Drunk Driver Sentenced After Seriously Injuring News Anchor in Crash
Former WMBB-TV reporter Tess Rowland said in court that the defendant has 'handed me a life sentence' after she suffered critical injuries in the crash.
A man convicted of critically injuring former WMBB-TV reporter Tess Rowland in a DUI crash has been sentenced to time behind bars. On July 21, Jacob Savage was sentenced to three years in prison, with Circuit Court Judge Brantley Clark also giving Savage six years probation, 250 hours of public service work, and suspending his divers license for a year after he completes his prison sentence, according to the State Attorney's Office, per WJHG.
The sentencing followed the May 4, 2021 crash, in which Rowland's vehicle, which was headed eastbound on Panama City Beach Parkway as the reporter was on her way to work, was struck head-on by Savage, who turned west into the eastbound lanes. In an op-ed for Today, Rowland said "the only thing I remember are the headlights coming straight toward me and having no time to react." Savage, whose blood-alcohol content was 1.5 times the legal limit at the time of the crash, was not injured in the crash. Rowland, who wrote that she "was 22 years old and until that moment when I saw the headlights, I was living my dream life," was critically injured.
The former news anchor, who at 24 is now the new MADD National President, underwent four surgeries by the time she woke up in the hospital and ultimately "spent 12 days in the hospital undergoing a total of seven surgeries, requiring four plates and 22 screws." Rowland told Today that her injuries "entailed complex fractures to my knee and shoulder and doctors considered amputating the lower portion of my right leg but were fortunately able to save it." According to WJHG, Rowland is currently preparing for a shoulder replacement and still cannot lift over 5 pounds with the arm.
"You may be serving three years, but you, Mr. Savage, have handed me a life sentence," Rowland said in court during Savage's sentencing. "There isn't a day I don't live in pain, see my scars and shutter, or replay the final moments of the crash in my mind. All because you had to celebrate your 22nd birthday."
Rowland told Today that she decided to speak out about the tragedy because she is "using my voice for the voiceless: those people who are killed every 45 minutes. Because the fact is, they're dead. They can't tell their stories. but I can tell mine and hopefully, in the process, save lives." She said she is "blessed to be in the position I am in today, but I still have occasional nightmares about the headlights coming toward me, and more physical challenges to face in the future," adding that "the best I can do with my second chance is keep someone else from the same fate – or even death."