“I know that God wanted me to care for people just as he cared for me, and the hospital was the perfect place to do that,” the 28-year-old health care worker told Newsflare.
Rodriquez, who is a self-taught guitarist, joined the New Jersey hospital in 2012 as a housekeeper and worked his way up to becoming an ICU patient attendant.
“I found God at an extremely troubling period in my life and he showed himself to me when I needed him most,” he said.
Prior to working at the hospital, Rodriquez was a member of the Bloods gang following the incarceration of his eldest brother, Newsflare reported.
He says at that time he felt detached from other family members and began searching for love in corrupt places. That’s when he says he encountered “the wrong kind of family.”
"The gang lifestyle is pure manipulation. They make you feel like they care about you, that they've got your back that you're family, but all they do is use you so they don't have to get their hands dirty,” he said.
Rodriquez said he received a wake-up call when he went after the “wrong” guy and as a result, a rival gang member tried to kill his mother on two separate occasions.
He told
Newsflare that he credits God for his mom still being alive and placing him in a better position.
"[God] has given me the opportunity to start a new life, and music is a huge part of that,” he said.
