As the story has it, one day I headed to the opposite side of the globe – the Flipside. I arrived in Korea February 16th, 2005 and thought I’d do a year, then leave. I was wrong. I stayed, launched my first company, Flipside Fitness, and then opened Korea's largest boxing club, Hulk's Boxing (now called Hulk's Club).

After 11.5yrs in Korea, I then picked up one day and returned to Toronto, Canada. But then I left again.

Now I live in the Philippines where I am the CEO and head coach of Empowered Clubhouse, the Philippines' first and only boxing clubhouse exclusively just for women. I also am the founder of the Lil' Sistas Project, CEO and designer of Slay Gear and Baa Baa Black Sheep .Ph.

Sunday, September 04, 2016

I Don't Think "Family" is the Right Word... Sunday, September 4

When a 7yr old gets rushed to emergency, it's scary.

When that 7yr old gets rushed into his 7th brain surgery, that's beyond scary.

And when that 7yr old is family, you go.

I got a text message from my sister-in-law just short of 5am.  I was crashed out, probably dreaming of peanut butter or something silly, but then I woke up and saw the message.  Instantly I got ready to go.  There was no questioning it.

I spent 11 years of my life without any family in Korea and without any chance of really doing anything with my family but now was my time to catch up and prove them I cared.  

I rushed to the hospital. 

My little nephew, now to be referred to as "Knockout Nat the Cutie" or "KO Nat" for short, had been rushed to the hospital when he had accidentally hit the back of his head.  He has a shunt. I'm not too sure if you know what that is but it's basically a tube in his brain that helps him drain excessive brain fluid from filling up his brain.  He had hit the back of his head while playing with my nieces and the tube cut.  It wasn't until a couple of hours later that they even realised something had happened.  He had started to puke and complain about being hungry, even after eating so much and then puking.  My sister-in-law then grabbed his stuff and took the long, stressful journey alone with him from out of town to here, Toronto, for Sick Kids Hospital.

I arrived just before his surgery finished.  The surgery took a bit over 3 hours.

He was all drugged up when I first saw him and his naked body had pink dye all over it from being prepped for the surgery.  I sat with his mom and watched him lay there. The nurses then came over and tried to wake him up, do a post surgery check up on him.

I stayed with them, my nephew and sister-in-law, but the plan was to leave when more family or friends showed up.

No one showed up.

No one showed up so I stayed.  I stayed and then when I went home to quickly take care of Balboa and say hi to everyone at the community party, I packed my bag and returned.  

Only my sister-in-law's best friend showed up.

When a 7yr old gets rushed to emergency, it's scary.

When that 7yr old gets rushed into his 7th brain surgery, that's beyond scary.

And when that 7yr old is family, you go.

Apparently others didn't get this memo; apparently others need to be schooled on what it means to be family.  I'm finally in the country able to be there for family but they've been here all the time, able to be there for each other.  People are either stupid or ignorant when it comes to things like this so what are they? Ignorant or stupid.  Were they that ignorant to think that their presence wasn't necessary or would have no effect?  Well I can tell you this, their absence was most definitely felt.  I felt it and I cried for my sister-in-law because of it.  

I didn't have family for 11 years and I wouldn't wish that on anyone but today, with the exception of me, my sister-in-law was completely family-less.  

I was the only family that showed up and now I have ammunition for a good solid month's worth of training because that was just ridiculous beyond what I can even begin to explain.  That was wrong on so many levels.  I am so beyond that, beyond them.  I showed up.  I showed up not for props or credit but because I know exactly what it feels like to have no family there to stand beside you, to hold you up.  I held myself up in Korea and that was incredibly exhausting and I wasn't going to have my sister-in-law experience the same.  

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