{"id":14507,"date":"2019-03-07T00:20:13","date_gmt":"2019-03-07T00:20:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/madd.org\/?p=14507"},"modified":"2022-06-13T08:56:46","modified_gmt":"2022-06-13T08:56:46","slug":"voices-of-victims-cole-kilgore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madd.org\/voices-of-victims-cole-kilgore\/","title":{"rendered":"Voices Of Victims: Cole Kilgore"},"content":{"rendered":"

When one of my family members calls someone a \u201cCole,\u201d it means something special.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It\u2019s family shorthand for calling someone Compassionate, Obedient to God, Loving and Enthusiastic toward life \u2013 all such core personality traits of my handsome son Cole, who was killed while riding with a drinking driver.<\/p>\n

Cole Hansen Kilgore was my little stinker, my only child. He was charismatic, fun-loving and always kept me on my toes. He had a sense of humor that charmed everyone around him. He was a city boy who lived in the country, so he knew how to both skateboard and skeet shoot. He was compassionate, and always tried to take care of me, even when it wasn\u2019t his responsibility. Most importantly, he was the only person who called me \u201cMomma.\u201d<\/p>\n

People gravitated towards Cole. He simply pulled people into his stratosphere, and you felt lucky to be there with him.<\/p>\n

Cole wasn\u2019t a perfect child. He was perfect to me, but Cole had his struggles with underage drinking and drugs. When I found out, I talked to him and moved him to a new city to be around new friends; we worked together to turn his life around. I remember speaking with him about the dangers of alcohol when he was 12 or 13 years old. I wish I had spoken to him sooner, but I never imagined alcohol would be on his radar at such an early age.<\/p>\n

When Cole turned 19, I could tell that he was really trying to turn his life around. He was looking to start college classes and worked with a construction company in the summer.\u00a0 He never wanted me to worry; he repeatedly told me, \u201cMomma, everything is okay. I\u2019m okay.\u201d<\/p>\n

On June 4, 2011, Cole was still living at home, and he shouted out that he was going down the road to visit his friend and would be right back. I told him I loved him, and he yelled it back before driving two miles down the road. Just two miles\u2026<\/p>\n

Cole went down to a friend\u2019s house where a group of older guys were sitting outside drinking. Even though Cole was sober, he made the choice to get into a truck with a man who had been drinking. Intoxicated, the driver recklessly drove more than 100 miles per hour before careening into a guardrail, hitting the gas tank on the driver\u2019s side. The truck went up in flames, engulfing the driver and Cole. The driver died at the scene, but my Cole managed to pull himself out of the vehicle.<\/p>\n

When I arrived at the hospital I saw my handsome boy with burns covering 95 percent of his body. Cole looked at me and said, \u201cI\u2019m sorry; it was stupid.\u201d He knew that he had broken my heart. \u201cMomma, I\u2019m a burnt chicken,\u201d he joked in typical Cole fashion, trying to make me laugh. His nickname in high school was \u2018Chicken Legs.\u2019 My sweet boy was in pain, and was put in a medically induced coma. After being life-flighted to a larger hospital, I said I love you to Cole for the last time.<\/p>\n

\"\"

In my mind, I kept thinking the doctors would save him, that somehow this great miracle would occur, and I could just switch places with him.<\/p>\n

But my baby boy with the bluest eyes imaginable took his last breath. We stood by his side, still praying for that miracle that never arrived.<\/p>\n

Before Cole passed away, I never thought about joining a group like MADD. That\u2019s exactly what MADD is \u2013 a family you never knew you needed \u2013 until you suddenly need them desperately.<\/p>\n

Today, I try to share my story to prevent this from happening to others.<\/p>\n

This spring, I\u2019m partnering with MADD in honor of Cole. Spring is MADD\u2019s PowerTalk 21<\/a> season, a critical time for parents to begin ongoing conversations with their children about the dangers of alcohol, and the dangers of riding with a drinking driver. Parents, please use MADD\u2019s Power of Parents tools and have these lifesaving conversations with your children. Download the free materials at madd.org\/powertalk21.<\/a> <\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When one of my family members calls someone a \u201cCole,\u201d it means something special. It\u2019s family shorthand for calling someone Compassionate, Obedient to God, Loving and Enthusiastic toward life \u2013… Continue reading Voices Of Victims: Cole Kilgore<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":14589,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[176,51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cat-drunk-driving","category-victim-stories","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nVoices Of Victims: Cole Kilgore - MADD<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/madd.org\/voices-of-victims-cole-kilgore\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Voices Of Victims: Cole Kilgore - MADD\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When one of my family members calls someone a \u201cCole,\u201d it means something special. 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