A promise a day keeps the doctor away.

Blake McMeans came to Bullitt East to ask the young students to promise to never drink and drive.

A well known national tour, the Blake McMeans Promise Tour, came to Bullitt East to speak to the students. McMeans, the founder of the Blake McMeans Promise Tour, spoke of the dangers of drinking and driving. The motivational speech affected some of the students at Bullitt East in a positive way.

The Blake McMeans Promise Tour is a tour that is set across the nation to inform teenagers and young adults of the risks of drinking and driving. McMeans travels around to high schools, middle schools and civic organizations to tell his story of why he founded this tour.

When McMeans was in high school, he was destined for an amazing tennis career as he was ranked as one of the nation’s top high school tennis players. He was able to graduate from high school early where he went on to receive an athletic-academic scholarship for the University of Tennessee.

McMeans began drinking alcohol at the age of 12 and it only accelerated from there. It became extremely bad when McMeans was 17 years old just after his father passed away.

On Nov. 10, 1994, McMeans went out to have fun while drinking with his friends from his future fraternity. He decided to drive himself home, even though he was under the influence. McMeans got into a horrible car accident that ended with him in a coma for about four months.

McMeans slowly but surely began to recover some of his strength. He still today works on regaining all of that was lost in the car accident, but he decided to use his story to encourage teens and young adults the hazards that one bad choice can make.

Founded in 2007, the Blake McMeans Foundation has met many students and every time he asks them to promise to not drink and drive. “I wanted a chance to help people and students to make wise decisions and not to make destructive decisions, as one wrong decision can change your life forever,” said McMeans.

McMeans spoke to the juniors and seniors in the gym during the latest house day on Friday. Many juniors and seniors are able to drive, so McMeans story would impact them the most and that’s why he didn’t speak to the whole school. As McMeans spoke softly, struggling to say words at times, the students and teachers watched and listened as he constantly told the students to make a smart decision and never drink and drive. He said it only takes one time to change your whole life like it did his. McMeans spoke about how he changed from being the most good looking guy in his high school who had a lot of friends to someone who needed help just to tie his shoes after the crash.

“I hope it makes teenagers think more about the decision that they make when it involves alcohol. I thought it [the assembly] was really good timing before prom, ring ceremony, and spring break,” said April Walker, social studies teacher. Walker introduced McMeans to the students and even asked him a few questions about his experience and the dangers of drunk driving.

Students had a positive response to McMeans speech. “I got a lot of good feedback from it. I asked my classes, and they felt like having a speaker that had been through an actual drunk driving accident made more of an impact than just having someone coming in just talking about it,” said Walker.

Marlene Michel, junior, attended the assembly. “I thought it was really cool and a good experience to see a real example of the effects of drinking and driving. We saw the slide show and I started piecing it together like is that him because I thought it was someone he knew, but it was actually him and he made it very personal,” said Michel.

He impacted many students and teachers with his speech. “It was very moving for me. Even though I want to live a life that is committed to being drug and alcohol-free, it’s still important in my other parts of my life like with homework to be committed and not to make the wrong decision because it might be my last,” said Michel. McMeans gave the students at Bullitt East a sense of what can happen when someone drinks and drives and it only takes one time to change a life and the lives of others.