One in five college students admits to driving while drunk. Daniel Bertram was only 21 years old when he flew off his motorcycle, landed in a coma, and became one of them.
Woosh.
Daniel Bertram gripped the handlebars of his dirt bike and landed hard as he pushed up the hill in his backyard as fast as his engine would go. Bang.He caught air and landed at the bottom, his tiny body shaking and his red and white EBC helmet sticking to his dirty blond hair. He smiled. Daniel was just seven years old–some of his classmates were still learning how to ride a bicycle. He was looking for thrill.
His mom, Tina Bertram, glanced out the window of her little house, snuggled into the countryside of Yorktown, Indiana, and looked into the 5-acre backyard. Tina and her husband Erbie adopted Daniel from her niece as soon as he was born. Unsure if it was because Daniel was much younger than his five siblings or because she and Erbie were much older, Tina sighed and smiled at the son she adopted seven years ago.
“He’s always just been different.”
Americans take 233 billion car trips each year. One in two thousand drivers that gets behind the wheel is under the influence. Considering this small statistic, one in three car accidents is caused by a drunk driver. Seven-year-old Daniel, riding on his dirt bike and laughing, didn’t yet know it, but his love of driving dirtbikes was just one of several factors that would lead to one of the most devastating days in his family’s lives. The other problem would come 12 years later.
Read the complete multimedia story here: https://mirandacarney.atavist.com/the-aftermath
