Parents hope mangled wreckage of car in which daughter died drives home lessons on dangers of drinking, texting
Family hopes fatal crash of Eden grad provides lesson
Brandie J. Conklin’s mother has not been able to bring herself to look at the mangled light green Toyota that crashed Easter morning, killing her 22-year-old daughter.
But she and the young woman’s father want others to see it, particularly during this prom season. So they have agreed to have the car placed on the grounds of Eden High School.
“Everybody thinks it can’t happen to them,” said Robin J. Goodridge, Conklin’s mother.
Wayne Goodridge, gazing at his daughter’s car Friday afternoon, said, “If it can deter somebody from doing the same thing, then it’s worth it.”
Juniors and seniors heard the story of the tragic death of Conklin, a 2004 Eden graduate, during an assembly Monday.
She had been exchanging text messages with her boyfriend, who was following her at about 1:45 a. m. April 12, just before her car drifted across Route 75 and collided with an oncoming milk truck.
Her boyfriend pulled her from her car and tried performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but she died at the scene. Eden police said she had a “very high” blood alcohol content.
Just several weeks after Conklin’s death, Robin Goodridge asked Principal Marc P. Graff to place her daughter’s wreck on the lawn of the school for all the students to see during prom season.
“She really felt the message would be loud and clear,” Principal Marc P. Graff said. “You can’t be drinking and driving. You can’t be texting and driving.”
“I admire their courage, especially because this is so new for them and so devastating,” said Elizabeth Obad, president of the Erie County Chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. “Their speaking out will definitely save lives.”
Each spring, Eden presents several programs to discourage teenagers from drinking and driving. Monday’s program included Obad, a prosecutor and the statement from the Goodridge family.
Eden Police Lt. John McCarthy said he got “ticked off” when some students giggled during the prosecutor’s presentation and appeared not to take the issue seriously.
“How was your Easter Sunday?” he asked students. “Well guess what? Mine stunk. You know why? Because one of our classmates here lost her life in that car on the front lawn. Hopefully Brandie is giving you a message that drinking and driving and texting and driving is very volatile, and it can be your end.”
He told how her boyfriend tried to save her and how her father came to the scene. He described how the impact “opened her car like a tuna fish can” and pushed the truck’s axel under that vehicle, cutting the gas line. The truck’s driver side door was jammed, and the passenger side door was resting against a tree and could not be opened.
After the truck driver battered his door open with his shoulder and got out, the truck went up in flames. McCarthy, who lived half a mile from Conklin and watched her grow up, also related how the scene will stay with first responders forever.
By all accounts, the auditorium was silent.
And when they got outside and examined the car with the crushed front end and car seat still strapped in the back seat, it hit home for the teenagers.
“It was a big reality check, that this had happened to an Edenite that had recently graduated,” said Harleena Franklin, a senior.
Previous demonstrations showed how first responders would free someone from a car, said Samantha Grapes, a classmate.
“In this situation, it did happen, this is a real life thing. It kind of hits you a lot harder,” she said. “It kind of hit people a lot harder and made more of an impact.”
Most students now at the high school did not know Conklin, but Amy Banks, director of guidance, remembers her well.
“She was a kid I met on my first day nine years ago,” Banks said. “She was truly like a daughter to me.”
In addition to getting the word to students, Eden is one of a growing number of schools that target parents, who are required to attend an alcohol awareness session before their children can attend a prom.
“Those are the two pieces of the puzzle to really drive it home,” said Graff, the principal.
Obad, of MADD, told Eden students of her son, George, who was killed when he got a ride on a motorcycle whose driver was drunk.
“The people that are left behind are the true victims,” she said. “Our goal is to save lives, not to be mean to these kids. Everybody thinks at that age that they’re indestructible.”
Assistant Principal Patricia Menkiena read a statement from Conklin’s parents, pleading with students to think about the loss of their daughter, who was a mother of two children, a sister, and a friend, the next time they think about texting or drinking and driving.
“Think about all of this — not just today but every day for the rest of your life. It can happen to you. Believe it. Don’t text while driving, and don’t drink and drive,” it said.
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