Monte Bush woke up in the hospital, disoriented. He had been drinking and had no memory of getting in his truck and leaving the town of Greybull, Wyoming.
He especially didn’t remember anything about the wreck.
As the story emerged, he was horrified to learn that he had been in a head on collision at 55 mph. He wasn’t wearing his seatbelt and had hit the dash and windshield of his truck, leaving a hole in the glass with his head.
Four other people had been badly hurt in the wreck, and it was all his fault. One of his victims was only given a 30% chance of survival.
“I was told what I did,” Bush said. “The guilt and shame was pretty much all over me all day.”
He was shown pictures of his truck and learned that when emergency crews arrived, they thought Bush was dead. His truck was a mangled mess, and they had to extricate Bush off his dash.
“Towards the end of that day, I know where my faith is, and that’s in God,” he said. “I shouldn't be alive.”
The Aftermath
As Bush faced the consequences of what he had done, he realized he had been given a second chance and didn’t want to squander it.
“You have a reason for sparing me,” Bush said he told God. “And whatever that reason is, I'm going to just follow. I'm just going to go whatever direction you put me in.”
That path took him to court where all four of his victims pleaded for leniency from the judge. They had all survived the accident and were now his strongest advocates. They wanted Bush to get help instead of being sent to jail for nearly killing them all.
“During one of the depositions, they were watching from a camera, and I had broken down pretty bad,” Bush said. “They saw that. So, I think they believed I was really sorry.”
Bush was put on probation and sent to treatment. He was terrified of drinking again and eagerly went to get the help he knew he needed.
In 2019, Monte Bush was charged with a DUI after a head-on collision nearly killed himself and four other innocent people near Greybull, Wyoming. 
Monte Bush believes it is a miracle that no one died the night he blacked out after drinking and ran head-on into another vehicle. He was charged with a DUI and is now nearly six years sober. He shares his story with the hope that he can save at least one life and prevent someone else from drinking and driving. Bush had to wear a scram bracelet for 14 months which read the vapors off his skin. It would tell his compliance officer at Injury Prevention in Riverton if he was drinking or not. 
When Monte Bush crashed his truck at 55 mph, he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt and ended up with his head through the windshield. He miraculously survived and was charged with a DUI, which nearly took the life of four other people in the same wreck. He is now nearly six years sober and sharing his story to save the lives of others. 
After nearly killing himself and four others in a drunk driving wreck, Monte Bush takes every opportunity he can to speak about the dangers of drinking and driving.
Defiance
Not all clients go into treatment or even accept the charges against them willingly.
Helen Witt of Riverton railed that she was not even driving when she was arrested on a DUI in early 2020. She was sitting in her car, the engine on, when an officer came up to her car to do a welfare check.
“I was the most defiant brat you could possibly meet,” Witt said. “I did the roadside Olympics and failed horribly. I was arrested for driving under the influence, but I fought that DUI tooth and nail because I wasn't even driving.”
She was taken to jail overnight until she sobered up and was sent home. COVID shutdowns followed her arrest, and she wasn’t sentenced for another year. She said this was unfortunate because it gave her more time to go into a downward spiral of partying and drinking.
Witt was the daughter of alcoholics and despised what the addiction had done to her parents, swearing that would never be her so it was a shock to even herself when she started hanging out in the bars late at night, drinking and ignoring her family.
The drinking began when, in January of 2020, her mom passed away as an indirect result of her own alcoholism. Witt, who was married and homeschooling two children, could not cope with her grief.
“The night that my mom died, I did what I knew, and I turned to a bottle,” she said. “It was the only thing that seemed to shut off those feelings of desperation and brokenness.”
The Treatment
On their recovery journeys, both Witt and Bush ended up in an intensive DUI probation program through Injury Prevention in Riverton, that has over a 90% success rate. It was there that they found cheerleaders who helped them in their personal battles over substance abuse.
Noel Cooper, the director for Injury Prevention, said that his predecessor had seen a disturbing trend in Fremont County. DUI offenders that were placed on unsupervised probation were reoffending, on average, within 3 to 6 months with another DUI.
A program was started in 2008 to combat these reoffending rates that used such tools as mandatory check-ins, SCRAM bracelets, ignition locks and patches.
After his wreck, Bush was only allowed in Big Horn and Washakie County for his probation. He went through Wyoming Recovery and then another two months in a VA hospital. His participation in Injury Prevention came when he was ordered to have a scram bracelet on his ankle.
