I'm sure I wasn't the only one who had a tear in the eye while reading the letter by paramedic Martin Reed (December 29) about drink-driving.

I tried to somehow picture in my head the scene while I was reading it, but I couldn't.

It's not just the family who suffer heartbreak when an incident like that occurs, it also affects the people who have to attend these accidents.

From the fire service who have to cut someone out of a vehicle to the ambulance crew who try so desperately to save life, to the police who have to tell the relatives of victims of the terrible news.

It's not big to drink and drive. It's downright stupid and can wreck so many lives. It's not just around Christmas and New Year that people should not drink and drive but all year round.

Get a cab, get a mate who hasn't been drinking to take you home. Read that poem once more and it might just hit home what it does to the people who have to suffer the heartache.

-Edwin Foreman, Brighton