After losing their 15-month-old son to a drunk driver in 2016, MMA fighter Marcus Kowal and his wife, Mishel Eder, are giving viewers a glimpse into their journey of grief in a documentary called “Letters to Liam” as they aim to end drunk driving.
Professional mixed martial arts fighter Marcus Kowal does not want his son's death to be in vain.
After losing their 15-month-old son, Liam Kowal, to a drunk driver, the fighter and his wife, Mishel Eder, are giving viewers a glimpse into their journey of grief in a documentary called "Letters to Liam" as they aim to end drunk driving.
"Our fight is not with the alcohol industry, it is just about not getting behind the wheel when you've been drinking," Kowal said.
On Sept. 3, 2016, Liam's 15-year-old aunt was pushing him in a stroller inside a crosswalk in Hawthorne when they were hit by an SUV. The 72-year-old driver, Donna Marie Higgins, fled the scene, but witnesses followed her and stopped her from fleeing until police arrived.
The toddler sustained internal injuries as a result of the accident, and he was pronounced brain dead. His parents decided to take Liam off life support and donated his organs.
Higgins was charged with gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, hit-and-run-driving and two DUI counts. This summer, she pleaded guilty for the DUI hit-and-run death of Liam and entered a plea for the one felony count of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. Higgins was immediately sentenced to six years in state prison.
Following the death of his son, Kowal wants to change drinking culture in the United States.
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"I grew up in a society where drinking and driving was very looked down on," said Kowal, who was born in Sweden."Here in the U.S. it is very common; many people have one, sometimes two, three, four DUI's."
To change social attitudes, Kowal, in partnership with the California Highway Patrol, is visiting high schools in the next year and talking to teenagers about drunk driving. He hopes teenagers will respond to his image as an MMA fighter, and that his advice will not fall on deaf ears.
The couple's mission to end drunk driving has taken them to Sacramento. They recently met with Lieutenant Governor of California Gavin Newsom's chief-of-staff to help them navigate the legislative process as they try to draft a bill to lower the legal blood alcohol content in the United States from 0.08 percent to 0.04 percent.
Their goal is to eventually lower the legal blood alcohol content to 0.02 percent, like in Sweden. According to the latest data from the World Health Organization, Sweden is the country with the second-fewest road traffic deaths, with a rate of 2.8 deaths per 100,000 people in 2015.
In 2012, the Fatality Analysis Reporting System reported that 31 percent of road traffic deaths in the United States involved alcohol. Meanwhile, the Swedish Transport Administration reported 19 percent of road traffic deaths involved alcohol in Sweden in 2013.
Since the death of their first-born, Kowal and his wife have welcomed a new son named Nico.
"We want Nico to have his own identity and to be able to be his own person, and not live in his brother's shadow, but we also plan on showing him who Liam was," Eder said.
Nico will one day be able to see what his parents experienced after the death of his brother.
A documentary crew has followed the couple through Nico's birth, Higgins' sentencing, MMA fights and their fight to end drunk driving.
The family is now asking for the public's help to finish funding the movie, which they plan to release next year.
The title, "Letters to Liam" was inspired by Kowal, who began writing to cope with his son's death. Eder says she continues to write letters to Liam.
"I do write to him every day, and I hope that he can see us and that he is proud of us," she said.
