Former gang member turns new leaf by singing to patients as hospital worker
[August 16, 2021: CRISTINA FLORES]
A former member of a crime gang has become an internet sensation after his musical performances in the hospital he at works went viral.
Enrique Rodriguez, 28, who is currently working as a phlebotomist at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, has gained quite some popularity on social media after several videos of him singing to patients caught the attention of netizens.
Rodriguez, who belonged to a New Jersey gang, has become a musical star after he posted videos of him playing the piano for critically ill patients in the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) on his TikTok account.
Watch the video here:
Rodriguez left crime to help people in need. “I found God at an extremely troubling period in my life and he showed himself to me when I needed him most,” he told the news website. “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.”
According to the news report, in 2009, Rodriguez’s eldest brother went to prison. On losing his brother to the jail system, Rodriguez felt disconnected from his loved ones and got attracted to the gang life.
Things changed for him when a rival gang came after his mother. According to the news report, two attempts were made on the life of Rodriguez’s mother before the aggressors were arrested.
That was a turning point for Rodriguez, who then devoted himself to do good for the people. “I have done a lot of bad things and mixed with a lot of bad people,” he told the news website. ‘I’m just grateful God looked out for me and my family. He has given me the opportunity to start a new life, and music is a huge part of that,” he added.
Rodriguez, who has been working with the hospital for the past nine years, is a self-taught musician.
'I love what I do and I believe my purpose in this world is to help other people,' he said. 'When I'm singing to these patients I can feel the connection we have and it's wonderful.
'There was a time where I was singing to a patient in a coma and he woke up for the first time in weeks.
'It was a true miracle.'
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