{"id":397,"date":"2021-11-19T11:17:37","date_gmt":"2021-11-19T11:17:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.madd.org\/maryland\/?p=397"},"modified":"2022-05-25T08:59:07","modified_gmt":"2022-05-25T08:59:07","slug":"volunteer-highlight-november-2021-patty-arnold-halbleib","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madd.org\/maryland\/volunteer-highlight-november-2021-patty-arnold-halbleib\/","title":{"rendered":"Volunteer Highlight November 2021 \u2013 Patty Arnold-Halbleib"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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On December 7, 2017, our lives changed forever.\u00a0 We had been planning our Christmas celebration and festivities knowing that we would be with family and friends enjoying warm smiles, stories of past gatherings and looking forward to a holiday full of love and laughter.\u00a0 That all changed in the blink of an eye. At approximately 2:40 AM, we were awakened by a phone call from a friend of our daughter Taylor.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

Sounding frantic, she disclosed that Taylor had been involved in a horrible crash. As we arrived at the accident location, it was clear that a serious crash had occurred.\u00a0 We were desperately trying to find Taylor and ask questions to anyone who would listen.\u00a0 It was clear, in the demeanor of law enforcement and emergency personnel and in their eyes, that they didn\u2019t want to give us the news.\u00a0 After arriving at the hospital and waiting for what seemed like an eternity, we were told that our little girl was gone.\u00a0 They had tried everything they could, but her injuries were just too catastrophic.<\/p>\n\n

Later, we learned that Taylor had been working at her job at the liquor store.\u00a0 Two firefighters decided to stop at the store for beer on their way home after they had been drinking heavily at another bar earlier that evening. While closing the store, the men had waited outside in the parking lot for her to leave.\u00a0 They began to subject Taylor to taunts and unwanted flirtation which scared Taylor and caused her to flee the parking lot and head home. While at a red light behind another vehicle, Taylor was hit from behind by these men in a pickup truck at almost 70 mph, causing her vehicle to strike the vehicle in front of her. This killed Taylor instantly.<\/p>\n\n

The impact of losing Taylor at 21 years old has been so painful.\u00a0 I could try to describe the ugliness and emptiness but would never be able to adequately describe this awful pain.\u00a0 Only someone who has lost a child would understand.\u00a0 What once was a family who loved Christmas, is now a family that can\u2019t wait for Christmas to end.\u00a0 We miss our Taylor, we miss her smile, her kindness, gentleness, her love of animals.\u00a0 We miss her warmth, and the way she cared for people who were less fortunate.<\/p>\n\n

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  1. What is your proudest achievement as a MADD volunteer?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n

    Speaking at the victim impact panel and telling Taylor\u2019s Story.\u00a0 Each time I feel like I\u2019m savings someone\u2019s child from a drunk driver.\u00a0 When drunk drivers approach me after the class and tell me how they will never drink and drive again after hearing Taylor\u2019s story.\u00a0 I leave the meeting feeling that if one person learns not to drink and drive that maybe I have saved someone else\u2019s Taylor<\/p>\n\n