The Accident
My Experience as the 911 Caller of a Drunk Driving Tragedy
|
By: Jessica Pinasco
Editor in Chief Every couple years, Buhach Colony High School hosts a tragic drunk driving accident for every student to witness, the crash involves senior students as well. The impression this movement leaves in your heart is like no other, it really moves you. Leaves a mark. What you will begin reading next is my experience firsthand in this powerful incident, I’ll never be the same. April 12, 2017 - 8:30 a.m. - Fire Station - “The Call” As I arrived at the fire station, my nerves began to kick in. Despite it being two weeks before the crash, I was scared. This is the real deal, this is really happening, and happening fast. I came to realize that I am really calling 911, and I only |
I frantically dialed 911 and begged for help as my friends’ lives slowly began to fade from the fatal crash.
Photo by: Tim Ericksen |
had one shot. The idea was to pre-record the call so on the day of the “crash” we would play the call over the speakers for the students to hear. I waited awhile to finally be able to call, there were a lot of people on the line that morning. There were over five 911 calls that were made before I could call them! It was crazy and just made me send a silent prayer for those people on the line. But finally, the time came. My hands began to shake and my voice began to quiver… I was terrified! It felt too real. When I dialed the number my heart just froze when I heard the words “911 what’s your emergency?” I experienced an eerie and scary feeling of stagefright on the phone. It felt like I really needed help and went into shock. I hope I never have to dial 911 for something like this… not for a long time. When I finished, I felt relieved, but this just meant that the impactful foreshadows were creeping in closer and closer, and I was struck with awe. Only two weeks left. Only 15 more days…. And someone’s life will be blown out of the water and possibly changed forever.
My friend and passenger Harrison Hobbs was thrown through the windshield after being hit by drunken Tanner Banks. Harrison was killed instantly.
Photo by: Tim Ericksen |
Tanner Banks was highly intoxicated at the wheel and was disoriented as his passenger, Michael Casso, slowly bled out from his fatal injuries.
Photo by: Tim Ericksen |
April 27, 2017 - 8:45 a.m. - Buhach Colony High School - “The Crash”
I arrived at the school with my packed duffle bag at around 7:30 a.m. I entered the dance room where everyone was preparing for the crash. I found the crash members by the stage room where they were getting their makeup done, there was a lot of blood. But it kind of smelled like strawberries! I just honestly couldn’t believe how close it was…. Only an hour left! I just hoped that I made an impact on someone during this movement… preventing one person from drinking and driving is making a huge difference… a single life in itself is priceless.
At 8:00 a.m. we finally start walking towards the field and my heart was racing. The time really flew, and there was no rehearsal. This act was all improv. You can’t write a script and create the feeling each individual can feel. This was so much more than that, this was serious, and everyone reacts differently. I honestly really liked that because this allows you to keep going with the emotions you felt and not worry about what is and what isn’t the right thing to do or say.
When the grenade went off, my heart stopped. I just acted on impulse from then on out. I acted as if Harrison was my little brother and acted as if all of my friends were my siblings. That’s when the tears began to flow. That’s when it all fell together and felt real. It was an awfully dreadful feeling, never would I ever picture my little brother in a body bag, on a gurney being meda-flighted to a hospital. When improv feels real, everything around you really falls into place… and that’s precisely what I experienced.
April 27, 2017 - 9:45 a.m. - Getaway Retreat - “The Comfort”
The five members of the crash and approximately 15 others that were a part of the movement all went to Arnold’s Barn, a personalized building with plenty of space and hospitality for all of us to stay for the night. That was probably my favorite part
I arrived at the school with my packed duffle bag at around 7:30 a.m. I entered the dance room where everyone was preparing for the crash. I found the crash members by the stage room where they were getting their makeup done, there was a lot of blood. But it kind of smelled like strawberries! I just honestly couldn’t believe how close it was…. Only an hour left! I just hoped that I made an impact on someone during this movement… preventing one person from drinking and driving is making a huge difference… a single life in itself is priceless.
At 8:00 a.m. we finally start walking towards the field and my heart was racing. The time really flew, and there was no rehearsal. This act was all improv. You can’t write a script and create the feeling each individual can feel. This was so much more than that, this was serious, and everyone reacts differently. I honestly really liked that because this allows you to keep going with the emotions you felt and not worry about what is and what isn’t the right thing to do or say.
When the grenade went off, my heart stopped. I just acted on impulse from then on out. I acted as if Harrison was my little brother and acted as if all of my friends were my siblings. That’s when the tears began to flow. That’s when it all fell together and felt real. It was an awfully dreadful feeling, never would I ever picture my little brother in a body bag, on a gurney being meda-flighted to a hospital. When improv feels real, everything around you really falls into place… and that’s precisely what I experienced.
