My name is Michael Rose. I have a story of overcoming obstacles by being driven by the passion of music. In 1997 I had packed up everything I owned and moved from Huntsville, AL to Birmingham, AL to start my pursuit of my musical dreams. I was 23 and had began telling myself “if you don’t do it now, you will wonder what if all your life” so off I went. When I first moved I was working as a house painter and lined up work before I moved, but the paint work ended quickly and I was forced to take a job in a steel mill factory, a field of work I was not accustomed to. Fast forward 6 weeks and I am working on a metal sheer. It isn’t safe and next thing you know both of my hands are chopped off at the same time. I lost over half the blood in my body (had to have 5 pints of blood transfused), died for just about a minute. Eventually I woke up and have been fighting for my life ever since. So there I laid in this hospital bed, just lost my hands, I’m a guitar player and I just started living my dream that I had been longing for since I was 12 years old. In the blink of an eye it was all gone. The very first question I asked my surgeon was “Will I play guitar again?” he said “No”. It took me over a year, but I played again and have been playing ever since. I am a singer/guitar player/songwriter and am the brainchild behind my band Hook74 that I front write all the music for, record all of our music, film and edit all of our videos…all by myself without hands. I’m a husband, a father, musician AND a Rockstar! I never said “I can’t”, I never said “I quit” I never even asked “Why?” I just faced what was in front of me the best way I knew how. When I was 15 I used to carry a pic of Bret Michaels in my coat pocket as a reminder of what I wanted to be when I grew up, I think I’ve done a pretty good job of living up to it, the best I could! 

Thank you Bret!

Michael

Do you have a story of giving back, supporting charities, overcoming obstacles, a story of strength, inspiration through music to battle through setbacks or illness? We’d like to hear and share your story and photos.

Simply visit TeamBretMichaels.com, read other great stories and submit your own!

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