MADD 24 HOUR HELPLINE 1.877.MADD.HELP (877.623.3435) WWW.MADD.ORG/GET-HELP
LEAN ON ME...FOR SUPPORT at MADD, those who have experienced injury due to a crash. As the first MADD Injured Victim/Survivor support groups took place, victims and survivors were offered an opportunity to connect with each other via Zoom to S ometimes the people who can provide the most support are those who have already been through it. When individuals are impacted by the crimes of drunk and drugged driving, the feeling of being alone can be overwhelming. Even friends or family who mean well often have a hard time understanding the emotions and long
provide and receive support to and from each other. Chris Kalnasy knows what it’s like to experience the severe trauma and impact of injury due to an impaired driver. On October 26, 2016, Chris, his wife and sister as well as a friend were all in a truck on their way to a Halloween party when they were struck by a driver on drugs who was also more than two and a half times the legal limit. All of them were medevacked to a trauma hospital with severe injuries. Chris has had, and may continue to need, numerous surgeries and medical intervention even now, five years later. He was only 25 when this happened and his wife, Angie, who was only 26, will be impacted for the rest of their lives due to their severe injuries. Chris is now also a caregiver to his wife as they support each other through the painful injuries they have both endured and continue to experience. Chris came to MADD because of his frustration with a criminal justice process that sentenced the driver to 20 years for the severe injuries they had all sustained, but the driver only served one year out of 20 due to the way the court functions. At that point he reached out to see what could be done and found the harsh reality so many people find, that the court system doesn’t take these crimes nearly as seriously as they should and there was no specific remedy on his case. In making that connection with MADD he connected with some of his peers – others who had gone through their own experience. He remembers the support they provided when encouraging him to share his own story to offenders. He started volunteering as a speaker at MADD’s Victim Impact Panels. In a desire to somehow support others
term impact these crimes have on people’s lives. Peer support can be crucial. It offers an opportunity for people who have gone through some of the worst experiences of their lives to open up and share their own experience with others, connecting with those who may have gone through something similar. Every aspect of a person’s life is impacted after a crash, things that people could never imagine are now a harsh reality. The support can come in many forms, in formal ways like support groups or informally as peers connecting at an event and talking about their experience. It doesn’t matter which way it happens as long as it works for the people who are connecting. 2020 offered an additional obstacle that many people faced, there was a natural disconnection that took place between typical kinds of support. Courts were shut down, families were distanced, and friends couldn’t see each other. Amid that chaos there were still victims and survivors of crashes needing help. Online support groups became a reality for many, in 2020 our MADD offices moved to that virtual platform to continue to provide support. 2020 was the year local MADD support groups became an accessible network of online support groups. In 2021, the MADD Victim Services Advisory Group (a group of MADD staff who represent different voices across the country) recognized a need. The need for online support groups which served a specific set of victims who sometimes feel like they don’t have a place of their own
16 MADDvocate ®
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker