Since then, Luke's life has never quite been the same. But now that he has grown up, he is hoping his experience can help stop any incidents such as this from happening.
"I want to inspire my classmates to make better decisions in how they drive, on how they are coming out of the parking lot or just driving with friends that they make stupid decisions from time-to-time," he said. "And by experiencing his death it makes me want to make sure no one else goes through it."
So with the help of his friends, he has been working non-stop to develop a presentation, packed with stories of his family's heartbreak and statistics that will hopefully speak volumes to the young drivers.
"It's always had an effect on me because he was the guy I looked up to, like my big brother," he said. "He was the biggest impact on my life and all the decisions that I've made a lot of the times."
His friends are the biggest support system he could ask for.
"I know it means a lot to him and he is pretty popular among the student body," said Darren Stillson, Luke's friend and Westview junior. "A lot of people know about it and a lot of people respect him and it takes a lot of guts for him to do that."
"I'm just really proud of him he's really stepping out of any student's comfort zone and really caring about everyone in the community and what they're doing and trying to prevent this kind of thing from happening again," said Brett Yoder, Luke's friend and Westview sophomore.
Luke plans to present in the next few weeks. And after that, he wants to travel to other area high schools to spread the message.
"Greg himself has been a figure that has inspired me to help others," I don't want this type of thing to happen to any other family. I want to inspire other kids. If they have had this happen to them, to not be afraid to stand out, because you'll probably get more support than you thought."
Luke’s caring spirit doesn’t start at this endeavor, either. Instead of having a birthday party in his younger years, he would ask his classmates and friends to give him canned foods instead of a present, which he would donate to local food pantries.
We will be at Luke's presentation in the next few weeks, so stay tuned for a continuation.
In addition to his local efforts, Luke also contacted MTV's "The Buried Life" to see if they could help broadcast his message on a nationwide scale.
If you or someone you know has a story that would be fitting for WSBT's "Everyday People, Everyday Stories" segment, search "Ashley Henderson Wsbt" on Facebook and tell me about it!