April 27, 2017 - 9:45 a.m. - Getaway Retreat - “The Comfort”
The five members of the crash and approximately 15 others that were a part of the movement all went to Arnold’s Barn, a personalized building with plenty of space and hospitality for all of us to stay for the night. That was probably my favorite part
|
of the entire experience altogether. We had to turn in our phones before the crash earlier this morning, (well besides me of course, kind of hard to “dial 911” with no phone), so we could not communicate with the outside world or family. We played games, ate, and really all just chilled together at our leisure; bonding. I really just connected more with everybody there. We had a motivational speaker, former Police Officer Ross, come in and describe his experiences as well as share with us the importance of our lives and being smart with alcohol and to never drink and drive. The drunk drivers aren’t always bad people, the people former Officer Ross had to put away were all great, kind and fun people that made a foolish decision and unfortunately sacrificed other people’s lives and sometimes their own. It really opened my mind up as well as my eyes. But man did I have such a wonderful time. Towards the end of the night, we all built our cots and formed a circle. We sat around each other and we began to talk about life, how precious it is, and how easily it can be taken away by a decision that can easily be deemed avoidable. We shared
|
Former Officer Ross spoke to all of us members of the Every 15 Minutes Movement about the significance of our lives and the consequences of drunk driving.
Photo by: Anonymous |
stories about fatal drunk driving accidents that stole the souls of people we loved and cared about. We told stories about us in our childhoods, our favorite high school memories, our most embarrassing moments, and the people we miss the most who no longer walk the mortal grounds with us. There were a lot of tears, but we were all there for each other. We were in the circle of comfort. We all loved each other. Our lives, as we knew them, were slowly being altered… in a good way, by one another. We began to slowly understand what it was like to be hit with the shock of drunk driving fatalities, like we really experienced it. We began to understand the building blocks that built all of us into the people we are, how the things we’ve been through really shaped us… and how those building blocks can be knocked down forever because someone couldn’t wait until tomorrow to sober up. I really can’t describe the feeling I felt that night… I don’t think anyone else can understand unless they’ve been dug into like I was. This experience is what made my eyes open even wider, people really don’t realize how real this is, so I am just going to be blunt. You seem to know how serious drunk driving is, but you don’t realize how serious it is. You don’t understand it, the hurt and the pain and the severity of the consequences of drunk driving. I thought I did, and then I was involved in this movement. I was brought to a whole new level, and I would never trade this for anything. And I mean that with every fiber of my heart.
April 28, 2017 - 10:30 a.m. - Buhach Colony High School - “The Ceremony”
We left Arnold’s Barn at about 8:00 a.m. and went back to the dance room, there we ate breakfast and practiced run throughs for the funeral service. This was the most depressing part of the experience. Watching that video of the crash brought everything back, I was reliving every moment as if it were fresh… like it just happened all over again. The crowd was silent. The students that were “dead” were sitting all around me and I heard their soft sobbing. The hardest part for me was watching kids read to their parents their death letters… and that they were sorry for ever disappointing them and how much they love them. When Harrison Hobb’s mother and family came up to the stand and read their letter, I turned into a crying mess. It touched my heart so dearly… just look at how much you sacrifice and who you affect when you don’t think about anything else and decide to drive drunk. It’s not just about you, it was never just about you. It’s about everyone you love and everyone that loves you. Not only do you sacrifice your own life, but you sacrifice the happiness in the lives of your family and the ones you love. That’s what really got me. It makes me think about my dad’s best friend in high school… his name was Jason. He and my dad were best buddies, and one day he was hit and killed in a drunk driving accident. Just like that, my dad’s best friend was taken away from him. That is the reason I longed to be apart of this movement. I wanted to understand the severity of this tragedy and make an impact in
April 28, 2017 - 10:30 a.m. - Buhach Colony High School - “The Ceremony”
We left Arnold’s Barn at about 8:00 a.m. and went back to the dance room, there we ate breakfast and practiced run throughs for the funeral service. This was the most depressing part of the experience. Watching that video of the crash brought everything back, I was reliving every moment as if it were fresh… like it just happened all over again. The crowd was silent. The students that were “dead” were sitting all around me and I heard their soft sobbing. The hardest part for me was watching kids read to their parents their death letters… and that they were sorry for ever disappointing them and how much they love them. When Harrison Hobb’s mother and family came up to the stand and read their letter, I turned into a crying mess. It touched my heart so dearly… just look at how much you sacrifice and who you affect when you don’t think about anything else and decide to drive drunk. It’s not just about you, it was never just about you. It’s about everyone you love and everyone that loves you. Not only do you sacrifice your own life, but you sacrifice the happiness in the lives of your family and the ones you love. That’s what really got me. It makes me think about my dad’s best friend in high school… his name was Jason. He and my dad were best buddies, and one day he was hit and killed in a drunk driving accident. Just like that, my dad’s best friend was taken away from him. That is the reason I longed to be apart of this movement. I wanted to understand the severity of this tragedy and make an impact in
|
someone’s life, and maybe save one. Well, I ended up seriously being impacted myself, and I am forever changed. There is nothing in the world that has ever opened my eyes like this experience did, I couldn’t have asked for anything better. After the ceremony and “remembering the dead/putting them to rest” as they say, I became that much more grateful that they all were alive. That we were all alive. We rejoiced together with our parents afterwards, and I’ve never been in a room filled with so much happiness at once. It felt like a movie, and there was a happy ending.
So, the lesson I learned in all of this: it can happen to you. We are not invincible. It’s because of people that think they’re untouchable that we have a drunk driving issue. So do us all and yourself a favor, have respect for your own life and other’s around you, you never know when you can lose them all to a drunk driving accident that could have been altogether prevented. I will never forget the Every 15 Minutes Movement of 2017, it forever changed me. |
I mourned over the loss of my dearest friends with the sympathy of Officer Zuniga.
Photo by: Tim Ericksen |
