BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — In an instant, the lives of three Bowling Green State University students changed forever. “It happened so quick,” said Steven Iwanek
“All I see are just a bunch of bright headlights right in front of me,” he added.
A car was coming right at them. A suspected drunk driver, police said, hit the car head-on.
“Right afterward, I couldn’t sleep for days because all I would see were those headlights coming right at me. They were so quick and so bright, it was hard,” Iwanek explained.
Hard to deal with the death of their friend Ryan Walker.
“The mental trauma, the emotional trauma, it’s not fair,” said Iwanek.
Vincent Morales was Ryan’s best friend. The two were sitting in the backseat when police said the drunk driver crossed the center line and crashed into their car.
It happened on Route 6 the Sunday before Labor Day 2022; they were just 15 minutes from campus when the accident happened.
“Emotionally, mentally, it’s a big life change,” said Cooper Farrow, Ryan’s friend.
“Not a day goes by where I don’t think about that night,” said Morales.
The crash killed Ryan Walker and sent Morales to the hospital for 50 days. He has had nine surgeries and still has another ahead of him. “I used to be very active, always work out, play basketball, do something almost every day, and now I can’t do that because it hurts,” said Morales.
“At 20 years old, you don’t expect to ever have to go through anything like this. It changes you; I think it changes you emotionally. For me, it kind of gave me a new perspective on life,” said Farrow.
It was Sunday, Sept. 4, 2022. Walker, Morales, Farrow and Iwanek went to a Guardians Game in Cleveland. They grabbed dinner and dessert and stopped at a bowling alley before heading back to campus. Iwanek was driving.
“Everyone had seat belts and there were no distractions, no drugs, alcohol, anything involved. We were just four innocent college students heading home from a Cleveland Guardians game, and we were at the wrong place at the wrong time,” said Iwanek.
Pictures and memories are all the college students have left of their friend Ryan Walker. “Specifically, us three will have this connection the rest of our lives,” said Farrow.
“It’s been a difficult year,” said Eddie Santos, Walker’s brother.
Over the past year, we’ve followed through on Ryan’s story. We learned his family is turning their pain into passion. They are determined to make a difference in the world.
Walker’s family started the Forever Falcon Foundation.
“Forever Falcon because he was a Firelands High School Falcon and he was a Bowling Green State University Falcon,” explained Santos.
Last year, in November, we reported that the foundation was starting a scholarship in Walker’s name.
News 5 was there when his family gave away the first one in May. But they are also focused on changing laws in Ohio and across the country.
“Ohio’s penalties for drunk driving and repeat offenses is just a joke when you look at the different national penalties. Ohio just ranked so low on the list things need to change,” Santos said.
Santos also said they plan to work to make airbags and other safety features standard for rear-seat passengers.
Sandusky County Court found the defendant, James Baker, was incompetent to stand trial. But the court said the probability exists that he can be restored to competency. The court ordered Baker to undergo treatment at the Northwest Ohio Psychiatric Hospital for a year.
