It started out as a weekend father-and-son fishing trip and turned out to be a life-changing experience. The next five minutes would alter the course of life for both my son and myself. We were following a full-size van after dark along a stretch of road leading out of town. The road was winding and had double yellow lines warning us to be alert of what lay ahead. As we came to the last major curve, I saw a faint light coming toward the van and stopped as quickly as I could. Something was not right, and as I looked up, I saw the oncoming car lose control and slide into the front of the van.

Even in the dark of night I could see the degree of damage to both cars. Small fires started in both cars as we slowly drove up through the debris to see if anyone needed help. What we found was that the driver of the oncoming car died during the impact, and the van had people crying for help. It took both my son and I to break into the burning van and enter it only to see a large pile of people pleading for help.

One by one we pulled out a mother and five children. As I reentered the van, a young girl of about thirteen stared into my eyes, as the heat became so intense her clothing caught on fire. She never cried, but the look on her face was one I will never forget. She seemed to accept the fact she was about to die and showed no pain. I told her I was sorry and backed out as the fire blew past her, and I knew there was no hope for the others left in the van.

It was later that night at the hospital we learned that the van had a total of thirteen occupants, and my son and I were credited with saving the lives of six of them. The car, that caused this carnage, was driven by a man with a blood alcohol level twice the legal limit.

As we mended our cuts and burns over the next few weeks, I called local and state officials offering my services as a speaker. As a teacher, I had hopes that a tragedy like this could be used at schools and community events to educate people and especially children to the dangers of drinking and driving. Pat Larson, Director of Victim Services for AAIM, gave me my chance to do that and also placed the idea of the AAIMmobile as a possible forum to speak from.

I have contacted many corporations asking for help to start a program using the AAIMmobile as a focus point to reach the people of Illinois. Two of the state's leaders, Allstate Insurance and McDonalds, have funded a program that has covered the northern half of Illinois. The AAIMmobile has been to county fairs, community events, car, air, and motorcycle shows this summer. Coming up are more community and charity events, go-cart races, and fall and winter parades. To date, the AAIMmobile has been seen by over one million people through events and many more by its travel on the roads of Illinois. As for my son James, he started college and is majoring in Law Enforcement-his way of making a difference.