The Story of Mike: Part 1 of 2
In every episode of my In Search of America podcast series I attempted to share stories that exemplified hope, or perseverance in times of adversity. My goal with these Substack posts have been much the same.
On Tuesday I had the privilege of interviewing, and photographing Mike Atwood for the project on the Unhoused. Mike’s story is one of overcoming great tragedy; having gone from riches to rags, and to have found his way back.
This post will not tell the entirety of his story, but it will tell you more than enough to find the power - for each of us, within it.
Mike grew up in an economically-comfortable part of Nashville. He excelled in sports throughout his school years, and was even awarded several university scholarships as a result of it. After university Mike remained gainfully employed, married, and raised a family - to daughters, in the same economically-comfortable section of Nashville.
After his daughters were grown, and his wife had passed, Mike moved into an apartment. As many of us do, Mike set up all of his bills to be paid by autopay. Life was good. Then… it wasn’t.
One day, after dining at a restaurant, Mike realized as he walked out of the restaurant that he had left his phone on the table. He returned to retrieve it and, as he reached for it, his leg got stuck in the chair leg. As he tried to free it he lost his balance and tumbled to the floor - snapping off the top of the femur in his left leg, shattering his hip, broke his pelvis, and his collarbone.
An ambulance was summoned, took him to the nearest hospital, where doctors stabilized the bone; but soon realized that they did not have the expertise to fully treat the injury. Mike was transferred to Vanderbilt Trauma, in Nashville. He was placed in a drug-induced coma where he remained for six weeks. To this day the last thing Mike has any memory of is the ambulance ride from Cookeville hospital to Vanderbilt Trauma. To repair his injuries surgeons used seven plates and 31 screws. He showed me a picture of his x-rays to prove it.
The issue - in addition to the severity of the injuries, is that no one had a clue where Mike was, or what had happened to him - including his boss. As most people do, Mike had set up all of his bills to be paid each month by autopay. Also, the lease on his apartment was due to be renewed.
By the time Mike was released from the hospital - after nearly three months, he had lost everything: his apartment, all of his furniture and other personal belongings. His bank account had been depleted. His credit had been ruined, and he had lost his job. Mike walked out of Vanderbilt Hospital, onto the streets of Nashville, homeless - living on the streets for the next two years.
“I had the perfect life”, Mike said, “but then things just went sideways.”
For the next two years Mike lived on the streets of Nashville, sleeping outside near Nissan Stadium, which I will cover next week, in Part Two.
~End Part One~
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