Marie Salazar

Just Wiggle Your Toes

“Just Wiggle Your Toes” is an ICBC Safe Driving Presentation that focuses on the personal
experience of an inspirational man, Kevin Brooks, during his adolescence and the lessons he has
learned from this tragic experience.

What started as a typical Saturday night of partying for Kevin Brooks quickly turned into a tragic
and unforgettable experience. Fueled by a deadly combination of alcohol, testosterone, and
that fearless “it will never happen to me” attitude often held by young people, Kevin left the
party. He drove on the road, intoxicated, distracted and in excessive speeds, along with his
childhood hockey friend, Brendon, who sat beside him on the passenger seat. The result was a
horrific crash. Weeks later Kevin learned the devastating news as he lay in a hospital bed on life
support. He was paralyzed from the chest down and would now heavily depend on a
wheelchair to get him around. In disbelief, he tried to wiggle his toes, but no movement was
felt. Brendon had not survived the crash. Horrified, his first thoughts were to give up and
commit suicide, not until he has realized the love, care, support he receives from his family,
friends, and the family of Brendon. His attitude began to change and soon his Kevin’s thoughts
were filled with figuring out how to live than wanting to die. He looked on the brighter side and
thought what he could do with this tragic experience, leading him to share this tragic
experience across North America to inspire and help young adolescents with making better
choices in life.

Kevin Brooks story emphasized the significance of making good decisions as one decision
cannot only affect one thing, but it can also affect your entire life and the people in your
surroundings. Kevin Brooks shared, “All it takes is one split second, one error in judgement
when you’re at that crossroads, and your bad choice can change everything for so many
people.” The most impactful thing that I have learned from his story is the making of good
decisions.

How do we develop a good decision? What is a good decision? Such questions are still in a blur
and will always be for teenagers who lets peer pressure control them. Kevin’s story gave me a
clear understanding of the extent peer pressure can influence one individual, especially their
decision-making skills. I have always thought that peer pressure will undoubtedly have an
impact on one’s decision making skills; however, its effect is limited in a sense that when a
matter of life and death and/or the danger of a family member/friend etc. is already involved,
they will be knowledgeable enough to know what is good for them, or at least know how one
decision can affect them badly and put them in danger.

Putting Kevin’s situation as an example; it is evident how drugs and driving is correlated with
accident and worst with death. Drugs can impair one’s ability to think and concentrate and to
drive safely are a universal fact. Regardless of the dangers driving while high brings, Kevin still
persisted into doing it with the attitude, “it will never happen to me.” This completely shows
that peer pressure can affect an individual’s decision-making skills in a great extent to the point
that they won’t even notice that they are already putting their lives in danger.

Kevin Brooke’s story is not only inspiring, but it also brings great lessons that must be shared
especially to the young teenagers, who are mostly the victims of peer pressure. It taught me
many lessons but most importantly it opened my mind to how an individual can be easily
influenced by certain factors, especially the people they surround themselves with, without
them even noticing that they are already getting negatively affected by these and are already
putting themselves and those who care and love them in danger. This will totally help me not
only in knowing how to handle relationships but most importantly but also in dealing with
different conflicts society brings. Hearing his story is similar to me experiencing the traumatic
experience he has gone through, which will thus teach me a lot of important lessons and
realizations.