Senior high students at Brooks Secondary School went for a ride last Friday that school administrators hope they never forget.
It was in the form of a talk from an ICBC (Insurance Corporation of BC) speaker and it was designed to save their lives.
Veteran Surrey firefighter Greg Drew visited Brooks for the second time in three years to bring his message for the grade 11 and 12 students.
Over the past three years of speaking for the insurance company Drew has hauled his deceased son’s car in a trailer around the province visiting schools and telling students the story of how his son died.
“This is the best educational tool I’ve got,” said Drew, pointing to the crumpled 400-horsepower Eagle Talon. His son’s size 15 sneaker is permanently wedged against the car’s firewall. Students look for it. “Show the car in three dimensions and tell stories. If I drop a tear on your lap, you’re never going to forget me.”
He said he can not talk about what happened without reliving part of his grief.
Jay died in 2003, only one month before he was supposed to graduate from Walnut Grove Secondary School in Langley. Drew skillfully walked the students through the experience and the ripple effects losing his son had on him, his family, friends and the community.
“I like to come at the kids swinging for the fence,” he said. “I don’t sugar-coat the message.”
As a firefighter, he often faced the grim task of attending and assisting situations involving serious bodily injury and trauma, but nothing could prepare him for witnessing the sight of his own son trapped inside a car after a high-speed crash. Jay’s car hit a tree and the force of the impact broke bones in three of the young man’s limbs.
It took emergency crews more than an hour to extricate him from his crumpled car. Drew was there from the crash site to the intensive care ward where he watched his son take his last breath.
After Jay died, Drew made it his personal mission to tell Jay’s story as a cautionary tale to show how wrong choices can have devastating consequences.
Drew’s presentations empower his audiences with the tools they need to get out of unsafe situations involving vehicles and driving.
This May he will take his message to teachers and students from all across Canada at a youth against impaired driving event in Regina, Saskatchewan.
“If I can put myself into that space for the kids, I will,” he said. “I know I’m probably taking decades off my life, but if I can add decades to one of those kids’ lives I’ll jump in front of that bus anytime.”
