BrAnDoN

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July 9th, 2007 is a day that changed my life forever!! My assistant Kasey had went to Cincinnati to visit her parents for the weekend, and was on her way back to Asheville, NC when her car had broken down and left her stranded on the side of the highway. She called, and I told her I would come get her. I drove to Kentucky and picked her up. Little did we know that our lives were about to change forever! About 2 minutes after we got on Interstate 75 south, we went around a turn and noticed car parts all over the highway, along with several wrecked cars and people laying all over the interstate. We were one of the first people there and we both knew we had to try to help these people! We pulled onto the median and ran across the highway. There was a young boy standing on the side of the road with an older gentleman holding him back from one of the wrecked vehicles. The little boy was screaming “my brother!!!” We later found out that this little boy had seen his 8 year old brother get decapitated in the accident. His father was driving the SUV and was still in the vehicle, critically injured. After the gentleman holding the boy back told us that they were ok, Kasey and I ran up the highway to the next group of people. We saw a late model Dodge Caravan overturned and several people, including several small children, scattered all over the interstate. The first child we came too was a little girl named Hayley. She had a very severe head injury, and was screaming as loud as she could. I took my shirt off and wrapped it around her head trying to stop some of the bleeding. By this time there were several other cars stopping to help. A lady lying in the grass yelled for someone to help her daughter. There was a young lady laying face down on the side of the road, and I knew I could not help her. Her name was Cindy, she was 25 years old, and she and her unborn child lost their lives as well. There were 2 other small children laying on the ground and a lady holding their hands praying with them. They were critically injured, but they survived the accident. We saw an ambulance pull up to another wrecked vehicle that was further up the highway. Little did we know that was the drunk driver that had caused this accident. Raymond Garner was a man from Tennessee that was moving to Northern Kentucky. On July 9, 2007 he had been drinking all day, and got on interstate 75 north while drinking a glass of wine and taking Valium. As Raymond Garner crossed of the boarder from Tennessee into Kentucky, he started dozing off behind the wheel. Between mile markers 10 and 11 in Williamsburg, Kentucky, Raymond passed out going 93 miles per hour, crossing the median and hitting 2 cars head on in the south bound lane. He was pulling a trailer behind his GMC pickup truck that had a washer / dryer, several large boxes, kitchen appliances, etc., so his car acted like a guided missile when he struck the vehicles of Peter Pontikis and Cindy Haas. Gus Pontikis (Peter’s 8 year old son), Cindy Haas and her unborn son Nathan lost their lives that night at the hands of a drunk driver. A repeated drunk driver at that! Raymond Garner has been arrested 8 times for DUI, and did not have a valid drivers license at the time of the accident, yet he was still driving. When we stopped to help, we had no idea that this single event would change our lives forever. There hasn’t been a day that has gone by that I haven’t thought about, and relived this moment step by step. So many innocent people’s lives were changed that night, all because a grown man decided to once again be irresponsible and drive under the influence. I have learned so very much from this experience. I learned that we all like to party, and have fun, but we have to do it responsibly. I learned that risking my life or someone else’s isn’t worth it! I learned that no matter what happens to the drunk driver; the pain these families are feeling will never go away, NEVER! I speak to each of the families on a regular basis, and every day is a struggle. Tammy Haas is raising Cindy’s children (CJ, Hayley, and Natalie). Hayley and CJ have had many surgeries, and have many more to go. The Pontikis family will always feel the grief of loosing one of their two children. Nick misses his brother, who was also one of his best friends. My point is all of this could have been prevented if Raymond Garner would have decided not to drive drunk. Next time you are leaving a bar, or dinner party, ask yourself, is it worth it? Is it worth killing yourself, or worse, killing someone else? Is it worth putting your family, and families you don’t know through all that grief? Is it worth giving up your life, and dying or spending the rest of your life in jail? Hopefully, your answer will be the same as mine…..No, it’s not worth it! Thank you for reading Gus’ and Cindy’s story. These 2 people changed my life forever, and I never even met them!! ************************8LITTLE HAYLEY