Woman who raised awareness about dangers of drinking and driving has died
Jacqui Saburido, the woman who used her life-changing burn injuries to educate others about the dangers of drunk driving, died Monday, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission announced via Twitter.
Citing family, the Austin-American Statesman reported Saburido died Saturday of cancer in Guatemala. She was 40, the newspaper reports.
Saburido’s cousin, Jose Saburido, told the Statesman she had moved from her native Caracas, Venezuela, to Guatemala City several years ago to gain better access to medical treatment and medicines.
According to the website Faces of Drunk Driving, Saburido was taking a break from college when she came to the United States to study English. “She had been in Texas for less than a month when the crash occurred that changed her life completely,” the website states, “The drunk driver who hit her got seven years. She got life.”
The Faces of Drunk Driving website states Natalia Bennett and four others were headed home from a birthday party in Austin. Saburido was Bennet’s front seat passenger. It was a little past 4:00 in the morning on Sunday, September 19, 1999.
According to Faces of Drunk Driving, 18-year-old Reggie Stephey was also on his way home after he had been drinking. “Less than a mile from his driveway, Reggie drifted across the center stripe and hit Natalia’s car head on. Natalia Bennett and Laura Guerrero died at the scene. Jacqui suffered third-degree burns over 60 percent of her body after the car caught fire,” the website states.
The site states Stephey was convicted of two counts of intoxication manslaughter and sentenced to seven years in the state penitentiary. He was released in 2008.
Saburido had more than 100 operations since the crash. She had no health insurance and her medical bills topped $5 million, according to Faces of Drunk Driving.
