UNITY— The Students Against Drinking & Driving (SADD) group at the Unity Composite High School had a busy week as March 16-22 was SADD Awareness Week. Throughout the week, the group held various activities to raise awareness of the dangers related to impaired and distracted driving.
Students at UCHS were asked to fill out a reflection about safe driving habits and received red ribbons at the beginning of the week. The group also invited non-members to see what projects the SADD group has been working on over the year. As the week ended, an obstacle course was set up and students were inebriated with the aid of “drunk goggles” and Sandra LaRose, a guest speaker with SGI, came to talk to all the students.
LaRose travels the province, and country, sharing Kailynn’s Story. On Aug. 16, 2018, with the windows rolled down and the music cranked, Kailynn took her eyes off the road for a split moment and was hit by a train at an uncontrolled railway crossing. The 16-year-old was airlifted to Regina General Hospital before being flown again to the Children's Hospital in Saskatoon for medical attention. Five days later, on her 17th birthday, Kailynn was declared legally brain-dead. LaRose honoured her daughter’s lasting wishes by signing paperwork to donate her organs before she passed on Aug. 22, 2018.
Sharing Kailynn’s Story is not an easy feat for LaRose, who says she relives losing her daughter every morning and knowing she isn’t there.
“Losing a child is life-altering. In the beginning, everything you hear is wrong. Because really, everything is wrong. No parent should outlive their child,” said LaRose in an interview with SaskToday.
She first started speaking with Manitoba Public Insurance’s “Friends for Life Speakers” series in 2021. LaRose became involved with SGI in 2019 after approaching then minister, Joe Hargrave, inquiring if the fines would ever increase. As she worked with SGI, she was asked to provide the voice-over for the distracted driving campaign in May 2019.
A few years later in Feb. 2023, LaRose met with then minister Dustin Duncan, sharing the importance of educating Saskatchewan people on road safety. She informed him of the various contracts she has that allows her to share “Kailynn’s Story” across the nation. Within a year, the SGI Speakers Program was announced, with LaRose as one of the two speakers chosen.
“Sharing “Kailynn’s Story” is healing for me. It is also an extremely important message that needs to be shared. I am extremely grateful for the support I received from SGI and my other partnerships,” said LaRose. She also added that throwing statistics at people doesn’t always work but real-life stories, such as her daughter’s, sink in deeper.
Following the presentation, Jada Poitras, co-chair of the SADD group, said there was a pronounced reaction from the student body.
“Many teared up or cried when the presentation got particularly sad or hit close to home. As sad as it was, this was the reaction we kind of hoped for, letting us know her [LaRose’s] message got through to them.” Poitras said the message was personal and could happen to anyone.
LaRose closed by saying, “If I can make sure that every mother and father open their eyes in the morning knowing their child(ren) is safe, then I know I am on the path that I am supposed to be on.”
