Don’t drink and drive.
This is the message Mark R. Isfeld Secondary students will hear in a first-hand account of what can happen if they drive drunk — from someone students can relate to.
Kevin Brooks, 32, will tell his story to Grade 10 and 12 students at 10:50 a.m. on Thursday in the multi-purpose room of the school, and he said students tend to listen.
“They relate to me because they feel like I’m a peer,” said Brooks. “Sometimes they tune out their parents, or they tune out a teacher, or the cop or whatever, but for me it’s like they don’t see me as an authority figure; they see me as a peer.”
Brooks rocks a mohawk, wears hoodies and goes to punk shows in Vancouver.
When he was younger, he skateboarded, snowboarded, played hockey and partied, but when he was 21 years old he drove away from a party one night — and never walked again. His passenger and childhood friend, Brendan Beuk, did not survive the crash.
However, Brooks said the presentation is not just a “sob story,” and that his story resonates so well with students that they write to him about all sorts of issues they face in their lives.
“People write me the toughest things they go through in life,” said Brooks. “I guess because I’ve shared the hard times in my life and I show that I’ve gotten through, they see me as a source of inspiration and strength.”
Some days he receives upwards of 50 e-mails from students telling him their stories or asking for advice. Brooks said he responds to every single one of them, and because of feedback from students, he’s incorporated side stories about depression and bullying into his presentation.
“The crash is the main story, but I’ve lost a friend to suicide, I’ve lost a friend to gun violence, and these, of course, are huge issues among young people here in B.C.,” explained Brooks.
“And just through the feedback from young people, I’ve elaborated on certain parts.”
Although Brooks recounts memories of a painful experience every time he gives a presentation, he said he wouldn’t do anything else with his life.
“It is so totally rewarding. It’s the best thing I could possibly do with my time, with my life,” said Brooks. “From what happened to where I am now — it’s brought a huge healing thing for me and it’s brought something positive to my life, and I’ve been able to turn that positive into a positive presentation.
“I’m confident that it’s helping people, and if I felt that it didn’t, or you know, if it was just falling on deaf ears, I would do something else.”
Brooks has presented at schools in the Comox Valley before, as well as all over North America, often doing two presentations per day during the spring months.
The City of Courtenay Community Drug Strategy Committee brought him to the Valley this time, and the Old House Hotel donated a room for the duration of his stay.
For more information about Kevin Brooks, visit his website at www.kevinbrooks.ca.
writer@comoxvalleyrecord.com
