Meet Scholarship Winner – Carly Remington

Name: Carly Remington

High School: Monarch High School

College Attending: University of Colorado

Winning Essay

Life is so precious, I know this because my sister passed away at 23 years of age. Too many people are dying each year because of distracted driving and these are self-inflicted wounds that can be eliminated with focused driving. Unfortunately, there is an upside to this very changeable habit and that would be organ donation. What does it mean to be a safe driver? Being a safe driver means you’re never distracted. Whether that means looking or talking on your phone, eating while you’re driving, or having others in the car distract you. All of these actions lead to unsafe driving. Now, these are only distractions, then there are the unsafe practices of being under the influence while you’re driving. Too many times people make the wrong choices when it comes to driving a vehicle. All too often the daily news has a terrible story on a person/persons who have been injured or killed by an unsafe driver. I always make sure that when people get into my car they buckle up and don’t distract me. I literally won’t drive away unless everyone has buckled their seat belts. I often times babysit young kids who need to be in car seats or a booster seat and I have made sure I know how they are supposed to be safely buckled in my car before I drive them anywhere.

Now for a personal story that I have regarding being a safe driver and making people think twice about the ramifications of distracted driving. This is about getting your driver’s license and organ donation. Most people when they’re waiting to get their driver’s license for the first time or renewed are now asked about being an organ donor and checking the box on the license form about becoming an organ donor. This question makes people very uncomfortable, as they don’t want to think about what would happen to them if they were in a fatal car accident. The rate of fatal car accident deaths has steadily gone up because of distracted driving, leading more families to try and decide about organ donation. As quoted from Organ Procurement Transplant Network; “117,891 people need a lifesaving organ transplant (total waiting list candidates). Of those, 76,035 people are active waiting list candidates. Totals as of today 4:02 pm 11,061 organ transplants performed so far in 2017 Total Transplants January – April 2017 as of 05/25/2017 5,211 donors Total Donors January – April 2017 as of 05/25/2017.”I have a story about my sister Samantha and her courageous life that included receiving two heart transplants. Her first one was when she was four months of age, and her second one was when she was seventeen years old. Samantha wouldn’t have been able to live to 23 years old without these

I have a story about my sister Samantha and her courageous life that included receiving two heart transplants. Her first one was when she was four months of age, and her second one was when she was seventeen years old. Samantha wouldn’t have been able to live to 23 years old without these life-saving heart transplants. The second heart she received was from a boy killed in a car accident. Two families lost their loved ones and they made the courageous decision to donate their family member’s organs in their time of extreme grief and sadness. Samantha lived a wonderful life full of love and had a lot of obstacles she had to overcome. Samantha taught a lot of people how important it is to donate organs. She went to schools and fundraisers and told her story, and of the importance of organ donation. As I grew up I learned so much from Samantha. She taught me to be brave and strong, and I knew her life was a lot harder than mine. It was important for her to pay it forward, so she with my family started the Samantha Remington Angel Heart Foundation. (www.sammyangelheart.com) This foundation was set up to help families with the out of pocket expenses that insurance companies won’t pay for life-saving procedures. This may seem off the topic of driving safely, but if you think about the people like the ones that gave their hearts to Sammy, they made this decision because they knew the importance of signing their licenses and talking to their loved ones about organ donations. Signing your driver’s license and saying you will be an organ donor saves lives.Another personal story that had an effect on me growing up and learning about safe driving is listening to various groups come speak at my school about driving safely in a car. I vividly remember when a young man came in and spoke about his terrible drunk driving accident during my health class. His story is about how he survived a horrible time in his life, because of the bad choices he made. Now he comes to different schools to teach kids how to stay safe. I also have another story about safe driving. My friend’s son was in a terrible car accident because he was under the influence of drugs and alcohol. He is lucky to be alive today and has been in a drug and alcohol recovery program to try and rehabilitate himself. Watching the stress this caused my friend and her family has been awful. They have had to use a lot of their own income to help pay for the expenses.

Another personal story that had an effect on me growing up and learning about safe driving is listening to various groups come speak at my school about driving safely in a car. I vividly remember when a young man came in and spoke about his terrible drunk driving accident during my health class. His story is about how he survived a horrible time in his life, because of the bad choices he made. Now he comes to different schools to teach kids how to stay safe. I also have another story about safe driving. My friend’s son was in a terrible car accident because he was under the influence of drugs and alcohol. He is lucky to be alive today and has been in a drug and alcohol recovery program to try and rehabilitate himself. Watching the stress this caused my friend and her family has been awful. They have had to use a lot of their own income to help pay for the expenses.

In conclusion, when I think of how to prevent distracted driving and promote safe driving I think of all of these personal stories that have made an accumulated impression on me. I try daily to make a conscious decision to be a safe driver knowing that any distraction can be a life changer. I will be attending the University of Colorado Boulder in the Fall and I know I will be faced with a lot of choices. I plan on making sure to look out for all my friends and practice safe choices. Using companies like UBER and Lyft are great ways to keep it safe. I plan on continuing to spread the word about organ donation and encouraging my friends to check the box at the DMV when renewing or getting their license. I plan on continuing to tell my sister’s story about how she was able to live to be a 23-year-old heart transplant warrior. She has such an incredible legacy she left and I plan on keeping it going. I certainly hope that lives will continue to be saved by keeping it safe while driving. Texting and driving and driving while under the influence is wrong. I also will spread the word and continue to teach and educate others about checking the box when signing their driver’s license and becoming organ donors. One safe human can save many lives.