Monument dedicated to loved ones lost to drunk driving unveiled in West St. Paul, Man.
People walked up to a newly unveiled memorial on Sunday afternoon and put their fingers across the names of loved ones they've lost to drunk driving in Manitoba.
The Manitoba Memorial Monument sits near the Glen Eden Funeral Home in West St. Paul, Man.
"It's our sincere hope that this memorial monument will give you a peaceful, beautiful place to come and remember and reflect on the treasured memories you carry in your hearts," Melody Bodnarchuk, president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving Winnipeg, said to the gathering of more than 100 people.
Many of the people in the crowd had lost loved ones to drunk driving, including Patricia Hynes-Coates.
"I'm being honest when I tell you, myself and my family never thought we'd be victims of impaired driving. Not until that bright sunny august morning in 2013," she said, talking about the day she learned her stepson, Nicholas, had been killed by a drunk driver.
"My husband was slumped on the floor and his head buried deep within his hands as he told me his final memory of his little boy alive. Nicholas was rushed past on a gurney surrounded by doctors and nurses leaving behind a trail of blood that haunts him every single night," Hynes-Coates added.
Memorial benches surround the monument to give families and friends a place to sit and reflect on their loved ones.
After the unveiling, as people walked up to the monument to read the names, many broke down in tears.
"It serves as a powerful symbol of the senseless crime of impaired driving," Hynes-Coates said.
