Faith

Could You Forgive the Drunk Driver Who Killed Your Wife and Children? This Is a Must-See Interview

Could You Forgive the Drunk Driver Who Killed Your Wife and Children? Watch the Must See Interview on The Glenn Beck Program

There are few stories that could ever invoke the gamut of emotions — pain, sadness and hope — that Chris and Cameron’s does. Chris is an IBM regional sales manager who lives with his second wife, his son, and two step children. Five years ago, when Cameron was seventeen years-old, he killed Chris’ first wife and two children in a drunk driving accident.

Somehow, the two still managed to come together in friendship and on Wednesday’s Glenn Beck Program, appeared to discuss that fateful day, Cameron’s 30-month prison sentence, regrets, forgiveness, hope and the future.

The segment is powerful and well worth watching in its entirety. Be sure to tune in below and click here for more on these two extraordinary individuals on the Blaze Contributor’s section.

 

 

Comments (60)

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  • garbagecanlogic
    Posted on August 16, 2012 at 1:34pm

    God is going to have to forgive ME, because I would not forgive someone who is old enough to know not to drink and what the consequences might be if he does. Jail time and plenty of rehab would barely ease the pain. Not all drunk drivers come anywhere near what this person is – or might become.

    Praise Be To Obama. Psalm 109:8

    The U.S. Out Of The U.N.
    The U.N. Out Of The U.S.

    Report Post »  
    • tootsie roll
      Posted on August 16, 2012 at 3:35pm

      Please read Matthew 6:15. It is for your soul’s sake that you do. ALSO you will be surprised how lighter your heart is once you forgive.

      Report Post »  
  • jeffile
    Posted on August 16, 2012 at 12:42pm

    Forgiveness is for the benefit of the offended person not the offender. You can forgive a person and they can either accept or reject your forgiveness. When you meet your creator you will be judged according to your own faults not the faults of others. He will face judgement for his sins and you will be judged for yours. In this case, the carrying of hatred. Sure, you will whine that it was the fault of someone else but in the end you will understand you sinned. Vengeance is mine saeth the Lord. One is not justified doing evil because someone else did evil to him.

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  • Disabledvet
    Posted on August 16, 2012 at 9:34am

    GOD forgives I don’t, I would live to make sure the drunk driver was not put in jail, because what I would do to that person would be far worse than what a jail would do to them, long slow painful death.

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    • Ed_Kel
      Posted on August 16, 2012 at 12:02pm

      You’re just an angry old man, aren’t ya? You obviously missed the entire point of this article..

      Report Post »  
    • jeffile
      Posted on August 16, 2012 at 12:47pm

      If you don’t have the capability to forgive then both you and your offender will be judged accordingly. Yes, God forgives but God also punishes. If the offender receives the death penalty but sincerely pleads to God for forgiveness then he will be forgiven. On the other hand, if forgiveness is not in your heart then, when you face your maker, you will have a jaw dropping revelation. And you better pray that, as you stated, God forgives.

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  • FREEDOMoverFEAR
    Posted on August 16, 2012 at 3:37am

    What kind of sick ***** looks over at his dead family and thinks “well they’re dead time to move on?”

    Report Post » FREEDOMoverFEAR  
    • brknhrt
      Posted on August 16, 2012 at 8:09am

      Someone who killed a family when he was a teen. Both of these people killed a family when they were teens.

      Report Post » brknhrt  
    • Le Sellers
      Posted on August 16, 2012 at 10:45am

      Anyone who cannot get over a trauma like this is sentencing himself to a life of pain, one void of meaning and without value.

      Forgiveness is not for the guilty party, it’s for the injured. God gives us commandment for our benefit, not for those around us. they benefit, to be sure, and there is no doubt that God uses one person to help another when the helper obeys His commandments. But the one who benefits the most is the obedient one.

      We know that forgiving someone who has harmed us is hard — it’s counter-intuitive. But the payoff is beyond measure.

      My Christian faith teaches “of [us], it is required to forgive all men”.

      Mr. O’bama, where are the Jobs?

      Report Post » Le Sellers  
    • SLEAZYHIPPOs ILLEGITIMATE OFFSPRING
      Posted on August 16, 2012 at 1:19pm

      Foriveness is the act of releasing from responsibility and consequences one who has acknowledged their wrongdoing and submitted themselves in humility to the offended. The purpose is for reconcilliation and restoration of the relationship. Both the offender and the offended are the benefactors of the process. Essentialy it is the person that understands the profound nature of what evil they have been freely forgiven by God that extends it to those who wrong them. Hence, the spiritual man gives witness to his sincere understanding by his actions and proves that he is accepted by God. To err is human, to forgive truly divine. Thank you….

