AUSTIN -- What was supposed to be a summer of learning has taken on a whole new meaning for four Austin families.
Rachael Crawford is learning how to walk again.
Her best friend Madison Brandes is learning how to read again.
It is painstaking work with an unknown outcome, and what got them here was totally preventable.
The accident
On June 22, four Bowie High School friends were on their way to get ice cream. They stop at the traffic light at MoPac and Slaughter, when police say a drunk driver, more than three times the legal limit, plows into them at 70 miles an hour.
"I remember hearing a really loud noise and getting hit," said backseat passenger Julia Cavanagh.
She remembers nearly everything.
"There was glass everywhere. People were like, 'There's gas, you need to get out of the car.' We tried to open all the doors and they were pinned shut and then someone pulled us out through the back windshield," she recalled.
"It was the worst night of my life," said Jodi Crawford, Rachael's mom.
The injuries
All four girls suffered serious injuries.
"No one had a comforting look on their face, so I knew how bad it was," said Lori Brandes, Madison's mom.
Madison, the front passenger, suffered the worst injuries: A severely fractured skull. In a coma for 10 days, no one was sure she'd make it.
"I don't remember anything," said Madison.
Rachael was driving.
"I have a scar right here where I broke my forearm. I broke my clavicle, and I broke my pelvis in four different places," said Rachael.
The scene was so horrific, hours later, police still had it blocked off. Some of the parents drove right by it.
"I'd never seen so much chaos and debris. It was just incredible," said James Brandes, Madison's dad. "I remember thinking 'My God, how did she make it? How did they survive that car?'"
For months, the girls have battled back, suffering through therapy and infections, but the toughest part of their journey may be what they've missed.
"You spend all of your life waiting for that moment that they graduate from high school and get to go off on their own, and she didn't get to because of someone's selfish decision," said Lori Brandes,
Three of the girls should have been starting college this fall. Only one of them, Ashley Rogans, did.
"It's just so hard when they should be going to college," said Julia. "For them to not be able to do what they're supposed to be doing, it's tough."
The lesson
They now live with a new reality. Instead first college courses, Rachael and Madison are learning to do things they first did as kids.
"It's been hard," said Madison.
"It's hard to watch her [Madison] go through this because she doesn't deserve this," said Rachael.
For these families the lessons from this summer are clear.
"Your actions can destroy lives," said James Brandes.
"It's so easy to make a phone call and say come get me," said Jodi Crawford.
"Make good decisions. Be safe. Don't drink and then think you can drive a car," said Tom Crawford.
"I just don't want people to drink and drive," said Julia.
It may not be just your life that forever changes.
The charges
Erik Oosterbaan is charged with three counts of aggravated assault, a second-degree felony, and three counts of intoxication assault, a third-degree felony. The Travis County DA's office said it expects to bring the case before the grand jury in October.
