Catching up with Austin

Since Austin’s story ran well over 6,000 words, there were parts I left out, one of which is how he contracted Hepatitis C from sharing needles back in his drug-using days.

Austin started his treatment for Hep C the weekend of our last interview. The good news: Hep C can be cured. The bad news: like how Austin met God, the road to the cure often runs through hell, in the form of horrible symptoms similar to what chemo patients experience.

Austin has to take 7 pills a day that work with his weekly shots of interferon. Interferon is a chemical already in our bodies that fights diseases. For example, when you have the flu, it’s not the flu that actually makes you sick — it’s the interferon in your body fighting the flu. So Austin is basically injecting himself with more interferon to combat the Hep C, which is a blood disease that attacks the liver.

The stuff usually makes patients sick for half the week. It’s bad. Austin was dreading it.

The first night Austin gave himself the shot, he felt sick.

He hasn’t felt sick a day since then.

“God’s good,” he says, grinning.”It’s just amazing that I feel normal.”

Santa

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. – Author Unknown

Dane Hobbs didn’t have a TV or a car or even a cell phone. He had a wallet for awhile, but one day that got stolen, and with it went his license, library card and Social Security card, so he didn’t have those any more either. He didn’t even have his name, either, not really. When people asked him what his name was after that, he just told them he didn’t have one. Someone had taken it, he said. They’d needed it more.

So people called him Santa, because he had a big white beard and always smiled and laughed. It’s funny, because he’s the anti-Santa. He couldn’t give presents to anybody.

But Santa had one thing nobody has, but everybody has.

Austin in Full

“Austin” (not his real name) was the first person I interviewed for this series. I couldn’t have found a better person to write about.

I began working on this series two months ago, searching for people whose stories would inspire regardless of how I made them sound. I searched for people who’d experienced hell on earth. I never even thought that some of these people would have at some point created that hell on earth for others.

Austin was a hell-bringer. He was one of those people that my mom worried I’d run into when I started hanging out in downtown Greenville, North Carolina. Sometimes he’d get robbed, yeah, but other times he was the one with the gun. In this world revolving around drugs, guns were like ATM cards and their victims the ATM.

Austin put it this way: “If I had no money, you had money in your pocket and I had a gun in my pocket, and we met, when we went our separate ways, I’d have your money and my gun in my pocket.”

Today, Austin’s been clean and sober for over a year. He loves Jesus Christ. And he’s helping other addicts and alcoholics recover along with him. Twice our interviews were postponed. The first time, he had to meet with someone he was sponsoring. The second, he was driving a guy to Greenville to check him into rehab.

This is his story, and the first epic published here at The Evidence Project

Austin, The Conclusion

“Austin” (not his real name) was the first person I interviewed for this series. I couldn’t have found a better person to write about.

I began working on this series two months ago, searching for people whose stories would inspire regardless of how I made them sound. I searched for people who’d experienced hell on earth. I never even thought that some of these people would have at some point created that hell on earth for others.

Austin was a hell-bringer. He was one of those people that my mom worried I’d run into when I started hanging out in downtown Greenville, North Carolina. Sometimes he’d get robbed, yeah, but other times he was the one with the gun. In this world revolving around drugs, guns were like ATM cards and their victims the ATM.

Austin put it this way: “If I had no money, you had money in your pocket and I had a gun in my pocket, and we met, when we went our separate ways, I’d have your money and my gun in my pocket.”

Today, Austin’s been clean and sober for over a year. He loves Jesus Christ. And he’s helping other addicts and alcoholics recover along with him. Twice our interviews were postponed. The first time, he had to meet with someone he was sponsoring. The second, he was driving a guy to Greenville to check him into rehab.

This is the conclusion to his story.

Austin Part VI

“Austin” (not his real name) was the first person I interviewed for this series. I couldn’t have found a better person to write about.

I began working on this series two months ago, searching for people whose stories would inspire regardless of how I made them sound. I searched for people who’d experienced hell on earth. I never even thought that some of these people would have at some point created that hell on earth for others.

Austin was a hell-bringer. He was one of those people that my mom worried I’d run into when I started hanging out in downtown Greenville, North Carolina. Sometimes he’d get robbed, yeah, but other times he was the one with the gun. In this world revolving around drugs, guns were like ATM cards and their victims the ATM.

Austin put it this way: “If I had no money, you had money in your pocket and I had a gun in my pocket, and we met, when we went our separate ways, I’d have your money and my gun in my pocket.”

Today, Austin’s been clean and sober for over a year. He loves Jesus Christ. And he’s helping other addicts and alcoholics recover along with him. Twice our interviews were postponed. The first time, he had to meet with someone he was sponsoring. The second, he was driving a guy to Greenville to check him into rehab.

This is his story, and the first epic published here at The Evidence Project. As I’ll do with future epics, I’m breaking Austin up into several mini-chapters, which I’ll publish over the next week.

Austin, Part V

“Austin” (not his real name) was the first person I interviewed for this series. I couldn’t have found a better person to write about.

I began working on this series two months ago, searching for people whose stories would inspire regardless of how I made them sound. I searched for people who’d experienced hell on earth. I never even thought that some of these people would have at some point created that hell on earth for others.

Austin was a hell-bringer. He was one of those people that my mom worried I’d run into when I started hanging out in downtown Greenville, North Carolina. Sometimes he’d get robbed, yeah, but other times he was the one with the gun. In this world revolving around drugs, guns were like ATM cards and their victims the ATM.

