Getting diagnosed with Hemophilia wasn’t easy for Larry. He was told he wouldn’t live long and this crushed him, as it does so many others. Because of this, he didn’t really focus much on his future. Larry just lived life with no fear and not many goals for himself.
The neighborhood Larry grew up in was not a very good neighborhood and he eventually became a product of his environment. With not much hope of living a long life he found happiness in using and selling drugs. He lived on the streets, constantly getting into fights over drugs and other things. This all came to a stop when he was arrested and sent to prison at the age of 22. Larry spent seven years in prison. During this time, he realized that his hemophilia, in fact, wasn’t going to kill him. Larry decided, then, he wanted to change his life and become a better person. He went to college to get a degree. With his new outlook on life, and getting a degree, Larry was still told that he would never be anything. He couldn’t do anything with this degree and no one would hire him because of his hemophilia. This returned him to the hopelessness that engulfed him growing up with Hemophilia. He went back into his old ways and ended up back in the criminal justice system. Larry got lucky this time around and beat his case in court and avoided going back to prison. After this Larry decided to move back to Michigan to be with his dad. He needed to get away from his past to be able to have a new start at life. Over the next year, Larry self-isolated, self-medicated and began drinking heavily. He was barely getting by, even though he had a job doing Upholstery. He wasn't happy. The upholstery business became too much for him physically and he decided to go back to school. He knew there had to be something better for him. |
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