On Thursday, May 5, SADD (Students Against Dangerous Decisions) sponsored a mock crash in the front parking lot at Greenwood. This was a scenario dealing with the effects of drinking and/or texting while driving, which can cause a wreck and result in a fatality or many injured persons.

The club hosted the mock crash because Prom took place that Saturday, on May 7, and they wanted to show the students what would happen if they chose to participate in such activities, like drinking and deciding that they were fine to drive home or driving while distracted either on their phone or messing around with the car radio.

The event kicked off with an elaborate reenactment of a crash, organized by Greenwood’s Officer Rich and acted out by many students. The student actors were Joana Mejia Sosa, Adan Deeb, DiDi Turley, Kassidey Watson, Shelby Handley, and Matt Propst.

In the reenactment, Joana Sosa was driving Vehicle #1, with DiDi Turley and Kassidey Watson as her passengers. She was intoxicated, so she was not paying attention when she ran a red light and T-boned Vehicle #2, which Matt Propst was driving with Adan Deeb and Shelby Handley as his passengers.

In the collision, DiDi was thrown onto the hood of Vehicle #1 and Shelby Handley was trapped inside Vehicle #2. Shelby Handley was pronounced dead on the scene and was lifted into a Warren County Coroner’s van, while Matt Propst was severely injured and was immediately put in the ambulance also.

For a long time, Medical Center personnel and firefighters struggled to delicately remove DiDi from the hood of the car without worsening her injuries and place her on a stretcher. Kassidey and Adan were not seriously injured, but both had bruises and cuts on their faces and neck injuries from whiplash.

While they received first aid from the EMS personnel, Joana was given a sobriety test and failed, she was then arrested for DUI on site. In the midst of this chaos, an Air Evac helicopter arrived on the scene and transported DiDi for urgent medical care to the Medical Center.

The simulation was made even more powerful because of the amazing injury makeup that the actors wore, which was designed and applied by Kera Regan-Byrne and Victoria Haas. Additionally, the entire reenactment was captured by GHS sophomore Rose Deeb, as well as the WBKO news crew.

Several emergency agencies arrived at the scene, including Warren County Sheriff’s Office, Warren County Corner’s Office, Air Evac Lifeteam, The Medical Center EMS, Alvaton Volunteer Fire Department, Parrish Auto, and Warren RECC.

After the reenactment was over, Adan Deeb read a poem she wrote about drunk driving and the tolls it can take on those not only in the accident but other family members and friends as well.  

Allie Perkins and Marlena Stokes then talked about the dangers of driving while intoxicated and the consequences that come from driving and drinking. Marlena also told the story of how her mother and brother were killed in 2001 from a drunk driver on there way home from Destin, Florida.

Mrs. Harkins then came up and spoke about her son, Alex, who was killed about two years earlier by a drunk driver. She talked about how she wishes that he was still alive today and how his death could have been prevented by someone calling in about the drunk driver. Lastly, Officer Rich and another Sheriff’s Deputy talked about the harm drinking and driving can have on others.

“I’ve seen so much in the past 18 years of being a police officer that I’m tired of responding and I’m tired of notifying that family that I’m working a fatality and it was their child,” says Officer Rich. “All it takes is to be sensible about your surroundings and what you’re doing. That car is considered a deadly weapon.”