Jacqueline Saburido
{{Short description|Venezuelan burn victim (1978–2019)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Jacqueline Saburido
| image = File:Jacqueline Saburido.jpg
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1978|12|20|df=y}}
| birth_place = Caracas, Venezuela
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2019|04|20|df=y|1978|12|20}}
| death_place = Guatemala City, Guatemala
| occupation = Spokeswoman
| known_for = Survivor of severe burn injuries sustained in a drunk driving incident
| father = Amadeo Saburido
| mother = Rosalia Saburido
}}
Jacqueline Saburido ({{IPA|es|ɟʝakeˈlin saβuˈɾiðo}}; 20 December 1978 – 20 April 2019) was a Venezuelan activist and burn survivor who campaigned against drunk driving. After a car crash in 1999, Saburido received burns on 60% of her body; she went on to appear in drunk-driving ads and was twice a guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show. She also unsuccessfully tried to become Britain's first face transplant patient.
Early life and drunk driving incident
The only child of Rosalia and Amadeo Saburido, she lived in Caracas, Venezuela, for all of her childhood.{{cite web|url=https://nypost.com/2019/04/23/jacqui-saburido-face-of-anti-dwi-campaigns-dies-at-40/|title=Jacqui Saburido, face of anti-DWI campaigns, dies at 40|first=Yaron|last=Steinbuch|date=23 April 2019|publisher=New York Post|accessdate=23 April 2019|archive-date=23 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190423215544/https://nypost.com/2019/04/23/jacqui-saburido-face-of-anti-dwi-campaigns-dies-at-40/|url-status=live}} Living with her father after her parents divorced, she studied engineering in the hope of taking over the family air conditioning business. In August 1999, Saburido decided to take a break and move to Austin, Texas to study English.{{Cite news |date=2 March 2003 |title=Chasing Hope |url=https://dartcenter.org/content/chasing-hope?section=4 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180301170051/https://dartcenter.org/content/chasing-hope?section=4 |archive-date=1 March 2018 |access-date=1 March 2018 |work=Dart Center |at=Section: "Leaving Caraca, August 1999"}}
On 19 September 1999, Saburido attended a birthday party near Lake Travis. She and her friends left after a few hours, and accepted a ride home from a classmate.{{cite news|last=Knight|first=Drew|date=22 April 2019|url=https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/face-of-drunk-driving-jacqui-saburido-dies-at-40-reports-say/269-48feaf5a-5e37-4750-ada1-78684873a2fd|title='Face of drunk driving' Jacqui Saburido dies at 40, reports say|website=KVUE|accessdate=22 April 2019|archive-date=22 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422212321/https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/face-of-drunk-driving-jacqui-saburido-dies-at-40-reports-say/269-48feaf5a-5e37-4750-ada1-78684873a2fd|url-status=live}} A short while into the drive, their 1990 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Regency was hit by a 1996 GMC Yukon driven by Reginald Stephey, who had been drinking beforehand.{{Cite web|url=https://dartcenter.org/content/chasing-hope?section=4|title=Chasing Hope|last=Hafet|first=David|date=2 March 2003|publisher=Dart Center|access-date=28 February 2018|archive-date=1 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180301170039/https://dartcenter.org/content/chasing-hope?section=4|url-status=live}} The driver and one passenger of the vehicle she was in were killed, with the other passengers injured; of the three survivors, Saburido was the only one trapped in the car when it caught fire, and was unable to escape the flames.{{cite web|url=https://au.news.yahoo.com/texas-woman-who-fronted-famous-anti-drink-driving-campaign-dies-070201398.html|title=Woman who fronted famous anti drink-driving campaign dies|website=Yahoo News|date=23 April 2019 |accessdate=23 April 2019|archive-date=23 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190423092755/https://au.news.yahoo.com/texas-woman-who-fronted-famous-anti-drink-driving-campaign-dies-070201398.html|url-status=live}}
Passing paramedics extinguished the fire and tried to remove people from the car, but the fire reignited before they could rescue Saburido; they also lacked suitable equipment to cut her out. Forty-five seconds later, a fire truck arrived and fully extinguished the fire, after which Saburido was airlifted to the burn unit in Galveston.{{Cite news|url=https://dartcenter.org/content/chasing-hope?section=5|title=Chasing Hope|date=2 March 2003|work=Dart Center|access-date=1 March 2018|at=Section: "The Accident, Sept. 19, 1999"|archive-date=1 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180301170028/https://dartcenter.org/content/chasing-hope?section=5|url-status=live}}