      Report Post » SLEAZYHIPPOs ILLEGITIMATE OFFSPRING  
    • AnAmericanToo
      Posted on August 16, 2012 at 10:37pm

      EVERYONE has a right to deal with their grief and loss as best they can. If you listened to the interview and watch Chris — he was clearly not mentioning that he still grieved the loss of his family. But, you cannot bring them back to life — you have to accept what is before you.

      Report Post »  
  • MyzPhoenyx
    Posted on August 16, 2012 at 2:46am

    Forgiveness is not for those that have hurt you. It is so that hatred doesn’t destroy you from the inside. Though forgiveness does have a wonderful side effect of helping them as well. Cameron didn‘t strike me as some cold blooded person that didn’t care that he’d caused that kind of damage to a family. If anything, he seemed humbled and amazed that anyone could ever forgive him for his stupidity that night. Hate is displayed so often and being the first, guttural response to being wronged, doesn’t make it the right response. I suffered through years of trying to figure out why I was supposed to forgive the people that hurt me so badly in life. Why should I forgive them, they wouldn’t even admit to doing wrong? Then one night, in the depths of my despair, I felt that voice. “They don’t need your forgiveness.. you do.” Hate is the soul killer. It also damages the mind and body. Its ok to be angry. Its ok to be sad. Hatred is never right. If you cannot show forgiveness to those that have wronged you, you and the ones that you love are the only ones that feel that strain. Take time to grieve and scream and throw things. “Love those that hate you, and pray for those that spitefully use you…”. Its easy to show love and compassion to those that are good to you. It takes a lot more spine, courage and love to show that same love and compassion to someone that has wronged you.

    Report Post » MyzPhoenyx  
  • THX-1138
    Posted on August 16, 2012 at 12:42am

    Chris gets it. Glenn gets it.

    I truly wish the rest of you could.

    Compassion is the key to Enlightenment. For my Christian brothers and sisters I believe the phrase is “God is Love.” There is no hate there. That is why it is so powerful.

    Forgivness the only rational response. To forgive oneself may be the only thing harder than to forgive another.

    We are all Human Beings.
    We are all Flawed.
    We are all Deserving.

    Report Post » THX-1138  
  • Lillith66
    Posted on August 16, 2012 at 12:09am

    Absolutely not!

    Report Post »  
  • GoodStuff
    Posted on August 15, 2012 at 10:15pm

    Drunk drivers who kill someone should get the death penatly. A 30-month jail sentence? What a joke?

    Report Post »  
    • mtsnj
      Posted on August 15, 2012 at 10:59pm

      exactly, that’s when you pull the eye for an eye card out.

      Report Post »  
    • objectivetruth
      Posted on August 16, 2012 at 10:06am

      I get it a drunk driver is worse to you than someone who tortures and leaves their target living to enjoy the damn ectasy of continuing the crime.Hey at least the individual is dead and doesn’t have to suffer any more.More than I can say for the tortured target.What would you do this criminal give them wine and roses.?

      Report Post »  
  • Sonicfd3
    Posted on August 15, 2012 at 10:02pm

    Death…..an eye for an eye. Let his parents experience the same pain he feels eveyday for the rest of his life. If that was my wife and kids dead I would probably go insane and all the blabbering Glenn does about love aint gonna help.

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    • Kenszen
      Posted on August 16, 2012 at 3:12am

      I wish you could see what they see, feel what they feel, and know what they know.

      Report Post »  
    • objectivetruth
      Posted on August 16, 2012 at 10:14am

      @kens
      I wish I could still feel that.What has happened to me has allowed me to forgive those I thought I never would.Unfortunately those who have done this to me weren’t the ones to be forgiven.My hatred for these bastards is sheer utter and complete.SInce they continue to do so forgiveness isn’t even on the table nor will it ever be.I could gut them with my bare hands till death dig them up and do it again throughout eternity.They truly do deserve that as punishmentOh who am I kidding they deserve the death penalty.

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    • AnAmericanToo
      Posted on August 16, 2012 at 10:50pm

      Ahhhh — and then your life too will have been wasted and consumed by unending grief and hatred. Not good…..

