Modesto crash victim adds sobering reality to annual efforts to keep teen drivers safe
By Nan Austin, The Modesto Bee | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
"I hadn't heard his laugh in almost four months," said mom
Every year, March through May, communities pull together to caution teen drivers to stay safe through proms, senior ditch days and graduations. "Every 15 Minutes" presentations strike emotional chords. Sober grad nights aim to keep the party off the roads and celebratory toasts zero-proof.
But perhaps the most sobering message of all comes from survivors. McClure thinks so, and said she hopes Robert will one day give talks about his experience as a way to help others and make some good out of something so bad.
"He could be an advocate who goes to schools and talk to teenagers about this. The way these kids drive right now ..." McClure said with a shake of her head.
Her son comes from a line of preachers, she said. "The Penton men have a knack for public speaking."
Robert, to be clear, had no alcohol or drugs in his system when he crashed.
At a "Pray 4 Robbie" gathering organized by students at
From there, he spent three weeks in intensive care. It took two weeks until he was stable enough to move by ambulance to a hospital preferred by his insurance, McClure said. He moved to a rehabilitation hospital in
Like all of Robert's milestones, McClure marked the
McClure credits God for Robert's survival and calls upon her faith in chronicling his recovery for friends and family.
"You can cry about it, or you just do what you gotta do, that's it," she said with a weary smile. "I just have every belief he's definitely going to make a huge recovery."
Sitting in a recliner in his living room, Penton struggles to remember details and suffers chronic pain in his left leg, the one that broke in the crash. He sees only blurry forms, the aftermath of blood loss to the brain.
He uses a wheelchair, but is able to push up toward standing with his right leg and, using side rails and a therapist, shuffle along a short walkway. His arms are strong, though finger movements still take concentration. Each day, conversation becomes a little more natural and jokes more frequent, his mom reports.
Though graduating will not happen this year, his classmates want him to join in commencement. He will cross the stage, McClure said, even if he has to roll across it. But the career he dreamed of in the Marines or
"Life is completely different now," Robert said. He remembers nothing about the crash and does not want to talk about it. Anger comes through, at the pain, at how hard everything has become, at a life that is completely different.
A moment's inattention is all it takes to go from a life of dribbling balls down the basketball court to straining to walk. The
It's a busy month for the CHP, which also participates in the "Every 15 Minutes" programs. There are eight to 12 such presentations every spring in
Two CHP officers, three local fire engines, a coroner's van, two ambulances and a medical helicopter converged on the school's football field for the event, with student actors representing the dead, the injured, the grieving and the guilty. CHP Officer
Traffic safety grants and schools pay for the programs.
"The statistic back in the 1990s was every 15 minutes someone was killed -- four every hour. Now the statistic is every 30 minutes; that's saving two lives an hour," Parsons said. "I believe the program makes a difference."
Over the past three years in
Sober grad nights have also played a part, dedicated parents say. At
"During the months of April to June each year, more kids are killed in drunk driving accidents than any other time on the calendar," she said, "and we do not want that to happen to any of our students."
Bee education reporter
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