How A Father's Dying Wish Saved His Son’s Life — 'The Promise I Made To My Dad Lingered In My Head'
Dustin Silas Brown promised to fulfill his father's last wish.
Puppy 9, Master1305 / Shutterstock In 2004, Dustin Silas Brown lost his father to cancer. Before his father passed away, Brown sat beside him, held his hand, and made him a promise that would forever change his life’s trajectory.
His father’s dying wish for his son to get healthy saved his son's life.
In an Instagram post, Brown explained how he fulfilled his father’s last wish. He wrote, “The last time my dad saw me, I was 475 lbs and immobile and unable to drive a car because my stomach pushed into the steering wheel. I promised him that I would get my health back and make him proud as I held his hand.”
The road ahead was long and arduous. Brown was “plagued by health problems,” leading him on a mission to regain his life. Brown reported that it wasn’t easy; there were low days where he wanted to give up, but he knew that he’d made a promise to his father to never give up.
From 2006 to 2009, Brown lost over 250 pounds, yet the weight loss wasn’t sustainable and he eventually gained it back.
“For years, I asked myself how I could do it again when I had failed so completely,” Brown wrote. “My answer was one step at a time, one day at a time, forgiving myself and, most importantly, never giving up.”
Photo: Instagram / losetogain3
Brown raises a valuable point — the need to forgive ourselves, even in moments when we feel like we’ve failed.
To be human is to make mistakes; the meaning-making part of the human experience is giving ourselves grace to try again. There's value in failing, even when it feels like we've let ourselves down.
Perfection is a harmful myth; success takes many different forms. So much of life is the experience of the journey itself, not just the end-goal of where we'd like to be.
Brown held the promise he'd made to his father deep within himself, calling back to it on days when his path felt impossible.
'I hope he is proud,' Brown stated, having fulfilled the promise he’d made to his father to get healthy.
The comments beneath Brown’s post were supportive, relaying the message that his father was surely proud of how far he’d come. Many people commented that Brown’s journey was inspirational, showing the value of taking a difficult task one step at a time.
Photo: Instagram / losetogain3
While Brown will always mourn the loss of his father, he carries his father’s spirit along with him. It’s evident that his father’s last wish served as the motivation Brown needed to effect positive change in his life.
On a journey like the one Brown has traveled, there are bound to be pitfalls, and highs along with lows. Brown stayed true to himself. He stayed true to his father’s memory, living a version of life he’d never thought possible, until he proved that it was.
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers parenting issues, pop culture analysis and all things to do with the entertainment industry.