Jackson Free Press

Award-winning and respected news journalist Lawayne Orlando Childrey is living a dream he's had since childhood. More admirable than his list of awards, however, is his ability to persevere during times of immense struggle and the faith that pulled him through it all.

Childrey told his personal journey in a recent essay he wrote for Alabama Community College System's celebration of 50 years educating the state's students. Because his essay won the celebration's essay contest, the ACCS presented a $5,000 scholarship to a high school senior in his Childrey's name.

When he was 4 years old, Childrey survived a house fire that claimed the life of his 3-year-old cousin. During his early childhood, a family friend sexually abused both him and his mother.

Despite spending his teenage years filled with rebellion and even shoplifting, Childrey excelled in his studies, winning awards for poetry and at oratorical contests. However, despite his academic success in high school, Childrey failed out of college and wound up in various abusive relationships. He later found himself dying from AIDS.

At age 30, Childrey was the primary caregiver for his mother, who was partially paralyzed from a series of strokes and dying from both lung and brain cancer. As a means of coping with the pain and stress, Childrey turned to drugs, hoping he would eventually overdose.

Childrey explained in his essay that when he found he had nowhere else to turn, he turned to the faith that had been instilled in him as a young boy. After praying for his life to dramatically change for the better, Childrey checked himself into a drug and emotional rehabilitation program for several months of intensive therapy.

He went on to enroll himself at Jefferson State Community College at age 40, where he won several forensic speech contests and graduated magna cum laude with an Associate of Applied Science degree in radio and TV production and broadcasting.

Since then, Childrey has served as the senior news reporter and producer for Mississippi Public Broadcasting. He has been the recipient of several Associated Press awards and the Edward R. Murrow Award for journalistic excellence.

"As I share my story, my journey, my truth, it is in no way meant to glorify myself," Childrey wrote in his essay. "Instead it is my sincere prayer that God will use it as a beacon of hope for men and women seeking to make a positive change in their lives as well as in the lives of others."

CORRECTION APPENDED ABOVE: During the editing process, a mistake was made in the story above that indicated Childrey's mother was also sexually abused. The story has now been corrected to say that she was physically abused. We apologize for the error.