麻豆社

Dan Edozie grew up in London. Along with his mother Georgina, he moved several times and was never able to settle into a school or find a constant group of friends. Then, when he was barely ten his mother took him to stay with relatives in the United States. The first two visits didn't work out. Nor did a trip to stay with his maternal grandparents in Nigeria. On a third trip to the states, this time to Los Angeles, Dan and his mother outstayed their Visa and found themselves on the fringes of downtown society, begging for money to get extra food and sleeping in a series of hostels and shelters in the city's notorious Skid Row.
At one point they tried to move to Florida to stay with distant relatives, but the bus they were on was stopped for a routine passport check, resulting in their being told they had to return to the UK.
Initially they returned to Los Angeles and after a day travelling on public transport to try and get some sleep, Dan and his mother prepared to set off for yet another stay in a shelter. But mother and son argued. Dan wanted to get some food from a nearby hostel. When he came back to find his mother she had gone, and when he reached the place where he'd left her, he saw to his shock that she had boarded a bus, and the bus was heading away.
The next half-an-hour changed everything. With just a bin-liner full of clothes on his back, Dan decided to seek help. Eventually, after trying two shelters who turned him away, a third started asking the right questions. How old was he? Where was his mother? And what was he doing in Los Angeles?
At dizzying speed the American foster care system scooped him up, and after deportation hearings and partial reconciliation with his mother, Dan was given the option of staying in the States with a foster family.
With stability and opportunity, the tall 12 year-old boy started to thrive. His school reports improved and his passion for sport, particularly basketball flowered. He was soon in the top fifty players for his age in California. By the end of his High School career he'd won a scholarship to Iowa State University, one of the leading basketball Colleges in the country. When it came to turning pro he opted to return to England, taking up a place with the Bristol Flyers and ultimately representing England at the Commonwealth Games.
Dan tells Dr Sian his story and explains why that moment on the street in Skid Row was so central to the life he now leads, coaching young basket ball players from the St Paul's area of Bristol.

Producers: Elaina Boateng & Tom Alban