Victim Statement in Davidson County Criminal Court

It is without question I can say that the last nine months have been the most traumatic of my lifetime. 285 days ago, I was hit at a high rate of speed (according to the police report) over 70 miles and an hour by Zach Henry in a school zone just a bit after 5 pm on a Friday. 

It was, for me, another day in a challenging period. I was a new first-time father with a five-month-old son; I was trying to do the best I could at my job, helping to found and lead a new program at Vanderbilt University Divinity School during the beginning of the pandemic that had radically changed everything about how we were being asked to function in society and at the university. 

I had just got done walking my son that afternoon; after a long day of work, we took a walk through the neighborhood, looking at the trees and houses and waving to people who were out walking their dogs. I then drove to pick up my computer, which was being repaired, and to pick up some food to support a local restaurant owned by a friend who was struggling to adapt to the new pandemic economy. 

I was scheduled that evening to complete my final exam of the first semester in Tennessee State University's MBA program. A path I had chosen after my child was born to make sure I was doing everything I could to support my family and to make a positive investment in our future.

 But I never made it home that day after being hit and extensively injured by Mr. Henry's drunk and aggressive driving. I was thankfully cared for by people who witnessed the crash and treated by the responding police officers and paramedics who quickly transported me to Vanderbilt hospital, where I was resuscitated and stabilized. 

For almost a day, my wife would be at home trying to figure out what happened to me because she was never notified and would stay up all night that night with a young child and no one to help with childcare calling my phone and asking friends if anyone knew where I was at. 

The next day, I was found at the hospital by my family bearing a placeholder stat name. But my wife even after filing a missing person’s report was never notified, and my wallet with my identification was left inside the vehicle. 

I would be in a coma for over a week with multiple areas of bleeding on the brain, a broken shoulder and a fractured bone in my back. I would be in the hospital for almost another month trying to figure out how to walk, talk, swallow food and cognitively comprehend where I was and what had happened to me.  The physical, financial, and psychological impact has been overwhelming and has never ended. 

I have spent the last eight months working each day to try and pull myself out from this terrible experience. I am trying to figure out how to support the healing of my body so that I can continue to be a father and continue to work to support my family. 

I've had to come to terms and accept what will likely be lifelong injuries; a significant loss of hearing with constant ringing in my left ear, damage to my vision and balance, and moments of intense cognitive stress that is brought on by an injured brain trying to figure out how to do things that it once had taken for granted.

I realize that what I say here today has no ability to change what has happened in the past or to end the physical injuries to my body, but what it can do is help to move both myself and my family forward on a challenging but what I intend to be a positive path. 

I want to take this tragic moment and the resulting damage and turn that pain and suffering into something that can be used to help others who themselves experience unexpected trauma during what they expected to be just another day. 

I am choosing to take this attitude because I have a 1-year-old child, and although the length of my life is likely shortened by the events of April 24th, my goal is to take what time I have left and give him an example of what it looks like to face the unexpected challenges of life and not use them to promote anger and hatred to those who you think are responsible, but to show love and generosity. 

And no matter how hard it feels some days make a choice to make your life and the lives of those around better.

So it is my hope that Zach Henry, during his time in jail will make a commitment to change the character of his life, and when he is released that he will never ever drink and drive aggressively again. I hope that he takes this terrible part of his life and chooses a new course, one focused on how he can use the years he has left to do something good in the world and set a good example for his own children. 

I also hope that this community and state can come to the reality that its laws and its enforcement regarding drunk driving need to be changed.

We have unfortunately created a world where drinking extreme amounts of alcohol is celebrated even looked to as the foundation of our local tourist economy and where there seems to be limited condemnation or enforcement towards the consequences of what this produces, especially when people choose to get behind the wheel of a car and drive. 

It is really a shame that Zach Henry isn't being held to an even higher standard than he is, but this is the consequence of the laws of this state. And I plan to be a witness of this tragedy in support of those who believe things need to change.

I want to thank the first responders and medical personnel that helped to save my life. I also want to thank the District Attorney's office for staying in contact with me and making sure I felt included in this process. 

I want to thank all my friends and neighbors who supported me during this tragic time, unsure where I would be without them. 

But I for sure want to thank my family and specifically my wife for holding my hand during this terrible time, healing is found in the love and attention of those around you, and I am so blessed for those I have with me. 

This is not something I was ever hoping to do in my life, but since I am here, I've decided that no matter what comes as the result of this terrible thing, I am going to do something good with it. I hope that is a choice that Zach Henry makes as well.   

I want to end with this translation of Christian scripture

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. But when I became an adult, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now, we see only a reflection of our lives as an image in a mirror; but soon we will see it face to face. Now I know only in part, but soon I will know fully, even as I am fully known.And now, these three things remain faith, hope, and love. But what I have come to know is the greatest of these is love.