WEST BEND, Wis. — This holiday season looks a bit different for Kristin Peterson and her family.
“It almost feels like we’re back in the early months,” said Peterson. “In terms of how the grief is.”
Instead of spending time with her second oldest son, Grant, she visits his grave.
He was on his way home from a ski trip with his brother and a friend when a drunk driver crashed into their car.
“There was an 18-year-old drunk driver who was driving westbound in the eastbound lanes and hit them,” said Peterson. “Only by the grace of God did my older son and his best friend survive the crash, but unfortunately my 20-year-old son died at the scene.”
It’s a tragedy that has greatly impacted her close-knit family.
“Little did we know this was the last family picture that we would get and Grant would pass away just four days later,” said Peterson.
Grant was the second oldest out of seven siblings. Peterson said he had a close relationship with his family.
“He leaves a huge void in his siblings’ lives as just teaching them skills,” said Peterson. “I know his 11-year-old brother misses him desperately because he was one of his biggest fishing buddies and so on.”
This holiday season she is asking people to be aware of their surroundings and to not drive impaired.
“I just really hope people realize that we’re a real family who is right here in Wisconsin and we have this huge hole in our family because of the choice of one person,” said Peterson. “I hope that they can stop and think about that and I hope they will remember our story and what happened to us before they make a choice like that.”
While this Christmas will be difficult for their family, Peterson said they’ll remember their kindhearted, full-of-life son — a young man who enjoyed sports, his job and, most importantly, his friends and family.
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation reports in 2022, there were more than 7,500 crashes due to impaired driving and 34% of all fatal crashes involved impaired driving.
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Erin Payton is the Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin regional director of Mother’s Against Drunk Driving. She said drunk driving crashes don’t discriminate and it could happen to anyone.
She said everyone needs to come together to put a stop to impaired driving even if it means having uncomfortable conversations and asking questions.
“Hey, how about you don’t drive home?” said Payton. “How about you spend the night? How about I give you a lift? And just being that designated driver at times where it’s going to be very helpful.”
She said if you plan on drinking, you should establish a designated driver beforehand or plan to call a driving service.