The last time Aryn Waag saw her son David was at his funeral.
Hundreds of juniors and seniors sat in silence this week as they listed to the message spoken by Waag and Connor Williams’ sister, Devin Gray — what happened to our loved ones could happen to you.
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Greenon students Connor Williams, 15, and David Waag, 17, were killed in a car accident in August of last year.
The driver of the vehicle lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a tree on Wilkerson Road, according to a report from the Ohio State Highway Patrol. The driver, a Greenon graduate, had marijuana in his system at the time of the crash, according to OSP. Waag and Williams were in the backseat, but they were not wearing seat belts. The two were pronounced dead at the scene.
“No other parent or sibling should feel the way we do,” Aryn Waag said. “One small decision whether you’re a passenger, whether you’re the driver — in a snap of a finger could change your life forever.”
Lt. Brian Aller of the Ohio State Highway Patrol also talked to students about impaired and distracted driving. He urged them to put down the cell phones when behind the wheel.
He walked students through an exercise demonstrating how long their eyes are off the road when they’re sending a simple text.
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‘I won’t text and drive today’ took the fastest texter about six seconds.
“If I can help one kid not get injured or be killed, my job is completed,” Aller said.
For Devin Gray, Aug. 20 is always burned into her mind. She thinks about the moments she’s already missing with her brother.
The only way he could be in her wedding photos this year was by Photoshop.
“We’re never going to feel whole,” she told students. She hopes her pain makes the potential consequences for them clear.
When the presentation was over, dozens of students stayed after to hug the women who would give anything to hug their loved ones one more time. It was an emotional reminder to buckle up and only focus on the road ahead.
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