Crash Victim Shares Pain With Youths : Safety: Brandon Silveria, who suffered brain damage, talks about the dangers of drinking and driving.

Drowsy after a long day and a few beers, Brandon Silveria said, his eyes closed for a second or two as he drove home from a high school party. His next memory came 18 months later at a rehabilitation facility.

Silveria, 24, now tours the country sharing his story with teen-agers, encouraging them to be smarter than he was 7 1/2 years ago when the combination of alcohol and fatigue caused him to lose control of his car and slam into a tree.

“I want you to know that I care about you,” Silveria told students Tuesday at University High School on the Westside, his voice slurred by permanent brain damage. “And I hope to God that none of you have to go through what I went through.”

The former high school athlete was a healthy 17-year-old living in Los Gatos near San Jose when he and a few buddies ventured to a Saturday night party that would change his life. Since recovering from the accident three years ago, he has lectured more than 75,000 high school students about the dangers of drinking and driving.

As a spokesman for The Century Council--a national nonprofit organization sponsored by alcoholic beverage companies, distributors and wholesalers that focuses on underage drinking and driving--Silveria travels the country as evidence of what can happen to someone who drives under the influence.

“We have several national programs, and this is one of our most powerful,” said council spokeswoman Carolyn Williams. “The key to the Brandon program is that he is a peer speaking to peers.”

Silveria’s fateful day began at 6 a.m. in March, 1987, when he rose to go to work at his part-time restaurant job. What followed was an exhausting day that included a practice session with his high school rowing team, a cookout and the party.

“I had a few beers at the party,” Silveria said. “Not very much alcohol at all.”

After dropping off his friends about 12:45 a.m., Silveria headed home. He was 1 1/2 miles from his house when his car veered off the road. The car hit the tree with such force that the steering wheel was pushed into the dashboard. Silveria was wearing his seat belt but still hit his head on the windshield.

He lay in a coma at San Jose Medical Center for almost three months. Upon regaining consciousness, he struggled through 10 months of physical and mental therapy to relearn everything from the names of family members to how to eat.

The crash caused brain damage that has affected Silveria’s speech, balance and memory.

“You don’t know how hard it is to talk to people and have them think that you are retarded when you are not,” said Silveria, who admitted that he is self-conscious about his speaking voice.

The crash also dealt emotional and financial blows to Silveria’s family. Insurance covered most of his more than $1 million in medical bills, but Brandon’s parents, Tony and Shirley Silveria, and his sister, Tiffiny, 27, still struggled to cope with the tragedy.

But Brandon Silveria told the group that “you have to take responsibility for the consequences of your choices.”

Some of the teens wanted to know if Silveria lost friends and his girlfriend after the accident. He told them he lost both.

“The way I look at it is that it was their loss,” Silveria said with a smile.