Saburido suffered second and third degree burns to more than 60% of her body, but survived despite her doctor's expectations.{{cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/23/us/jacqui-saburido-drunk-driving-dead-trnd/index.html|title=Jacqui Saburido, who became the face of an anti-drunk driving campaign, has died|website=CNN News|date=23 April 2019|accessdate=23 April 2019|archive-date=23 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190423185306/https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/23/us/jacqui-saburido-drunk-driving-dead-trnd/index.html|url-status=live}} Her fingers had to be amputated, but there was enough bone left on her thumb to construct an opposable thumb. She lost her hair, ears, nose, lips, left eyelid, and much of her vision. Saburido subsequently underwent more than 120 reconstructive operations, including cornea transplants to restore her left eye.{{Cite news|url=https://dartcenter.org/content/chasing-hope?section=7|title=Chasing Hope|date=2 March 2003|work=Dart Center|access-date=1 March 2018|at=Section: "Leaving Caracas"|archive-date=1 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180301170047/https://dartcenter.org/content/chasing-hope?section=7|url-status=live}}
In June 2001, Stephey was convicted on two counts of intoxicated manslaughter.{{cite web |last1=Flowers |first1=Rich |title=Former drunk driver and his victim speak out |url=https://www.athensreview.com/news/local_news/former-drunk-driver-and-his-victim-speak-out/article_151e7c58-04c4-5ab3-a9a1-c0dffbdef32e.html |website=Athens Daily Review |date=20 March 2014 |accessdate=22 April 2019 |archive-date=22 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422202843/https://www.athensreview.com/news/local_news/former-drunk-driver-and-his-victim-speak-out/article_151e7c58-04c4-5ab3-a9a1-c0dffbdef32e.html |url-status=live}}{{cite web |last1=Tatum |first1=Amy |title=Teens Sentence Drunk Driver In Mock Trial |url=http://www.kltv.com/story/3425149/teens-sentence-drunk-driver-in-mock-trial/ |website=KLTV |date=3 June 2005 |accessdate=22 April 2019 |archive-date=22 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422202404/http://www.kltv.com/story/3425149/teens-sentence-drunk-driver-in-mock-trial/ |url-status=live}} Saburido and Stephey met for the first time after his trial and conviction in 2001.{{cite web |last1=Schwartz |first1=Jeremy |title=10 years after accident, Jacqui Saburido says she's trying to find peace |url=http://www.golaketravis.com/news.php?id=406 |website=Go Lake Travis |accessdate=22 April 2019 |archive-date=25 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190425043121/http://www.golaketravis.com/news.php?id=406 |url-status=live }} Saburido has stated that Stephey "destroyed my life completely", but forgave him. Regarding the meeting, Stephey later stated that "What sticks out in my mind is, 'Reggie, I don't hate you.' It's really touching someone can look you in the eyes and have that much compassion after all that I have caused".{{cite web|url=https://www.statesman.com/news/20190422/jacqui-saburido-face-of-campaigns-against-drunken-driving-dies-at-40|title=Jacqui Saburido, the face of campaigns against drunken driving, dies at 40|first=Jeremy|last=Schwartz|website=Austin American-Statesman|accessdate=22 April 2019|archive-date=22 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422191606/https://www.statesman.com/news/20190422/jacqui-saburido-face-of-campaigns-against-drunken-driving-dies-at-40|url-status=live}}
Saburido was among 21 disfigured people who had approached surgeons at a London hospital to carry out Britain's first face transplant operation; she was not selected.[http://www.medindia.net/news/healthwatch/facialtransplant_controversies.asp The Looming Controversy Surrounding Facial Transplant] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221007115425/https://www.medindia.net/news/healthwatch/The-Looming-Controversy-Surrounding-Facial-Transplant-6496-1.htm |date=7 October 2022 }}, Medindia.net, 22 December 2005. She continued looking into other possibilities for a face transplant in other nations and hospitals.[http://edition.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/05/26/face.transplant/ Face transplants inch toward reality] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081017075057/http://edition.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/05/26/face.transplant/ |date=17 October 2008}}, CNN.com 26 May 2004.[https://web.archive.org/web/20080613081214/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1505905/First-British-face-transplant-%27within-a-year%27.html First British face transplant 'within a year'] by Roger Highfield and Celia Hall, The Telegraph, 20 December 2005.
