CALGARY- Losing a loved one is hard in any circumstance, but when someone is killed by a drunk driver it makes the senseless tragedy that much harder to comprehend.
Kevin Davey still vividly remembers the day his life changed forever. In April 2008, his wife Linda was out walking in her neighbourhood with several friends and her two children, when an impaired driver lost control and hit the group.
Linda was killed and her wheelchair-bound son was seriously injured.
“The guy who killed Linda actually lived 1,200 meters from the pub he was drinking in,” Davey says. “He killed her 300 meters from the pub. Why didn’t he walk, why didn’t he get a cab?”
That man was Darren Coupal, who was sentenced to five years behind bars in March 2011. But he’s already out of jail. In October 2011 he was granted day parole, and was released on full parole in September.
“I don’t ever want to see him. I don’t ever want to cross the paths with the guy,” Davey says. “To be honest he’s taken enough already I don’t want him to take energy from us as well.
“They say time heals all wounds. It really doesn’t-what it does is time dulls the pain sufficiently for you to carry on functioning.”
Tomorrow in part three of our special series, we’ll look at the push for changes to the justice system for impaired driving cases.
With files from Nancy Hixt
Comments