It’ll be a while before Tekoa Murphy will feel like eating anything.

The 17-year-old junior was one of three “victims” in a simulated car crash, part of the “Every 15 Minutes” program that challenges high school juniors and seniors to think about the decisions they make before getting behind the wheel of a car.

“Oh yeah, it’ll be about a week before I feel like eating again,” said Murphy, who had to lie “deathly” still in piles of meat, which simulated her insides that had spilled onto the vehicle after she was ejected from the passenger seat. “It was really disgusting.”

Disgusting, yes, but also realistic.

About 1,100 Turlock juniors and seniors were witnesses to the gory “accident” that resulted in three simulated deaths, and the “arrest” of an impaired driver.

As part of the production, Murphy was taken to the Stanislaus County Coroner’s Office, and her parents were called to positively identify their daughter’s body.

Joel and Kylene Murphy both knew their daughter was involved in the program (though they didn’t know which role she’d assume). Even so, they found it difficult to deal with the image of their daughter lying on a table in the county morgue.

“They told us it wasn’t going to be pretty,” said Kylene Murphy. “ They prepare you for what you’re about to see. They brought her out and she was zipped up in a body bag. As soon as they unzipped it, I just lost it.”

Tekoa Murphy got to see the video of her parents’ reaction during Friday’s assembly — Part 2 of the program — in the THS gymnasium. She said it was the first time she’d ever seen her father cry.

“He was stuttering, trying to get my name out,” said Tekoa. “He couldn’t say my name. Then he started to walk away, but he turned around and come back. He didn’t want to leave me.”

“It’s been an emotional couple of days,” added Kylene Murphy. “While we were waiting in the coroner’s office, my husband got a text from our (10th-grade) son Silas. It said, ‘Koa died.’ Both of us just started crying. Just the emotion of being at the coroner’s office, waiting there, and knowing that for someone else this could be a real situation.

“We had to tell our 11-year-old, Isaac, that his sister had died in a fake accident. He started crying right away. It affected all of us.”

Both Tekoa and Kylene hope the program will help kids and parents discuss the importance of making solid choices.

“We’re very strict with our kids and have lots of rules,” said Kylene Murphy. “We tell them don’t do this, don’t do that, don’t drink, don’t do drugs. But we know that at some point in life, they’re going to be subjected to it. And as embarrassing as it may seem, or as much as you think you’re going to be in trouble, it’s still better to call for help. This program opens a door to discuss things like that.”

The program is so named because when it was conceived 30 years ago, one person died every 15 minutes from an alcohol-related automobile accident.

“It helped me to understand the realness of the situation and that that could’ve been anyone on the hood of that car,” said Tekoa Murphy. “Yes, I’m still here, but some don’t make it, and that shows the consequences of real life decisions. As teens, if we do drink, we need to call someone. I’d much rather be in trouble than not here.”