrick, who had moved to Dryden for the summer to work as a tree planter after finishing the school year at the University of Manitoba, had decided to surprise his family by coming home to Roland, Man., for the weekend.

He never made it.

"I got a call at 4:30 in the morning that he'd been killed," said Mowbray, a teacher in southern Manitoba. "It still doesn't seem real and it's been seven years. It's tough every day getting up and going to work or doing whatever I have to do and thinking about Patrick. You see your son lying in the morgue and it's hard."

That's why Mowbray decided to get involved with Mothers Against Drunk Driving Canada (MADD). Not only does it allow him to meet with others who have had similar experiences, it gives him the chance to try to prevent such tragedies by sharing Patrick's story.

Mowbray, now president of MADD Canada's Winnipeg chapter, travels around Manitoba speaking to school groups about drinking and driving.

"I don't want anybody else to go through this. Hearing the horror stories that these families are going through, it's just absolutely terrible," Mowbray said.

About four people a day are killed and 200 injured in Canada as a result of impaired driving.

"Imagine how much heartache that is," Mowbray said.

But he believes students are getting the message -- it's a different age group that isn't.

"The kids know for the most part... to have a designated driver. The ones that are my age are the ones that are not getting the message," he said.

The man who killed Patrick was 47. He died at the scene.

In addition to speaking to schools and groups, Mowbray reaches out to other victims, offering support and a shoulder to lean on, and lobbies the government for stricter drunk-driving laws and sentences. He also participates in a group which, twice a year, cleans up the ditches on the highway where Patrick was killed. He said the group collects hundreds of beer cans and alcohol bottles tossed out of car windows by drivers and their passengers.

Mowbray said MADD is desperate for new volunteers and needs board members as well as people willing to help with fundraising and highway cleanup.

"It's heart-wrenching to think that if we don't get these volunteers coming out that we might have to close our doors. We really need volunteers," Mowbray said.

If you would like more information about MADD Canada's Winnipeg chapter, please call Bev at 896-6233. You can also visit the organization online at www.madd.ca.

If you know a special volunteer who strives to make their community a better place to live, please contact Erin Madden at erinmadden@shaw.ca.