Just seconds of taking her eyes off the road to send one text message has changed Melody Battle’s life forever.
“I just wouldn’t want anyone else to go through what I went through,” Battle said.
READ MORE: Survivor of texting crash makes emotional plea for people to put down phones
On May 4, 2013 her vehicle hit the back end of a road grader going over 100 kilometres an hour. She spent three weeks in a coma, and a year in the hospital recovering. The collision effected not only her, but her entire family.
“When my wife said we all hit the back of that grader, it is so true. In so many ways,” Stephen Battle, Melody’s father said.
Melody, 22, now has permanent brain damage and has lost sight in her right eye. She survived the crash, but her father said it’s been a struggle psychologically as well as physically.
“If you do survive, you can and you will lose all of your friends, nobody wants to know you,” Stephen said. “The abandonment and being alone, while in that state, it’s horrible.”
The Battle family partnered with the RCMP for the first time Tuesday at Vauxhall High School to speak with young drivers about the extreme danger of distracted driving.
READ MORE: Alberta man shares road to recovery after head-on collision with distracted driver
Sargent Darrin Turnbull with the RCMP integrated traffic unit said being able to speak to students before they form bad driving habits is crucial.
“They get to meet somebody that went through a crash, they get to see her crash photos, to see what happened to her, to see the science involved with investigating her crash,” Turnbull said. “Then to see the fact that she was able to survive, but, she has life-altering injuries.”
Melody’s brain damage prevents her from being able to cry, and she has lost all her social filters. However, she says she needs to spread the message that texting and driving, is just not worth it.
“I want to get the word across like, ‘Hey guys, this is stupid, and I can show you why.'”
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