A HEARTBROKEN mother grieving the death of her son in a road traffic accident has made an emotional appeal to anyone who considers driving under the influence of alcohol to “think about the lives you could ruin.”
June Curran’s son Kevin McChesnie died when the car he was a passenger in, driven by a teenager under the influence, crashed into a tree in Newtownbutler exactly eight years ago on Tuesday. He was 17 years old. 
Mrs. Curran’s poignant message on the anniversary of her son’s death comes after Justice Minister Claire Sugden revealed this week that over 1,700 people have been convicted of drink driving in Fermanagh and Tyrone in the last four years.
“The number of people convicted of drink driving is shocking, it disgusts me. I would not have considered it to be anything close to that number of people. With all the accidents over the years you would have thought that some would have taken into consideration what can happen if you drink and drive,” Mrs. Curran said.
The years may have passed but the heartache for Mrs. Curran and her family is as raw now as it was then.
“The pain, I have always said this, is hard to explain, there are no words. I do feel numb and at the start I felt very angry and it was destroying me. I am not angry anymore but it doesn’t leave me any less heartbroken. There are days when I have wobbles, I have cried oceans over the years. I have been worn down, tired, weak, but I feel stronger now.”
Hours before he died Kevin spent the evening playing with his little brother Oran, then six, and sister Kortni, then five. He never got to see how his two younger siblings would develop, his sister, now a teenager, and his brother now travelling the world as part of his job. And for Mrs. Curran, she always ponders what kind of man her boy would have turned into, who he might have married and how many grandchildren he may have given her. 
“I still remember being told he had been in an accident and going down to the road, seeing him on a stretcher. All of that, it never leaves you. I wake up thinking about it, I go to bed thinking about it. I think about it all the day, I think about it every day. I still miss him, I miss him even more. Some days are easier than others. You don’t get used to it but over the years we have learned to cope with it,” she said. 
After Kevin’s death Mrs. Curran couldn’t even stomach sitting in a car or a bus and hated being on the road.
“I wasn’t comfortable being in a car or a bus in case something happened. I was nervous about what I was going to meet on the road, it was the other cars that made me nervous. I would sit in the car and when we braked I would actually have pressed my feet down as if I was braking and I was a passenger, I had no pedals, I wasn’t driving. 
“Even my youngest son, Oran, was very upset about me being in any type of vehicle. The school had to get him counselling because he didn’t want to be there in case something happened to me.”
Mrs. Curran appeared in a hard hitting road safety advertisement 18 months after her son’s death and now in light of the justice minister’s latest figures she is determined again to encourage people to stop drinking and driving.
“Maybe the people who are going out drinking and driving have never had this type of tragedy in their family. Some people think it is OK to go out on the road after drinking but they are not thinking of the consequences. Do not give reason for another family to go through what we have been through,” she said. 
SDLP MLA Richie McPhillips, who lives in South Fermanagh, has described the drink driving figures in the area as “pretty alarming.”
“With all the public awareness campaigns on all types of media drawing attention to all aspects of road safety you would find it hard to be believe that people in these circumstances cannot consider the safety of others as well as their own before they get into a car and drive under the influence of alcohol. 
“We need to continue to educate and get the message across that it is not acceptable in modern society for anyone to have such a lack of consideration for others in their communities that put lives at risk each time that a driver with drink taken get’s in behind the wheel. It is getting close to the time for zero tolerance of such actions,” he said. 
Democratic Unionist MLA Maurice Morrow said it is “a real tragedy” when a life is cut short as a result of a road traffic collision “particularly when the death is as a result of something that could have been prevented.”
“It is vital that we all as a society take a stand against those who believe they can drink alcohol and get behind the wheel of a car. As a legislator, I would argue that sentencing for drink driving offences should be tougher. Driving over the alcohol limit is a crime. It is dangerous and is putting lives at risk. For the families who have lost loved ones on our roads, the heartache and pain is a life sentence. 
“Therefore it is important that those responsible feel the full weight of the law. Each driver has a responsibility when they get behind the wheel of a car. That responsibility is not only for themselves and their passengers but other road users. The message is simple; don’t drink and drive,” he said.