An Interview With Brent Walker, Author of "Look Up" (Rebroadcast)

Brent says, "I have always been very fond of writing and have written a lot of short stories in the past (I even wrote a screenplay once). but none of them have ever been published. For me it is very simple. I want to help people. I don't care about money; I never really have.

"Most of my life, I have been haunted by this disease. For twenty years at least I have had the weight of this on my shoulders. For the most part, I did not talk about it much in those 20 years as I didn't want people to pity me or treat me differently. When I finally decided I was going to go through with it and get tested, I decided to open up more about it to friends and coworkers, and what I found was that my story was not met with pity but that it in fact seemed to inspire people. So perhaps by sharing my story, I could do just that if I wrote about it.

"I would say about 90 percent of 'Look Up' is based on my own experience. I go to Vegas with friends every March, have for about seven years, and I take that time to reflect on my life and think about where I am. The idea for this story has been in my brain for years, but I only recently decided to put it on paper and share it."

In this interview, Brent talks about his story, his life with HD, genetic testing, and survivor's guilt. We also provide information on where to go for help if you or a loved one is considering suicide.

Note: The story includes adult situations and profanity. This is the link to Part 2 of the story: http://help4hd.org/look-part-two-short-story-brent-j-walker/