A few days before the Fourth of July weekend, a sobering a reminder tonight of how dangerous it is to drink and drive.
FOX23’s Abbie Alford hears from an officer who used to keep drunk drivers off the street.
That officer ended up learning first hand how a drunk driver can ruin a life.
Thirteen months and eleven days, that’s how long former Tulsa Police officer Kyle Crone says he’s been in a wheelchair.
It happened during Mayfest 2008 while off-duty Crone and his wife Miranda, a teacher in Broken Arrow, were enjoying a night ride on their motorcycle.
Suddenly he and his wife were thrown from their bike and were hit head on by a drunk driver.
Crone used to drive a Tulsa Police cruiser, he used to wear a badge and dress blues.
But convicted drunk driver Jennifer Russell took all of it away.
"It's probably been the toughest year of my life," says Crone.
Going from a police officer to a wheelchair and months of rehabilitation, even with some feelings in his toes, Crone is paralyzed from his waist down.
However, Crone says he is fighting to one day walk again and rejoin the police force.
"People tell you, you're always going to be in a wheelchair and at the same time I think, 'you know I believe in a big God.' That being the case I am going to get on the other side of this," says Crone. “Some trials are a little more difficult than others and this one was, I will never be the same person that I was before."
Crone still answers calls and serves the city but for the Mayor’s Action Center.
