Once while walking around Columbus Circle I met a man named Allen and his pet Pitbull named Nitro. Although this area is one of the wealthiest and exclusive on the Island of Manhattan, Allen was homeless and slept on the sidewalk in front of Lincoln Center.
Allen is a Thirty Six year old Veteran, who served in the United States Marine Corps. During his time in the Marines, Allen served as a member of the Military Police and then as part of the Bomb-squad unit once he was deployed to Iraq. However Allen’s life changed on one fateful day.
One day while on a mission, Allen and his team fell victim to an IED attack. As a result, nineteen soldiers and four service dogs were killed. Allen however was one of the survivors. Although he was lucky to be alive, Allen didn’t escape death unharmed. Allen underwent many surgical procedures to remove shrapnel that was embedded deep within his body and need to have his bones screwed back together like a door that had been knocked off of it’s hinges. But the most life changing injury Allen had sustained as a result of this tragic day, was he is now missing a portion of the frontal lobe on the right side of the brain.
After his recovery, Allen had to adjust to Civilian life which can be quite difficult for any soldier. However Allen would have to learn to adapt to Civilian life, with his recently acquired mental handicap.
Often times when a soldier comes home after serving in a war, they suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD). This was definitely true in Allen’s case, of which was only heightened by his disability.
Allen told me things that had told me other things that had happened while serving in Iraq that tore his soul apart.
He told me that once, in order to ensure the safety of himself and his squad, he had to shoot and kill a young girl who was wearing a suicide vest. When recalling such details, Allen became extremely upset and smoked cigarettes for a while in order to calm his nerves.
Allen told me further about the difficulties he experienced when he initially came back. He said he often dreamed about the death of the young girl as well as his fellow soldiers. He would wake up from these nightmares in a cold sweat and had difficulty falling back asleep. It wasn’t long before Allen realized that his PTSD was not only affecting his sleep patterns but also his relationships with other people.
First Allen saw that because his he couldn’t get along with people in a working environment, so he couldn’t hold down a steady job. Then as his symptom’s worsened his family could not handle his behavior any longer, so his family cut off all contact with him. Finally, Allen’s wife could no longer bear his him and his mental illness and decided to divorce him. So, after all was said and done Allen had no job, no family, no wife, no anything. So as a result Allen decided to travel around the U.S. and see the country he once fought for.
Allen’s life was quite grim to say the least when he first began his journey across the United States. However while visiting Houston Texas, Allen’s life took a turn for the better. One day while walking down a street in on the outskirts of town, Allen heard barking. There was nobody else around, he noticed that the barking was coming from inside an abandoned house. Allen went into the house through a broken window. He continued to follow the sounds of the barking until he reached a window in the Kitchen that looked out into the backyard. There he saw a dog that was barking a group of birds that were perched on a fence. Allen then went outside to get a closer look at the dog. The dog was as frail as a skeleton. He was tied to the house so who knows how long he’d been left there without food or water. The dog had been abandoned with no family to look after him. The dog was just like Allen, so Allen decided that he would take the dog, and they’d be each other’s new family.
Allen decided to name the dog “Nitro” and although he was only four months old he had been through a lot. Nitro weighed under 10 pounds, Nitro was very sick and thin. After being tied up for years, Nitro had a chain imbedded into the back of his neck, and a bullet which had passed through his left ear was lodged in his back. Allen took 500 dollars, which was all the money he had to his name, and took Nitro to a veterinarian in an attempt to get him better. After the treatment, Nitro gained 20 pounds and was healthy. Now Allen and Nitro would go everywhere together.
Allen and Nitro eventually made their way to New York where they began wandering and panhandling on the streets. Although sometimes people give him hard time and call him “a homeless piece of shit”, Allen has learned not to care about what people say. There are sometimes very generous people who give Allen and Nitro food and money. Although the streets are a tough place to live, Allen says it’s much better than the battlefield.
Allen and Nitro currently live on the sidewalk in front of a store. The lady who owns the store gave him permission to stay and sleep here, as long as they stay after the store closed and it doesn’t affect her business.
However just as Allen was becoming accustomed to his new lifestyle he found out he has an inoperable brain tumor, which sits on his pituitary gland. At first Allen was able to afford the Expensive medicine and radiation that once effectively controlled the spread of his cancer. However, with his limited budget it is very difficult for Allen to afford housing rent, medical treatment, plus basic living allowance when he is receiving such a small amount of government subsidies and health insurance.
As a result of his Tumor, Allen suffers from Seizures. Allen needs to inject himself with medicine in order to prevent his seizures. It’s difficult however to know when a seizure is coming. However Nitro has become Allen’s seizure alert dog after living together for such a long period of time, Nitro notices indications that happen before Allen usually has a seizure. When this happens Nitro runs around and barks to alert Allen about one hour ahead of time before he suffers a seizure, so he can take his medicine on time.
Allen told me “I don’t know how long I can live, but without him, I would have already died.” Then he added: “All I can do is to keep my head up, I have this young man to take care of, and I can’t give up. If I give up, who is gonna take care of his guy? I try to live my life day by day, as long as I wake up in the morning, it’s a good day.”
Darkness falls, the store owner locked and closed up shop, and then goes back to her warm home. There are fewer and fewer pedestrians on this lonely street, but Allen and Nitro keep each other company.
When it is time to go to sleep, Allen basically makes his own “shelter” by himself. First, he puts Nitro into sleeping bag so he won’t get cold at night. More importantly, he needs to make sure Nitro won’t be stolen by any strangers on the street. Then Allen told us he need to inject insulin later and asked us leave for some privacy.
At 11p.m., Nitro fell asleep. Allen lit his last cigarette of the night and tried to figure out a way to survive during winter. He hoped his application for social housing would be approved so he could move in with Nitro.
“What if you cannot get a spot in shelter?” I asked. Allen smiled while added: “Last year we were in Chicago, which is colder than New York City, we survived and I am pretty sure we can survive this year.”
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