So in the blink of an eye, Orlando Bowen's life would never be the same.
One moment he was celebrating the signing of a new contract to play pro football, and the next he was on the ground being physically attacked by members of law enforcement and suffering an injury that would end his career and lead to a season of life that would profoundly change him.
Even though he was a victim, he found himself charged with a crime that, though eventually exonerated, led so many people around him to pretty much completely abandon him.
And he was forced to reckon with not just the injustice of the moment, but also scrambling to figure out how to take care of his family while he got everything right again.
And it took years, but really leading with a giant heart and a commitment to service, he rebuilt his living and his life.
Now he is a highly sought after speaker and the founder and executive director of one Voice, one team youth leadership organization.
And Orlando inspires people to kind of get off the sidelines and become game changers in business and life, really in every part of their being.
And remarkably, ten years after the incident that would forever change his life, he wrote a public letter of forgiveness to his attackers.
We explore the moments along this journey and the powerful story in today's conversation.
So excited to share it with you.
I'm Jonathan Fields, and this is good Life project.
I was born in Montego Bay, but you moved away.
When I was young, I was.
Do you have memories from when you were really little vague?
Very vague.
I almost feel like some of the memories stem from my return visits as I, you know, shortly after we left, we'd go back and I remember, you know, not wanting to leave because, you know, a cousin that was close in age and we would, you know, just play a lot.
He was, you know, active.
We were both very active, and it was always hard to leave him.
He since has moved to Toronto, which has been awesome, but I remember that.
So what makes your family in Montego Bay, Jamaica, decide, you know, Toronto looks pretty good?