Nobody has ever loved a number.
That was Patricia Voelker's message to the Fort Jackson workforce Monday morning. The Lexington native was part of a team leading a pair of alcohol-abuse awareness activities at the Solomon Center -- a team intent on putting a face to the statistics.
More than 10,000 Americans die as the result of drunk driving each year, MADD S.C. program director Steven Burritt told the audience. More than 300 of those deaths were in South Carolina, he said.
"There is a higher percentage of drunk-driving-related traffic deaths in this state than in any other state," Burritt said. About 44 percent of South Carolina's driving-related fatalities involve alcohol, a number significantly higher than the nation's average of 31 percent.
"We have to do better," he said. "Unfortunately, this is a dangerous state. We want you to be as safe as possible."
But numbers aren't always compelling. Thousands of anonymous deaths aren't always enough to make people think twice before drinking and driving. Which is why Voelker volunteered to be part of the day's activities: Names and faces can lend weight to tragedy that statistics cannot.
Voelker was present to share the stories of four men killed by a drunk driver in 2010. Those men were her son-in-law Roy McConnell, 51, and his sons Nathan, 24, Kelly, 19, and Elroy "Roy" McConnell III, 28. The four were leaving a late-night movie when a car driven by Demetrius D. Jordan struck them while travelling 80 mph in a 35 mph zone.
The four died instantly. Jordan survived but was sentenced to 44 years in prison.
"There are a lot of victims in this story," Voelker said as she showed slides of her family. "Four who lost their lives, one who lost his freedom -- and all the ones who loved them."
The alcohol-awareness event was designed as to remind Soldiers, employees and family members to use caution as the summer approaches, said Sandra Barnes, prevention coordinator for the Army Substance Abuse Program.
"We have prom coming up and are getting ready for the summer, so I wanted to take the opportunity to prepare them," she said.
Cpl. David Jones of the S.C. Highway Patrol was present to remind people of the personal consequences of driving drunk.
"One of the worst things for a trooper is to stop somebody in the military and see them taken to jail (for) a poor decision," he said. "We see good people make poor decisions."
Voelker ended her presentation with tears in her eyes but said she hoped that sharing her pain might lessen someone else's.
"If you have the opportunity to drink and drive, and (my story) makes you hesitate long enough to change your decision, then my telling will have achieved its purpose," she said.
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