Jason Burgess, 28, speaks with ninth-graders at Malow Junior High School on Dec. 21. Burgess lost both of his legs below the knees after a drunken driving accident in March 2006. He now speaks to students and others throughout the Detroit area about the dangers of drinking and driving. Source photo by Chris Williams

The Oakland Township resident was tired and had to work the next day. His friends, however, were celebrating and Burgess agreed to tag along if they would pay for his drinks.

The drinks may have been free, but Burgess paid dearly that evening. Driving home from the bar, intoxicated, he lost control of his Chevy truck on the icy road and collided with several trees. No one else was hurt in the accident, but Burgess was in a coma for several weeks, recovering from severe burns and injuries. When he woke up, he found that doctors had amputated both of his legs below the knees.

Almost two years later, Burgess, 28, speaks to students and others throughout the metro Detroit area about the decision that nearly cost him his life. On Dec. 21, Burgess visited with ninth-graders at Malow Junior High School to talk about that fateful evening.

“I talk with people about what I did that put me into this situation,” Burgess said. “It was a bad habit. And bad habits lead to bad decisions and that equals bad consequences.”

Burgess said he began drinking at the age of 15. Although he said it initially started as a social activity, he quickly became obsessed with drinking, so much that he gave up on school and turned to manual labor, working long hours doing difficult work.

“It started out as a weekend thing, just for fun. It didn’t interfere with school. But then, school wasn’t as fun as drinking and I made a choice. And that choice was not school,” Burgess said. “I figured I’d work until I’d die and I just didn’t secure anything for my future.”

Burgess was 26 when he drove down Adams Road on March 2, 2006. He was intoxicated and had to leave the bar early to get to work the next day. He figured the bar was close enough to his home that a drive home would not be any problem. It was shortly afterward that he lost control of the vehicle and ended up in burning truck, overturned along the road with his feet pinned under the floorboards.

“I don’t really member much of the accident. I guess the best way I can describe it is that it’s like a CD, DVD or movie that you’ve never seen before, but then it starts to skip,” he said. “What I do remember is the truck hitting something and then my face smashing against the windshield. When I came to, the truck was on the driver’s side and my feet were stuck under the floorboard.”

Burgess’s prized Chevy truck was on fire and he could not get out of the truck. Burgess said he remembers hearing a passerby walk alongside the vehicle and run away to get help while he lay trapped in the burning vehicle. Somehow, Burgess struggled enough to get free of the wreck and pull himself to safety.

“I was like, ŒThis sucks. I’m going to burn to death on the side of the road,’” he said. “And then my feet just snapped free. To this day, I have no idea how I got out of that truck.”

Paramedics came to the scene and put out the fire that smoldered along Burgess’s body. They transported him to a nearby hospital, where he was kept mostly unconscious for several weeks. Burgess said doctors were ready to amputate his legs when he arrived at the hospital, but his family protested. On March 20, 2006, however, the doctors said there was no other way; Burgess would have to lose his legs.

“I was pretty unconscious most of the six weeks I lay there. They kept me unconscious because they didn’t want me to wake up too early,” he said. “It was kind of like the movie ŒJacob’s Ladder.’ I was lying around a lot and I didn’t know if I was alive or dead.”

Burgess said he was unable to move after he woke up. Physical therapists had to teach him how to hold a pencil again because he hadn’t used his arms in several weeks. He lay in bed, unable to communicate, getting frustrated with people checking in on his progress.

“I stared at the wall for three weeks pretty much. I couldn’t talk to anyone. My hands didn’t work because I hadn’t used them in six weeks,” he said. “I kind of got to the point where I didn’t want to write. I just wanted them to go. I was like, ŒJust go. If you want to see tricks, go to Sea World.’”

Burgess said he soon decided to change his attitude about the situation and approach the changes in life with a positive attitude. He learned how to walk on prosthetic legs and left the hospital several weeks after the accident. He was charged with a third felony drunken driving charge, having received two others as a teenager, although the judge did not sentence him to any jail time, saying Burgess “had been punished enough.”

Burgess said he realizes he is lucky no one else was hurt or killed in the accident. Still, he said the consequences are around him every day. He walks on prosthetic limbs. He has no driver’s license. He had to declare bankruptcy due to the crushing debt of medical bills. He still is rehabilitating and unable to go back to work because after a few minutes of walking he needs to sit down and catch his breath.

“My family members had to go through this with me. They have to drive me everywhere now,” he said. “I never asked anybody for anything, now I’m stuck asking others for everything.”

Burgess, a father of two young girls, said he is even reminded of the consequences of his decision in normal playtime.

“They’ll be running through the room with me and they’ll say, ŒDad, you’re slow,’” he said. “I can’t keep up with them.”

Burgess began talking with schools shortly after his accident, often speaking to 300 or more at a time. As word of his situation circulated, he was approached by police officers who asked him to speak to driving classes and even recently talked with students at the Detroit Medical Center about prosthetic limbs. Burgess, who allows students to ask questions at each lecture, said it is his goal to help children and teenagers turn out differently than him.

“I chose to do this. I do this because someone out there could be wanting to make the decisions I made,” he said. “I guess I can’t make someone decide anything. But maybe they’ll hear this and think different, and they won’t make the mistake I made.”