Program drives home the devastation of drinking,

Photo courtesty of Chris Regan TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT—Student Dalton Marcellino plays the role of a victim who’s been injured in a simulated crash during the Every 15 Minutes program held recently at Calabasas High School. To emphasize the real life horror of driving under the influence of alcohol, a graphic program called Every 15 Minutes was presented recently to the upper classmen at Calabasas High School.

The two-day, national awardwinning program does more than just talk to students about the dangers of drinking and driving. The visual impact of a real crash site on campus, where students are pulled from the wreckage by actual public safety workers is shocking and effective, organizers say.

As part of the program, fire, police and ambulance sirens blared across campus and bloodied and mangled “victims” were placed at the crash site. Two teens were covered by white sheets and put in an ambulance to be transported to the morgue, while others were pulled from the crash site and taken to a hospital.

Someone is injured or killed in U.S. alcohol-related automobile accidents every 15 minutes, according to statistics.

But the program doesn’t begin at the crash site. On the first day, a volunteer dressed as the Grim Reaper pulls a student from class every 15 minutes. Follow-up announcements state how the student lost his or her life due to drunk or unsafe driving. The students return to class wearing white face makeup, a coroner tag, and black Every 15 Minutes T-shirts. The students become members of the “walking dead.”

On the following day, the story about the choices students made leading up to the crash are shown in a film screened at a mock memorial service in the school’s gym.

Sherry Bronow, assistant principal at Calabasas High School, opened the memorial service with a personal story of how both of her children were hit by a drunk driver when they were 7 and 2 years old.

“A moment in time can change your life forever,” Bronow said.

Jamie, her 7-year-old, fell into a coma and was put on life support. Bronow said when her daughter recovered, she had to relearn how to walk, talk and feed herself.

Bronow said she hoped the program would lead students to say, “You know what, I get it.”

At Calabasas, the faux-devastation was caused by several teens who chose to drink alcohol, smoke marijuana, and chat on their cellphones while driving recklessly to school.

The simulated accident resulted in six victims, including three fatalities. Volunteers from Pierce Brothers Mortuary portrayed members of the coroner’s office and took custody of the bodies.

Two students were pronounced dead at the scene, while another student died at the hospital. Another suffered from a spinal cord injury that caused permanent paralysis, while two other students sustained significant injuries.

Many are hurt

The program also demonstrated how families become destroyed when a teen driving accident occurs.

The film depicted a student being booked at the police station, and how the parents reacted when police officers arrived at their homes to tell them their child had died. The film also documented the outcome of the legal proceedings against Josh Mamanne, the student who portrayed the drunk driver responsible for the simulated crash. Mamanne was sentenced to 16 years and eight months for vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence.

At the mock memorial, a coffin was carried by pallbearers while the school’s Vivace Choir, dressed in black of course, sang “Amazing Grace.”

Letters home

One particularly emotional segment involved letters to home from the students who had “died” during the program. Each student started their letter with “Every 15 minutes someone dies because of an alcohol related incident. . .today I died.”

Most students wept while reading heartfelt letters to their parents, siblings and friends.

“Today I died, and so did my future,” said student Rachel McMurray.

Another student shared the horror of being dead and the sadness that his parents couldn’t hear him. “Although death has come between us, my love only grows,” he read.

“The only regret I have is taking my life for granted,” said another student.

Parents also read letters to their children. One father said his daughter was like “Haley’s Comet, who only comes around once in a lifetime.”

“How will this family continue without you,” pleaded one mother to her dead daughter.

Real life stories

Not all of the program was make believe.

Parents Nick and Donna Blaire told how a 29-year-old repeat drunk driving offender crashed into their daughter’s Lauren’s car and killed her instantly. The man served five years of a 10 year sentence.

“It’s unfortunate that Lauren’s sentence was death,” Blaire said.

Tom and Alice Reynolds lost two children in the same accident as victims of a reckless driver. Tim Reynolds, a senior in high school, and his brother, Danny, a sophomore, died instantly as passengers in a car that was hit by a teenager driving more than 100 miles per hour.

Alice Reynolds asked the audience to imagine what it was like to call their older son and tell them that both his brothers were dead.

“Imagine what it was like to pick out two coffins, two headstones and pay $20,000 for funerals instead of college” Reynolds said. “You can’t even image what it’s like to go to the cemetery to just be near them.”

Said Calabasas Principal Dave Jackson, “I don’t want this to be a closing, but the beginning of good choices for our kids.”

Student Jaime Rice, a senior, couldn’t get past the tears.

“It really hit everyone,” Rice said.

“It makes you want to think twice,” said Rachel Seidman, a senior.

For more information, visit the website, www. every15minutes.com