Pana High School students take part in mock DUI crash

PANA, Ill. (WAND) — On Wednesday, over a hundred students at Pana High School watched a mock DUI crash. The event was put on by injury prevention group Think First, first responders, and local medical providers.

Some students performed as actors in the mock crash, which showed a group leaving a party after prom. The driver, portrayed by Ayda Coleman, was drinking and crashed head on to a car holding a mother and her two children. In the demonstration, one of Coleman's passengers died, as well as the mother and one child.

Local law enforcement shared the consequences of an accident like this, while students watched the coroner take away two students' bodies and a helicopter airlift another.

"We want this to shake you to your core," said Daniel Bland, Chief of the Pana Police Department. "This would be at least aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol which means prison time. You've lost lives, you've affected countless people and family."

Coleman said herself and classmates were quick to get involved in the scenario after realizing it could make a big impact in the community.

"It was a very important message, not just for my classmate's but it spreads further than Pana," said Coleman. "I think a lot of people need to hear it because it's one of those things where you think, 'oh it will never happen to me', and then it does."

Tony Hofmann and his mother Tammy also spoke at the event. Tony was 19 years old when he left a party with two friends. All three had been drinking and smoking marijuana. The driver took a turn going nearly 100 miles per hour causing the car to fly six feet into the air. The driver had only minor injuries, but spent years in prison. The other passenger was killed on impact. Hofmann has suffered life long injuries and was in a coma for five months.

"I was unresponsive, brain dead in a ditch, told I could pass away at any moment," said Tony Hofmann. "I was lucky to survive. So please, save yourself and your families. Take my message with you today. If you ever have to think twice about something, then it's definitely not a good idea."