      My family was in a crash caused by a DWI offender who was out for the 15th time or there abouts. He had just left his fiance‘s home when he slammed into my parents’ car. (Imagine the standards of that young lady to be engaged to a drunk who couldn’t even stand up at her home.) The rotten drunk slobbered out “Oh God, I am so sorry”….right he was sorry. If he were sorry he would have stopped drinking. I don’t know whatever happened to the drunk. My mother was in agony for months with broken ribs and internal injuries. Life moves forward you cannot let the past consume you –

      For me — I am often an invited speaker at court ordered DWI School for those convicted of drunk driving. I try to tell my story in such a way as to wake up even one drunk from their selfish ways to help prevent others from becoming injured or dying from a drunk on the roadways. My biggest audience must have had 150 persons who had been tagged for DWI…that was so disturbing. A few came up afterwards and told me that “they would mend their ways’. I can only hope they did.

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  • GrandpaOf4
    Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:59pm

    God please bless both these men. I don‘t know what I would do in Chris’s shoes. I aspire to do what he has done but I’m not sure that I could. For sure what Chris has done has calmed his heart and done more good for him than any attitude of revenge could ever do. Still I don’t know if I could do it. I thank God for both of these men. Just an incredible story.
    I don‘t mean to mininize Cameron’s issue here. If I was 17 and just killed another man‘s family I’m sure that would be an enormous burden. It would for me. Whatever. Again God be with both of them.
    Incredible story.

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  • Commander8080
    Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:49pm

    Yes!

    Report Post » Commander8080  
  • SikTwistedFreek
    Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:19pm

    Matthew 6:14-15

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  • Wolfgang the Gray
    Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:19pm

    Sorry Glenn, I am a passionate person and my wife of 30-years is the most important person in my life (not counting Jesus). I am a sinner like the rest of mankind and my passions would throw me into such a rage that I would probably kill the drunk driver on the spot. Jail time would mean nothing to me because whether behind bars or not, I would spend the rest of my life in a prison of despair. I think I would forgive the guy (or girl) once they were six-feet under, but allow them to walk around after just 30-months in jail after taking the life of my better half, I don’t think I could bear that.

    I pray daily that nobody ever hurt my wife for that reason. As for someone that commits this crime, I have no sympathy for them. They know the risks, the statistics, and they do it anyway? For me, that is not different than them putting a gun to someone’s head.

    Report Post » Wolfgang the Gray  
    • Realitychek
      Posted on August 16, 2012 at 1:31am

      Totally agree. I can’t even stand watching this video because this drunk driver deserves nothing but the same pain he put this man through. Or did he? Because quite frankly I can’t believe it was true love because just like you Wolfgang I would do everything in my power to make sure that the drunk that kills my family is six feet under. But unlike you I would never forgive him, even if he is dead.
      Quit making excuses for selfish and irresponsible people and bring out the death penalties for bastards like this guy.

      Report Post »  
    • katsman24
      Posted on August 16, 2012 at 2:06pm

      Forgiveness is not merited and nor is grace. That is why this story is SO great. You see how God looks at us and forgives us for what we have done. Forgiveness is NOT human nature and is not something that we do naturally.
      I would have a hard time forgiving someone if they did this to my family. I know I am commanded to do it but it would be hard.

      Report Post »  
  • PAUL_THE_APOSTLE
    Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:18pm

    Ephesians 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. Scripture clearly shows that we are to forgive others, just as Jesus Christ has (past tense) already forgiven us. THAT is why he went to Calvary, to redeem us ( buy us back) from the condemnation we ARE under because of sin, from when we were conceived. Psalms 51:5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.) Forgiveness is not expected, nor conditional for salvation, but God would desire that from us.

    Report Post »  
    • Elena2010
      Posted on August 15, 2012 at 10:13pm

      Jesus prayed: “…Forgive us our sins/debts/trespasses AS WE FORGIVE others.”

      Forgiving is one of the keys to Heaven’s gate. When we hold the sins of others, that sin keeps us fm God’s kindness.

      Forgiveness is letting go; it’s not necessarily forgetting. The state is supposed to hold the guilty accountable, not necessarily the person he/she sinned against.

      Report Post » Elena2010  
    • GoodStuff
      Posted on August 15, 2012 at 10:20pm

      @Elena

      “Forgiving is one of the keys to Heaven’s gate.”

      Nonsense. The shed blood of Christ is the ONLY key to Heaven’s gate. Adding good works to our salvation is UnBiblical and an insult to Christ on the Cross. Yes, you must repent of sins, one of which is unforgiveness, but Christ and Christ alone saves…not our actions. And good works come after salvation.

      Report Post »  
    • marvel
      Posted on August 16, 2012 at 10:53am

      @GoodStuff

      Then you are ignoring what the Bible actually says.

      Report Post » marvel  
  • Chet Hempstead
    Posted on August 15, 2012 at 8:55pm

    It depends on who my wife was and how the kids turned out.

