On the drive back to college for my senior year, my friend fell asleep at the wheel and drove us off a 60-foot cliff in Yellowstone National Park. I broke my neck, suffered a traumatic brain injury, and permanently lost the use of my dominant right arm. In a split second, the entire course of my life changed. In ‘I Got Your Back, U Got Mine,’ I tell my story for the first time, detailing my life’s voyage through following my passion despite what the naysayers said, the search for God and love through hope and sincere madness, the unsatisfactory hedonistic insanity of addiction, getting sober & the freedom of forgiveness. I show through all of my life experiences that you can do whatever it is you want to do in this world despite what cards you have been dealt, and inspire you to overcome your fears and believe in yourself to follow your life dreams!
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ABOUT ME
One minute I was the star soccer player for the University of Michigan with a promising future in medicine. The next, I’m catapulted over a 60-foot cliff in a freak car accident that leaves me with a severe traumatic brain injury, a shattered neck, and the permanent loss of my dominant, right arm. With the horrific accident in my rearview, two years later I was accepted to medical school and became a successful physician at Cedars Sinai Medical Center to prove to everyone I could still make it in this world. Yet I was unfulfilled. After everything I overcame, I wanted something else, something bigger.
‘I GOT YOUR BACK, U GOT MINE’ is a stirring memoir about overcoming physical and mental disability, my search for love and God through hope and sincere madness, and the freedom of forgiveness. The narrative encompasses my harrowing journey from the car accident in 1994 and my unsatisfying life as a physician to my decision to break free from the rigid, sterile environment of a hospital. Along the way I delve into accounts of my near-death exploits in the unsatisfactory hedonistic world of addiction, the courage to get sober, and the life lessons I learned on my way to creating a new identity in recovery, a more authentic self.
In addition to writing and making music, I now work as a mental health professional at a teen treatment center for substance abuse, as well as providing psychotherapy for individual clients. Through these roles, I understand how essential it is to destigmatize mental illness and addiction.
It is my hope that ‘I GOT YOUR BACK, U GOT MINE’ can give the world an honest portrayal of trauma, addiction, illness, and what it really takes to find your recovery. By mixing confession, self-help, and impressionistic prose with a unique spin on color, artistry, and graphic design, I tell my story and offer hope to others who have been where I’ve been.