Not Only a Hollywood Story: Victims of Drunk Drivers Remembered

Wherever the family of Lewis Cherot is now, I want them to know that he is not forgotten.

At 26, Lewis was a rising star in the executive ranks of the entertainment industry. I'll never forget him bounding down the halls of Twentieth Century Fox with ideas on his mind and a smile on his face. He was always friendly. My boss loved his energy and saw an incredible future for the Harvard graduate.

In October 1995, the dreams ended with a drunk driving accident. The Los Angeles Times wrote an article about the case entitled: "A Hollywood Story Written in Tears."

I remember sitting at my desk at Fox when I got the news. The driver spent a few months in jail, but I don't think about the driver. I think about Lewis and what could have been. He was one of the good guys in Hollywood.

More recently, in September 2009, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of "Pulp Fiction" was sentenced for his role in a drunk driving accident that killed a passenger in his car.

But, it's not only a Hollywood story.

Drunk driving accidents are still happening and at quite a pace. According to the Mothers Against Drunk Driving website, "Three in every 10 Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related crash in their lives."

Only weeks ago, up and coming baseball pitcher Max Limonick was a passenger when the car he was riding in was rear-ended by a suspected drunk driver in Florida.

It's happening all across our country.

Dr. Debi Yohn, Counseling Psychologist and the author of four books, lost her only child, Levi (pictured above), at the young age of 20 in November 2003.

"He was coming home from Disney World on his girlfriend's 21st birthday... A sober birthday," Debi noted. "Levi was an amazing college student at Florida Atlantic University. He was completing his second year. He volunteered with the Disability office on campus and organized activities for the kids in wheelchairs, etc... He himself had moved all over the world, he had learning disabilities so he knew struggles but he had the biggest heart and he was gorgeous to look at on top of that. 6'3" green eyes, loved to dance and loved to dress. He had style. He worked on campus at the bookstore for his pocket money so he knew about responsibility. Levi was also a Master Scuba Diver and loved pick up basketball on campus. I was extremely close to him because his entire life, we moved around the world. He had been in 12 schools before he graduated from high school. I was a strict Mom but a fun Mom. He brought everyone home, he wanted everyone to meet 'his red headed Momma.'"

"The funeral home we used in Miami was amazing. In a conversation the summer prior to the accident, my son had made the comment, 'I want people to dance on my grave.' He loved to dance and he was a big personality. So, we had a celebration instead of a funeral and we held it at the funeral home. It was open mike and we had a minister who was a family friend. I wish we had videotaped it. People six years later are still talking about it. We laughed and cried. The flowers were all joyful. There were even balloons. I am sure my son totally enjoyed it," Debi said. "Two years after his passing, I ended up divorced after being happily married 36 years to his father. The loss of a child, and especially an only child, the sense of family disappears in an instant. It is a life altering event. Obviously, it changed my life forever. My house is where the kids gathered and I miss the kids and I miss Levi, but he had a heck of a childhood. That's why I started the website CollegeWorks101.com and the speaking, books etc... for parenting college students. I sill have some parenting to do! This experience was a catalyst for me to expand my own spirituality. I have used this experience to help others face their mortality, prepare for death (end of life or terminal illness) and to work through the personal loss of a loved one. I use spiritual empowerment and coaching. My clinical experience of 25+ years and my sense of humor helps me to teach others how to fulfill their contract for this journey called life. There is joy in every day, we just need to find it and allow it to happen."

In May 2005, Denise Welch lost her 51-year-old godfather/uncle, Robert Ayoub, to a drunk driving accident in Revere, Massachusetts. It was four months before Denise was to be married.

"I do think about it every day. I find myself relating it to my own life on almost a daily basis. Because of the nature of his accident – he was taking his family to lunch on a Sunday afternoon; it's easy to think about how you could be going along with your normal routine and then suddenly, out of nowhere, it's over. I think that is the hardest part. That is probably the hardest part of drunk driving accidents, I imagine anyone close to one would say the same thing. It's so senseless, it's so preventable and for us it was so unbelievable that he was taken on a Sunday afternoon by an 81-year-old driver. I'll just never understand it," Denise explained. "I think the funeral always brings some sort of closure to the event, but I also think you never move on. You never really forget. You can so easily bring yourself back to that day of the services if you allow it. His funeral was particularly difficult as the passenger in the car, his daughter, was recovering from the accident and had to be wheeled in on a stretcher for it. Seeing a 16-year-old on a stretcher at her father's funeral isn't a memory that you easily erase."

She says you move forward because you have to.

"You watch his children grow up and think – I hope they have his same values, and I hope they never forget." Denise added, "Our family also started a memorial scholarship in his honor."

On Sunday, August 7, 2005, Annette Balistreri and her parents were killed by a drunk driver in Florida. Annette was 40-years-old.

Mark Balistreri, Annette's husband, wrote on his website www.netters.us, "I go to my wife's grave, every Sunday at 9:20 p.m., because that is the exact day and time of the accident. I'm 2 feet from her, I can't ever hold her again, and would give anything to have her back. What do I do with her car, and personal items? I don't want to get rid of them. What if Mr. Brown just took a cab or a ride from a friend? The list of things I think about each day goes on and on, but the point is this: You have a choice, and it's simple. Don't Drink & Drive!"

In Annette's memory, the family established the "Netters Safe Ride Program." The fund pays for a taxi ride home for anyone who cannot or should not drive a vehicle. The fund also pays for a taxi ride back the next day to get your vehicle. The fund "is about being responsible and not getting behind the wheel of a vehicle."

There are now 21 taverns and pubs from the Troy area of New York that are listed participants in the Safe Ride Program. Netters Fund Inc. is funded solely by donations and fundraisers.

Pictured: Levi Crossley, graduate of Admiral Farrgut Academy in St. Petersburg, Florida.