Making the best of a tragedy

Nov. 11, 2007, is a day that Gina Casazza and her family will never forget. Gina’s grandmother, Valley Stream resident Virginia Casazza Urgo, was killed in a crash in Levittown in which the other driver was drunk.

Four years later — to the day — Casazza, 22, is releasing a film about the tragedy and the impact it had on her family. The 45-minute documentary, “One Fatal Mistake,” recounts the event through the eyes of six of Casazza Urgo’s grandchildren. “They pretty much narrate the whole documentary,” Casazza said. “They share their story and their loss.”

Casazza, of Sayville, was in her first year at Hunter College when the accident happened. After going out for her birthday, Casazza Urgo was riding home with her husband, sister, cousin and a friend when their car was struck by one whose driver, Sophia Santos, 20, of Albertson, was drunk and ran a red light.

Not only was Santos underage, but she had a blood alcohol content of .18 and was driving with nothing more than a learner’s permit. She later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three to nine years in jail. She has already been denied parole once.

Casazza, who spoke at Santos’s sentencing, said she decided to turn the tragedy into something positive. Taking a documentary film course the semester after the accident, she was urged by classmates to do a movie project on it. Her work went beyond a school assignment and took the better part of four years to complete.

She initially planned to focus on the accident’s survivors, but her emphasis changed over time. The finished project, she said, is more heartfelt, and she believes it is a story that anyone can relate to.

The movie starts off with teens drinking at a party. It then takes the perspective of a drunk driver — first a hand grabbing keys, then a view from behind the wheel of a swerving car, then a crash. Following some News12 footage of the accident, there are home movies of Casazza Urgo. “That’s when you’re able to connect with who she was,” Casazza said, adding that she wants viewers to feel that “this could be my own home movies. This could be my family.”

Then there are interviews with the six grandchildren. They read the letters they wrote to the judge for Santos’s sentencing. There is also a re-enactment of Santos’s parole hearing. Casazza said she was able to secure the transcript of it, so it is recreated word for word.

John Urgo, Casazza Urgo’s widower, has a role in the film as well. Though he won’t see it for the first time until Friday night’s premiere, Urgo explained that he was filmed visiting the telephone pole at Hempstead Turnpike and Wantagh Avenue, where the fatal crash took place and where flowers and his wife’s picture have become fixtures. It was a very emotional moment, he said.

Moving on

Urgo, a lifelong Valley Stream resident who was married to Casazza Urgo for nearly 15 years, said that the accident took a toll on him in several ways. Because of his injuries, he was unable to work for a year and a half. It also affected him financially, given the medical costs and the loss of income. And, he said, the emotional pain still hasn’t gone away. “I’m still trying to get my personal life back together,” he said.

Still, Urgo said, he has been able to forgive Santos. Noting that she is still in prison four years later, he said he hopes that is a deterrent for anyone who thinks of drinking and driving.

The purpose of the movie, Casazza said, is to show the devastation that drunk driving causes. She interviews people who admit to driving while intoxicated, with their faces blacked out and voices altered, to show the mindset of a drunk driver. “It really puts into perspective the whole movie,” she said.

Making the film wasn’t without its challenges. At one point, Casazza said, she lost all of her work when her computer’s hard drive crashed. Another time, she wasn’t happy with the film and started over. She changed the story several times. The fourth time was the charm. “A lot of things just went wrong that helped me,” she said. “Every time something went wrong I would just laugh. Maybe this is supposed to be this way.”

Casazza says she was very close to her grandmother, as were all 10 grandchildren. The morning before Casazza Urgo’s death, Casazza spoke to her on the phone for about two hours, and they talked about their plans to spend time together during that coming week.

Casazza Urgo attended her granddaughter’s softball and soccer games and school concerts, and every Wednesday afternoon they went to a Chinese buffet together. “I saw her all the time,” Casazza said.

She graduated from Hunter in June and has ambitions of directing feature films. She hopes “One Fatal Mistake” is viewed beyond Friday night’s screening in Port Jefferson. “I really want it to go national,” she said. “I really want it to get into schools all over America.”

Urgo, too, hopes the film carries a strong message. If it does make its way into schools, he noted that having the story told from the vantage point of his late wife’s grandchildren will make it relatable for students. “If this movie just saves one life,” he said, “it’s a great achievement.”