Emotional pleas to prevent driving while intoxicated

HOUSTON (FOX 26) - "My favorite picture is that one right there," says Paul Jones. The words of a father who's heart still grieves as the result of losing his 18-year-old daughter Emily in 2011. She was killed by an intoxicated driver. 

Jones also says there is not a day that goes by that she is not in his thoughts.

"No matter how bad your day was going, Emily would make sure you smiled," added Jones.

The red truck she was driving at the time she was killed is now part of the Krysta's Karing Angel's fleet, a set of vehicles that many people don't get to see, symbolizing the deadly combination of impaired driving and the destruction it causes.

The organization was launched by Mark Rodriguez, a former firefighter who has saved the lives of many others. Rodriguez is known by those closest to him as a protective father who carries the burden of pain for his deceased daughter, who was also killed by a drunk driver.

"She's still our daughter," said Rodriguez, "Physically she's not here, but she's around, she's around."

Jones and Rodriguez, two men who are friends chosen by the cards they were dealt in life, to walk a line many can't understand and wouldn't choose to.

They came together at the Pearland Police Department, working with law enforcement officials, encouraging anyone who drinks and drives to remember its very worst consequences as Labor Day weekend approaches.

Don Egdorf has responded to numerous scenes for alcohol-related accidents that have resulted in deaths. On the night of May 29, 2011, it was someone he knew. Someone he loved.

"All the damage that you see on the car, that's all from Kevin's body," said Egdorf. "I remember every single bit of it. Every sound, every smell, every face that I saw up there and it's something that never goes away." 

Kevin's wife was pregnant when he was killed. He never had the chance to meet his unborn child, all because of an intoxicated driver.

For men like Egdorf, Rodriguez and Jones, the wrongful choice that many people make is actually quite simple.

"We don't preach don't drink, we preach don't drive," said Jones.