Austin put it this way: “If I had no money, you had money in your pocket and I had a gun in my pocket, and we met, when we went our separate ways, I’d have your money and my gun in my pocket.”

Today, Austin’s been clean and sober for over a year. He loves Jesus Christ. And he’s helping other addicts and alcoholics recover along with him. Twice our interviews were postponed. The first time, he had to meet with someone he was sponsoring. The second, he was driving a guy to Greenville to check him into rehab.

This is his story, and the first epic published here at The Evidence Project. As I’ll do with future epics, I’m breaking Austin up into several mini-chapters, which I’ll publish over the next week.

Austin, Part IV

“Austin” (not his real name) was the first person I interviewed for this series. I couldn’t have found a better person to write about.

I began working on this series two months ago, searching for people whose stories would inspire regardless of how I made them sound. I searched for people who’d experienced hell on earth. I never even thought that some of these people would have at some point created that hell on earth for others.

Austin was a hell-bringer. He was one of those people that my mom worried I’d run into when I started hanging out in downtown Greenville, North Carolina. Sometimes he’d get robbed, yeah, but other times he was the one with the gun. In this world revolving around drugs, guns were like ATM cards and their victims the ATM.

Austin put it this way: “If I had no money, you had money in your pocket and I had a gun in my pocket, and we met, when we went our separate ways, I’d have your money and my gun in my pocket.”

Today, Austin’s been clean and sober for over a year. He loves Jesus Christ. And he’s helping other addicts and alcoholics recover along with him. Twice our interviews were postponed. The first time, he had to meet with someone he was sponsoring. The second, he was driving a guy to Greenville to check him into rehab.

This is his story, and the first epic published here at The Evidence Project. As I’ll do with future epics, I’m breaking Austin up into several mini-chapters, which I’ll publish over the next week.

Austin, Part III

“Austin” (not his real name) was the first person I interviewed for this series. I couldn’t have found a better person to write about.

I began working on this series two months ago, searching for people whose stories would inspire regardless of how I made them sound. I searched for people who’d experienced hell on earth. I never even thought that some of these people would have at some point created that hell on earth for others.

Austin was a hell-bringer. He was one of those people that my mom worried I’d run into when I started hanging out in downtown Greenville, North Carolina. Sometimes he’d get robbed, yeah, but other times he was the one with the gun. In this world revolving around drugs, guns were like ATM cards and their victims the ATM.

Austin put it this way: “If I had no money, you had money in your pocket and I had a gun in my pocket, and we met, when we went our separate ways, I’d have your money and my gun in my pocket.”

Today, Austin’s been clean and sober for over a year. He loves Jesus Christ. And he’s helping other addicts and alcoholics recover along with him. Twice our interviews were postponed. The first time, he had to meet with someone he was sponsoring. The second, he was driving a guy to Greenville to check him into rehab.

This is his story, and the first epic published here at The Evidence Project. As I’ll do with future epics, I’m breaking Austin up into several mini-chapters, which I’ll publish over the next week.

Austin, Part II

“Austin” (not his real name) was the first person I interviewed for this series. I couldn’t have found a better person to write about.

I began working on this series two months ago, searching for people whose stories would inspire regardless of how I made them sound. I searched for people who’d experienced hell on earth. I never even thought that some of these people would have at some point created that hell on earth for others.

Austin was a hell-bringer. He was one of those people that my mom worried I’d run into when I started hanging out in downtown Greenville, North Carolina. Sometimes he’d get robbed, yeah, but other times he was the one with the gun. In this world revolving around drugs, guns were like ATM cards and their victims the ATM.

Austin put it this way: “If I had no money, you had money in your pocket and I had a gun in my pocket, and we met, when we went our separate ways, I’d have your money and my gun in my pocket.”

Today, Austin’s been clean and sober for over a year. He loves Jesus Christ. And he’s helping other addicts and alcoholics recover along with him. Twice our interviews were postponed. The first time, he had to meet with someone he was sponsoring. The second, he was driving a guy to Greenville to check him into rehab.

This is his story, and the first epic published here at The Evidence Project. As I’ll do with future epics, I’m breaking Austin up into several mini-chapters, which I’ll publish over the next week.

Austin, Part I

“Austin” (not his real name) was the first person I interviewed for this series. I couldn’t have found a better person to write about.

I began working on this series two months ago, searching for people whose stories would inspire regardless of how I made them sound. I searched for people who’d experienced hell on earth. I never even thought that some of these people would have at some point created that hell on earth for others.

Austin was a hell-bringer. He was one of those people that my mom worried I’d run into when I started hanging out in downtown Greenville, North Carolina. Sometimes he’d get robbed, yeah, but other times he was the one with the gun. In this world revolving around drugs, guns were like ATM cards and their victims the ATM.

Austin put it this way: “If I had no money, you had money in your pocket and I had a gun in my pocket, and we met, when we went our separate ways, I’d have your money and my gun in my pocket.”

Today, Austin’s been clean and sober for over a year. He loves Jesus Christ. And he’s helping other addicts and alcoholics recover along with him. Twice our interviews were postponed. The first time, he had to meet with someone he was sponsoring. The second, he was driving a guy to Greenville to check him into rehab.

This is his story, and the first epic published here at The Evidence Project. As I’ll do with future epics, I’m breaking Austin up into several mini-chapters, which I’ll publish over the next week.