AL HAMNIK: MMA fighter and River Forest grad Josh Dawson finds new life after Hepatitis B scare

The checklist for Josh Dawson's young life was suddenly spiraling out of control.

A good paying job, gone.

His girlfriend and their 3-year-old daughter, gone.

Friends and acquaintances, gone.

The dream of an Ultimate Fighting Championship belt, gone.

Josh Dawson was suffocating, the walls of his solitude closing in with no hope for escape.

He began drinking, partying, brawling.

Sitting at home one night, alone and in deep depression, thoughts of suicide raced through his mind. He was 19 years old. How did it ever come to this?

Receiving a knockout

Dawson had a scheduled fight in Chicago about six months ago and had the required blood work.

The day of the fight, the lab called him back in, ran another test, then delivered the knockout punch.

He was a Hepatitis B carrier.

Life, as the 2008 River Forest grad knew it, was over.

"I lost almost everything a person could lose," Dawson said. "I had a great job at the time and lost that. I lost my career in fighting that was going good at the time. I lost my daughter's mom.

"People just walked away."

His mother Leanne Dawson and stepfather David Wilson were all he had left.

"I had anger problems," Josh said. "Pretty much a self-shutdown. When I'd get home from my daily job, I would just sit in my house, alone, until I fell asleep, then get up and do the same old routine over again. I didn't talk to nobody. I cut everybody out of my life.

"I felt like a freak, disgusting inside, because you'd never want anybody to have that condition. So I kept just to myself."

Word quickly spread that he was "sick." One-on-one contact had to be watched. He had to be extremely cautious if he had a fresh cut or shared eating utensils; cautious even to the point of handling his daughter, Brook Lynn, when he shared visitation with his ex-girlfriend.

"The darkest moment for me was the day I found I had it. I walked out of the doctor's office, got to my car and I cried," Dawson said. "I didn't know what to do. I felt like I was gonna be alone for the rest of my life. That was the first time I had ever thought of committing suicide."

A reason for hope

Dawson met steel worker Rich Otero and got a phone from the Porter County Health Dept. on the same day and, quicker than you can snap your fingers, there was reason for hope once again.

"When the Porter County Health Department stepped in, they finally found that I never had (Hepatitis B) to begin with. They sent the results all the way down to the state health department in Indianapolis. They looked at all my results, again, and found (the original lab) had made a mistake."

Dawson paused, his voice cracking a bit. This was a difficult moment to revisit.

"Within that same day, I was out in the streets running again and doing my usual workouts to get back into shape," he said. "And that's when I met Rich, and right off the bat me and Rich clicked. He's like my best friend and at the same time, my role model and my idol in a way."

Otero, a 1993 River Forest grad and former five-sport prep standout, has worked as a physical trainer/martial arts instructor the past five years. He immediately saw potential in the 6-foot, 155-pound Dawson, who played football and basketball for the Ingots.

"The sky's the limit for him. Now, he's well-rounded. Wherever he wants to take the fight, he can take it -- on the ground, standing up," Otero said. "The kid's hungry and has got the weight of the world on his shoulders. He's got the fuel to push him."

Both men continue working to clear Dawson's name and get the word out that he's healthy.

His first pro fight was scheduled against Bryan Fielder at the Lake County Fairgrounds on Saturday, but Otero said Fielder's camp refused to fight because of Dawson's alleged ailment.

The road back will be filled with such obstacles, but Otero and Dawson won't be stopped.

"I was on this path to glory once. My ultimate goal is to get to the top -- the UFC -- and have Rich next to my side," Dawson said.

There's good reason now for applause. I know you want to. Go for it.

This column solely represents the writer's opinion. Reach him at al.hamnik@nwi.com.