It’s amazing to hear stories about people who have changed their life for the better and turned things around after a traumatic experience. Sheryl Lee Ralph’s son Etienne has been sharing his life-changing experience with his supporters and now he’s speaking out again to share to remind everyone just how thankful he is to be here.
As we previously reported, in a cover story for AARP: The Magazine’s August/September issue, the Abbott Elementary star recalled two separate terrible incidents that occurred to Etienne in 2013 — the time he got a DUI during college in which he suffered a concussion that “changed his whole brain” and a mugging in which Etienne was shot three times.
While the incidents were traumatic for both of them and their family, Etienne is sharing a new update with his supporters, letting them know he’s still doing well after all of these years.
In a Twitter post attached with a video, he said, “Never had to do anything like this but I had to come on here after a few worried phone calls. I’ve been pretty honest and open about my journey toward healing, and hopefully, my story of trauma to triumph will help somebody. Thank you all for the love, but I am OK!”
He continued saying in the clip,
“I just want to hop on here and let everybody know that I’m okay and that [those incidents] happened 9, 10 years ago,” Etienne said in a video he tweeted on Tuesday. “Two very separate situations that happened. They did not happen at the same time, and they didn’t happen recently, either. But I say all that to say that those experiences happened, and it led me to what I’m doing right now with WalkGood.”
Never had to do anything like this but I had to come on here after a few worried phone calls. I’ve been pretty honest and open about my journey towards healing, and hopefully my story of trauma to triumph will help somebody. Thank you all for the love, but I am OK! @walkgoodla pic.twitter.com/bLtISmpaGe
— Your Friend’s Friend (@walkgoodetienne) July 25, 2023
While speaking to the mag, Ralph recalled, “When Etienne was in college, he had a car accident and suffered a concussion. It changed his whole brain,” she explained. “Then he got mugged, and they shot him three times. He woke up in the hospital with two bullets in his leg and a wound in his forehead where a bullet had grazed him.” It was a moment that Ralph couldn’t come to terms with at the time. When she heard that her son had been shot, she “collapsed and dropped the phone.”
“I didn’t even listen to the rest. But they didn’t kill him, thank God,” the Emmy winner said. “Now he runs his own production company and nonprofit, WalkGoodLA, which is centered around healing, mental health, and overall well-being.”
Continuing their positive outlook on life, Ralph told the mag elsewhere in her cover story, “If I had a regret in life, it would be that I didn’t have more children. But I have two beautiful children,” PEOPLE quotes.