Mistake you don’t want to make this Christmas
IN THE space of a couple of days recently, this column witnessed two scenes on the Gold Coast that left a lasting impression. The first was at the far end of Currumbin Creek Rd, in the early hours of a Saturday morning.
Four 19-year-olds had a very lucky escape.
It had been raining, and the road was wet.
Yet on this winding hinterland road, they had been in a car that they freely admitted had been doing speeds of up to 120km/h.
At a bend in the road, the driver lost control, sending the car spinning.
It was nothing short of a miracle that none of them were killed.
A couple of days later, at the other end of the Gold Coast, this column got a gut-wrenching insight into what happens when a foolish young driver is not lucky enough to escape the consequences of their actions.
On December 8, I was present when Melissa McGuinness gave a presentation at Gainsborough State School in Pimpama.
By now, Melissa’s story is well known to many people on the Gold Coast.
She has told it many times. How her son Jordan Hayes McGuinness took four young lives and his own when, speeding and under the influence of alcohol and marijuana, he smashed into a broken-down car on the M1.
It is a devastating story at any time. It must be so difficult to tell, again and again.
On the night Ms McGuinness gave that talk, it is clear it was tougher than usual. She had to pause to control her tears. It was the ninth anniversary of that fateful night.
As most of us wind down for Christmas, preparing to catch up with loved ones, exchange presents, enjoy a bounteous lunch, it’s worth recalling that there are families across the Gold Coast for whom this is not a happy time of year.
Families with an empty seat at the table.
Christmas is never the same for those people. The pain, the grief, stays with them for the rest of their lives.
One of the most powerful questions Ms McGuinness asks audiences is to imagine that it is one of their loved ones on stage, offering a window into their chasm of grief.
The brutal truth is we are all just one bad choice away from seeing it happen.
There is no defining characteristic of the drivers responsible for causing road deaths on the Gold Coast.
They are not all young and foolish. They are not all bad people, or from bad homes.
In fact most look like you and me.
The thing that unites them is they made one bad choice.
At this time of year especially, the temptation to make those bad choices increases.
The “she’ll be all right” attitude creeps in. People get behind the wheel with alcohol on board.
Notably, Jordan Hayes McGuinness was on his way home from a Christmas party. The young people at Currumbin Creek Rd had been enjoying a night out too.
Their stories are important warnings to the rest of us to not only check our own behaviour, but that of the loved ones around us.
To ensure we are not responsible for the kind of harrowing scenes too often witnessed at Christmas time on the Gold Coast.