DRY RIDGE, Ky. — Twenty-year-old Courtney Stafford died on Delhi Pike six years ago. It was around 2 a.m. when she fell asleep behind the wheel and went left of center, crashing head-on into an ambulance. She was a quarter-mile from her dad's house.
Courtney's mother, Tracy Clark, said the past six years have been a long, hard journey.
"It's been one of the worst things anyone had to go through," Clark said. "It's been difficult, really difficult."
Courtney had registered for classes at the University of Cincinnati. Her mom said she wanted to study business communications.
"As a mom, you have all of those dreams of things that will never happen now," Clark said.
Clark is coping with the loss by trying to do something good in the community — raise awareness of drowsy driving.
“If you’re tired, see somebody who is tired, ask them, can you get an Uber? Can you take them home?" she said. "Suggest, 'Maybe you need to pull over.'”
Clark said Stafford loved animals and always wanted to take in strays, so she's also raising money for the Grant County Animal Shelter in her daughter's name. So far, she's raised $600.
"I want to make a difference," Clark said. "Somehow, someway. It helps keep me focused. It's just healing for me. I know something positive can come out of the situation."
According to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration, 795 people were killed because of drowsy driving in 2017.
