KANSAS CITY, Mo. — All month long, Mothers Against Drunk Driving Heartland are running, or biking, in a new fundraiser to raise money for crash survivors. They’re calling it Bike Like MADD ‘Tour De Heart.’
People all over the Midwest are getting on their bikes to help the cause. One Kansas City woman helps the cause a different way. She shares her crash story with offenders to try to change the minds of those who have driven impaired.
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Amy Ebers-Jumet is an impaired driving crash victim and survivor. She considers being a survivor her second chance at life and is now using her story to not just bring awareness to the dangers of impaired driving, but to change the minds of those who have driven impaired.
“We had just finished celebrating Mother’s Day,” said Amy Ebers-Jumet, victim survivor.
On a day that usually brings this mother of seven so much happiness, May 9, 2020, brought Amy Ebers-Jumet the worst day of her life.
“I was loading my husband’s pickup truck. An impaired driver hit the parked vehicle, and then the truck ran over my chest,” said Ebers-Jumet. “I was dying. I cardiac arrested. I flatlined.”
Her hero paramedics were able to bring her back as she got to the hospital. From there, she started a long road to recovery.
“I might not ever understand why this happened, but I can make meaning out of what happened to me. Use my story in hopes that others will make a decision to never drive impaired again,” said Ebers-Jumet.
She tells her story to offenders in hopes they’ll never drive impaired again.
Two out of three people will be affected by an impaired driver. Mothers Against Drunk Driving, or MADD, recognizes that it's a large number of people, and works to support victims.
“When we talk about victim services it can be anything from emotional support, crisis intervention, helping with victim advocacy,” said Jerod Breit, MADD Heartland Director.
Breit tells me that money raised during bike like MADD will keep these services free for victims.
“Between cyclists and pedestrians that are out there we can’t forget impaired drivers impact those individuals just at the same rate as they do those driving in a motor vehicle,” said Breit.
Ebers-Jumet was one of those individuals. She knows the value of victim support.
“At the end of the day we’re all humans and we deserve love, and care, and connection,” said Ebers-Jumet.
Four years later, she’s giving her crash date a new meaning: Gratitude.
“I get a second chance and I am so grateful,” said Ebers-Jumet.
Anyone who lives in the Heartland can walk, run, bike outside or even on a stationary bike to support the cause.
