Mother warns of the consequences of drinking and driving

2022-05-28 14:02:44 By : Ms. Linda Zh

Get the best experience and stay connected to your community with our Spectrum News app. Learn More

Get hyperlocal forecasts, radar and weather alerts.

Please enter a valid zipcode.

CABARRUS COUNTY, N.C. — For Cabarrus County mom Sherry McCall, a little chaos is just a part of everyday life.

“It’s never quiet, they even talk in their sleep,” McCall said. “Like they really do. It’s never quiet here. I think the baby will be used to it because he’s heard it all through this pregnancy, so hoping he will sleep through all of this chaos.”

McCall and her husband are expecting baby No. 5 in September.​

What You Need To Know

It's been three years since Sherry McCall's daughter Noel was killed

Noel and her grandmother left for the store, and moments later their car was hit, and Noel was killed on impact

The driver of the other vehicle was drunk and has been sentenced to up to six years in prison for the accident

Mixed in with all the excitement comes a bit of sadness as Memorial Day approaches, knowing Bennett’s oldest sister, Noel, will never get to meet him.

“Every time when there’s a holiday, especially in the summer, I get nervous about being out on the road,” McCall said. “Because it's still so rampant like, there's still so many, like you hear every day, another person killed by a drunk driver.”

May 25 marked three years since McCall’s oldest daughter Noel, who was 5, hopped in the car with her grandmother to go to the store. Moments later, McCall says they were hit at 2:20 in the afternoon.

“Her door was hit pretty much head on,” McCall said. “She was T-boned and was killed on impact. She didn't feel anything. They said that as soon as the car hit, she was just like asleep.”

McCall says the driver who caused the accident had a .13 blood alcohol level when they arrived at the hospital.

“To me she drove a weapon of mass destruction down the road like it was a lethal weapon,” McCall said. “She turned her vehicle into a lethal weapon. And she killed my child.”

Since the accident, McCall says their family has been forever changed.

But just this month, McCall says she felt a bit of relief. The driver in the accident pleaded guilty to death by vehicle and was sentenced to up to six years in prison. 

“We’re hoping she stays the whole six years, but either way it has felt like a weight has been lifted off of us,” McCall said. “It just felt different. Obviously, we’re still grieving and missing her, but it’s not this added stress and knowing that the person who did it and caused all of this is finally in prison after three years. That’s a completely different feeling.”

It's helped the family to move on, as they keep Noel’s memory alive. 

“Her name was Noel Ann McCall, And she mattered. And she should still be here, and she would be here if it weren't for one person's decision that day to get behind the wheel after drinking,” McCall said.

She wants to remind everyone what is at stake when they get behind the wheel after a drink.

“Have a plan because a drunk driver makes that choice sober,” McCall said. “You go somewhere knowing that you're going to drink. You have no other way home. You are making the sober choice to drink and drive and possibly take someone's life and blow a family's world to pieces.”