When I saw the first story published in September about Summer Moll in the St. Pete Times I cried! It was a story about a lifeless child who is brave well beyond her years but she is still fighting to survive.

I am the mother of six children and could not even fathom the thought of even one of my children facing such a reality as this. The truth is no one can and more than likely you (the Times) have offended a small percent of the readers in the St. Pete Times area and that's ok too.

Reality is not always complementary to our lives and the very idea of being shielded from it makes us naive to the fact that there are tragedies like this in every city across America each year. Society has taught us to react to such shocking news by defining what is acceptable to print and what is not acceptable to print based on a reader's response to past stories of this nature.

The bottom line is very defined and I must say, reality is not meant to be a compliment to each person on earth who has an issue in society that must be dealt with on a level of severity such as Summer's story. You needed to show people who do have a soul what happens when some one is selfish. The shocking picture of her is a reminder of such a reality may reach one reader who is or may be the next person to drink and drive.

Summer is a beautiful child and we now know what a community can do to help a small soul recover during what seems like an impossible and uncertain journey. I too know the devastation DUI causes I see it each year as I save lives and realize I too am just as likely to meet some one just as selfish as this driver was. When you live for the moment while drinking and driving others die in your moment and lives change and that is reality.

Cheryl Lassiter, director Volunteer Mobile Emergency Response Unit