|
Victim
Impact Statement
This
statement was written to be read in court
on April 1990. However,
the permission to read the statement in court
was not granted by the presiding judge or District
Attorney. Victims' were not guaranteed the
right, by law, to speak in court but were allowed
to speak at the discretion of the court.
Kathleen
Campion
June
16, 1968 - March 18, 1989
On
March 18, 1989, we lost life's most precious
gift, our child. Even though she was twenty
years old, Kathleen was still our loving child.
No words can begin to describe what effect her
death has had on us (my husband, and our two
remaining children - Kristine, 18, and Patrick,
10. We all pray daily for the strength to go
on another day, because, at the end of each
day, there is no remaining strength left.
My
husband and I were called to the scene of the
crash while our eighteen-year-old daughter waited
at home helplessly watching her ten-year-old
brother who was sleeping. She did not know what
was happening. We stood at the crash scene with
the drunk driver in front of us on a stretcher
with no visible injuries, reeking of alcohol.
Our daughter was in an upturned car trapped
for what seemed an eternity. Dan and I then
spent twelve agonizing hours at the hospital
as our beautiful, innocent daughter lay dead,
but not clinically, of massive brain injuries.
The head was grotesque. We watched her head
grow bigger every hour. We watched our beautiful
daughter's face change so that no one would
ever have recognized her. The nurse told us
that this was normal in serious brain injuries.
She said, "I bet that she was a beautiful girl
before this happened." Dan and I now have the
grotesque memory imbedded in our brain. Every
minute of the day and night, it haunts us. I
cry out in agony at times, and Patrick runs
to my side and asks what is wrong. How can I
describe the picture of what I am seeing?
There
is no greater pain than to see your child lying
in a hospital, and there is nothing you can
do to help. Why did we bring her into the world
to suffer such a senseless, horrible, tragic
death? Kathy's life flashed before us and the
life that she now would never have - graduation
from college, and then law school, a wedding
day, the birth of a child. Her life just snuffed
out. No one has the right to take another life
like this.
Dan
and I watched Kathleen grow into a mature, happy,
responsible citizen. She never gave us any trouble.
The irony of her death is that she was killed
by what she hated most - drinking drivers. Kathy
was following her dream to become an attorney,
hoping to one day prosecute drinking drivers.
She wanted to do her part to stop the senseless
deaths and injuries on the highways. At an early
age, she saw the need for this. Kathy was a
junior at SUNY-Albany - a Dean's List student
majoring in Criminal Justice and Political Science.
When asked by the priest before the funeral
to describe Kathy's childhood, I told him that
Kathy was never a child. Her maturity was always
far ahead of her peers. Her future was promising.
She was a special girl full of love and joy
to share with others. Her quick wit was enjoyed
by all. Our Kathy had a sharp and inquiring
mind and was compassionate and also determined.
Her
loss cannot be described in words. If I had
the choice twenty years ago of having her for
twenty, wonderful, loving, fulfilling years
and then tragically losing her, or never having
her at all, I would have chosen not to give
birth to her. No one could have loved a child
more. I not only lost my loving daughter, but
my best friend. We were very close. I can't
think straight anymore. My depression is deepening.
It is difficult for me to accomplish half of
what I used to. I have no more ambition. My
husband and I devoted our lives to our children.
Our children always came first. We decided to
become a one-income family so I could stay home
with the children. Dan, Kathy's father, has
lost over forty pounds since her death and has
suffered chest pains so severe that he has had
Angioplasty (balloon procedure on the heart
arteries). He is barely able to sleep. He wakes
up at 1:15 every night reliving the crash. (This
is the time that we were called.) He lays awake
until 5:30 when he gets up. His severe depression
has affected his decision-making ability. His
job security depends on his ability to make
sound decisions. (He has a management position.)
Every day when he leaves for work, I wonder
if this is his last day at work, and if I'll
have to go to work to support us. Dan suffered
a heart attack fifteen years ago, and at the
time of his recent heart cauterization, was
told that he probably would not survive another
heart attack. Now the stress of his daughter's
death has become a life and death situation
to him. Who takes care of us then? Dan tells
me that most of the people that he works with
avoid him because they think he looks so awful.
Those that do stop to talk, tell him how awful
he looks. He is truly a beaten man. He lived
and worked for his children. They were his whole
life.
Kristine,
Kathy's sister, cries herself to sleep. I hear
her sobbing every night. She has not only lost
her sister, but her best friend. I think the
stress of Kathy's death is the contributing
factor to her recent stomach troubles and severe
headaches.
Patrick,
ten, has not only lost his sister, but his second
mother and teacher as well. I am certain he
will bear emotional scars. He now has to sleep
with a light on. He has lost his chance for
a normal childhood. Kathy had come home from
living at the dormitory at Christmas to commute
and guided Patrick as she studied, and he did
his homework. She was always ready to answer
his questions and nurture his growth. Now she's
gone, and no one can answer his question of
why she is dead.
Kathy's
two remaining living grandparents are suffering
as well. It was as if their child had been killed.
Her grandfather is suffering with more frequent
angina pains. Her grandmother just had two serious
heart attacks. (The last one was almost fatal.)
When will the pain end?
Kathy's
immediate family members are not the only victims.
Her boyfriend of over four years is having great
difficulty living each day. He finds no reason
to plan for the future and physically does feel
well. Sharon, Kathy's best friend and the driver
of the car in which Kathy was a passenger, is
struggling to survive each day.
What
is all this for? No one has the right to take
someone's life. Just because the person who
killed Kathy chose to drink and drive, our family
has a sentence of daily pain that gets greater
each day. But most important, Kathy lost her
life, that precious gift. The car can be a death
machine. It is no different than a loaded gun.
When someone mixes drinking and driving, the
car becomes the weapon. Kathy was innocent.
Now she is dead. We will never see her beautiful
smile again - the sunshine of our lives is gone.
Her photograph is all we have left. We might
appear normal, but we are no longer really alive.
We are the living dead - void of everything.
It is clear that we died with Kathy. We are
living hell on earth.
Please
punish the drunk driver to the fullest extent
of the law. He chose to drink and drive. It
was his decision. People have to be responsible
for their actions if we are to keep the scales
of justice balanced. Maybe another life can
be spared, as well as a family's agony, if one
person decides not to drink and drive because
of prosecuting to the fullest extent of the
law. The drunk driver who killed Kathy will
have a chance someday to follow his dream. Kathy
won't ever have that chance now because of his
irresponsible actions.
Linda
Campion
Clifton
Park NY
BACK
TO THE TOP
|