Advocacy and media appearances
Saburido allowed graphic post-crash photographs of herself to be used in the media (posters, television commercials, and internet chain mail) to illustrate a possible outcome of drunk driving. She is best known for a commercial in which she holds a pre-crash photo of herself in front of the camera, which she lowers to reveal her disfigured face and says, "This is me, after being hit by a drunk driver." When asked why she appeared in the campaign, Saburido stated "I feel very good to do it because I know people can understand a little more what happened to me – why my life changed completely. So I think for me, for everybody, it's a good opportunity."[https://www.npr.org/programs/atc/features/2002/oct/texas_dwi/index.html A Sobering Message to Drunk Drivers], National Public Radio (NPR), 18 October 2002. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090415184633/http://www.npr.org/programs/atc/features/2002/oct/texas_dwi/index.html |date=15 April 2009 }} To ensure the material involving Saburido that was used in an ad campaign by the Texas Department of Transportation could also be used in schools, the videos and photos taken of her involved the use of soft lighting to improve her appearance and consultation with child psychologists to ensure the material, although graphic, would not frighten children.{{cite web |title=Jacqui Saburido |url=http://www.facesofdrunkdriving.com/jacqui |website=Faces of drunk driving |accessdate=22 April 2019 |archive-date=16 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170716045946/http://facesofdrunkdriving.com/jacqui |url-status=live }}
Regarding her life after the crash, Saburido said that she never gave up: "If a person stumbles, he must pick himself up and keep going. I believe this is very important; if not, life would not have much sense." She appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show on 17 November 2003. She was also interviewed on the Australian 60 Minutes on 14 March 2004, and was featured in a Discovery Health documentary on face transplants. Oprah Winfrey called Saburido the one person she had met who defined "inner beauty" and that she is "a woman who defines survival."
When Stephey was released from the Huntsville Unit in Texas on 24 June 2008, Saburido stated: "I don't hate him, I don't feel bad because he's out, he can reconstruct his life again."[http://www.txcn.com/sharedcontent/dws/txcn/austin/stories/062408kvuestephey-mm.374d710b.html Victim forgives newly-released drunk driver] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080628125034/http://www.txcn.com/sharedcontent/dws/txcn/austin/stories/062408kvuestephey-mm.374d710b.html |date=28 June 2008 }} by Shelton Green, Texas Cable News (TXCN), 25 June 2008. On 20 May 2011, Saburido appeared in one of the last episodes of The Oprah Winfrey Show, which was dedicated to Winfrey's favorite guests. Saburido revealed that she had undergone over 120 surgeries by that date.{{cite web|title=Jacqui's Struggle|url=http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Jacquis-Struggle-Video_1|website=Oprah.com|accessdate=29 September 2015|format=Video|archive-date=2 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151002041541/http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Jacquis-Struggle-Video_1|url-status=live}}
Death
On 20 April 2019, Saburido died of cancer in Guatemala City. Her family stated that she had moved to Guatemala a few years previously seeking better treatment for her illness. Saburido was buried in Caracas.{{cite news |last1=Schwartz |first1=Jeremy |last2=K.M. Haurwitz |first2=Ralph |date=22 April 2019 |title=Jacqui Saburido, the face of campaigns against drunken driving, dies at 40 |url=https://www.statesman.com/news/20190422/jacqui-saburido-face-of-campaigns-against-drunken-driving-dies-at-40 |website=Statesman.com |accessdate=22 April 2019 |archive-date=22 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422191606/https://www.statesman.com/news/20190422/jacqui-saburido-face-of-campaigns-against-drunken-driving-dies-at-40 |url-status=live }}
According to TxDOT's Faces of Drunk Driving Campaign, Saburido's story had been told to at least one billion people worldwide by the time of her death.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.facesofdrunkdriving.com/jacqui Facesofdrunkdriving.com]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Saburido, Jacqueline}}
Category:Deaths from cancer in Guatemala
Category:People from Austin, Texas