Mattie

In 2001, a young boy by the name of Mattie came to visit Oprah. Mattie was born with a serious muscle condition were he is confined to a wheel chair, needs an air tank and has to deal with a great deal of muscle pain. Matties mom also has the same condition but did not develop it after the birth of her children. She had 4 children; Jamie whom passed away at age 4, Katie whom only made it to age 2, Stevie whome passed away at the short age of 6 months and then Mattie. Mattie had 3 wishes in life; to have his books published, to talk to Jimmy Carter and to meet with Oprah. Mattie told Oprah that he was hopeful for something bigger than himself, which is a lot coming from an 11 year old boy. People had asked him why he did not want to go on a trip to Disneyland or somewhere and he simply explained that at the life it will be fun, but his wishes will last a life time. Mattie wrote many poems, stories and songs, called them 'Heart Messages' he said that the message in the heart poems came from heart songs, which were just simply songs from the heart. Mattie told Oprah that he always tried to look for the best in everyone and he lived by the quote of "play after every storm." In June, after his appearance on the show Mattie passed away, his goal was to be a peace maker and a hero which he most deffinately became.

Jacquoi Saburido

In 2003, Jacquoi Saburido appeared on the Oprah show in 2003 to tell her horrific story. Jacquoi was an only child whom lived the teenage life, she had plans of taking over her father's manufacturing business and then moved to Texas. After one night while coming home from a friends, Jacquoi was in a serious accident. A senior in high school was driving home at 4am after way to much to drink drifted into the center lane and then crashed into Jacquoi. Jacquoi was then burned alive, as 2 others in the car were killed, flames surrounded her in the car therefore being trapped. The fire continued on and melted Jaquoi's face, she was left with 3rd degree burns covering about 60% of her body. He man whom caused this terrible accident was then charged with intoxication manslaughter, he will serve 7 years in prison with a $20,000 fine. Jacquoi was unconsious for 10 months, has had 50 sergeries and has many more to come. Her life is nt over, but had to go through a huge change just due to one indivduals stupid choice. Her life will never be the same and the man that caused this only has to serve 7 years in prison? This episode raised a lot of awareness, as people always knew drinking an driving was bad but now when you actually see what it can do to someone you should really think a lot harder and think about what you're doing. Even though one may think that they are able to drive if they have consumed alcohol they are not alright to drive! Someone has to step in and let them no that they will not be driving and that individual has to gain more responsibility.

George Dawson

George Dawson appeared on the Oprah show in 1998 with his story. George had just reached his 100th birthday and told his story of learning to read at the age of 98. He had been illierate all his life, he decided at the age of 98 that it was time to learn. He then found a teacher willing to help him in his studies and he began going to school. When George began school he did not even know his simple ABC's. Though he was much much older than the other students in the class he was a great insentive to them as they always tried harder and valued their education that much more. George claimed that each day was a new milestone for him to over come, but he did it. For his 100th birthday students in his class all made him birthday cards and for the first time in his life he could read them himself. This story teaches viewers that going to school and getting an education is so much more than some may think, it is your future. Without the essentials of being able to read and write you will suffer great struggles in life. With inspiration such as George Dawson some may have been motivated to go back to school or even go to school for the first time.