    Report Post »  
    • objectivetruth
      Posted on August 16, 2012 at 10:17am

      Thanks that might be one of the more truthful responses I’ve seen on this.

      Report Post »  
  • zman173rd
    Posted on August 15, 2012 at 8:49pm

    Nope. That‘s God’s job. We live the reality of life. “You rob me of my life savings, rape my wife, kill my son, sell my daughter, burn my house down…C’mon, at what point would a person say “no more”? It’s all relative. You may have a pain threshold higher than mine but at least I won’t be a hypocrite when I shoot the bastard after his first run in with me. He won’t get a chance the second time. “turn the other cheek” is what got us here. I believe there might be levels of forgiveness, but this ain’t one of them. I didn’t listen to the story but the article indicated 30 months in jail? That’s good enough? What if he got off with time served and was let go because he showed huge amounts of remorse? Would the man be so driven to forgive then? So 30 months is his measured pound of flesh? I can’t see it.

    Report Post » zman173rd  
    • Commander8080
      Posted on August 15, 2012 at 10:01pm

      And by not doing this act of forgiveness; you open the door to sins like hate, revenge, greed, and more and sooner or sin will consume you. Gone will be the gentle person, replace by evil. The good news? Even an evil person can receive forgiveness for their sins; until their last breath.

      Then…. it too late.

      Report Post » Commander8080  
    • AnAmericanToo
      Posted on August 16, 2012 at 11:06pm

      You fail to understand Chris‘ views if you don’t listen to the interview. Chris himself was in a automobile accident when he was 16 and killed two small children who had darted out into the street. The parents forgave him.

      Chris was asked by the court for what he wanted the punishment of the drunk driver to be but said he couldn’t make that decision, that is what a judge is for. It does appear that the drunk driver is no longer drinking — and he did state that he speaks out against drinking and driving and says some high schoolers have said they won’t drink and drive any more. Maybe the good coming from this is one more person out there trying to make self drunks to stop drinking and driving.

      The amazing thing besides Chris’ forgiving the drunk driver is that the offender was willing to go on a national /international program (Glenn Beck) and not deny his deadly actions. He did own up to his bad actions and his being smashed drunk and caused the action — and that says a lot. He will have to live with his foolish actions in high school that cost the lives of other people for the rest of his life.

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  • InformedbyBlaze
    Posted on August 15, 2012 at 8:45pm

    There is a lot behind this story about the effects of forgiveness spreading – like paying something forward. Hundreds or thousands of people who know of Chris or Cameron have thought about forgiveness. Cameron’s father helped me obtain forgiveness for mistakes, I forgave someone who harmed my family, that person forgave another. There are others, I have such a hard time forgiving. I don‘t know that I can forgive someone who hasn’t asked for it … is that required by Christ?

    Report Post »  
  • team1blazer
    Posted on August 15, 2012 at 8:45pm

    God will bless both of these men. Grace rules! Jesus told us to pray “…forgive us our tresspasses AS we forgive those who have tresspassed against us….” Forgiveness is the key to our salvation and restoration with our Heavenly Father. Bless these men who have learned to forgive (and be forgiven). We could all learn from them.

    Report Post » team1blazer  
  • FlagWavingPatriot
    Posted on August 15, 2012 at 8:31pm

    No, I could not.

    Drunk driving is perhaps my biggest pet peeve. Drunk drivers should be judged and executed right on the side of the road.

    There’s no reason for anyone to get into a car drunk and risk the lives of MY family (and yours) because they’re either too stupid, lazy or selfish to find another way home. The penalties for drunk driving in this nation are WAY too light.

    Report Post »  
    • objectivetruth
      Posted on August 16, 2012 at 10:02am

      Has anyone in your family been killed by a drunk driver?Most of the extreme responses to dui are from that camp.What you need to understand is that not all drunk drivers are equal in weight when it comes to responsibility.There is a difference between someone who chooses to drink and drive from the get go rather than getting stuck in a predicament.Furthermore there actualy ability to drive when sober is also a factor.Also a factor is where they may be driving.Someone who drives in heavy urban traffic while drunk displays much more culpability than say someone in a rural setting in the late night hours.

      Report Post »  
    • AnAmericanToo
      Posted on August 16, 2012 at 11:19pm

      OBJECTIVETRUTH — really? have you lived in rural community with drunks on the road? I don’t care if the drunk driver is in down town Seattle, LA, Chicago, or some rural farm community or the hill country of Texas or Kentucky. THERE IS NEVER, EVER any justification to be driving DRUNK…ever. No, not a ‘one time exception’ not a ‘gosh, I over boozed this one time and need to drive home”. Nope! The rules of the roads in the USA is that you do not drive drunk, nor with drugs on board.