Bush had to personally pay $300 a month for the accessory which read the alcohol vapors off his skin. It was so sensitive to anything remotely alcoholic that Dawn Lymburner, his DUI supervised probation agent, was able to tell when he went to a bakery.
“Embarrassed the hell out of me,” Bush said. “It takes a reading every 30 minutes and vibrates on your ankle.”
Every night at 11 p.m., the SCRAM bracelet uploaded his readings right into Lymburner’s inbox. He wore it for 14 months, enduring the vibrating and embarrassment the symbol of his DUI brought.
He said that at first, he craved alcohol despite his deep conviction not to drink and is grateful for all the tools and people who helped him turn his life around.
“I was dead set on being sober,” Bush said. “I would die if I ever drank again. I was drinking close to a fifth of whiskey every day.”
Treatments vary depending on the client needs. Cooper explained that they have people being tested twice a day while others meet weekly or monthly. Urine analysis tests (UA) are conducted and whatever else is needed to help their clients navigate their DUI convictions.
“We want them to be productive in our communities,” Cooper said. “We don’t want them to ever make that decision of getting behind the wheel again when they are impaired.”
As part of her probation, Witt was put into the DUI probation program at Injury Prevention. Unlike Bush who embraced his chance at treatment, she was angry and resented her probation agent, Nicole Kilgore.
“I absolutely hated her guts,” Witt said. “Because I wasn't allowed to drink, I pretty much just kind of found a loophole in that system. I started abusing meth.”
After failing numerous UA’s and becoming suicidal, Witt ended up spending three months in jail and another three months in treatment. Her children were devastated, and this became her wake-up call. She started praying for a way out of her destructive lifestyle.
Helen Witt of Riverton, Wyoming was intoxicated in the left photo. After the death of her mother, she turned to alcohol and nearly destroyed her life with addiction. After denying she had any addiction, jail and treatment showed Witt otherwise. She is pictured at right two years sober. (Courtesy Helen Witt) 
Helen Witt nearly destroyed her family with her drinking and meth use. After recovery, the family was finally able to celebrate with their first road trip to a concert, left. Right, Witt pictured here with her daughter in early recovery. (Courtesy Helen Witt)
The Transformation
For Bush, despite the wreck and nearly killing four people, there were nights that he wanted to drink despite being scared to death of alcohol.
“Now, I won't ever touch it,” he said. “That's why I carry my 24-hour coin. It reminds me every morning that I've got this.”
After Witt was released from treatment, she had come home and expected to be free of any more requirements. However, the judge sentenced her to a year of supervised probation with the very compliance officer who had sent her to jail and away from her children in the first place.
“The judge told me it's not to punish you, it's to set you up for success,” Witt said. “Crazy things happened. There were a lot of tears, and the person that I hated, ended up being my number one supporter.”
Bush and Witt are now part of a group of nearly 3,000 offenders who have gone through the Injury Prevention program which has a 90.7% successful completion rate. Only 6% of first-time offenders end up returning.
“We know we're making an impact,” Cooper said. “If we have a shot at saving lives on the roads, it's interacting with people and just trying to figure out what their obstacles in life are.”
Saving Others
Now sober, Bush and Witt have made it their personal missions to save others and speak every chance they get about the dangers of drinking and driving.
“Had they not done the things that they did,” Witt said. “I wouldn't be alive today to tell my story.”
She admits that the staff at Injury Prevention held her accountable when she was unable to do it herself. They are still her number one supporter and regularly invite her to join them to speak at local schools and meetings about her experience.
She also hosts recovery events because she says it is important to also have fun in recovery and to celebrate the victories.
“It's made me a better mom and a better wife,” Witt said. “It's just been a wild, crazy journey.”
Bush is also speaking to various groups about his own journey from the wreck to redemption.
“It's people like Dawn that believed in me when I struggled with shame,” Bush said. “When she asked if I'd be interested in being part of their team, I didn't hesitate.”
Bush believes his purpose is to give back and to help whoever he can. He continues to share his story and sometimes even shares the stage with one of his victims. Together, they have spoken at high schools about the dangers of drinking and driving by sharing their mutual experience from both sides of the wreck.
“If my story can help one person make a better decision than what I did, it's worth it,” he said.
Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.
