Stolen Blessings; a widow’s effort to prevent another senseless death

In June of 2005, Michelle Sims became a widow when a drunk driver slammed into the passenger side of a car her husband Sean was in.

Sean was on his way to work in Ferdinand when the 24-year-old man, on his way from a graduation party, ran into the vehicle driven by Michelle’s sister. The drunk driver left the scene and hid in a nearby cornfield before going to a farmhouse to call his parents. He was arrested several hours later. His blood alcohol content at the time of his arrest was .125 percent.

The college graduate was on his way to becoming a teacher, but his life, as well as all of Sean’s family’s, life was changed forever.

Michelle stated she had bitterness and resentment for what this man did to her family, but she recently made the decision to stop harboring these feelings and take action to prevent another senseless death. She writes that her late husband would have wanted her to forgive. “I knew Sean well enough to know that he was a kind, forgiving man who knew that he had his own flaws. He was not judgmental and self-righteous and he would tell you that he had made many mistakes of his own in his life…just as we all have.”

Bolstered by what she knows her late husband would expect her to do, Michelle is now taking steps to provide education to high school students in the county about drunk driving and its lasting impact. She writes on her website, ” He would tell me to forgive this person..if for nothing else, for my own peace of mind..and do something positive by spreading the word to our local high school students about the dangers of driving under the influence; therefore, it is my mission to do so.”

This Saturday at 7 p.m., a live auction is being held at Reflections in Huntingburg to raise money to bring two nationally recognized speakers, Chris Sandy and Eric Krug of Enduring Regret, to five area high schools before prom this year. Michelle is trying to raise enough money to provide Southridge, Jasper, Heritage Hills, Perry Central and Tell City High Schools with the program. An evening presentation is also scheduled for the Ferdinand Community Center.

Items from Best Chairs, Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari, Kimball, and many other contributors will be available for attendees to bid on. More information can be found on the Community Calendar here.

“While I am driven towards this goal by my personal experiences, this is not about me or really even about my late husband, Sean. This is about working to prevent tragedies of this nature from occurring, while honoring the memory of ALL the victims lost in these preventable incidents.”

Here is a sample of the presentation by Enduring Regret.