VERO BEACH — With prom only a few days away and graduation right around the corner, many Vero Beach High School seniors have a lot to plan for and look forward to in the very near future. But on Wednesday morning, the class received a strong reminder of the consequences they could incur if they choose to celebrate the coming events irresponsibly.
Students sat shoulder to shoulder in the bleachers outside the high school, listening to a prerecorded scenario of their friends and classmates piling into cars on prom night.
The script involved a boyfriend and girlfriend arguing over a misunderstanding, a student refusing to wear her seat belt before finding music on her phone, two people climbing onto the back of a motorcycle without helmets, and one senior receiving a text from his mother telling him she loved him and asking him to “be careful.”
As the scenario approached it’s climax, tires squealed and recorded screams turned to actual cries for help as stagehands lifted large blue tarps, unveiling two demolished vehicles, a dismantled motorcycle, and several of their classmates lying “bloody” in the wreckage.
“It’s awful, I think this is a parent’s worst nightmare, a friend’s worst nightmare, anyone’s worst nightmare to get that phone call,” said Karen Mantell, the mother of 18-year-old Kaelin Mantell who was an actress in the production.
Mantell cringed at the sight of fake blood saturating the pavement around the wrecked cars and the pretend flesh wounds hanging off of the students who were acting, but for Mantell, it all seemed too real.
“This is traumatizing to see,” Mantell said. She added, “If [the students] understand the lesson to be learned here, then this whole thing is extremely important.”
During the performance, two helicopters landed, each taking away a “trauma” patient whom the student observers learned later passed away before reaching the hospital. Several more students were loaded into ambulances, and four victims were pronounced dead on the scene.
Manny Guadalupe, a 19-year-old football star and a well-known, charismatic student on campus, played the part of the drunk driver responsible for the whole incident.
In the scenario, Guadalupe was eventually charged with five counts of DUI Manslaughter, four counts of DUI with serious bodily injury, and six counts of DUI with damage to personal property.
Assistant State Attorney Chris Taylor announced to the class that the sum of Guadalupe’s crimes amount to a maximum sentence of 105 years in jail.
“If the judge has pity on Manny, he will receive 30 to 35 years,” Taylor said. He added “For everyone else, life eventually goes on. But for all intents and purposes, Manny’s life is over.”
Students listened as a list of guest speakers presented the effects of a drunk driving incident that spans far and wide and includes fines, jail time, devastated families, depressed friends, physical pain, and total heartbreak.
Once students finally emerged from the experience under the impression they were headed to their next class, there was one last surprise waiting on them.
The entire senior class walked through a staged funeral complete with caskets and memorials representing the actors who passed away in the day’s scenario.
Ananda Nelson, an 18-year-old student who grew up in Vero Beach but relocated to Jensen Beach less than two years ago made an appearance to mourn her best friend Abby Barnhart.
“Everyone knows me, and everyone knows Abby and I have been attached at the hip since we were little,” Nelson said. “Students need to hear this message and take it seriously.”
Nelson said when she was asked to participate, it forced her to think of a scenario in which her best friend actually passed away.
“I started crying just thinking about it,” Nelson said.
“The goal of the mock DUI is to show the students they are not invincible,” said Dr. Linda Gaddis, sponsor of the Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) and Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) groups who put on the mock DUI. “If I’ve affected just one student, then I’ve done my job.”
After the two-hour production came to a close, all students involved removed their stage make-up, changed out of their costumes, and returned to class and life as normal.
And, if organizers get their wish, students will remember the chilling feeling of viewing their classmates’ pretend caskets, and choose to make wise decisions that will help to prevent real heartbreak.
