Michael had a career, savings and a newborn daughter when a medical emergency changed everything. Finding his way back meant holding on through the hardest moments—and never giving up.
Michael was building a career installing fiber-optic lines when a blood clot traveled to his lung. He woke up in the hospital three months later and returned home using a walker. Unable to work, he watched as the savings he and his wife, Vivian, had built began to disappear. He applied for hundreds of jobs, took whatever work he could find and eventually pawned the family’s old Super Nintendo—the place where he and his baby daughter, Ashley, had shared some of their happiest moments. At their lowest point, Michael and Vivian had to choose between buying formula for Ashley and dinner for themselves. They chose their daughter every time.
Then Michael found a technical support position that gave him a chance to use the skills he had built earlier in his career. He got the job, but his family still had to make it through training and the wait for his first paycheck. A colleague told him about Payactiv, and Michael discovered he could access $310 in wages he had already earned. He and Vivian bought diapers when Ashley was down to her last one, paid the power bill before it was shut off and celebrated with a meal from the dollar menu.
Nine years later, Michael is still with the same company. His colleagues have become family, and Ashley is now old enough to join their after-work games. Through everything, Michael has held on to the lesson he now shares with his daughter: Never give up. Never stop trying.
