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Health & Fitness

Jim Rockwell Speaks to Students about Dangers of Drunk Driving

Jim Rockwell comes to JCA to speak to students about drunk driving.

As summer approaches, many Joliet Catholic Academy students will be graduating and many will be new drivers. Whatever the case, these young men and women will be presented with a new set of dangers, perhaps none more real than drunk driving. Enter Jim Rockwell. Jim came to speak to JCA students about the very real dangers of drinking and driving and the effects that it can have on your life. At the age of 16, a new driver himself, he had spent a day drinking and decided to get behind the wheel. The result was a head-on collision with another driver which nearly ended his life. Jim would be in a coma for six weeks and recuperate for many months after. Doctors told his parents he never regain his speech or motor skills.

Fortunately, after years of rehabilitation, he is able to live independently. However, Jim is unable to drive a car and his speech and sight are slightly impaired forever.  It is through his jarring experience that he is able to connect with students. He was once an able bodied, student-athlete, much like many of the students he spoke to. He encouraged students to ask questions about his accident and his life since then, to really get them to understand the weight of his bad decision. Mr. Rockwell speaks to students across the nation focusing on decision making and good values in hopes that they don’t go down the same road that he did.

 

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