Hundreds of high school students in Valley Center learned about the dangers of driving under the influence.
But they didn’t just hear from first responders- they heard the first hand experience from one of their fellow students.
“I didn't really believe it until I came home,” said Kiera Latulippe.
Telling her story for the first time.
“My life is a living breathing example of someone else’s destruction,” said Kiera.
Kiera Latulippe lost her mother, father, and brother in 2017 while visiting Texas, when a drunk driver drove into oncoming traffic.
“I got out in the middle of like, the freeway and I was just screaming,” said Kiera.
Her uncle, California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Latulippe, remembers flying out and having to break the news.
As well as become her guardian.
“Because of somebody else’s bad choice, her whole life is changed,” said Mark Latulippe.
Seven years later, her family is still captured in photos.
“I feel kind of whole when I see pictures of all of us together,” said Kiera as she showed photos from her family album.
And captured in her words.
Kiera spoke at every 15 minutes- a program in high schools used to warn against driving under the influence.
Her fellow students listened to her message and remembered when it happened.
“It's definitely a heavy subject but I think it was important and a good way to get the message across,” said Gaby Khasho, a Valley Center student.
“It does like, hit closer to home and seeing Kiera lose her family because I remember being in elementary school and seeing her like the next week coming back,” said Zenya Stolec, another student.
Kiera’s goal? To touch the hearts of her peers, and potentially save a life.
