There are things that happen in life that shape who we are. For some, it is a shining moment of victory that inspires them to go to greater heights. For others, it is the agony of defeat that gives them the determination to fight and the hope for a better tomorrow. Regardless of the situation, how we deal with the past, in our present, effects our future. A past event that has affected my past and future was when I had a near death experience, with Toxic Shock Syndrome. This syndrome is a very serious and fatal illness, which can strike in less than forty-eight hours.

A couple days after the new year of 2002 I became ill. At first, I thought it was just a cold or a virus. Unknowingly, I was being infected slowly, like a poison. Symptoms started to show; like a temperature, vomiting, and this...