Yorkton man appears in SGI anti-drunk driving campaign

One bad decision changed Nolan Barnes’ life forever.

In 2010, Barnes and eight friends hopped into an SUV after a night of partying in Saskatoon.

The driver fell asleep at the wheel and crashed into a ditch. One person was killed. Barnes was left paralyzed from the chest down.

SGI is featuring the 27-year-old Yorkton man’s story this month as part of its traffic safety spotlight on impaired driving.

Barnes now speaks at schools and corporate events in hopes of convincing people to make better choices.

“I found that if I told 1,000 people my story and one person made a better decision than I did, then its all worth it. Everything that happened to me is so worth it,” he explained.

Barnes believes by sharing his story he’s doing his small part to lower the number of impaired collisions.

Tougher laws and the introduction of ride sharing is moving the province in that direction said Barnes.

“I’ve been a spokesperson for this quite some time and I feel like we are making a little bit of ground, finally.”

According to SGI, 6,600 people have been injured in impaired driving collisions in the last decade