Experiencing death

When Brandon was a child, he drowned.  “I was dead, dead.  They had to do CPR and bring me back to life.  And when I came back, I had none of my senses.  I couldn’t see.  I could barely hear.  I couldn’t walk.”  He learned at an early age how much he valued life.  “From that moment I wanted to live my life as fully as I could.”

The experience traumatized the young actor.  Coming to and realizing he was blind and unable to walk, Brandon admits he was afraid.  “It was a little scary coming back.  Coming back to the world and not really knowing what happened.  It took a while to recalibrate.  I felt like I didn’t know who I was.  Like I was born again a different person.”  His outlook on life changed at that moment. 

Brandon, whose father was in the military, spent a lot of his childhood in motion.  Grateful for the lessons he learned from the experience.  “I got to get exposed to so many different cultures.  That was a blessing in itself.  The more people get exposed to other cultures, the more they can relate to people and the more open-minded they are.  And the less hatred they have.”

Overcoming fear

As optimistic as Brandon is, he still acknowledges that racism is still alive.  Even in other parts of the world.  “This melanin is received the same way throughout the world.  Of course, everybody’s not like that.  But racism exists all around the world.  It made me a courageous person growing up.  There’s not a lot that I fear in this world.”

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