Abrielle Neff Foundation: Strength

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Strength

Today I ask for prayers ~ prayers for strength as I attempt another first in this journey. Today I will be speaking at the docudrama for area wide high school sophmores. This is where a mock accident is recreated, showing the effects of driving while impaired by alcohol or drugs. This will be my first time telling our story in public. I have spoken many times at many different places about the Foundation, but this will be different. This will be about how a driver with alcohol in his system tore our family apart and changed our lives forever (and no, this is not a bash the other driver speech. His name will not be mentioned in my speech until I say the fact of him being sentenced and that is it. It is my side of the story, from my vantage point and I did not know who they other driver was until later). My goal for the speech is simple ~ make an impact on just one life. Yes, I hope to touch more than just one, but one is a great place to start and I will build from there. I want our story to make the students there think before they climb into that vehicle, whether they are the driver or the passenger. So, prayers for strength today please.

6 comments:

UnknownSeptember 22, 2009 at 6:46 AM
we will be there today to show our support, I already said a prayer for you sweety~!!
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AnonymousSeptember 22, 2009 at 8:00 AM
You can do it! You are strong enough to do anything you set your heart and mind to. love ya Beth
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AnonymousSeptember 22, 2009 at 8:09 AM
Thinking of you today!
Bel Daniels
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AnonymousSeptember 22, 2009 at 8:14 AM
Lots of prayers for you today and always. Amber
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AnonymousSeptember 22, 2009 at 11:23 AM
Lord, We ask that you will bind Brenda with strength today as she confronts another challenge in her never ending struggle. We pray Lord that you let her words echo in each one of these ears every time they are confronted with this choice to make and that her tears will make a reflection for these people to see, reminding them that they too can make the safer stronger decision to choose life, both theirs and everyone elses. We know God that you and Abby are watching over her and the rest of the family, carrying her thru this and every day forth to come. We Thank You Lord for the small blessings You give us everyday that keep us going, knowing they are gifts from you. In Your Name, Jesus, we pray this..Amen
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AnonymousSeptember 22, 2009 at 11:05 PM
Hi, My name is Janet Scheffe. I am the secretary for St. Gregory's School. My son was at that today. You really touched him. He just turned 16 last week and got his driver's license. He had a bunch of balloons he had brought home from walking at Relay for Life. He was cleaning his room tonight and said he was going to let them go outside and when he did, he said this is for Abby. God Bless all of you.
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Our Story...

Abrielle came into this world in a hurry to get started, which gave us our first glimpse at her personality. Not waiting on Dr Jane to put on gloves, only a towel to catch her with, she weighed in at six pounds fifteen ounces. From the beginning Abby had reflux, but there seemed to more than just that as she failed to gain weight. At four months we were sent to draw all kinds of labs, hoping for a solution, but all was normal. By six months of age, the vomiting became worse, almost nightly. We were keeping records of every calorie she ate, every dirty diaper, and every time she vomited. By this time Abby was refusing to eat supper most nights and would throw up her undigested lunch after bathtime at 8:00. Her food was just sitting in her tummy all day. Dr Watson sent us to Omaha Childrens Hospital to Dr Zapata a pediatric gastroenterologist to help diagnois the problem. There, over the next year and a half of her life, Abby underwent testing, treatments, and outpatient procedures. During every procedure she was given a stuffed animal to hold for comfort, even though she had Blankie with her.
To make a long story short, after the accident we discovered St Francis Hospital did not have a program like this for kids and Abby's Hugs was born.

That Tragic Day...

Thursday, March 29, 2007, began like any other school day in our household with the only exception being that it was Abby's sharing day at preschool. We had a rule that if the sharing item was not picked out the night before (which it usually wasn't), Abby had to be ready for school before she could find something to take. This morning was just like most ... nothing was picked out the night before. She hurried faster than usual that way she would have time to find something. After brushing her teeth, she ran to her room to find some clothes. I always tried to give Abby choices, but she was down to her last clean pair of capris. I gave her the option of wearing those, a pair of Gymboree Fruit Punch capris with a bright yellow shirt or jeans and a purple kitty shirt. She decided on the capri outfit which she had actually rejected every other day that week. After getting dressed, she went into Sissy's room and was playing with her LeapPad when I found her. I asked her how she wanted her hair fixed and she said "little pony". (Not that she was going to leave it in anyway) I helped her onto the sink and she dug through her basket of hair things until she found a yellow one. We went into the living room so I could sit down to brush her hair. Since sitting on my lap was now impossible, Abby stood in front of me as I pulled her hair up with the little yellow hair tie. She ran to her room and began looking for something to bring for sharing. She came out with her Little People's Noah's Ark set stuffed full of extra toys. Being a mean Mommy, I said, You can only bring one toy. Aww, was the response as she took the ark back to her room to look for something else. I went on about my routine of making my lunch and everything else to be ready to leave for work. Mady and I headed out to the Expedition and Abby was not following behind. I went back inside to find her and Marc on their way from her room with her big "bobbycat" (bobcat skidloader) for sharing. They had been looking for the scoop that attaches to the front but ran out of time. They decided that just the bobbycat would work. Marc helped buckle Abby in her car seat. Because she was so small we still used the 5-point harness and not just the seatbelt so she required some help. As we left the house, Marc pulled out ahead of the girls and I onto the gravel road. Just around the first set of curves past our house, I slowed down so we could watch the turkeys fly across the road. I am not sure if Abby saw them or not, but she said she did. We continued on, oblivious to our fate that lie ahead.

last added to 10/29 ...this I will add to as I am able ...thanks for understanding.

The Sentence

On June 25, 2008, Ryan C Sundermann was sentenced to 6 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections on charges of involuntary manslaughter. Sundermann wrecklessly caused the death of Abrielle Neff in a motor vehicle collision on March 29, 2007. Sundermann was charged with failing to maintain proper control of his vehicle, failure to drive on the right half of the roadway and operated a motor vehicle after consuming alcohol.
Sundermann was previously convicted of Driving While Intoxicated and Failure to Drive on the Right Half of the Roadway on April 25, 2006 and sentenced to 2 years probation, 12 days in jail, and a $300 fine. On December 19, 2006, Sundermann was again convicted of Excessive Blood Alcohol Content-Prior Offender which he received a Suspended Execution of Sentence of 180 days, was continued on 2 years probation and received a fine.