      Yep! I have had family members involved in a nasty DWI crash. I have also helped surviving victims of such crashes deal with the aftermath in the years since then.

      NO exceptions to the rule of “YOU DO NOT DRIVE DRUNK”.

      Would you make such an exception for your surgeon? “Ooops! I just over boozed this one time at a party but its okay for me to zip on over to the operating room and to that surgery.” I don’t think anyone find that acceptable. Nor do I think anyone would find it acceptable if an airline pilot should up impaired but he had the ‘red eye’ flight and not too many planes will be flying at that time.

      Report Post »  
    • objectivetruth
      Posted on August 17, 2012 at 9:22am

      @american
      You are attempting to debate on an unfounded rationale.The occupations you listed require sobriety as a condition on employment.All absences of on call duty must be prearranged

      Report Post »  
  • MeteoricLimbo
    Posted on August 15, 2012 at 8:11pm

    Having lost a child myself I can understand the importance of forgiveness just for the sake of ones self preservation. That does not mean forget however.

    Report Post » MeteoricLimbo  
  • davidg
    Posted on August 15, 2012 at 8:08pm

    This is another, possibly even more amazing story of forgiveness after a drunk driver kills a man’s family. Here’s a link to the youtube vidoe:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7zwQ_7q-fU

    Report Post »  
    • OptimistPatriot
      Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:37pm

      @DavidG:
      I don’t know if you realize, but that video is of the same guy. Amazing nonetheless.

      Report Post »  
  • watashbuddyfriend
    Posted on August 15, 2012 at 8:05pm

    A double hell NO! Kill the son-of-bin-laden, a vicious way, so he will not be able to repeat!

    Report Post »  
    • watashbuddyfriend
      Posted on August 15, 2012 at 8:41pm

      Now, ‘on-the-hand’ if the two had planned the death of the wife and children?

      Report Post »  
    • objectivetruth
      Posted on August 16, 2012 at 12:42pm

      Yeah I knew someone years ago that had his first wife and unborn child killed by a drunk driver or so he claimed.He went out of his way to let me and everyone know how much he hated the driver.Though his actions or should I say lack of actions, in a certain situation ,made me realize with clarity that he could have paid the drunk to do it.His vehemence could be a shield of his own guilt.Guess that had to do with his parting sentence of.If you only knew the real me you wouldn’t like me very much at all.

      Report Post »  
  • theromsters
    Posted on August 15, 2012 at 8:04pm

    This is EPIC!!! Our world is full of good people doing horrible things. We must learn how to forgive because this is the great challenge of our day!!!!

    Report Post »  
  • v15
    Posted on August 15, 2012 at 8:01pm

    If there is no God, then human altruism totally blows my mind some times.

    Report Post » v15  
  • Individualism
    Posted on August 15, 2012 at 7:49pm

    Hell no put him to death or complete isolation so this danger doesn’t hurt anyone else.

    Report Post » Individualism  
    • jhaydeng
      Posted on August 15, 2012 at 7:59pm

      Touching, but I would have a tough time not putting my fist through this kids chest!

      Report Post »  
    • AnAmericanToo
      Posted on August 16, 2012 at 11:36pm

      It does appear, however, that this young man has changed from his foolish, deadly boozing ways.

      Hope that this better person stays on the right path but he will always carry the burden of knowing his bad decisions resulted in the destruction of a family.

      At one of my anti-DWI speeches that I gave there were a few other people also speaking. One was a cute, young blond woman. She was very nervous about giving her personal presentation. I had to really put my issues about her behind me and offered her support. You see this young woman had killed another in a car crash because she had been high on drugs. She had served her time as imposed by the courts and now was trying to help others not experience the hell she was living knowing her bad choices took the lives of another. I tried to give her support that she had a valuable story to tell others that just might save another person’s life, and at any rate it those in the audience had to listen politely because they were ordered there by the court. I told her to be bold and tell her story with all the grief and sorrow she must live with every day.

      If you don’t like DWI offenders and esp one who has killed another in an auto accident — don’t forget that Laura Bush the wife of George W Bush did that when she was 18 years old. She was drunk as a skunk and, unfortunately, she raised two daughters that were wild boozers.

      Report Post »  
  • Hollywood
    Posted on August 16, 2012 at 6:53am

    No place for spammers and scammers here!

    Report Post » Hollywood  
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