He was a high school tennis sensation who wowed crowds as one of the top players in the nation.
A college scholarship and promising future appeared to be floating over the head of 17-year-old Blake McMeans like a sunny day.
That was before the Knoxville resident decided on a night of drinking and driving.
After consuming what he says was “10 beers, maybe more,” McMeans made the ill-fated decision to get behind the wheel. His car flipped three times about a half mile from his home, a wreck that crippled his body and attacked his soul.
“I went from a star athlete to an invalid,” McMeans told WCHS students at an assembly Thursday morning. “It took me a year to talk. It took seven years for me to stand from my wheelchair and two more years after that to string steps together. I was just like you, making decisions every day and excited about my future. Now I’m living with the consequences of my choices.”
McMeans said he spent months fighting for his life after the crash. He said just as horrifying as the thought he might die was the realization he was going to live trapped inside a frame that could barely move or communicate.
Some 20 years later, McMeans still speaks with words that are heavily slurred. Each step is weighted, calculated. A trip from his wheelchair to the podium was an exercise in perseverance. Instead of zipping around a tennis court, it’s a battle to button a shirt.
His message to students is simple. Don’t do what I did. Don’t drink and drive and jeopardize your potential. McMeans challenged students to learn from his mistakes and to make a pledge not to drink and drive, or get in a vehicle where the driver has been drinking.
“Finding out you can’t walk, you can’t speak, those are pretty big blows,” said McMeans, who said he can understand how a person in his situation might try to commit suicide. “But I eventually realized my life could still have meaning. What’s important to me is getting the message out so no one has to go through what I had to do.”
McMeans described himself as popular, athletic and smart before his car crash. He said he had “celebrity status” around Knoxville because of his skill on the tennis court.
However, his life was not as perfect as a Christmas card. McMeans said he began sneaking liquor from his parents around the age of 12 and alcohol gradually became an integral part of his life. By the time he reached high school, McMeans said he was drinking regularly.
“My problem started years before the wreck,” said McMeans. “I had a steady pattern of drinking heavily on week-ends. I thought alcohol was cool.”
McMeans now channels his energy toward the Blake McMeans Foundation and has taken his message to thousands of students since 2008. To help spread his message, McMeans received a $10,000 donation from State Farm while he was in McMinnville.
McMeans is the guest on this week’s WCPI radio program called “Focus.” His conversation will air this Tuesday at 5 p.m., Wednesday at 5:05 a.m., Thursday at 1 p.m., and Friday at 1:05 a.m.