A 28-year old Kingsland, Texas native has a lot to be thankful for on Thanksgiving Day and beyond.
“It could be worse. I'm grateful to be here. I'm thankful to be here,” said Brandon Willard from his hospital bed at Brackenridge Hospital Thursday afternoon.
Willard was left a paraplegic at the hands of two different drunk drivers on two separate occasions.
The first was in January 2000 when he was a passenger in a truck that a friend drove off of a bridge plunging 65 feet at 110 miles per hour.
“I just knew I was going to die," he said. "I knew I was dying. I was so cold. I felt death, I just felt it."
It was another brush with death for Willard in March of 2006. Willard and a friend were heading home from dinner to watch movies when his vehicle t-boned a truck with three people all of whom died. Willard says all three of the young victims had a blood alcohol content which was either double or triple the legal limit.
“It's our choices that we really need to look down deep inside before we act upon them because we're selfish and we let our selfishness get in the way and then when we affect someone else's life,” added Willard.
Brandon is a motivational speaker and wants to eventually buy a tour bus so he can travel the country talking to young people about the potential dangers of drinking and driving.
