Mom Who Lost Husband To Drunk Boater: 'Now I Live In Hell'

It's been five years since the day that Michele Weil last saw her husband Christopher Mannino — five years since her children last hugged their father — five years since he headed off on the fishing trip where a crash caused by a drunken boater ripped apart her family's dreams.

And with crowds of boaters heading out on the water to enjoy the July 4th weekend, many with coolers packed with beer and spirits, Weil is sharing her tragic story so that others don't lose everything they love in a drunken boating crash.

Boating while intoxicated is an escalating concern: According to the 2016 Recreational Boating Report compiled by the New York State Department of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation, 22 boating fatalities were reported in 2016, a 37.5 percent increase from the 16 fatalities in 2015.

The report states that alcohol and drug use a "significant cause of fatal boating accidents in New York."

Between 2005 and 2016 alcohol and drug use was found to be a primary contributing factor in 61 fatalities, or 24 percent, of all boating deaths, the reports says.

And that number has spiked dramatically in recent years: "In 2016 alcohol or drugs are known to have been present in 11 of the 22 fatalities" or 50 percent, the report said. "These substances can impair both judgment and reaction time," the report states.

Christopher Mannino, of West Islip, died on June 23, 2012. He was 39 years old. He left behind his wife Michele and their two young children.

Mannino was one of five people aboard a 38-foot fishing boat on its way to a Mako Shark fishing tournament when Brian Andreski’s 25-foot speedboat slammed into the vessel near a stanchion under the Robert Moses Causeway around 4:50 a.m.

Mannino was thrown from the boat and his body was found by divers about nine hours later, officials said.

Andreski, then 27, pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide and second degree manslaughter in the crash that killed Mannino. He was sentenced to 4 to 12 years in jail.

"Brian Andreski has impacted my life in a way that I'll never recover from," Weil said at his sentencing. "I stand before you dead, but alive. I wish it could be you who was dead, not Chris. I pray you have children some day and see what you took."

The boat Christopher Mannino was riding in when it was struck by a drunken boater in 2012.

"You live broken"

Days after the five-year mark of the moment her world changed forever, Weil spoke to Patch about what losing her beloved husband and the adored father of her two children has meant to her family.

"My husband was just such an extraordinary person," she said. "I can't even stress enough the loss."

Mannino, who did county roadwork for a corporation in Nassau County, touched countless lives, caring about the people he worked with, his widow said.

"He was the nucleus to this family. He was just such a strong role model," Weil said.

Her children Hailee and Christopher Jr., now 16 and 11, were just 11 and 6 on the day their father died.

And despite the years that have passed, Weil says not enough has been done to prevent future tragedies.

"It's terrible that people are careless. They have a choice. If you're going to be drinking, be cognitive to be around people who can say 'no.' Nobody should ever be so intoxicated that they can't control themselves. It's self-control and it's surroundings," she said.

There are options, Weil said, to boating while intoxicated — water taxis, hotels, designated drivers for the boat.

Still, she said, the culture of drinking is deeply entrenched. Sadly, she said, "Drinking and boating go hand in hand."

Her love story, Weil said, was blissful; losing the love of her life has caused deep despair. "I was very, very happy with my life. I was high on life, so thankful for my husband. He was my best friend. Never, in a million years, did I think this would happen to me."

The couple started dating when she was just 16; she lost him when she was 29.

And the repercussions to her family resonate strongly today. "I got to my family's for Father's Day and my dad says, 'I lost a son.'" Her husband's mother was so heartbroken that she had to leave New York; she moved to Florida, Weil said.

Mannino was a best friend to his siblings, and a loving father to his children.

"Now I'm a single mom. I can't even try to be the person that he was. I can just be me, and live the legacy of the things he taught me, the morals," she said.

Her life was irrevocably changed on the day her husband died, Weil said.

"What I went through is a nightmare," she said. "He was my life. Now I live in hell. There's no sugar coating it."

While she said every couple has problems, she and her husband lived a forever love story. "I was living on Cloud 9. My husband would take me out to lunch, he'd send me flowers, he'd give my daughter flowers. He was just an awesome individual. Honestly, he was an angel living on earth."

And the way he loved their children, she said, was an inspiration. Mannino balanced work so he'd have time to attend every game, every school event. Weil said her memories of her husband and children laughing, riding on quads, color her days. "We were a team," she said. "This tragedy has caused so much havoc and loss."

Her husband's life was devoted to his family, she said. The only reason he'd even decided to participate in the shark fishing tournament that fateful day was to become closer to the parents of his sons' friends; it was a last minute decision to go.

