The Honorable Judge Jill Smith
City of Calgary
Dear Judge Smith
Your Honor, I would like to thank you for giving me this opportunity to tell what I have been going through, because now I do not feel as helpless towards this incident as I had in the hospital and in the court so far. I hope that my statement will be valid, and useful towards the conclusion of this case.
During my recuperation in the hospital, I was unable to pay rent for my apartment, which has resulted in losing my home. I have been making phone calls to the landlord and to certain companies dealing with this sort of discrimination. This has not helped me, because all of the agencies that I have contacted have simply stated that I have been not paying my rent and that they could not do anything to help me, or plainly refused. I have not been able to work, and that has made me have to work two jobs instead of just one for the money to pay for food and the rent of my new and much smaller apartment. I have not been able to work out because of the damage done to my leg; every time I try it is extremely painful. This, according to doctors, will take a long time to get back to normal.
This has emotionally impacted me, because I had to drop out of a skiing competition that, if I had placed in, would have gone onto Junior International Skiing Challenge, A competition that could make a person’s career. Also I haven’t been able to drive, and getting someone else to drive me is extremely annoying, to me and the people trying helping me. I have also had to get the courage to go back onto the slopes when I am fully recovered. This may be a great challenge, not only within myself, but my parents won’t be convinced easily either.
I think that this statement should be taken into serious consideration along with the decision of the jury. I personally think that this person should be charged with community service, and reimburse me for the money I’ve lost. Maybe he could teach in classes of daredevil teenagers who might very well do the same thing. I think that this is a suitable charge. Once again I would like to thank you for this opportunity and thank you for hearing me. I am sure that this will be resolved in the right way even if it is not my way.
Sincerely:
Katie
The honorable Judge Marshall Green
City Of Calgary
Dear Judge Marshall Green,
Thank you for giving me this opportunity to present my thoughts on what should be done today in this court.
What I am going to tell you today is how the incident at the ski hill has affected me. I also want to tell you about all things I can’t do now but could do before, these things will be all the burdens I have to go through, because of my injuries. Things I also want to talk about today are the feelings that I have had since the incident at the ski hill, I want to talk about this because it is important to express how people feel after incidents such as mine. At the end of my statement I will put in my say on what I think the verdict should be done to the skier who damage not just my physical appearance but my personal and emotional appearance also.
As I said before I will tell you about the burden that this broken leg has given me. Before the incident I used to play hockey and basketball with my friends, but now I can’t do that anymore. This cast affects my physical ability to do a lot of things, most of which are a daily habit to me. Skiing used to be my one of my favorite sports, but now I will not be able to ski for a couple years. Because my job is not a very high paying job, I do not have enough money, even with my health care to cover all the things that are necessities to my rehabilitation in my leg. I will also be missing a lot of days off of work, so that will not help cover the expenses. Five days before the incident I bought a seasons pass to Sunshine, but now since I have a broken leg and because they do not give refunds, it was just have waste of money. These are the biggest burdens of my new life with a broken leg.
The
City of Calgary
Dear Judge John Smith,
I thank you for the opportunity to present my statement to you.
I came here today to present you my victim impact statement. My impact statement talks about the effect on my life, the effect on my family and my financial problems.
On January 1, 2003 I was driving home with a friend from a New Year’s Eve party at 1:00am. As we were going through the intersection of 16th-avenue and Centre street northeast, a speeding drunk driver hit us on the passenger side of our car. It killed my friend instantly and left me with a permanent neck and back problems and internal pains, permanent scars on my entire face and broken legs. Currently I can’t go to work as a professional super model and make any income to support my family. This accident has caused very inconvenient problems on my daily life. Before the accident, my family and I were always out on the golf courses and playing our favorite game of badminton, and now there is no one in the family that is able to drive them around from place to place.
I had to stay in the hospital for 4 months and still have to go to the hospital frequently for Physiotherapy. I have spent many hours just to call and write reports to the police, various lawyers and insurance agencies. If I am not able to receive any money for my injuries to pay off my mortgages and medical bills it will have a long-term effect on my credits.
