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The Oakville Beaver, W e d n e sd a y D e c e m b e r 11, 2002 - C3 Emergency personnel tell students Latest in bridal fashion featured at upcoming show true stories of lives lost by risks Wedding retailers on hand to make your day special By Paula Henriques OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF To know what a car accident feels like, run as fast as you can straight into a wall, then multiply that pain by three. Halton Regional Police Const. Gary Gold made this analogy to St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School students who toured O akville-Trafalgar Memorial Hospital as part o f the Halton Healthcare Services' Community and Hospital Against Trauma (CHAT) pro gram. The aim of the program is make young people aware of injury causing situations, while emphasizing the link between the consequences o f risk relat ed behaviours and the choices avail able to prevent injury. The students heard from hospital staff, injury survivors and emergency services personnel. "If you are not belted in, you are going to hit something at that same speed at a very short distance. Your chest will hit the steering wheel and your knees into the dashboard," Gold said. He told the 24 students that each one of them could make smart deci sions. "D on't ju st stand there and let things happen. Help out your friends when they are about to make a bad judgement. Realize that you have a role and can make an impact on your friends." He revealed that the number of young people using drugs and driving is going up, because they are under the impression that it's safer than drinking. "Just because you are more relaxed doesn't mean you're more alert. You are still using the same reflexes and the same judgm ent is impaired as when you've been drinking." Paramedic Heather Quinn said after 10 years of her job, she still sees acci dents that leave her in shock and in horror. "Sometimes what I see is beyond what you can believe. These kids had a really stupid moment and man do you pay for it later." She told the sad tale of a young man who got into a car accident on the night of his bachelor party after driving home with a friend. Their evening ended with their car wrapped around a tree. Both had been drinking and decided to take a deserted rural road to get home, thinking that was safer and the soon-to-be married young man later succumbed to his injuries. Quinn said she cried an entire night afterwards. "I kept imagining what that young woman must have been thinking that evening, not even knowing that her future husband was almost dead. Her only thoughts were probably, `I hope there were no strippers at the party,' or dreaming about the upcoming wed ding. "You guys are so young. You have your whole lives ahead of you." Dan Millar, a private plane crash survivor, who now suffers from perma nent brain damage, encouraged the stu dents to not be a part of the crowd, and to make smarter choices on their own. "Right now you all have tremen dous opportunities and to make more of yourselves. You all have wonderful lives ahead of you. Take all your bless ings and put them to good use." Another accident survivor, Michael McGauley, told the crowd to not take anything for granted. "You guys are young. You can walk, go to the bathroom by yourselves. You take it for granted, but it's a gift. It can be taken away like that," said McGauley with a snap of his fingers. "But that doesn't mean that life has to be serious. It just means that things happen." McGauley, who underwent 23 oper ations after a drunk driver rammed into him, never thought he would walk again, but 13 years after the accident he completed his first triathlon. To save his leg, surgeon removed 14-inch es of muscle three-inches wide from his chest and transferred it into his leg by attaching it to his artery in his thigh and stitching it to his calf to bring the blood flow down. He said he wasn't going to be afraid of doing anything again, and urged stu dents to think about all the small deci sions in life. "It's those decisions you make everyday like passing the guy on the highway because he's pissing you off. These are small decisions that can have huge ramifications. Act responsibly." Plan the perfect wedding with the help of the National Bridal Show Jan. 3-5 at the National Trade Centre, Exhibition Place, in Toronto. Produced by Prem ier Consumer Shows, more than 250 of the area's top wedding retailers will be on hand -- wedding planners, flower designers, photographers, limousine services, accessories, catering, gifts, registry, music -- all under one roof. The area's top bridal fashion houses will be featuring their latest styles, including some unique period gowns. Brides will also have a chance to view the latest in bridal couture from some of Canada's top designers like Justina McCaffrey, Ling Dell and Carol Beckford. The fashion show, one of the most popular features at the National Bridal Show, is presented five times during the course of the three-day show. This season's show features per formances by pop diva Amy Sky and visitors will have the opportunity to win an appearance at their wedding by Sky, who will sing romantic songs from her latest album, With This Kiss. One lucky couple could win their dream honeymoon to the beautiful M oorea Pearl Resort in the South Pacific, a tropical paradise of turquoise waters and white sand beaches. The Bay Bridal Shower will also shower one lucky winner with a prize package worth more than $2,000 in gifts from the Bay Gift Registry. Brides-to-be will have the opportuni ty to view the spring collection of gowns at the upcom ing National Bridal Show. "We have the most spectacular show ever," says Marti Milks, show producer. "We've always had brides tell us how much they appreciate our show. This season we literally have it all." The National Bridal Show runs from Jan. 3,5-10 p.m.; Jan. 4 ,1 0 a.m.-9 p.m.; and Jan. 5, from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Fashion show times are 7:30 p.m. on Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday, and 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Sunday. Admission costs $12. T to ?* A ? T ..> ! " / h 1 1* * 3 8 ' i " a fiL jY * · T farM stuff essential to your life. prices essential to your wallet. H u o c ie s < bupnm e H UG G IES G 0 0 D N IT E S , P U LL -U P S TR A IN IN G PANTS, SU P R E M E or ULTRATRIM JU M B O DIAPERS S e lected Types & Sizes $ 11 77 each TU R TLES BOXED CHOCOLATE 4 0 0 g S e lected Types RUFFLES CHIPS 255g - 270g S e lected Types 2/$000 or 2 .4 9 each each L im it 4 . A fter L im it 1 3 .9 9 . W h ile Q ua ntitie s Last. No R ain C he cks % v i jfff PANTENE H AIR CARE PRODUCTS S e le cted Types & Sizes % pi* UEJ pr $099 w 'each L im it 4. A fter L im it 4 .9 9 COTTONELLE BATHROOM T IS S U E 12 Roll PEPSI REGULAR or D IE T S e lected Pepsi Flavours (1 2 x 3 5 5 m L ) or LIFE BR AND L im it 4. A fter L im it 4 .9 9 SPR IN G WATER (1 2 x 5 0 0 m L ) 2 /$ 4 9 9 or 3 .4 9 each O ffers valid from D ecem ber 10 to D ecem ber 13, 2 0 0 2 . W h ile su p p lie s last. Give the p e r f e c t gi ft. Give t he S h o p p e r s Drug Mart® Gift Card. Build up your Shoppers Optimum Bonus Points'as you Power Shop through our store. Receive 500* or 1,000 Shoppers Optimum Bonus Points with every purchase of selected top selling items such as: week S h o p p e rs O p tim u m B o n u s P o in ts ppinq ,< c ^ ' i a "> Any Revion Colour Cosmetics Any Tide Laundry Detergent Any Duracell Batteric Colgate Simply Whi and hundreds more in-store. in e ffe c t fro m S a tu rd a y , D e c e m b e r 7 u n t il