By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
Harrowing stories filled W.R. Donnenwirth Gymnasium Thursday afternoon, but the intent was to remind juniors and seniors from Wynford and Bucyrus to make good decisions on prom night.
Wynford hosted a pre-prom party and, though the festivities started off on an upbeat note, Ohio State Highway Patrol Lt. Scott Rike showed the students the reality of making bad decisions.
Rike, who took over as commander of the Bucyrus Post in February, is no stranger to knocking on the doors of families to tell them their loved one had died – he said he has given death notifications 22 times – but there is one that always haunts him.
“I couldn’t get her out of that car,” Rike told the students as he explained responding to a vehicle accident one foggy night. The 20-year-old mother had been driving impaired that night and Rike said he held her hand while she died. “I couldn’t help this young lady who made a bad decision. To this day I think about it.”
In a rough voice, Rike said one image remains in his mind from that night – the young woman dying with her eyes open and tears trailing down her face. Afterwards, Rike had to notify her family, who had gathered for her sister’s wedding the next day.
“It’s affected me my whole career. Not in a bad way,” Rike said. Rather, the thought of that accident and the family encourages Rike to talk to young people about their decisions. “Don’t put yourself in those shoes. Please don’t, I’m telling you.”
Crawford County Sheriff Scott Kent expressed similar sentiments, but he asked the students to visualize their parents seeing him on their doorstep in the early morning hours.
“Can you see your parents?” Kent asked. “Their response? Their screams, their tears, their crying?”
The statement carrying the most impact, however, came from Carolyn Richie, whose 26-year-old son died as a result of a drunk driver.
“Have the guts to take away the keys from your friends. Have the guts to just stay put,” Richie urged the students.
In a broken voice, Richie detailed how her son picked up some of his friends late one night after one of them had car trouble. While at a four-way intersection near Marion, her son was hit by a drunk driver who accelerated through the stop sign. He was ejected from the car and killed instantly while one of his friends died on the way to the hospital. The driver pleaded guilty, but only received nine years in prison for his actions, something that has devastated Richie since the announcement.
She urged the students to call their parents or just stay put if they decided to drink.
“So what – you get grounded for a week. So what – you get your phone taken away,” Richie said through her tears. She countered that with one last thought on bad decisions: “It doesn’t go away.”
Rike agreed and left the students with one warning. “Enjoy your prom. I assure you, we’ll be out there.”