Retired pilot Lyle Prouse was the first person convicted of flying while intoxicated. Photo by Keisuke Yoshimura/The Dakota Student.

Redemption. This word carries heavy meaning and possibly deep, personal conviction.

A word not thrown around lightly in conversation, it’s often associated with comeback stories of people who’ve lost everything they know and love, only to return to happiness and prosperity after a getting a second chance. Maybe you can recall an event that forced you to question your actions or pushed you to make a difficult decision.

The dictionary defines redemption as “the act of saving something or somebody from a declined, dilapidated or corrupted state and restoring it, him or her to a better condition.”

Every now and then, we hear a heartwarming story about the fall from grace of some star athlete or respected CEO, and it often divides us on whether this person really deserved a second chance. But  Americans like the idea of a comeback story for someone who truly wishes to change their ways, and there’s one in particular I believe is the comeback story of a lifetime.

This week, I was fortunate enough to attend a lecture Monday about the story of Lyle Prouse, the captain of Northwest Flight 650 who, in 1990, became the first pilot to be convicted of flying while intoxicated.

It’s hard to imagine the stress and emotional trauma that comes with the dubious distinction of being the first pilot to get caught flying drunk. Not to mention having everything you worked to achieve disappear from under you because of something as foolish as what he did.

During his presentation, Lyle told his story of growing up with two alcoholic parents and living in the projects of Wichita, Kansas. Research shows having a parent that is an alcoholic increases your likelihood of becoming one yourself by 50 percent.

With this in mind, it seems as though Prouse was doomed from the start.

After joining the Marines and becoming a pilot, he started drinking heavily, which only worsened his situation. Throughout his life, he was a heavy drinker, but it somehow escaped him that he was very possibly going to end up an alcoholic like his parents, who both died from the effects of their alcoholism. You’d even wonder why, after getting a job as a captain for a major airline, and having a family of his own to take care of, he didn’t try harder to quit drinking.

Growing up with an alcoholic father myself, I understand how difficult it can be to deal with an alcoholic parent and the effects it can have on a person’s life. Still, occasionally, I find myself daydreaming about how my life could have been different had I not had a lousy dad. I never played catch with him, I taught myself how to shave, and, to this day, I know absolutely nothing about how a car works.

Lyle Prouse spent 58 days in treatment therapy and 16 months in jail after that fateful flight. However, the Air Line Pilots Association fought to have him rehired on the grounds that alcoholism is a disease and should be treated as such, which is true. Northwest  Airlines then created a program to rehabilitate alcoholic pilots, and it is said that these pilots are the best in the industry. Lyle was rehired by Northwest, he earned his wings and retired a captain before receiving a full pardon from President Bill Clinton in 2001.

Prouse has been sober for 23 years and has devoted his life to helping others overcome alcoholism. He is a shining example of just how successful second chances can be. Everyone on Earth deserves at least one second chance, because you can never underestimate the impact you can have on that person and just how powerful their comeback story might be.

Dusk Crescenzo is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. He can be reached at dusk.crescenzo@my.und.edu.