I met my mother only once. Our meeting was brief, leaving behind no photographs or baby books to remember her by.
In 2008, in a small, remote village in Southern Ethiopia, she held me for a fleeting moment—our first and last together. Shortly after my birth, she succumbed to tuberculosis (TB), a treatable disease that cruelly robbed us of a future together.
I was ten months old and severely underweight when I was adopted and brought to the United States. Diagnosed with TB shortly after arriving, I was thrust into a battle for life that many children in Ethiopia—and around the world—never survive.
I am incredibly fortunate to have been adopted by a family not only filled with love but also equipped to fight the disease that claimed my biological mother. My mother, Dr. Myiesha Taylor, an emergency medicine physician, ensured that I received the care necessary to not only survive but also to thrive.
I am acutely aware that my story is the exception rather than the rule. It reinforces my commitment to advocate for those who are still caught in the relentless cycle of this preventable disease.
Thanks to the life-saving treatment I received at Kaiser Hospital in Oakland and the long-term care provided by our nation’s public health infrastructure, I stand here today. But this narrative extends beyond my recovery—it is a stark reminder of the global fight against TB that continues to claim lives.
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