Today we’d like to introduce you to Lathan of the Unspoken Hero Society.
Hi Lathan, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
The spark for mentoring and advocating came when I was in high school, I was in the hospital constantly with a disease that no one knew of. I couldn’t play football anymore and a classmate of mine gave birth to a child with the same disease, our counselor asked that I do what I can to teach her as much as possible about Sickle Cell so she can raise her child. From there, I began seeing the hospital room more and meeting people with different ailments. Those circumstances pushed me to spread awareness and teach people about my disease and various emotions others those moment pushed me into creating the Unspoken Hero Society.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, it was not a smooth road. I’ve always had a hard time working hard but not smart, time after time I let my ambition ruin my body. That eventually led to my mental health declining. It felt like I spent the most of my 20s in the hospital.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about The Unspoken Hero Society?
The Unspoken Hero Society is a nonprofit mentorship and advocacy group, a community of people living with chronic diseases or ailments dedicated to inspiring positive development in the lives of chronically ill youth and adults. We work to empower children and adults with physical, emotional and behavioral issues to break through their challenges to allow them to thrive with their illness. Your physical health and mental health need to be balanced in order to maintain overall good health. It took me almost half my life to figure that out, it took me years to learn how to treat myself and work with my illness to achieve stability and any kind of success in my life. We teach others how to reach that as well. “A chronic disease is what you have, not who you are” that is what we live by and what we teach to others.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
I have many, one of them is when I had a family reunion in Las Vegas and it was a whole new world for me. What made the memory beautiful was my aunt won big at the casino and after the reunion ended she had my cousins and I stay longer and showed us more of the city. This meant a lot because my aunt and my cousins(her children) are close to me and experiencing Vegas with them did a lot for me, that helped expand my small world.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.unspokenherosociety.org
- Instagram: @unspokenherosociety
- Twitter: @unspokenheroes
- Other: https://linktr.ee/Unspokenherosociety