"The last man he spoke to, on the boat, told me, 'He was talking about you and the kids. How much he loved you, and how great the kids are,'" she said.

While she tries to focus on the happy memories, for her children's sake, Weil said, "When you go through such a loss, people don't understand. They can't really relate. You live broken — it's like a part of you died."

In the years since, Weil, now 34, has struggled to carry on, for her kids' sake. But she's gone from fairy tale days of love and family vacations, to the challenge of being a working single mom.

Her children were devastated by the loss of the father who adored them. "They were just lost," Weil said. Reflecting on her echoing grief, Weil said: "It breaks my heart. They didn't deserve this. Nobody does."

To those thinking of drinking and boating, "Think about what you're doing," she said. "Make sure you aren't wreaking havoc in public."

Suffolk County, she said, needs to crack down completely; the entire culture of serving drinks dockside needs to be changed, she believes. Enforcement, she said, is critical, not just a slap on the wrist to boaters caught drunk. Penalties need to be stiffer, with zero tolerance, Weil believes.

As for her family, Weil said it's the love of those who've rallied beside her, helping with her kids, as well as faith, that has kept her strong. She sees signs of her husband, butterflies, and feels his love every day. "I know he's always with me," she said.

Crackdown on drunk boaters

Statewide, legislation has been introduced to take a stiffer stance against BWI.

In 2016, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed “Tiffany Heitkamp’s Law," legislation that strengthens penalties for boating while intoxicated offenses by linking them to prior drinking while driving offenses involving a vehicle.

The bill requires courts to consider prior driving while intoxicated or driving while ability impaired convictions when sentencing a person for boating while intoxicated or boating while ability impaired.

“Whether behind the wheel of a car or a boat, drunk drivers are a danger to themselves and a menace to others,” Cuomo said. “This new law closes this loophole and will help keep these dangerous individuals off our roads and waterways, avoiding more senseless tragedies.”

The measure requires that a court sentencing an individual for a BWI carrying a 30-day sentence must consider any prior DWIs or DWAIs by the same individual within a five-year period. When sentencing for a BWAI carrying a 180-day sentence, the court must consider prior DWIs or DWAIs within a 10 year period. This change would require a sentencing judge to impose a higher sentence on those who repeatedly get behind the wheel in an intoxicated state, regardless of whether it is a car or a boat, the legislation states.

The “Tiffany Heitkamp” bill was named after a young Syracuse-area woman who was killed in July, 2006 while traveling as a passenger in a boat operated by an intoxicated driver; the individual operating the boat had a record of alcohol-related automobile incidents, a release from Cuomo's office said.

Suffolk County crackdown

In Suffolk County, 2012 was the first year checkpoints were established in Suffolk County to crack down on boating while intoxicated, according to abc7ny.com.

According to the report, the checkpoints were created after Mannino's death.

That report stated that then-Suffolk County Police Commissioner Edward Webber said his department had made 15 BWI arrests in 2012, more than in the past three years combined.

This July 4th weekend, Suffolk County Police have taken to social media to urge boaters to make smart choices: "To ensure that everyone has a safe holiday weekend, the Suffolk County Police Department will be stepping up patrols across the county's roads and waterways to crack down on driving or boating while under the influence," SCPD said on their Facebook page.

Officers will be out in full force over the weekend with increased highway patrol, community support unit, emergency service unit and K-9 section patrols in all 7 precincts; marine bureau patrols on the water; and quad and foot patrols on Fire Island, SCPD said.

"We urge residents to not risk their own lives and the lives of others by driving or boating while under the influence of drugs or alcohol," SCPD said.

"We want everyone to enjoy the Fourth of July weekend," Police Commissioner Timothy D. Sini said. "This is a great weekend to celebrate this beautiful country, to have fun, to spend time with loved ones, but be safe and make smart decisions."

Overall boater safety

With an eye toward boater safety, Huntington Town released a boating safety video and is once again imposing a 5 mph boating speed limit in Huntington Bay South and Northport Bay from 8:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. on July 4. That restriction was implemented following a 2012 boating accident in which three children lost their lives after a fireworks show.

And, according to 2016 state boating report, wearing a PFD is critical: The report states that the leading cause of boating deaths is drowning; during the years 2005 to 2015, 87 percent of all victims were not wearing a personal flotation device. Immersion into unexpected cold water can also be deadly, the report says.

Boater education and safety courses, all agree, can save lives.

Michele Weil only has photographs and videos to help her children remember their father.

"I have to let them never forget." Watching a video just before Father's Day, she said: "I was crying, thinking, 'Was it real? Was I ever really happy and at peace?' But I did have him. That's how I created these beautiful kids."