sgusers5的部落格

Source: New Haven Register, Conn.迷你倉Jan. 11--Shelley Merrill said she had a near-death experience after a drunken driver crashed into her -- but she survived with a new purpose -- to share her ordeal to try to keep people from driving under the influence.Merrill, a Norwich resident, is known professionally as "Shelly Martinez" a co-host on a WCTY radio morning show based in her hometown.Merrill was a passenger in a truck on May 11, 2007, on Route 2 near the Preston and Norwich town lines, when a drunken driver who was trying to pass them clipped the left side of their vehicle. The impact sent their truck out of control, and it rolled over about five times."I remember being tossed, and I was in and out of consciousness," Merrill said. "It happened so quickly. I felt bones break and my neck snap. I thought I was going to die."Merrill started to pray."I said, 'God, I haven't been to church in a long time, but I need help.'"The truck landed in the parking lot of a beauty shop. The driver was her friend Dave Gernhard, who asked her if she was all right after their vehicle came to rest."I said I couldn't move my arms," Merrill said. "I remember the noise of the Jaws of Life and that there was glass in my hair."The drunken driver, Jeremy Easterling, now 25, kept driving, but ultimately was caught and charged in connection with the crash.Merrill was rushed to the hospital. She was bleeding internally, and doctors had to remove some of her lower bowel. Her neck was crushed, and she has rods holding the bones in place today.According to Merrill, she was technically dead and had to be resuscitated. For a time, she was in an induced coma."I had so many dreams in the hospital -- I thought I went to heaven," Merrill said.Since her experience, Merrill feels she survived so she can speak about the impact of drunken driving and help prevent future accidents."I go to church now -- I love the Lord. My faith has gotten stronger," Merrill said. "I have chosen to talk about it to anyone who will listen. My journey is to tell people to please think before you drink and drive. There are consequences."Merrill speaks regularly to those who have been caught driving under the influence, as part of a victim-impact panel."I feel like I am making a difference," Merrill said.Merrill spent time at Yale-New Haven Hospital, followed by rehabilitation at Gaylord Hospital. It was three months before she finally was able to go home, and she didn't go back to work full time for another month."I still have chronic, permanent pain from my elbows down," Merrill said. "It is like a burning pain that never stmini storageps. I can always feel it, and I have to take medication which helps manage it. You learn to live with it."Merrill can walk, but she can't run or ride a bicycle. Before the accident, she would go on walks and on outings with friends. She used to garden and work outside her house.Today, her pain medication makes her sleepy. Sometimes she feels nauseated. Her ordeal has cost her thousands of dollars, she said, for surgeries and medication.Her life after the crash is a sharp contrast to her life before the accident."To me, I was at the top. Everything was going well, and I was so happy," she said. "Now, I live in pain every day, and there are so many things I can't do, but I try not to think about it."Easterling served two years in prison for the 2007 accident, according to the state Judicial Branch.In spite of severely injuring Merrill, Easterling racked up additional convictions for driving under the influence, after arrests in 2008 and 2011, court documents show.For a while, Merrill corresponded with Easterling, who is about the same age as her children, and she said he would tell her how sorry he was."I didn't feel hostility -- I told him to stop wasting his life," Merrill said. "I was disappointed he didn't learn (from the accident). I just hope he doesn't kill anybody."Merrill said she has since discontinued contact, as she said she is trying to move forward."I feel an obligation to speak about what happened to me," Merrill said. "Many people die in alcohol-related crashes. I am blessed to have lived. I want to save lives. I feel I am supposed to make a difference. I hope I am getting through to people."According to Merrill, many people mistakenly believe they aren't impaired after they drink, and she said the best solution is to have a designated driver."Please, think before you drink and drive," Merrill said.Michelle Lettieri, director of victim services with the East Haven-based Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said Merrill turned a horrible situation into action.Merrill has been active with MADD, organizing the "MADD about Dancing" event at Mohegan Sun to raise money for the organization, and speaking to first-time drunken-driving offenders."She took this horrible situation, and has done something to help educate other people," Lettieri said.Have questions, feedback or ideas about our news coverage? Connect directly with the editors of the New Haven Register at AskTheRegister.com.Copyright: ___ (c)2014 the New Haven Register (New Haven, Conn.) Visit the New Haven Register (New Haven, Conn.) at .nhregister.com Distributed by MCT Information Servicesself storage