I saw her in a wheelchair years later. She was trying to make the most of her situation, but was bitter and angry at the turn of events in her life. They thought he'd been drinking, but no one knew how much. They seemed unconcerned, and even thought it was funny. The boy was deeply comatose.
Alcohol is a toxin, or poison.
In this case, he woke up after 36 hours in the ICU on a respirator. I don't think he really understood how close he came to dying that night. Many of the problems occur at bush parties, or house parties, or on our highways, and frequently effect younger students who are partying along with the grads. These interventions have reduced some of the carnage on graduation night. Yet for all our efforts to persuade teenagers to seek healthier alternatives, the promotion of unchecked excess and consequence-free reckless behavior is being enshrined by our society and glorified by the movie media.