Calling out the MAIS

Southern Sports & Travel

In December I received two calls within a one week period from basketball coaches informing me of tragedies involving automobile accidents and deaths as a result of the accidents. Those events along with similar ones in my community involving young people driving while not wearing a seat belt served notice that this is a huge problem with teens and it needs attention.

What I’ve learned over the past month is that it is reaching an epidemic proportion that parents, school administrators and coaches may not fully understand.

The following is the second of a three part series of stories that all have different outcomes but the common theme in all three is the usage or non-usage of the seat belt.

I wrote and posted the article, “Katie’s Story” on January 9^th and I received a large volume of positive comments via text messages, emails and at basketball games from people I had never met.

This particular story doesn’t come from me, it comes from a mother who makes a personal plea to teens and explains in detail the risks associated with not wearing a seat belt. Her story goes even further, it tells of what everyday life after the accident is like.

Over the past four weeks I have met with three accident victims and while one has fully recovered the road is more difficult for the others.

I’ve been fortunate over the past five years to build some great relationships within the MAIS family. Countless coaches, headmasters, athletic directors and parents have been very supportive in my efforts but I issue a challenge, a “call out” if you will, to start a program at your school to increase seat belt awareness amongst our teens. Get your students involved and teach them the results and reality associated with not wearing a seat belt. Create checkpoints entering your school before and after school to check drivers and be proactive. How many more teens will have to suffer before we all finally begin to take steps to prevent such a serious and catastrophic problem? The “call out” has been issued, will you respond?

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Adam’s Story

By Haylie Dufour

On May 18, 2010, Adam Stafford was involved in a head on collision. Adam was on his way to school at Central Private with friends Hailey and Loyd Ussery to take final exams. The accident left Adam with a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Upon arrival at the hospital Adam immediately underwent emergency brain surgery. The neurosurgeon explained that it was the most aggressive brain surgery he had ever performed. The neurosurgeon performed a craniotomy and removed two parts on the left frontal lobe of Adam’s brain. A craniotomy is when part of the skull is removed to allow for the brain to swell out instead of down into the brain stem. The skull is left off for a lengthy period of time. Adam’s skull was removed on May 18, 2010 and replaced in January of 2011.
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