This accident has caused my family and I very emotional, and has put lots of stress on the entire family because I am not able to help around the household. Having a permanent scar on my face, I don’t think I will be able to work as a professional super model again, I am afraid to go out to public places. This has changed my entire personality because I always like to be on the cover page of a magazine and in front of cameras.
At last, I would like to say my last thoughts of this emotional experience. I have lost my best friend because of a drunk driver’s reckless actions. I hope you will take this crime very seriously and consider my request because this crime has made me handicapped and emotional. I would like to see this person behind bars for a long period of time. I don’t want this person to be driving again and hurting other innocent people. This society shouldn’t tolerate this kind of crime because there are a lot of these situations happening all over the world. Drunk driving is illegal and we do not need this kind of action in our society.
Thanks you for patience and for your attention.
Darren
The Honorable Judge Joseph Thompson
City of Calgary
Dear Judge Thompson:
Thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak on my own behalf to the court. I would also like to thank you for giving me your time so I can share my half of this story.
This incident has been very hard on me, physically as well as emotionally. The effects of just what seems a minor ski accident can be more than you can take. Things such as the pain and the financial headaches are just a small section of what I am going through right now. It seems as though ever since those 10 short seconds on the ski hill have made my life almost 10 times more difficult. This irresponsible skier hit me, dead on, knocking me out. The hit gave me severe whiplash and a broken leg. This statement contains all the things that have changed ever since that moment on the ski hill.
Ever since this accident almost half of my time everyday goes to trying to fix what has been done. Some times, I feel like my efforts are going to waste. Every time I think I am almost done sorting it all out, some credit card company or the government or my lawyer calls, explaining that there is a bill I have not paid, or some sort of papers I didn’t sign. Obviously, this would make you unhappy and extremely frustrated. These days, I don’t have the will power to do things I used to love. For example, skiing. I just threw my bent and broken skis, in the back of the garage, because I am scared of the memories they will bring. Often, just dealing with all this pressure was worse then the never ending aching and pain. On the really bad days, it just doesn’t feel like it was worth it.
This section in my life is much different than any other chapter. It’s not everyday that I used to wake up immediately with a mind numbing headache and the feeling that I would do anything to not have to get up and live through the day. Some times, the pain in my leg and in my neck is consistently sharp, and I feel that I can’t do much more than just breathe and blink as I wait for it to go away. And when the pain comes, everything that is part of my live changes. I needed help to just get up one flight of stairs to get to work everyday. Then that led me to not being able to keep up with the on going duties of my job. This eventually led to me being fired. When your injured and unemployed, with so many bills to pay, you feel like you have hit rock bottom. I more and more depended on people who usually depended on me. Everyday, I found myself calling a close friend or a loved one just for emotional support. I found that when people would come to visit me, I hardly had the energy to carry on a conversation with them. I even had to miss a cabin weekend with some of my best friends. I have not missed this trip in 10 years. I continued to miss the things that I looked forward to. When I did this I wasn’t living my life the way I should.
At this time, I feel that the guilty party should be punished to the full extent. I feel that this incident could have easily taken my life, it was just pure luck that it didn’t. I don’t want this happening to someone else because others weren’t being responsible. Because of the inconvenience in my life, I would like this person to pay all of my health costs, as well as a fund to pay my rent because of my loss of job. I will support any other punishment that will help this person learn a valuable lesson. I believe that you will support me in this request because this person did indeed take a lot away from me, and from everyone who is close to me. I would like the sentence to teach that one little careless event can affect people for their whole lifetime.
Thank for your time and understanding.
Jacki
Dear Honorable Judge Bob Schmiel
City of Calgary
Thank you for the opportunity to present my statement. In the next few minutes I will tell you about how this accident has affected me mentally and physically and I will also suggest possible sentencing for the accused.
