Two years have gone by since the horrific "wrong-way" crash, and last night HBO debuted its documentary on the families involved. It's hard to watch. Besides the picture of Diane Schuler dead on the grass, the surveillance video is so eerie to watch. Besides the images, it made me wince to see the Schuler family grap at every straw they can to "clear Diane's name."
Sometimes it is hard to accept a painful event, especially if there is no closure. It seems that the Schuler family is struggling to come to terms with what happened or that she could have done something "bad". It struck me that the alcohol and marijuana in her system is being contested so vehemently, even though they admitted she smoked pot on occasion to help her sleep. They are insistent on a second autopsy and have latched onto a "medical" situation as the root cause, such as her abscess tooth.
Separating the person from the action, Diane is human, her friends and family loved her, and she made a choice to drink and smoke pot at some point that had tragic consequences. In addition, exhuming her body for an autopsy may revisit the physical state of her body, but there is no way to trace her mental and emotional well-being. Perhaps she had a psychotic break or a panic attack, either of which would not leave a trace in her system like BAC or THC. There may have been secrets she had, lingering pain, unspoken feelings. There is no black box for the mind.
A commenter on HBO's site said it best, there are no winners in this situation. One can only hope that the loved ones left behind can find peace with what transpired, accept what happened and her humanity, and forgive.
El Al nightmare
13 years ago
9 comments:
It was very sad to watch, I could not believe they showed a picture of her after she died, not sure why they would do that. No one wins here, I agree they are in denial. From the way they talked about her it seemed she could be ready to blow with all the pressure she put herself under.
I do not think I have ever in my life been more upset watching a documentary. This story ripped my heart out two years ago and the HBO show which aired on monday kept me up all night. The images of a dead Diane Schuler were so disturbing I can't get them out of my head. My prayers go out to all family and friends of this tragedy.
I would like to know who took the pictures of Diane Schuler, there should be a law against taking pictures of dead accident victims, they are at their most vulnerable.
There are photographers who work with the police to take pictures of crime scenes and accident scenes.
They go in the files with all of the other evidence collected by the police.
If they ever need to go back and confirm what she was wearing how a body was found they have the pictures to turn to.
Watching a documentary on this case and the first thing that popped into my head was how could aperson be drunk and not be drunk. Well, here's a theory...PKU There is a little know toxicity where cheap copy cat coffee sweeteners made to look like Equal and Sweetnlow added Phenylalinine to the package. This combination can cause PKU in people prone to the condition. Myself for one. The combination creates alcohol and sensitive people like myself can be highly intoxicating n a very short period of time. Short like in a matter of minutes. My personal experience was like a serious drunkedness and lethargy at the same time. I got my dose with 2 packets of carepackage coffee at a church. Fortunately I was at home and not driving. But Had I been coming home from church it would have been disastrous. Within an half-hour i was stumbling, out of control and vomiting. Like a very bad drunk.
Again this was from coffee and sweetener. Did anyone look into PKU during the investigation. These companies were sued and forced to take this crap off the amrket but like mine I got it from a friend at church who was saving them money. Like I said this stuff turns into alcohol in some people and would creat an elevated blood alcohol level and ebcause it comes on so quickly you simply don't know what's is happening. You can find many reports of this on the web from victims, legal sources and doctors. It is frightening and according to her husband they had several cups of coffee prior to the accident. She may have had PKU and with such small quantities of the aspartaine and Phenol which is nothing more than an amino acid nether would be apparent in the blood. But it would display alcohol and symptoms of alcohol poisoning.
I really believe that this woman could not have been drunk and high at the time of the accident or any other time.It sounds to me as if she was having a stroke or brain issue.Going straight towards traffic and gripping the wheel tells me that she had no control and might have been hanging on for dear life.Her position in her company tells me she was a responsible person and a real go getter.I cannot explain the toxicology report..nor can I understand how those results were available so quickly when the biggest celebrities' families have to wait 5-6 weeks.And,the PI not calling them with the 2nd results all sounds too convenient to me .This smacks of a coverup to end the story as quickly as possible or for reasons unknown.We will never know.All that is clear is that 8 people have died and left devastated families behind..God help them.
If she kept Doctor's Appointments, personal pain, family life secret, she could have kept her drinking secret. I've had toothache pain and shot a couple shots of whiskey that did dull the pain. If you had such intense pain and swigged a couple shots of vodka it could have hit her like a ton of bricks. She could have smoked a doobie while the kids were eating at McDonalds..having a toothache maybe she didn't eat, not wanting to because of the pain. It would explain why the alcohol caught up to her so quickly. Sometimes alcohol can affect you slowly, sometimes so quick you don't have time to sit down and say, WOW I'm hammered. I feel for her. She made a mistake that was so costly. NEVER drink and drive. The photo is horrific. I watched the documentary and was appalled they put that on. If ever one of my family members was in the situation I would never allow it. Did the family have to sign a release to put that out. If not I would sue the pants off the people who put those horrifically agonizing photos of that poor woman.
I for one am glad the documentary posted photos of Diane Schuler's dead body at the scene and not just photos of her in happy times as This IS what can happen if you drink and drive and I think every teenager should watch this documentary as part of their education.
For those who have 'issues' about the documentary including the photos of Diane at the crash site should avoid watching documentaries about topics regarding human tragedies.
The photo was unnecessary and gruesome. And disrespectful. Yes she may have been responsible for a horrific, devastating catastrophe, but she was a human being, and she was loved. To put that photo anywhere public is shameful. I think the director of this documentary did a good job with very difficult material and a troubling story.. but using that photo was a mistake. It cannot be the new standard to have photos of deceased individuals deliberately posted online or in the media. Not OK.
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