Former cheerleader shares message

When Kelly Craig went on a vacation to Colorado with her family and boyfriend the summer after her freshman year at IU, she never would have guessed that two years later she would be telling hundreds of other students about it. \nWhile there, she was in a car with her brother and former IU basketball star Luke Recker, whom she was dating at the time. Their car was hit by a drunken driver. The driver of their car was killed, and Craig was paralyzed. Her brother suffered brain damage. \nCraig, a former IU cheerleader spoke to a large crowd and then answered questions from students.\nSeveral campus organizations, including the Chi Omega sorority, of which Craig was a member as a freshman, brought her to campus for the speech.\n"Some people call what happened to me an accident. It wasn't an accident," Craig said. "It didn't just happen. When you drink and drive, you're looking for trouble."\nCraig told the story of her tragedy and urged students to appreciate life and health, and above all, not to drink and drive.\n"I'm not going to tell you that drinking and driving is bad over and over again, because we know that it's bad," she said. "We see these stories about drinking and driving and we say, 'That's too bad,' and then a week goes by and we forget about it. \n"I'm asking you guys to be the bigger person. Drinking and driving is a very selfish act."\nCraig said the most important part of her message is that students continue to remember it after the speech was done. She said she hopes it had some continuing effect. \n"I hope you think of this for the next two weeks, over Little 5, in 10 years, in 20 years," Craig said.\nJunior Joey Beck, Craig's Chi Omega pledge sister, helped work to organize Craig's visit. \nShe echoed Craig's hope that the accident's close connection to IU will bring a greater awareness to students here. She also said she was pleased with the opportunity for students to meet her good friend. \n"To see her up there really showed people who she was," Beck said.\nSophomore Sidni Feldman was among those who attended the speech. Feldman said seeing Craig in a wheelchair made her realize her lucky she was.\n"It made me really appreciate that I have my full health and physical ability," she said.\nCraig said she sees the other side of the picture.\n"I envy all of you, and I wish I could be in your shoes," Craig said. "Do things because you can. Don't take what you have for granted"