Melissa McGuinness says if her son was alive, he would say 'those kids didn't deserve what happened to them. In truth, I guess I did'. Photo / Facebook
Melissa McGuinness says if her son was alive, he would say 'those kids didn't deserve what happened to them. In truth, I guess I did'. Photo / Facebook
Jordan McGuinness-Hayes was drunk and high on drugs when he crashed his car, killing himself and four others.
The fatal accident happened in 2012, and to this day, his heartbroken mother Melissa McGuinness is still haunted by his actions.
She has now dedicated her life to educating teenagers about the dangers of driving under the influence, reading a powerful note to school students filled with poignant words she believes Jordan would say now if he was still alive that she shared with Yahoo News Australia.
"I would give anything that night to have just hit a tree and not left this horrendous legacy," Ms McGuinness reads out aloud in assemblies crammed full of kids.
"Those kids didn't deserve what happened to them. In truth, I guess I did.
"I screwed up and paid the ultimate price. What I did was unforgivable."
Jordan, who was 18, had been drinking and was under the influence of marijuana at the time of his death, news.com.au reports.
"It was the absolute worst kind of accident scenario," Ms McGuinness previously told Today.
Because of her son's actions, four innocent people died and a 15-month-old baby was orphaned.
Since the incident in 2012, the Gold Coast mum has begun running You Choose — Youth Road Safety, where she shares confronting warnings in a bid to help other kids learn from her own son's mistake.
One of her those messages involves sharing a "hideous" photo of her face, red raw from crying. On Facebook, she revealed recently what she says when she shows it to people.
"So, I want you to look at this hideous photo behind me," Ms McGuinness wrote.
"This is what your mother, your father, your brothers and your sisters will look like for days, weeks, months, and years to come if something happens to you."
She went on to explain these moments of sheer despair are why parents "nag" their kids.
"What I wouldn't do to hug my son just one more time. I will grieve that kid till the day I join him," she said.
"It's so true when they say grief is the price you pay for love. Kids, please don't do this to your mother."
Many have thanked Ms McGuinness for her courage and commitment in setting up the campaign to drive the message home.
"Your story, as many are, was devastating but I am so glad you share it the way you did because I truly believe you changed the ways of some people. Thank you," one young woman wrote on her campaign's Facebook page.
Jordan had been drinking and was under the influence of marijuana when his car crashed into a broken-down vehicle. Five people died, including Jordan. Photo / Facebook
On December 8, 2012, Jordan decided to drive home to the Gold Coast after a Christmas party in Brisbane
He had been drinking and was under the influence of marijuana while speeding down the M1 highway in a red Nissan Pulsar.
The car then ploughed into the back of a stationary vehicle which had broken down on the side of the highway.
The impact was so severe it caused the car to go up a guard rail before exploding in flames.
This is why the YOU CHOOSE program will keep on keeping on.
"I'm not lecturing them about right or wrong, I'm demonstrating through actual lived experience what it's like to be on the receiving end of what I was,' Ms McGuinness told Yahoo.
'The thing with … Jordan is he's relatable because he's just like any other kid there that's sitting in that auditorium … and I'm also relatable as the mum.
"(Through Jordan they're shown) this great kid that made this one stupid choice that could be any of those kids. Any of them."
