2008 Woodie Awards
Family reaches campus
Emotional speech warns against drunken driving
Rebecca Skeim
Issue date: 10/19/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
Kris Mansfield made it through five months in the War in Iraq, but sadly was killed by a drunken driver after he returned.
Mansfield was honored Wednesday for Alcohol Awareness Week on the University of Northern Colorado campus during the Mothers Against Drunk Driving presentation.
Julie Legg, Mansfield's mother, shared the story of her son through a series of emotional photographs. His aunt, Mary-Jo Briguglio, also spoke to warn about impaired driving.
Mansfield was killed by a drunk driver in September of 2004 while riding his motorcycle in Denver. He was 23-years-old when the crash happened.
"He was just an extraordinary human being," Briguglio said.
He participated in a lot of volunteer work and was considered a family man.
At the age of 20 Mansfield enlisted in the United States Air Force, specializing in satellite communications. He was sent to Iraq in January of 2004 and served a five-month tour of duty. He returned home with no injuries.
"He was very humbled by it," Briguglio said.
The crash occurred only three months later. It was an evening his mother and aunt recall vividly.
"I started screaming and my heart physically broke," Legg said of her emotions when she heard the news.
Even three years after the accident, Legg said she still has trouble sleeping through the night.
The man who hit Mansfield was driving three times over the legal limit, with a blood alcohol level of .217. He is currently serving eight years in prison.
As a reminder to all drivers and a tribute to Mansfield, a permanent road sign is located at the intersection of Colorado Boulevard and Ohio, where the accident occurred. In 2006 the Colorado Department of Transportation dedicated a sobriety checkpoint to him.
Legg said she recalls the day when Mansfield told her he was joining the military.
"His words floored me. He said 'Mom, I'm 20 years old and I want my life to make a difference,'" Legg said.
With the help of his family and groups like MADD, Mansfield is still making a difference.
University of MADD is a campus-based student organization that focuses attention on drunken driving. Tiffany Hanson is a youth program specialist for the group.
"About one in three drivers on I-25 are driving while impaired on the weekend. That is from the Colorado Department of Transportation," Hanson said.
Hanson said the serious effects of drinking are sometimes difficult to convey to college students.
"It's like you hear it so often a lot of people become numb to it, and it's too bad," said Brittany Ore, a sophomore undeclared major. "It needs to happen, it needs to be heard."
Alcohol Awareness Week is sponsored by the Center for Peer Education. For more information or to volunteer, go to www.madd.org/co.
Mansfield was honored Wednesday for Alcohol Awareness Week on the University of Northern Colorado campus during the Mothers Against Drunk Driving presentation.
Julie Legg, Mansfield's mother, shared the story of her son through a series of emotional photographs. His aunt, Mary-Jo Briguglio, also spoke to warn about impaired driving.
Mansfield was killed by a drunk driver in September of 2004 while riding his motorcycle in Denver. He was 23-years-old when the crash happened.
"He was just an extraordinary human being," Briguglio said.
He participated in a lot of volunteer work and was considered a family man.
At the age of 20 Mansfield enlisted in the United States Air Force, specializing in satellite communications. He was sent to Iraq in January of 2004 and served a five-month tour of duty. He returned home with no injuries.
"He was very humbled by it," Briguglio said.
The crash occurred only three months later. It was an evening his mother and aunt recall vividly.
"I started screaming and my heart physically broke," Legg said of her emotions when she heard the news.
Even three years after the accident, Legg said she still has trouble sleeping through the night.
The man who hit Mansfield was driving three times over the legal limit, with a blood alcohol level of .217. He is currently serving eight years in prison.
As a reminder to all drivers and a tribute to Mansfield, a permanent road sign is located at the intersection of Colorado Boulevard and Ohio, where the accident occurred. In 2006 the Colorado Department of Transportation dedicated a sobriety checkpoint to him.
Legg said she recalls the day when Mansfield told her he was joining the military.
"His words floored me. He said 'Mom, I'm 20 years old and I want my life to make a difference,'" Legg said.
With the help of his family and groups like MADD, Mansfield is still making a difference.
University of MADD is a campus-based student organization that focuses attention on drunken driving. Tiffany Hanson is a youth program specialist for the group.
"About one in three drivers on I-25 are driving while impaired on the weekend. That is from the Colorado Department of Transportation," Hanson said.
Hanson said the serious effects of drinking are sometimes difficult to convey to college students.
"It's like you hear it so often a lot of people become numb to it, and it's too bad," said Brittany Ore, a sophomore undeclared major. "It needs to happen, it needs to be heard."
Alcohol Awareness Week is sponsored by the Center for Peer Education. For more information or to volunteer, go to www.madd.org/co.
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