He Survived DUI Crash, Dies in Another Suspected One

Two years ago, a drunk driver nearly took the life of 17-year-old Clyde Thompson in Beaumont, Texas. Over the weekend, he lost his life to another driver facing DUI charges, reports KHOU 11. “It’s just unreal," says the mother of the 19-year-old, Tamala Johnson. "To get killed by the very thing ... you survived." On Sunday, police in Beaumont say the driver of a pickup smashed into a sedan carrying Thompson and Tonysha Lashay Smith, killing them both. Thompson and Smith were both students at Lamar University. The driver of the truck was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, and police say charges are pending because "alcohol is believed to be a contributing factor to this accident."

All of this occurred after a 2019 incident in which a drunk driver struck Thompson, then in high school, as he walked home after basketball practice, per People. Doctors put Thompson into a coma, and it wasn't clear at the time whether he would ever come out of it. But he not only survived, he was able to rejoin his school basketball team. "I'm a miracle," he told the Houston TV station at the time. Thompson had been studying to be a physical therapist, a career quest inspired by his 2019 recuperation. (More DUI stories.)