MADD’s red ribbon campaign underway
By Dennis Smith
Burlington Post Staff
Nov 12, 2008

Amy Tiberia calls her accident survivor son Raymond “a little miracle”.

The Oakville teenager, who survived a severe brain injury from when he was just a toddler, helped launch MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) Halton’s red ribbon campaign last Friday (Nov. 7).

The campaign — kicked off at the Halton police station in Burlington — is aiming for a holiday season with no deaths or injuries caused by impaired driving.

“By displaying a MADD Canada red ribbon, you’ll be making a personal commitment to drive sober,” said Chris Borak, president of Halton’s MADD branch. “We urge Canadians to call 911 if they see a suspected impaired driver. By removing a drunk driver from the road, you may be saving a life.”

Before cutting the kickoff ribbon with her son on Friday, Tiberia recalled the trauma an accident on Dec. 30, 1994 caused her family.

“From the second it happened almost 14 years ago, the choice one person made to drink and drive forever altered the path of our lives,” said the Oakville resident. “My son suffered a severe brain injury at age three and for 16 days was in a coma fighting for his life. He had to change and adapt and fight for his life. He’s the bravest person I know.”

Raymond was only 3 1/2 when the family car collided with another vehicle in Erie, Pa. The family was in the area visiting relatives.

Amy said her family’s dreams were rewritten and her daughter Erica suffered because Raymond’s needs became so great.

“It was a pretty horrific accident,” the mom said. “We’ve had trauma for years and we will never recover.”

She said the other motorist involved was convicted of impaired driving and served six years in prison before being paroled. Amy said Raymond has trouble with his memory and retaining very much information.

Now 17, he’s a Grade 11 student at Chisholm Academy, a private school in Oakville.

“It allows for individual learning in small classes,” noted his mom.

Raymond remembers nothing about the crash that nearly cost him his life.

“Now it makes me wonder what would have been if I was not in the car accident,” he said. “I had to re-learn everything.”

The teen is doing a co-op placement in the parts department at Towne Chev-Olds in Oakville. He has no definite career plans.

Halton police chief Gary Crowell said the annual MADD campaign is needed to make everyone understand that drinking and driving is still a concern.

He noted there have been more than 200 drinking and driving related charges and four deaths so far in 2008. Last year, there were fewer than 200 charges, but eight deaths.

“There was one horrific accident in Milton at a railway where a couple were slammed into an oncoming train and both lost their lives,” said Crowell. “The tragedy still remains to us.”

He noted the other motorist in the July, 2007 accident (which killed Andy and Nettie Miller of Rockwood) had previously been charged with drinking and driving.

Following the tragedy, the driver, Ingram Rahim Bakhsh, 29, of Milton pled guilty to two counts of impaired driving causing death and two counts of failing to comply with the conditions of his release.

He received a jail sentence of 7 1/2 years.