REDEMPTION- Part 1 (Hernandez talks rough past, overcoming adversity)

By STEVEN RAY HERNANDEZ   Chris Hernandez picture 222
Editor
editor@sbnewspaper.com

They say the gang life will only get you to one of two places: dead or in prison.

Well, I guess no one ever told Chris Hernandez that.

Statistically speaking, nobody should be able to have survived the things Chris went through. Nevertheless, he did and his story is unlike no other this reporter has ever encountered.

Hernandez, 39, was a convicted felon by age 18, had over 20 arrests by age 30, and had been shot at and stabbed more than several times, with one instance that nearly cost him his life.

“The doctor told me, ‘Man you’re lucky, you were a centimeter away from death.’ I would have bled out internally,” Hernandez recalled as he told the story of when he was stabbed five times.

Today, however, Hernandez is telling a whole different kind of story, one that could only be defined by one word: Redemption.  After years of building up a lengthy rap sheet, Hernandez has completely left his past behind him, and it showed earlier this year when he graduated from All Valley Barber College in Weslaco.  Now employed at the local barber shop King Kutz, Hernandez says he knows this was his destiny.

“Everything had to happen for a reason…you know, we learn,” Hernandez said.  “That’s the reason I am so strong now, because I had a past that had defined me.  But then God showed up into my life.”

At age 17, Hernandez was involved in an altercation at school that prompted his first felony. He was caught with brass knuckles, which is considered a deadly weapon. He was two credits away from graduating from San Benito High School before going to jail in 1994, but eventually received his GED while “in the system.”  From there, it was a seemingly never-ending lifestyle that saw countless jail visits, eventually landing him in Fabian Dale Dominguez State Jail for two years.  “What sent me off that time was a DWI and a Burglary of a Habitation charge,” Hernandez recalled.   “I revoked my probation that time and didn’t get out until January of 2000,” he added.

As the interview continued, Hernandez sat there, well-dressed and well-mannered, telling dramatic stories of violence and shootings and all the other standard elements that only a former full-fledged gang member would be able to tell.

But as the interview came to a close, it was clear that although he is not proud of the life he once lived, it’s what molded him into the man he is today.

“It feels powerful everyday because I know what I’ve gone through,” Hernandez said. “Now every day I wake up, I’ll make my coffee, I’ll read the Bible, and then go out for my run.  Running is my main thing, because that’s when I do my worship. When I run, I open up the line with God,” he added.

Hernandez is an active member at Word in Season International Church in Harlingen and prides himself on having a healthy balance of God and exercise in his life.  He enjoys fishing on a regular basis and has even been featured in the News with several alligator gar catches of over 5 feet.  For now, he says he looks forward to focusing on his career as a licensed barber and following through with his goals for his children and his wife Nora Hernandez.  “I just want to make a better way for my family and get a piece of land and a house,” he said. “It should have been done a long time ago, but like I said before, everything has built me up to this point.”

Editor’s note:   REDEMPTION is part of a monthly series where we feature citizens who have overcome rough circumstances in order to change their life around.  If you know someone that you might want to feature, please send an inquiry email to editor@sbnewspaper.com

 

Permanent link to this article: https://www.sbnewspaper.com/2015/06/26/redemption-part-1-hernandez-talks-rough-past-overcoming-adversity/

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