This incident occurred December 30th 2002 while I was skiing at Nakiska. While I was on a run called North Axe, John Doe came flying down the hill clearly out of control. He hit me before I realized what was happening. Because of this accident I have had to endure everything from a week in the hospital to relying on friends for transport.
I have had to rely on friends for groceries because of my limited mobility. Until a week ago I had to wear a neck brace of sorts causing me much discomfort. Money has also been a problem; I have had to take a leave of absence from my job and no have no income to cover for therapy and medical bills. I get some medical coverage from my job but not enough to cover even half of my bills. This has also affected much more than just me. My friend’s wedding was two days after the accident and I was to be his best man. This meant that he had to quickly find a substitute, which caused him unneeded stress. I had also planned A holiday to Mexico and because of my broken leg I had to cancel and lose my deposit. This may be a lot but it is only one aspect of the impact of the accident.
This has also been hard on me and my family emotionally and mentally. Ever since this careless accident my family has been worried if I would make it through this financially and if I would ever be the same. In fact I probably never will be the same, I can no longer go skiing and feel as comfortable as I used to be and now one of my favorite leisure activities is a lot less enjoyable. Mentally I feel that I am more vulnerable and I have become somewhat paranoid the possibility of this incident repeating itself bothers me quite a bit.
Now I would like to request to the court the terms of sentencing. First of all I would like to have the defendant pay for at least ninety percent of all bills that are a result of this incident. Secondly I feel the defendant should go through training that would teach him how to act intelligently while he is using his ski equipment and until that the defendant has passed that training I feel his skiing privileges should be withheld. Thank you for your time.
Signed:
David
Your Honorable Judge Gail Judy
City of Calgary
Dear Judge Gail Judy,
Thank you for taking the time to hear my statement, I hope that it will help you to better understand the offence committed by my perpetrator. I respect whatever sentence you feel necessary for the accused.
On January 31st 2002 it began as an exciting winter day. My family and I were going to Sunshine Village for a day of skiing. When we got to the hill my family split up, I went with my brothers and my sister went with my parents. My brothers and I decided to take the intermediate course first. We were having a great time when all of a sudden a daredevil skier took a turn too sharply and slammed into my body. My legs crumpled beneath me and my head swung into a direction that was not healthy. I was soon overcome by a darkness that filled me. When I came to I was in a hospital room, my family was crowded around my bed and it was the first time that I saw my father cry.
It was later explained to me that I had a broken leg, a severed tendon in my leg (which left me partially paralyzed) and severe whiplash. My life changed dramatically after this accident. I had to talk to many lawyers that would represent me and I had to explain in exact detail what happened. My friends weren’t the same either. They acted different towards me because I was handicapped. Everyone at school, even the teachers, treated me like an outcast. I couldn’t try out for extra curriculum activities or do any sports. I also found it harder to fall asleep. I lay awake for hours some nights wondering where I would be or what I would be doing if the accident hadn’t occurred that day. I am afraid now to go skiing or even toboggan. The snow hills just frighten me. I have been lucky and strong enough to go on without any psychiatric help.
I feel that Hank Garth (the perpetrator) should seek forgiveness through a program called the Circle of Justice. It is a great program that helps him and myself to overcome what happened and move on in life. If Hank would rather go before you, the Judge, for a different sentence then I would like to suggest community service. Public speaking, perhaps something involving telling students from schools about how careful you must be when skiing, snowboarding or sledding. I would like to suggest that he could also be banned from all downhill skiing and snowboarding. Whatever you decide will hopefully help him to understand the wrong that he did me.
In closing, I would like to thank you for the opportunity to present my case to you. I hope that what you have heard here today will be taken into consideration of the kind of punishment Hank Garth receives.
I was an innocent victim who must now travel a different path due to someone else’s inattention and carelessness. My life is now burdened with a cane that I feel was not meant to be held by me this early in life, never the less I will still live my life as normally as my limitations allow me.
Thank you all.
Sincerely,
Markus Story
