THERE'S A HANNAH GRANT IN EVERY COMMUNITY
On a hot sunny Florida afternoon in July, 2007, Lynn Grant and her daughter's Shannon, and Hannah were on the way to a birthday party. Stopped at a traffic signal they were all looking forward to tomorrow and the start of their family vacation.
The light turned green, and the Grant's in the third vehicle, proceed through the intersection and are slammed broadside by a distracted driver, traveling at 55mph who ran the red light. In what has been described by witnesses a "horiffic crash", 6 year old Hannah took the direct impact of the crash, suffering a traumatic brain injury. Help arrived quickly, and Paramedic's found Hannah unconscious, unresponsive, and not breathing. A priority 1, trauma alert was declared, as medic's intubated Hannah and initiated other advanced life support measures. Hannah's "Golden Hour" had begun.
Hannah spent weeks in a coma on a ventilator, with her family by her side. Two years later at home and being cared for 24 hours a day 7 days a week by her family, her brain injury makes it impossible to do every day things we take for granted. Hannah, now 8 1/2 years old wears a diaper, can't feed her self, talk, walk or scratch her nose. The driver responsible for the crash sentenced Hannah to life in a wheelchair.
" A couple years ago we went from living the American dream, everything was on track and going well, then someone made a mistake and ran a red light while distracted and changed our lives forever," Scott Grant said.
Grant said he and his wife want people to know how quickly a mistake while behind the wheel can have a life-altering impact on a family. " We are here to help make a difference," Scott Grant said. "It's time to get involved and make everyone aware of the dangers of distracted driving."
Colby Miller who has worked with Stay Alive .... Just Drive! after a 2006 rollover crash left her a qaudriplegic, and her husband Brandon are just one indication of how the Grant's are making an impact. When Scott and Lynn learned that Brandon was physically lifting Colby out of her wheelchair and placing her in the vehicle seat, along with loading the motorized chair for transport, they performed a miracle. As owners of Grant Motors, Scott had an opportunity to purchase a wheelchair accessable van, not only did he purchase the van, he had it thoroughly inspected and then he and Lynn DONATED the van to Colby and Brandon. Not only people helping people but the greatest example of "Paying It Forward" this writer has been a part of.
Hannah and her family will continue to involve themselves in this life-saving program by appearing at special events and press conferences, filming psa's, and Joining Jay Anderson at our local schools when he presents the LOL I'M NT BSY I'M ONLY DRVING program. Lynn Grant summed it up when she said "We don't hide behind closed doors, and are looking forward to working with this important campaign."
SAFE DRIVING IS NOT EXPENSIVE, IT'S PRICELESS.
The Stay Alive ... Just Drive! (SAJD) traffic safety education
and awareness program encourages all drivers to: Think and "PULL
OVER" if your going to do anything but drive when your behind
the wheel. To learn more about the effort to curb distracted
driving visit us on the web: www.sajd.org.
To schedule a speaker
or a presentation contact the SAJD office at: (239) 340 - 8693.