Here's the story of Deborah Anderson. A very young life snatched away. Why? Read on...
"In the mid to late 1970's while I still lived in Nevada, I met a teenage blind woman named Deborah Anderson.
Deborah lost her sight as a result of surgery to remove a brain tumor. She attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and lived in the dorms on campus.
Deborah obtained a labrador guide dog from Guide Dogs for the Blind in San Rafael, CA. After returning home, she began contacting her school about traffic problems she felt she was having with her dog guide. The school didn't send assistance and talked to her about it by phone.
Deborah regularly crossed a heavily traveled street near a free way on ramp at Sahara and Mariland Parkway. One afternoon, as she crossed, a drunken woman driver struck her and her dog at this intersection. Deborah took four hours to die with every bone in her body broken. Her dog, who was killed at the scene was cramated and placed in Deborah's casket with Deborah.
Deborah was her parents' only child.
The drunken woman got no penalty levied against her because she was friends with the sheriff at the time. Some months after the accident, the town put in a pedestrian traffic crossing button and improved the signals at that crossing."
We thank Cheree Heppe for sharing this story of a life and hope that it will serve to give all of us a deeper understanding of why our ACB pedestrian safety campaign is so important and the loss we have suffered when our brothers and sisters have been killed for daring to cross a street.
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