Accident drives home a point

A medical director urges parents to pay attention.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
HOWLAND -- Stacy Hoover and Rosanna Neff remain friends despite a Nov. 17, 2004, car crash that significantly changed their lives.
Hoover, 26, was released in January from a one-year prison stint. Neff, 26, is in a wheelchair, paralyzed from the shoulders down.
Their story gripped an audience Thursday night during a town hall meeting to discuss the influence of substance abuse, especially alcohol, on individuals, families and community.
Hoover and Neff, both of Canton, had been out drinking. They got into a car Hoover was driving. She buckled up, but Neff didn't put on her seat belt, something that she rarely forgot.
"You think you can do anything when you're drinking," Hoover told the group.
It was about 11:30 p.m. when Hoover drove off the road and struck a guardrail. The next thing she knew, she was in the back seat of a cruiser.
As it turned out, Hoover's blood-alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit of .08. Neff suffered a broken neck.
Hoover served a year in prison for aggravated vehicular assault. Neff can no longer use any of her limbs.
"It haunts me every day," Hoover said, noting that her mistake of drinking and driving has affected her family and friends.
Flanked by her husband, Chad Wackerly, and their 9-year-old daughter, Courtney Wackerly, Neff told of being a high school cheerleader.
"She never meant to hurt me," Neff said of Hoover. Neff blames herself for not putting on her seat belt.
Reality for her
"It's not so much being in the wheelchair," Neff explained as she sobbed. The trying part is not being able to blow her nose or brush her teeth.
She can't even call her friends to meet them out for lunch. They have to come to her home.
The forum "Let's Start Talking Before They Start Drinking" was sponsored by the Trumbull County Alcohol and Drug Free Coalition and the office of Ohio's first lady Hope Taft.
Dr. Neil A. Capretto, medical director of Gateways Rehabilitation Center in Aliquippa, Pa., urged parents to pay attention to what their children are doing.
Trust your instincts
"If something in your gut tells you something is wrong, it probably is. Trust your gut," Dr. Capretto said.
He pointed out that it's rare to find a person whose life hasn't been touched by alcohol, noting that more than 11,000 teenagers try alcohol for the first time every day.
About 50 percent of all teen deaths in traffic crashes involved alcohol, the same percentage of youths who commit suicide while involved with alcohol, he noted.
Dr. Capretto said that parents do make a difference in their children's behavior.
For example, parents who strongly disapprove of alcohol use have a three times better chance that their children won't become involved.
He cautioned parents about giving their children even a sip of beer because they are more likely to want it in the future.