COREY'S STORY
A fifty "something" year old man goes ice fishing. He spends his afternoon drinking. On his drive home he crashes into a car driven by Bill, injuring the driver and killing his eleven year old son Corey. For a moment, become one of the family. You are Bill, Corey's father, trapped in a crumpled car with his only son injured & dying beside him.
OR
You are Linda, Corey's Mother. You receive a call from the hospital informing you her that there has been an accident and that the police are on their way to pick you up.
OR
You are Jennifer, Corey's sister, being picked up by her Mother from a sleep over at a friends house and learning that your brother was dead.
The sorrow this tragedy brings is beyond words. But you can imagine the great emotional pain it brings to his family, immediate and extended. Corey William Ryan, mischievous, musically talented, great at hockey, smart, eleven years old, gone! The careless, irresponsible action of one adult robs a child of his future and irrevocably changes who the Ryans are both as a family and as individuals. These are the consequences of drinking and driving. Corey was the lucky one because he is with God. We, his family and friends, struggle with this reality, choosing new directions influenced by his death. The establishment of People To Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere was one of the new directions we chose. The many years the Sudbury chapter of P.R.I.D.E. worked to educate the public on the effects of drinking and driving. Our friends and the Sudbury media were instrumental in its success and its offshoot, Action Sudbury formed by then Mayor Peter Wong. Our triumph over tragedy is that we have been able to turn our pain into spearheading a campaign which raised awareness of an issue which previously had not been discussed. Our hope is that this awareness has saved lives.
The Ryans