Darriane Taylor’s bareknuckled battle with depression has left him with scars that he now wears with pride as a badge of honour, and he believes that his life story will inspire others to be survivors.
The Seventh-day Adventist recently graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in religion with a minor in family life education at Northern Caribbean University in Mandeville, Manchester.
But the omens of the past had predicted a different fate.
Taylor lost his father at age six and went through various stages of depression until he was about 17.
“To control my depression at age eight, I turned to alcohol. At age nine, I started to smoke marijuana. I was going downhill and nobody understood me,” he told The Gleaner.
Taylor left his mother’s home at seven to reside with his grandmother and did not return until he was 15.
Taylor recommitted his life to God in 2008 after his first surrender at the tender age of six.
“I turned from depression. I didn’t have any ambition. When I was in grade 7, I turned to my teacher and said, ‘My career in life is to become a licensed murderer.’ I saw myself as a murderer because of how depression impacted me,” he said.
He said his faith in God and his love for prayer accounted for the change he has experienced in his life. Taylor also credited his grandmother’s rigid structure for his life as a contributor to the change – he was only allowed to go to school and church.
“I came to Northern Caribbean University with nothing. I didn’t have any funds,” he said.
