Georgia mother shares story of losing sons to drunk driver

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - As you start finalizing New Year’s Eve plans, authorities are reminding you not to get behind the wheel when you’ve been drinking.

While it sounds obvious, the U.S. Department of Transportation State Highway Report for Georgia shows the number of traffic deaths is up.

We talked to a Georgia mother who lost her two sons in a crash with a drunk driver. She shares how she turned pain into positivity.

“We were leaving from the Grand Canyon. We were 45 minutes out singing, laughing, talking. All of a sudden,” said Tamecha Buck.

On Aug. 2, 2021, Buck became a member of a club no mother wants to be part of.

“Everything was just flashed when I realized that it was an actual vehicle coming in the direction of us,” she said.

When she opened her eyes, her motherly instincts went into overdrive.

“I looked in the backseat my youngest son was not there, and I looked at my oldest son, and he was gasping for air,” she said.

Her oldest son Jarvarius was 19. He was a black belt in Taekwondo, a baseball and football player, and a sophomore at Clarke Atlanta University. Her second son, 8-year-old Chase, played baseball and football and wanted to be just like his big brother. Both were pronounced dead on the scene.

“I put into place that I have to raise men to be respectful and that was taken away from me because of a drunk driver. I still had years to raise my boys,” she said.

It’s a call the South Carolina Safety Patrol finds themselves responding to three times a day.

Cpl. David Jones, South Caroline Highway Patrol said: “On average, three people a day lose their life in South Carolina. Three families every day are getting the dreaded knock. If you could wear this uniform, and ride with us for one day, I could promise you you’d wear your seatbelt, you’d slow down. You would never drink and drive. You would beg your loved ones to do the right thing.”

She says if telling her story will save someone else’s life...

“I will tell this story till I can tell it no more,” said Buck.

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