Parents, law enforcement share stories of those lost to drunk drivers at 2024 Walk Like MADD North Texas
IRVING – Hundreds of people laced up their sneakers Saturday to raise awareness and money to reduce drunk driving and fight drugged driving.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving hosted the 2024 Walk Like MADD North Texas. The event was personal and painful for several speakers.
Danette Goad remembers her 22-year-old daughter Ally having the kind of magnetism that lit up a room.
"Ally was a spitfire in a tiny body," Goad said.
What Ally lacked in height, she made up for with her huge personality. She also posted a video on social media her mom believes was a premonition.
"Have you ever wanted a future you can't have?" Ally said in the video.
"She was the kind of girl who people gravitated to," Goad said. "She was the one that had friends across the nation that we had no idea about until her celebration of life."
September 11, 2021, is a day seared into Goad's memory.
"If someone didn't drink and drive, Ally would be alive," Goad said.
A drunk driver hit Ally's car head-on in East Texas.
"The effects are lasting. They don't go away, and we'll carry them until the day that we die," Goad said.
Goad shared her story and painful loss at the walk.
"We want to get that message out there, to educate that there are options out there and to plan ahead, but also to provide those services for our victim families to help them get through this tragedy that has happened," MADD Texas state program manager Emma Dugas said.
Fort Worth Police Chief Neil Noakes also opened up at the event about how drunk driving affected his department.
"The pain never stops. It never really goes away," Noakes said. "Sergeant Billy Randolph was taken from us on August 12, but there are four other officers we've lost throughout the years with the Fort Worth Police Department because someone chose to drive drunk."
Noakes has a message for anyone who's thinking about driving while impaired.
"Don't risk it. Don't take the chance," Noakes said. "Think about what you're going to do. Make a plan before you ever even leave the house. Have someone pick you up. Schedule that. Have a designated driver go with you or use a rideshare service. There is no excuse for driving drunk."
That message came too late for the driver who killed Ally. Her mom started the nonprofit organization Ally Rocks 405 in her memory.
People place a rock with Ally's story in a bag and then leave it in a location for someone to find. The rocks have ended up in 38 countries.
"Artists are creating their own works of art and hiding it in Ally's name to tell the dangers of drinking and driving," Goad said.
Goad hopes the colorful rocks can bring awareness of what it's like to live in darkness without her daughter.
"Ally deserved to be here. Ally deserved her life. We all deserved that life with her, so don't drink and drive," Goad said.
CBS News Texas reporter Caroline Vandergriff served as the walk's emcee.
A recent study by Forbes ranked Texas as third in the country where someone is most likely to die due to a drunk driver.