‘I’ll Die Trying’
There’s the guy who got caught with a needle in his arm, getting high on who-knows-what.
And two others who were found drinking hand sanitizer.
The guy who got caught shooting up around Christmas time gets out on March 31. And Damian knows the other two likely will get out before he does. Damian, after all, is serving a life sentence.
“The frustrating part for me is there’s nothing I’ll be able to do … to go home. And yet there’s people that can just, man,” he said before trailing off.
For that reason, Damian wrote a proposal to submit to the powers that be at his current prison, Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility in Ordway, Colorado — roughly 160 miles southeast of Denver.
The proposal asks that prison leadership make an exception for these three men to join CrossFit class despite their transgressions.
“Those are the dudes that I should be working out with (so they can) learn about discipline, structure,” Damian explained.
Then he reflected on the men’s poor choices: the needle, the hand sanitizer.
“I could’ve come in here and done that … but I actually have remorse for the things I’ve done, and there’s something in me that says I gotta pay it back somehow,” he said. “Although I’ll never be able to, I’ll die trying.”
He added: “I still wake up at 2 in the morning, staring at the ceiling.”
About the Author
Andréa Maria Cecil is a career editor and writer whose experience includes six years as Assistant Managing Editor and Head Writer at CrossFit Inc. headquarters. She spent the first 12 years of her professional life as a journalist — starting with The Associated Press in Detroit and Baltimore — before transitioning to content marketing with an emphasis on authentic storytelling. She is the editor of “Speal: A David and Goliath Story” by Chris Spealler that sold 10,000 copies worldwide.
