your stories
featured mvp story
Anonymous – 19 yrs. old
Erie, PA
I am the VP of my university’s activities board and something pretty amazing happened a couple days after Erica came to visit my school. My fraternity was practicing for an event for our annual Greek Week, and unfortunately alcohol was involved. One of the brothers consumed about 3/4 of a handle of liquor and completely passed out on our couch after minimal vomiting. We began to get concerned since he was vomiting and all of a sudden stopped and passed out. Once this happened, we went through Erica’s 911 tips, and started with trying to get our brother’s attention by shouting his name to startle him, but he was unresponsive. He wouldn’t respond to anything, yet alone move any part of his body.
We took him to the hospital. Once we got him there the staff took care of him. We were told his BAC was over .30 and had we not rushed him to the hospital, he would be dead for sure. If it wasn’t for Erica’s lecture, I shudder to think that we might have just let him “sleep it off,” which could have left our friend dead. I feel that, thanks to Erica’s lecture, we were able to take corrective action at the right time and get him to safety.
mvp
A Most Valuable Partier is someone who parties smart and steps in to help a friend who has partied too much. Share a time when you were the MVP, or nominate a friend. If you want to keep these stories anonymous, we understand.
featured loss story – Kevin Watson
Holly Laing
The Ohio State University – Alum
Sniz. Snizzard. Snizzle. Several of the nicknames for our dear friend Kevin… Our friend with the “auburn” hair. Our freckled friend. Our best friend. I met Kevin in 10th grade. We met over the summer, during those sultry, two-a-day soccer practices. It was there that I got to know his slightly mischievous, yet hilarious personality. Kevin was an excellent soccer player. That summer he taught me how to slide tackle. By demonstrating on me… Ouch! Over the years, Kevin became a regular in my life. While his sense of humor was one of the greatest, he also carried genuineness that was unmatched. He comforted me as I fretted about leaving the only world I had known to enter the new world of college. But, I knew our friendship would remain. And it did.
When we were 20, we traveled home from college to celebrate Thanksgiving with our families. In the tradition of the night before Thanksgiving Day, everyone gathered at a bar for the typical reunion-like celebration. I stood near Kevin for the majority of that night. I remember him making me laugh as he tried to convince me to continue on to another party. But, I had already decided it was time for me to go home. And I never saw him again. I woke up early that Thanksgiving morning to hear the news of his death. While driving home drunk, he had driven his car into a tree. And I, along with hundreds of others, was heart-broken.
loss
Many of us have lost a friend to alcohol or drugs in some way. Please take a moment to tell us about your relationship and what happened. If you would like to remain anonymous, we understand. However, by sharing names and pictures, we are showing others how this issue is affecting real people in real ways.
