When I was a small child, only three years old I was diagnosed with a terminal disease.  I had contracted Hepatitis.  I had to go to the hospital all the time and get all of these tests done.  From the hepatitis I contracted nephrotic syndrome.  This affects the kidneys.  My kidneys swelled up so big it almost looked as if I was pregnant.  People would always make remarks about the size of my stomach.  It was very hard for me to cope with this.
At three years old I had come to terms with the possibility that I could die very soon.  I remember one time when I was in the hospital and I told my mother that I didn't think that I would ever grow up to be a man.  She instantly started weeping.  She told me that I couldn't think like that.  I had to fight this disease; I couldn't let it win.  I listened to her.  I was determined to beat this disease.  I kept a positive outlook on things.  I stopped thinking that I was going to die and began to believe that I was going to get better.  And low and behold the hepatitis began to go away.  The nephrotic syndrome went away also.
I believe that keeping a positive outlook and not just giving up saved my life.  I didn't just sit back and let this disease eat away at me until I died; I fought it and eventually won.  I owe all of this to my mother.  If it wasn't for her I think I might have just sat back and died.  I will never forget what it was like sitting in that hospital and making the decision to fight this disease and ultimately live.  I think that this story is a prime example of how you can achieve anything when you put your mind to it.  This is the message that I want to bring tothose children because it is a lesson that saved my life.