PROM – Please Return on Monday

By Robin Marlow

High School Prom is right around the corner. First responders from all over Sunflower County – including a number of us from the North Sunflower Medical Center family – joined forces to help the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol and the Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services get the word out about their safety initiative, PROM (Please Return on Monday).

At an event with Ruleville High School and North Sunflower Academy students at North Sunflower Medical Center, members of the Highway Patrol, Ruleville Police Department, and the Ruleville Fire Department provided a dramatic reenactment of what happens when they all too frequently respond to a deadly crash involving drugs and alcohol.

A video of the event can be found by clicking HERE.

An Inspirational Story

The event included an inspirational story by Dwight Owens. He survived being struck by a drunk driver when he was 23. Owens challenged students to know better understand their own self-worth. “I want you to understand how important you are. Know your value. Because when you understand that, peer pressure can’t get to you.”

Owens was struck by a drunk driver on his way to school by a drunk driver clocked driving 120 miles per hour. At first, doctors thought Owens was dead. But he went on to become an inspirational speaker, and an advocate fighting against the use of drugs and alcohol. “I’m a victim of someone else’s negligence, Owens said. “I’m in this chair because someone else chooses to drive drunk. I want you to be better than that.”

PROM Initiative

In 2018, Mississippi led the nation in traffic deaths, with 175 DUI related deaths and almost 7,000 DUI arrests. PROM is part of a statewide partnership between the Mississippi Highway Patrol and the Mississippi Department of Rehabilitative Services. It urges students to make good choices, including buckling up, no texting while driving and not drinking and driving.

“While Prom Night is one of the most significant nights for a high school student, it is significant for the parents as well,” said Colonel Chris Gillard, Director of the Mississippi Highway Patrol.  “The parents stay up all night after the photos, after their child leaves, to see that they return home in the same condition he or she left. Our goal is to help ensure that the child makes it back to the parent.”