The film contains frank descriptions of a fatal crash. Watch with care.
Irondequoit · 18 · East Ridge High School senior · Wegmans employee · “Alex” to his family, until he chose Henry, “because Henry’s a strong name”
20 · Henry’s friend and Wegmans coworker · Killed instantly in the same crash
“My son Henry was one of the best friends I ever had.”
Memorial Day weekend, 2007. Henry Sr. and Migdalia were visiting family in Atlantic City; their son Henry, 18, stayed home because he had to work. On Saturday night, May 27, he went to the Rio Theater in Henrietta with his girlfriend Ashley and their coworker Pedro Hernandez. On the way home, a driver going the wrong way on Route 590 in Brighton hit their car head-on. Pedro was killed instantly. Henry died at Strong Hospital. Ashley survived with serious injuries.
The driver had been on a three-day cocaine binge, had prior offenses, and was driving on a suspended license. He was convicted of manslaughter and served eight years. “We’re sentenced for life,” Henry Sr. says.
Henry Sr. has spoken to students across Monroe County for nearly two decades. In the film he tells about a young man who stopped him at a car wash in Webster: he had heard Henry speak at MCC ten years earlier, and had been sober ever since. The Riveras now have a grandson through their son Joshua, and they babysit him every day.
I miss my son's hugs and kiss every morning and every night. Henry was my life.
He was sentenced and he did 8 years. We're sentenced for life.
If I can get one person to do the right thing, it's all worth it. Absolutely.
Told by Peter Navratil. A son remembers his mother, Geri Navratil, and her companion Jim Finegan, killed at a red light on East Avenue in 2002.
Told by Sue Merritt. A mother tells the story of her son Ryan, who drove drunk on a spring-break night in 2001 and never came home.
Told by Henry Sr. & Migdalia Rivera. Parents remember their son Henry Alexander Rivera and his friend Pedro Hernandez, killed by a wrong-way driver on 590 in 2007.
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Rochester-area families who lost someone to impaired driving, working so no other family has to.
In honor of all those we have lost to impaired driving, and the families who carry them forward.
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