b'Very Inspiring Person AWARDWhen Life Throws A CurveballHow Donald Hooton, Jr. is Honoring His Brothers Legacy with the Taylor Hooton FoundationBy Alicia WanekThecourseofyourlifecanandhetoldTaylorhowgood change directions in an instant.helooked.Taylorevensaid In July 2003 and in his seniorhedbeenfeelingaggressively year of college, Donald Hooton,depressed.Jr.waspreparingtostartaWeeksafterTaylorsdeath, career with his business degree.hisdevastateddad,Don Thats when he got the call fromHooton, Sr. spoke to about 600 hissisterthattheir17-year- students at Plano West Senior oldbrotherTaylorhadpassedHigh School, where Taylor had away.Inthemidstoftheirbeen a student.Taylors story grief,hisfamilycouldneverwastoldinanarticleinthe havepredictedhow,throughDallas Morning News, then by their tragedy, they could impactthe New York Times, and then ASGOW PHOTO CREDIT: NIKKI GLthe lives of so many others foron 60 Minutes.Then, 15 years the better.Now Donald worksago,DonspoketoCongress. every day to honor his brothersNo one seemed to know how legacy. prevalentsteroidusagewas Donald and Taylor were five(and still is), that it can be found yearsapartandwerealwaysin tainted dietary supplements close.After,Donaldheadeddue to loose regulationabout out-of-state to college, the twoDonald, Jr. with sister Mackenzie, mom, Gwen and dad, Don,25%ofdietarysupplements had time to connect during longSr. are making an international impact and saving lives with thecontain some type of banned talksoverthephone.WhenTaylor Hooton Foundation. substanceortheimpacton Donaldwashome,thetwothe body.athletes would often spend time together in the gym. They hadTheTaylorHootonFoundationwasbornoutofDonSr.s really become not just brothers, but friends.Just before Taylorscommitmenttospreadthemessageaboutappearanceand death, the family had gone on a trip to Europe, and theyd had evenperformance-enhancing drugs and to try to prevent other families more time to just hang out together.When Donald got the call thatfrom suffering the same tragedy he had.Donald knew early on he Taylor had died, he collapsed in the hallway of his apartment, thenwanted to be a part.He started helping with a golf tournament to packed the same suitcase hed just unpacked from their Europeanbenefit the foundation in the early 2000s and attended programs trip and headed back to DFW in shock. with his father.He worked in real estate for a while but came WhatshockedtheirfamilythemostwasthatTaylorhadtoworkfull-timeforthefoundationasDirectorofEducation committed suicide.All of the family had just one question.Why? Programs in 2010 and became President about two years ago with It was the detectives who found the steroids in his room.At thatthe aim to expand the scope of their mission and the programs time, the Hootons didnt see the connection, but theyve learned.they were offering.Under Donalds leadership, theyve expanded Theyve learned about steroid use and its psychological effects, andfrom 12 school programs each year to over 250. Theyre expanding the link to suicide. And they learned the use of steroids is likely fartheir messaging to include not just anabolic steroids but dietary more pervasive than you ever imagined. supplements.Donald points out that approximately 25% of those Donaldknewsomeaboutsteroiduse;afterall,asacollegesupplements will include banned substances. Theyve incorporated athlete, he estimates that as many as 75% of his teammates had usednewfundraisers.Big-namespeakerslikeformerbaseball steroids at some point.He even had had an indication that Taylorcommissioner Bud Selig and former MLB pitcher CJ Wilson are was.On that Europe trip, Donald could see he had gotten bigger,participatingintheirnewestendeavor,theAllMepodcasts. 12GoodLifeFamilyMag.comMARCH 2020'