Michael Gerald

2010 Ina Brudnick Award Recipient, West Region

Shortly after his first birthday, Michael Gerald underwent colostomy surgery due to a benign tumor in his left buttock. Receiving an ostomy so young may have allowed Michael to skip some of the physical adjustments others who undergo surgery later in life face, but he couldn’t escape the emotional impact – the feeling of being different from his peers. Today, however, Michael says that his ostomy helped give him purpose to help others.

Michael describes his emotional adjustment to his ostomy as slow, at times rather arduous, and still ongoing. At first, he found that physical activity and participating in sports helped him fit in and relieve stress – he lifted weights at the gym, ran track competitively, and played soccer, basketball and football. But as time passed, the self-described “narrow-minded jock” realized that physical activity only made him feel comfortable with the way he was “on the outside,” and he needed a way to feel better “on the inside.”

“I began to readjust my priorities and not focus so much on physical feats but on helping those most in need,” says Michael. “As I found more meaning in my life through volunteer work and community involvement, I realized that I was worth much more than my physical abilities.”

Among his many community activities, Michael, 24, of Fresno, CA, has helped initiate transgender health services at a clinic where he works, fights for equal rights for the gay, lesbian and transgender community, works with children who have autism, runs a support group for those dealing with death, and serves as a counselor at Youth Rally.

Additionally, he is completing his Master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling at California State University Fresno and wants to earn a Ph.D. in counseling psychology to counsel those with a chronic illness.