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Bench in Lagasse Park remembers MADD advocate

A bench with a nearby plaque now sits on the west side of Lagasse Park, facing Upper Therien Lake, in honour impaired driving victims. The bench is in memory of Louise Twerdy, a former member of the St.
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Louise Twerdy has been recognized with a bench in memory of the work she did with MADD.

A bench with a nearby plaque now sits on the west side of Lagasse Park, facing Upper Therien Lake, in honour impaired driving victims.

The bench is in memory of Louise Twerdy, a former member of the St. Paul chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). Twerdy lost her son, Michael Knox in 1999 when a drunk driver collided with the vehicle Knox was in, on Highway 29. Knox was driving his friends home from a party near St. Brides as the designated driver.

"The impaired driver was coming from St. Paul and crossed over the line and hit him. I believe his BAC (blood alcohol concentration) was over three. It was just horrifying that it happened to someone at such a young age," Dianne Belanger, Twerdy's sister and community leader for St. Paul's MADD branch said.

The impaired driver also died in the crash.

After her son's death, Twerdy opened the MADD St. Paul chapter in 2000, and became the national president of MADD Canada just a year later. She held that position for the next three years.

"She was extremely motivated, and a very compassionate person who always wanted to make sure other people were okay. So when (the crash) happened, she learned about how many other people this happened to, she just felt it was so wrong and she didn't want anybody else going through the pain that she suffered," Belanger said while describing her sister.

In 2007, Twerdy lost her battle with breast cancer.

Belanger explained the difficulty of trying to understand why impaired driving still happens.

"An impaired driving death is a different kind of death, because it's not an accident. Accidents you can kind of comprehend. This is someone's actions  that caused this to happen. Their choice caused that to happen."

She added, "And it wasn't done quickly, they had to sit there and drink quite a few drinks before they still decide to drive. They had lots of opportunities to rethink what their options are and to come up with better options than driving home impaired."

Belanger said the bench is an opportunity for victims' families to sit and reflect on the loss of a loved one, in a peaceful setting overlooking the water.

Also speaking at the ceremony was Raymond Ayotte, who lost both of his parents when he was just six years old to a drunk driver in 1972.

"It was as if a nuclear bomb had dropped on our family. It made three kids orphans, and my kids will never meet their grandparents," he said during his remarks.

Representing the St. Paul RCMP detachment was Cst. Stephen Cunningham. Cunningham was awarded the Cpl. Cummings Watch Award silver coin this past spring, and received a certificate of recognition for charging between 15 and 24 impaired drivers during a calendar year.

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