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| #~ Wendy Crawford is stuck in a wheelchair while Drunkdriver evades The man who put Wendy Crawford in a wheelchair for the rest of er life escaped an impaired conviction on a technicality. Police reports didn't name the type of breathalyzer used and the judge let the Oshawa man walk free. Not only was he free from the law, he was also free from providing Wendy Crawford with any money to pay for her costly medical bills. He had no insurance. Twenty-one year old Wendy is philosophical about this, but not so philosophical that she won't launch a lawsuit against him -- which she is in the process of doing. What's more, she feels little bit- terness about the man who ended a promising modelling career and forced her to depend on other peo- ple for as long as she lives. "At first, I was just more or less happy to be alive," she said, answering a question directed to her at February 5th's SADD meeting at Port Perry High School. "The doc- tors said there wasn't much hope. Later, I said to myself, hey, this guy hit me because of irresponsibility and I got a little angry." "There is some bitterness but it has changed. Now I'd rather do something like this (speaking to students) to help prevent an acci- . dent like this from happening again." The high school gym was nearly full last Wednesday night for the SADD meeting -- about twice the number that showed up at December's public meeting. Some people were there because of SADD's sudden fame across the country, but most made the effort in order to hear what Wendy Crawford - had to say. The young Cambridge woman has the face of a model with high cheekbones and huge eyes. Until Ju- ly 5, 1984, she also had the body of a model, tall and slim with the abili- ty to mold her limbs into hundreds of energetic poses. She was a model with a future in front of her and already had many magazine covers and adver- tisements to her credit. But on July 5th, travelling with her boyfriend in his car on Highway 401, a drunk driver slammed into the car, broke Wendy's neck and ended her modelling dreams . forever. As she sat pinned in that car, con- scious but starting to fade, she realized her neck was broken, that her condition was "pretty severe." At that point, she thought she was going to die. : "1 wasn't really afraid of dying but I was mad because I didn't get _a chance to tell my friends the things I wanted to say. To tell my parents I loved them." She didn't die, of course, but she did wind up spending nearly a year in hospital undergoing treatment and therapy. While she was in hospital, being in a wheelchair never really sunk in. It wasn't until later that she realized the seriousness of her condition. - "While I was in the hospital, I thought, when 1 get home I'll be okay. But when I got home, things weren't any better," she said. "It was a hard adjustment for my fami- Official Opening sl FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14th, 1986 -- 9:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. -- Ross, Bruce and Carolyn cordially invite their customers, friends and the public to stop by. Refreshments served. -- NEW LOCATION -- 111 SCUGOG ST., PORT PERRY (Next to the Car Wash) FOR ALL YOUR INSURANCE NEEDS CALL: ROSS PETTES ode the BRUCE WALKER CAROLYN TAYLOR ¢¥*) co-operators LIFE, AUTO, HOME, COMMERCIAL, FARM INSURANCE law on technicality ly and I'm lucky I had their support. But it was hard for them to see the Wendy they used to know struggling . § to do the things she used to take for granted, like feeding myself. "At first a lot of my friends were afraid to come around to see me but once they got over the fear, they were fine, bringing me special presents, that sort of thing. Once I started talking back to them they realized that I was the same old Wendy," she said with a grin. "On- 'ly one friend stopping coming. She said she couldn't handle it. It's a hard way to find out who your rea! friends are." Even though the accident wasn't his fault, her boyfriend blamed himself. It was bad weather at the time and he felt he was driving too slow. "He would come every day to see me and finally he cried and said he couldn't do it anymore. He blamed himself too much." They're still good friends, though, and he helps her out whenever he can. For awhile after the accident, Wendy survived on money from her boyfriend's car insurance, but when she started working again, that was abruptly cut off. So was any govern- ment assistance she might have received -- also because "I was sup- posedly supporting myself." She still does the occasional "modelling job -- face shots, mostly, and would one day like to consider breaking into the business again. "I've been really busy and haven't had too much time to real- ly think about modelling right now," she said. 'I find that doing something like this is a lot more rewarding anyways. And I don't want to get a job modelling because of my handicap or because people ~ feel sorry for me." "Something like this' is touring high schools throughout the pro- _. vince talking about her accident and letting students know about the dangers of drunk driving. She travels from school to school with the help of Durham Regional Police Constable John Logan. - "She's done 11 high schools so far and has 11 more to go," Constable Logan said. It's a busy life and sometimes hard for Wendy. In Port Perry, for example, she was at the school all day speaking to two assemblies, had dinner with the SADD group and spoke again in the evening. It's worth it, she says, especially if she can help prevent what happen- ed to her from happening to anybody else. a Shades | "Dlinds We feature Venetian, Verncal & Pleated Blinds by LEVOLOR. \ AA 25% Off | APA 4 IN~HOME SERVICE | AEA J For ¢ FREE ESTIMATE please call Carol Bells 473-6741 Rita Connell 852-7659 DAYS & EVENINGS Thanks to a drunk driver, Wendy Crawford is confined to a wheelchair, probably for the rest of her life. She can't pursue a modelling career the same way she used to, but she is keeping busy spreading the word about the dangers of drinking and driv- ing with the help of Durham Constable John Logan. Above, she poses with two Port Perry High School (where she spoke last - Wednesday night) students, Heather Boyd, executive member of SADD (Students Against Driving Drunk) and Gerri MacDonald, stu- dent council president. See story for details. National media It's been a SADD week at Port Perry High School and across the nation. By now, every small town from British Columbia to Newfoundland has word of Students Against Driv- ing Drunk and the enthusiasm of the teenagers who keep the group moving. On February 3rd, two major ar- ticles appeared: one in the Toronto Star and the other in Canada's na- | tional newspaper the Globe and Mail. The same day, nine radio sta- tions carried both live and taped in- terviews with members of SADD, including CBC Toronto, CKO, CFRB, 102,104,107, CHAY Barrie, CFMX Cobourg and CKLY Lindsay. National radio feeds sent the story to small stations across the country, and even Global TV news featured a story on its evening news. The members of SADD are admit- tedly overwhelmed by the immense publicity -- grateful for the free 'advertising but newly cautious about dealing with the press. "You have to be careful of how for SADD group you breathe or they'll write it down," quipped Amy Ware, one of the group's original executive members. ' In fact, it was the enormous amount of publicity that has in- spired SADD to elect a new ex- ecutive to help deal with the sudden onslaught of work. The original core, consisting of Amy Ware, Gerri MacDonald, Heidi Spannbauer and Lynn Bradbury, have been so busy with SADD activities that they have had little time left over for school work. The executive represents each grade, and will have the old ex- ecutive to rely on for any assistance or advice. The new group includes Sherri Windsor, grade nine; Mike Grass, grade 10; Mark Stokes, grade 11; Anne Russell, grade 12; and Heather Boyd, grade 13. SADD has .had two public meetings so far, but has been busy talking to other schools across the province and has plans for a large _inter-school rally at the end of the year. © ECONOMY © STANDARD/FULL SIZE ® LOW RATES HOURS: Mon Thur tll 9 \ | Friday til 5 30 \ Saturday till 4 ® COMPACT @ LONG TERM LEASING @ TRUCK RENTALS . 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