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Through often-graphic hospital footage and personal interviews with several teens and their grief-stricken families, Smashed: Toxic Tales of Teens and Alcohol is a cautionary documentary that explores in heartbreaking detail the sudden devastation that a drinking and driving accident can bring - and how difficult the road to recovery (which is often only partial, at best) can be, if one is lucky enough to survive.

Among the teens we meet in Smashed: Toxic Tales of Teens and Alcohol:

Timmy, Age 15 - After drinking a case of beer, Timmy drove his all-terrain vehicle into a tree after swerving to avoid a rabbit. He was not wearing a helmet. We see Timmy rushed into the shock trauma unit with severe brain swelling as his parents, Carolyn and Raymond, wait tearfully for him to show signs of cognizance. After a week he is released into a rehab center, where he must learn to speak and walk again. Five months later, as Timmy celebrates his 16th birthday, he is irritable and depressed, and he has begun drinking again. Timmy has recently dropped out of high school, and has spent a week in a mandatory detox program.

Andy, Age 19 - Andy was driving home from a friend's house after a "few beers" when his Jeep, going 70 mph in a 35-mph zone, hit an embankment and rolled over four times. Lucky to be alive, Andy is brought into the Shock Trauma Center, where he admits to drinking six to nine beers every day, but claims that he is not an alcoholic and that he can control himself. Lying on the emergency room table, his head being stitched together, he agrees to "cut back" on his drinking.

Traci, Age 18 - After "partying" one night, Traci got into a car with a drunk driver, who ended up speeding and slamming into a tree. Traci's head smashed into the windshield, and her brain banged back and forth and twisted inside her skull. She was in a coma for 81 days, sustaining multiple injuries so severe (a ruptured spleen, punctured lung, broken ribs, and smashed pelvis) that she was unable to do anything for herself. Her mother describes her as being "like an infant." Four years later, after painstaking rehabilitation, Traci still struggles with speaking (due to partial paralysis), and spends most of her time at home. Of that fateful day she says, "I just basically ruined my life."

Tom, Age 17 - After drinking a quart of vodka at a local mall, Tom fell 20 feet off a landing - and onto a stone floor. Though he denies he's been drinking as he's brought into the shock trauma center, tests confirm that he had consumed alcohol. His family arrives to find him drugged and breathing on a respirator. They wait and pray as doctors remove a dangerous blood clot in his frontal lobe. When Tom's friends come to visit, his mom implores them to change their ways. Since his accident, Tom has been unable to find a job.

Katie, Age 16 - After meeting some guys she didn't know (not realizing that they had been drinking), Katie recalls, "I thought the guy driving was pretty hot, so of course I got in the car with them." She ended up in an accident that left her in a coma for over seven weeks, with a broken arm, broken leg, and multiple internal injuries. Her mother describes the ensuing struggle to re-learn basic functions, as well as enduring an angry phase (typical of head-trauma victims) of lashing out, biting and hitting. Katie's short-term memory is so impaired that she can't learn properly or even enjoy a movie. She has given up her college plans, and is looking for clerical work.

Warren, Age 17 - One day, Warren got a lift home with a friend who had been drinking "a couple" of beers. When the friend's car crashed, Warren's brain, like Traci's, slammed back and forth inside his skull. He now has difficulty sleeping, eating, concentrating and reading. Warren describes himself as having been "happy-go-lucky" before the accident, but now has been hospitalized for severe depression. He has also developed aggression issues, and has recently faced criminal charges. Warren is currently under house arrest for six months.

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