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Motivational Speaker
Peer Recovery Specialist
& Wellness Coordinator
Advocate
Imagine you’re five years old, and your mother is taking you school shopping for the first time. She has you try on a new pair of shoes and tells you to put your old ones in the shoebox. She then leads you on a wild chase out of the store, stealing the shoes and narrowly escaping the store security. "Nothing is too good for my baby," she said approvingly. You were scared, you were excited, and you loved your new shoes!
How do you process that at such a young age?
Imagine you are twelve. Your dad is in prison and your gangster uncle is the only male role model in your life. Your uncle takes you to the 7/11 and tells you to wait in his truck. You are afraid because there’s a group of thugs in the parking lot. When your uncle returns and sees your fear, he pulls an Uzi submachine gun from under the seat and tells you not to worry, the Uzi is the “great equalizer”.
Imagine the feelings you have as you are holding that gun for the first time.
You are 16 years old, homeless, expelled from school and you believe that you'll be dead by 18. It’s the 90’s … the movies and the music have you and your crew believing that your "ride or die" lifestyle is the road to glory. You are in love with the power you feel when you pull your gun. You are bound to die or go to prison." You know you aren't going to prison…….It’s …"Ride or Die!"
Imagine you are 17 years old, and you are standing in front of a judge. Your “ride or die crew” gave you up, and you have plead guilty to the armed robbery of five fast food restaurants. You had no idea you would be tried as an adult, since you didn’t request a lawyer before you “cooperated.” You are found guilty and sentenced to 165 years in an adult penitentiary with no chance of parole. How do you process that?
Imagine you are 24 years old, and you have been locked up since you were 17. You learn that your final appeal has just been denied and you now have to confront the crushing reality that, no matter how long you live, you will never have another day of freedom. You will die in prison for the stupid mistakes you made at 16 years old.
Travis had to face this hopeless future in 2002.
Travis took part in one of the most daring escape attempts in Virginia's history. Travis was willing to die for a chance at one moment of freedom, the same freedom he so foolishly threw away as a teenager.
It did not go well….
Travis’ thirst for freedom dramatically increased his confinement. He was to spend his next 200 years in solitary confinement, with no chance of parole, at The Red Onion Supermax Prison in Virginia. The remainder of his life would be spent in a tiny cell, where death, madness or suicide were the only ways out of the hole he dug for himself.
Buried alive, in a tomb of madness of his own making, is where the remarkable story of Travis May’s Road to Freedom begins...
Travis spent 5 straight years in solitary confinement in 2004 to 2009. While this is considered inhumane treatment in today’s prison culture, Travis made the momentous decision that, although he could not change his circumstances, he could change himself. He refused to let his hopeless situation drive him to madness or suicide. He took his very first step on his inner transformation and stopped looking at himself as a victim. When Travis took total responsibility for his inner world, his outer world changed through a set of occurrences that are truly miraculous and unbelievably powerful. You will never forget the Travis May story once you hear it!
JOIN IN THE JOURNEY!
CONTACT TRAVIS & REGISTER FOR A FREE MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
FOLLOW TRAVIS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
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HOW DOES A CHILD BECOME A VIOLENT CRIMINAL BY THE TIME HE IS 16 YEARS OLD?
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