Many members of the Injuryboard have writtenabout wrong way driving incidents. In 2010 there were 100 people killed in head on collisions. Looking at these numbers got me thinking about an early morning a number of years ago. I was helping with a golf tournament down in southern Minnesota. In order to get there by the 6 am prep time , I had left the house at 4:30. As I got onto highway 100, I was detoured off of it one exit later. This was odd because there was no construction, but a couple of side roads I was back on my way.
That afternoon we heard what had caused the detour. Malik Sealy, a Minnesota Timberwolf, had been killed when he was hit head-on by a drunk driver, traveling the wrong way on Highway 100 in St. Louis Park. He was on his way home from a birthday party for teammate Kevin Garnett. Sealy was just 30 years old.
We also learned that drunk driver, Souksangouane Phengsene, had an blood alcohol level of .19. He pleaded guilty to felony criminal vehicular homicide and was sentenced to four years in prison. It is unfortunate to hear , he was again stopped and charged in Crystal, Minnesota after driving erratically and having a blood alcohol level of .21.
I always feel a little sense of relief that I hadn’t left the house earlier. I also as a Timberwolves season ticket fan, have always been saddened by the lost of a player I liked to watch. It’s these kind of incidents that I hope people learn from
