FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, March 23, 2009
Contact: Robert Preston, Jr.,
912.260.4276
robert.preston@sgc.edu
Eric Krug, ‘Deadly Decisions’ program visits SGC
April 11, 1997, was the most significant day in Eric Krug’s
life. It was his 21st birthday, the day he finally became “legal.” But
that’s not why it was so important.
That night, hours after playing in a baseball game for the Oglethorpe
University Stormy Petrels against the West Georgia Wolves, Eric made a
decision that changed his life forever. It seemed so routine, so minor. Eric
and a friend, Tim, had celebrated after the ball game. It was late and they
were heading back to campus. A friend had called a cab for Eric and Tim. But
before they hopped in the cab, a few more friends drove up and said they
would give them a ride.
Eric and Tim sat down inside the vehicle, which was being driven by Tim’s
girlfriend, who had been drinking. They were almost at their destination,
just a few hundred yards away, when the driver ran into a tree. The accident
killed Tim and left Eric critically injured.
Eric survived, but he wasn’t the same. The crash severed Eric’s right arm,
which doctors reattached, and broke his neck, fractured his skull in two
places and damaged each of the lobes of his brain. Doctors did not think he
would survive. Against the odds, he did, though his life today is
drastically different than it was then.
Tuesday, March 17, Eric and his mother, Joyce, visited South Georgia College
to share his story as a part of the college’s Alcohol Awareness Week
activities. Eric can no longer speak. However, his mother speaks for him,
relating to the audience what Eric went through in his own words. She also
discusses the accident and Eric’s ongoing road to recovery from her
perspective.
It’s a powerful and tragic, yet touching, presentation. Though Eric has no
memory of the accident, he is fully aware of his condition and how he came
to be so confined. He spent 11 months in a low level coma and battled high
fevers, pneumonia and staph infections. He “ate” through a feeding tube.
Eric remained on the brink of death for weeks after the accident.
After emerging from the coma in October 1998, his family began caring for
him. “We were his best therapists,” says Joyce of Eric’s sister and herself.
The therapy was extensive and agonizing, but Eric made progress. He had to
re-train his body and re-learn the alphabet.
Eric required constant care. His parents sold their house and built a new
home that was more accessible for their son. They had to feed and bathe him,
and he wore adult diapers. When he came out of the coma, his brain
functioned at a first grade level. Once he re-mastered the alphabet, he
could spell. These days, Eric types on a handheld computer that does the
speaking for him. He still cannot use his right arm and needs a walker. At
times, he must use a wheelchair.
Despite the extent of his injuries, Eric is remarkably cognizant of
everything around him. His body is still recovering and he hopes to one day
be able to speak again. The accident has been very hard on Eric, says Joyce.
“He’s lost himself. It’s had a horrible impact on him. He lost a best
friend, a teammate and a roommate. He lives each day with a lot of regret,”
she says. “I don’t want anyone else to go through this. This was avoidable.
It wasn’t on Eric’s radar. He just went out to celebrate.”
Through his mother, he said that he remembered being in school and attending
assemblies just like the one at SGC. “Sometimes I listened, sometimes I
didn’t,” he said through Joyce. Eric’s desire now isn’t that people feel
sorry for him; rather, it’s that they will listen to his message and avoid
making the same mistake he did. “Don’t drink, drink and drive or get into a
car with someone who has been drinking,” he said through Joyce.
Photo: Members of the South
Georgia College Tigers baseball team and head coach Scott Sims stand with
Eric Krug following the “Deadly Decisions” program Tuesday, March 17 at SGC.
Eric, a former baseball player at Oglethorpe University, was seriously
injured in a drunk driving accident on his 21st birthday in 1997. Today,
Eric can’t speak, uses a walker and has almost no use of his right arm.
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About South Georgia College
South Georgia College (www.sgc.edu)
was founded in 1906 and is a two-year institution in the University System
of Georgia. Located in Douglas, Ga., the college's environment gives
students exceptional opportunities for interdisciplinary study and close
collaboration with faculty.
