BENTONVILLE -- Tammy and Lynn Hahn have different jobs, but they have the same goal. They don't want people under the influence of alcohol or drugs behind the wheel of a vehicle.
Tammy Hahn, Northwest Arkansas coordinator of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, uses education and awareness in her crusade against drunken driving. Lynn, her husband, oversaw the Benton County Sheriff's Office DWI task force for seven years until his recent promotion to captain. The Hahns have been married for 15 years and live in Rogers.
At A Glance (w/logo)
Fatalities
One drunken-driving fatality occurred every 51 minutes in 2012 and 10,322 people were killed in alcohol impaired driving crashes in 2012.
Source: Mother’s Against Drunk Driving
Their shared drive comes from an April 21, 1993, car collision that left Tammy Hahn seriously injured.
Tammy Hahn's story brings silence to a room when she shares it. She tells the story each month when she leads a victim impact class for people who have been arrested for driving while intoxicated and other alcohol-related offenses.
She was 20 years old that day in 1993. She and a friend were coming from a picnic. The vehicle they were in was hit head-on by a drunken driver.
She remembers waking up in the hospital in severe pain. The left side of her face was bandaged. She had to wait a day before doctors would let her see her face.
"The doctor came over and sat on my bed and proceeded to take the bandages off my face," she said. "When he did, slowly one by one all my family and friends had to leave the room. You see they wanted to be there for me, but it was too much. They didn't want to see me cry."
One eyelid was torn off and she had a laceration down her face and nose. Screws were put in her forehead.
"At that point I thought for sure my life was over," she said.
She endured multiple plastic surgeries to rebuild her face.
"When I looked at the vehicle after the crash I could see a perfect impression of my face in the windshield," Tammy Hahn said. "There were clumps of my hair still in the glass. There were clumps of my skin still in the glass."
The driver in the other vehicle received one year in jail.
"I got life," she said. "Every morning when I wake up and look in the mirror, brush my teeth and fix my hair the first thing I see -- the scars on my face."
Hahn said she no longer hates the drunken driver who was responsible for her injuries.
"Every time I share my story my heart heals a little bit," she said.
Pamela Sell, program manager for MADD Arkansas, said the Hahns are dedicated in their efforts to prevent drunken driving.
"I have witnessed the immediate after-effect of (Tammy Hahn's) story on participants, as well as received countless emails and phone messages regarding the emotional impact her story has had on them," Sell said. "Tammy puts a face on the over 300,000 people injured in drunk driving related crashes every year."
Hahn wants to help save lives by sharing her story, and Lynn Hahn helped save lives by getting drunken drivers off the roads, Sell said.
Lynn Hahn was responsible for 96 DWI arrests in 2013. His team made 788 arrests last year. He was awarded MADD's Outstanding DWI Service for his work.
"I am proud to have them on the MADD Arkansas team," Sell said of the Hahns.
Lynn Hahn said his wife's story is a reason why he led the DWI task force, but there's another reason, too.
"I've seen tragedies because of alcohol," he said. "I've had to go to homes with tragic news to tell families because of alcohol crashes."
Tammy Hahn hopes her work to prevent alcohol-related crashes reaches all the people she speaks to.
"Take a good look at my face," Hahn tells people in her class. "The next time you are drinking, hopefully my face pops in your mind and you will know what to do."
NW News on 07/19/2014