Episode 11: Oct 14, 2026
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Why do some victims of impaired driving become advocates, fundraisers and activists, while others choose a different path through grief?
In this episode of LIVID!: Learning, Insights and Voices on Impaired Driving, host Amanda Bickell explores the psychology of grief, victim advocacy, meaning-making and personal choice through the story of Aurora Crossen and the Reid Davidson Memorial Golf Tournament in Nanaimo, British Columbia.
Reid Davidson was struck by an impaired driver on July 19, 2023, and died the following day. His friends Aurora and Nick Crossen wanted to honour his memory. Without professional fundraising or event-planning experience, they created a memorial golf tournament that has raised $16,500 for MADD Canada in its first two years, while bringing together friends, families and others affected by impaired driving.
But this conversation is about more than a fundraiser.
Drawing on psychological and sociological research, Amanda explores why some people respond to traumatic loss by helping others, building communities and advocating for change. The episode examines altruism born of suffering, meaning-making, experiential expertise, continuing bonds, collective victim identity and agency, and discusses how these concepts help us understand the choices people make after victimization.
Aurora shares how remembering Reid became an opportunity to support other victims, raise awareness about impaired driving and create a community where grief and celebration can coexist. Amanda also reflects on seeing a memorial to her daughter Abbey at the tournament, and what it means when the people we love continue to be remembered by others.
At the heart of this episode is an important distinction: advocacy is a choice, not an expectation of grief. Some people find purpose or connection through public action. Others grieve privately, or find meaning in entirely different ways. Neither response represents a better or more successful grief journey.
This is a conversation about the extraordinary things some people choose to build after loss, the importance of honouring those choices, and the power of remembering the lives behind impaired-driving statistics.
In this episode:
- Why some victims of impaired driving become advocates
- Altruism born of suffering and the psychology of helping after trauma
- Grief, meaning-making and the importance of individual choice
- How Aurora and Nick created the Reid Davidson Memorial Golf Tournament
- MADD Canada, community fundraising and impaired-driving prevention
- Continuing bonds and remembering loved ones after death
- How social expectations and safe transportation choices can help prevent impaired driving
REFERENCES:
Bateson, Regina. “Finding Meaning in Politics: When Victims Become Activists.” Perspectives on Politics 23, no. 1 (2025): 250–69. Published online August 7, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1537592724000872.
Klass, Dennis, Phyllis R. Silverman, and Steven L. Nickman, eds. Continuing Bonds: New Understandings of Grief. Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis, 1996. https://www.routledge.com/Continuing-Bonds-New-Understandings-of-Grief/Klass-Silverman-Nickman/p/book/9781560323396.
Staub, Ervin, and Johanna Vollhardt. “Altruism Born of Suffering: The Roots of Caring and Helping After Victimization and Other Trauma.” American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 78, no. 3 (2008): 267–80. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0014223.
Vollhardt, Johanna Ray. “Inclusive Victim Consciousness in Advocacy, Social Movements, and Intergroup Relations: Promises and Pitfalls.” Social Issues and Policy Review 9, no. 1 (2015): 89–120. https://doi.org/10.1111/sipr.12011.
Weed, Frank J. “The Victim-Activist Role in the Anti-Drunk Driving Movement.” The Sociological Quarterly 31, no. 3 (1990): 459–73. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1533-8525.1990.tb00339.x
