Skater slams drink drivers | Coffs Coast News | Local News in Coffs Coast

Toormina’s Blake Ballard looks forward to the day when he gets back on a board, after a drunk and drug impaired driver robbed him of his career.

A YOUNG skater, whose dreams of a professional career were crushed when he was hit by a drink driver, has called on young drivers to consider their actions.

Prior to his accident in Sydney in March, Blake Ballard, 22, of Toormina was on the rise as a promising sponsored skate boarder.

But all that changed when he was bowled over on a pedestrian crossing by a man, who police later charged with drink driving and driving whilst under the influence of drugs.

“It changed my life, I still can’t remember the accident, I just woke up in a hospital in Sydney after nine days in a coma,” Blake said.

“I’m now back on two feet, but it will be a long time before I am back on four wheels.

“Because of what I have been through with the brain injury, four weeks in hospital and months of rehabilitation, I can no longer bear to be friends with people who drink drive and mates who have caused accidents when drunk or high – that’s the message I want to tell others.

“They just don’t realise what risks they are taking, they’re wrecking the lives of others,” he said.

Margot Edwards of the North Coast Brain Injury Service says Blake is making good progress and has now returned to work. “His employers, Bunnings, have been fantastic,” Margot said. Blake says he now wants to use his story to warn other young people of how drug and alcohol impaired drivers wreck lives.