How Attorney Gabriel Snyder Turns Personal Tragedy into Justice for Drunk Driving Victims

A Fatal Crash That Claimed His Sister’s Life Inspires Personal Injury Attorney to Pursue Justice for Other Victims of Drunk Driving

A drunk driver took Gabriel Snyder’s big sister from him in a fatal head-on crash in Louisiana in 2014. Now, as a personal injury attorney, his goal is to prevent other drunk drivers from hurting more people in collisions.

“I want to hurt their wallets so they can’t afford to buy another drink,” Gabriel said of the intoxicated drivers who harm his clients in motor vehicle accidents.

Seeking justice for injured people who were harmed by drunk drivers and other negligent individuals is at the core of Gabriel’s mission as a personal injury and wrongful death attorney at Ward Black Law in Greensboro. In addition to legal skill and experience, he also brings deep empathy for his personal injury clients, having himself suffered severe injuries in the crash that killed his sister, Lydia.

Gabriel was traveling with his sister over winter break during his first year at Campbell University’s Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law. Lydia worked in movie theater advertisement sales and was traveling for work when the crash occurred on Dec. 16, 2014.

Gabriel was driving, and Lydia was a passenger in their Nissan car just outside the small town of Oak Grove, Louisiana, when the alcohol-impaired driver of a Ford pickup crossed the centerline at 70 mph in a 55 zone and hit them head-on.

Lydia died on impact. She was 32 years old.

Gabriel survived. Firefighters had to cut him out of the wreckage, and then he was airlifted to a hospital in Mississippi. He spent about a month in the hospital, receiving treatment for severe injuries, including a shattered elbow and broken bones, including the ulna, radius, tibia, and femur. The treatment included five surgeries.

After being discharged from the hospital, Gabriel underwent months of rehabilitation, first using a wheelchair and later needing a cane for about five months.

The impaired driver of the pickup that hit Lydia and Gabriel was arrested and charged with vehicular homicide, two counts of negligent injury, and driving left of center. His 5-year-old passenger sustained serious injuries and was hospitalized.

After missing the first few weeks of classes, Gabriel returned to Campbell Law with an increased focus on his faith. He founded a Bible study at law school called “Coffee with God,” which he modeled after a group for single women Lydia had founded in Greensboro called “Date Night with God.”

Gabriel is determined to continue Lydia’s legacy as a faithful Christian who met people where they were and worked to bring them closer to God. Gabriel and his wife named their daughter Lydia in remembrance of his sister, who died so young.

He also found a calling to seek justice for people who suffer injuries and loss because of someone else’s reckless decision to drive while impaired by alcohol. After graduating from law school and briefly practicing law with his attorney father, that has been Gabriel’s mission at Ward Black Law, where he handles personal injury and wrongful death cases, in addition to workers’ compensation claims and cases involving eminent domain.