《线上电子游戏飞禽走兽》的昆顿·亚伦希望成为他自己的励志故事

昆顿·亚伦知道一个成功故事的力量，一个有才华的年轻人和一个帮助他战胜困难的母亲形象. 这些元素帮助制作了2009年的电影《线上电子游戏飞禽走兽》," which he starred in alongside Sandra Bullock, 一个大片.

That film was about football star Michael Oher, 但昆顿的人生也有自己的好莱坞风格:一夜成名. The loss of the mother who guided him. 陷入绝望. A diagnosis of the same heart condition she'd had.

然后，在他家族中其他坚强女性的指导下，他下定决心不成为一个悲剧人物.

“《线上电子游戏飞禽走兽》是根据别人的故事改编的，”他的表妹莫妮克·麦古根-萨维奇(Monique McGoogan-Sabage)说. "但 Quinton has an incredible story of his own."

昆顿身高6英尺8英寸，他说他一直梦想着伟大.

He was born in the Bronx, 纽约, in 1984 and began performing at an early age, 模仿蝙蝠侠和米开朗基罗(忍者神龟)，在家里唱迈克尔·杰克逊的歌. "There were so many things I wanted to do,他说. "And my mom just taught me to believe in myself, 永远不要让任何人告诉我，我不能做这些事情."

昆顿经常搬家，但一直和大家庭在一起. He also was shy, and targeted by bullies. 但在9岁左右，他的母亲劳拉建议他参加学校的戏剧课. 当他走上舞台时，他的同学们没有嘲笑他，而是热情高涨.

“我甚至无法描述我从那一刻起的感受，”他说. "It was like, 'I want more of it.'"

By 12, he was 6 feet tall and about 200 pounds. His aspirations were just as big. "I told my mom, 'I want to be an action star. I want to be like Arnold Schwarzenegger.'" He intended to become the first Black James Bond.

十年后的2007年，他的妈妈发现了改变他一生的那部分. 当他在学生电影中工作时，她一直在网上寻找试镜机会. 《线上电子游戏飞禽走兽》对这个角色的描述听起来很像她儿子, 她凌晨3点把他叫醒.m. 谈论它.

He landed an audition and thought it went well. 这时，他发现大厅里有一个老演员在等着轮到他, and Quinton lost hope – although as a backup, he'd handed the director his business card, offering to work security.

His mom never doubted his acting success. 但 she wouldn't live to see it.

几年前, 劳拉被诊断出患有充血性心力衰竭, a condition where the heart is not pumping properly. She developed obstructive sleep apnea, characterized by snoring and disrupted sleep, and had trouble breathing. 她接受了药物治疗，但她的健康状况继续恶化. Laura died in September 2008, at the age of 44.

It was before he'd officially landed the role. “她告诉我的最后一件事是，不管现在发生了什么，他们都不可能在没有我的情况下拍这部电影."

她是对的. 但 her loss devastated him.

昆顿、他的兄弟贾里德(Jarred)和他们的母亲“就像三个火枪手一样”，他说. He never knew his father, 他母亲的去世意味着失去了“我最好的朋友”, and the only parent I had."

"She was everything" to him, Monique said. "He had a wonderful grandmother. 他有很棒的阿姨. 他有很酷的表亲. 但她就是一切."

昆顿把悲伤放在一边，因为他有工作要做. 他于2009年4月开始创作《线上电子游戏飞禽走兽》，并于同年11月发行. 它的巨大成功让昆顿在工作中掩盖了他的痛苦.

His blossoming acting career filled his days. 他把它比作一种淹没了其他思想的噪音. 但当工作逐渐减少时，“所有的噪音都安静下来了，”他说. “然后，我妈妈不在这里的事实又变得响亮起来."

昆顿悲痛欲绝，陷入抑郁和抑郁饮食. “我会一直吃东西，即使我不饿的时候，”他说. "And none of it was healthy."

在拍摄《线上电子游戏飞禽走兽》时，他的体重是370磅. 到2019年，他将达到565岁. That May, he felt sick, "like a bad chest cold." He lost his voice but resisted going to the doctor.

他住在新墨西哥州，和他的姑母珍妮·麦古根(Jannie McGoogan)住在一起. “她听到了我的声音，她问，‘你还在生病吗?’”他说。. “我说，‘是的.她说, 的男孩, 如果你不从沙发上站起来，马上去医院, I'm gonna fly out there and kick your tail!'"

他服从了. Fans snapped photos of him being wheeled around. "I was completely bloated," Quinton said. "My legs were swollen and sore all the time. It was just hard to breathe."

The diagnosis was congestive heart failure.

Heart failure can have genetic roots, said Dr. 格雷格·拉尼尔在纽约瓦尔哈拉的韦斯特切斯特医疗中心治疗过昆顿. 昆顿有这样的病史，加上睡眠呼吸暂停和肥胖等风险因素.

他说，药物对控制心力衰竭至关重要. 但 lifestyle changes can help.

Which is what Quinton set out to do. 最终.

The year 2020 "was dreadful,他说. 他曾因新冠肺炎住院一次，因心力衰竭住院两次. 他倾向于“游牧民”，四处走动工作，偶尔服用药物.

但 in late 2021, he learned he also had diabetes. "And I was like, enough is enough."

His weight has gone up and down throughout his life. 为了出演《线上电子游戏飞禽走兽》，他瘦了100多磅. 这包括每天两次与教练一起锻炼和厨师准备的饭菜.

He'd have none of that this time. 但 he forged his own healthy path.

Quinton started limiting the hours he ate, doing intermittent fasting, 哪项研究与减肥和降低心力衰竭风险有关. 他重新考虑了他的饮食习惯，所以他一感到饱就停下来, instead of cleaning his plate. He made sure that most of his meals were healthy. “我并没有完全剥夺自己所爱的一切，”他说. "I'm just eating a lot less of it."

他坚持服用药物，防止体液在体内积聚. 结果，他说:“体重开始下降，我总共瘦了170磅."

Monique admires her cousin's determination. She also knows he's had help.

"The women in our family are incredible," she said. “他们不仅是很棒的厨师，而且对真正发生的事情也很有直觉. 我们家是这样的家庭:如果你说‘我很好’，我们就会知道你是否真的很好. 这种直觉，我认为，对我们中的许多人来说，让我们活了下来."

昆顿的母亲去世后，由珍妮阿姨照顾他. “他和我母亲非常非常亲密，”莫妮克说，“他把我母亲当成了自己的孩子."

但珍妮阿姨自己也生病了，并将于2021年5月死于心脏病等因素. 她享年73岁.

“她去世后，他说，‘好吧，莫妮克，我猜你现在是那个人了，’”莫妮克笑着说. “我说，‘好吧.'"

That felt natural to her, she said. 和重要的.

Monique, who supervises an outpatient clinic in Valhalla, 认为太多的黑人家庭不愿意讨论健康问题. “很多人都没有去看医生，尽管他们应该去看，”她说.

So she did what her mother would have done, 还有昆顿来镇上参加她母亲的追悼会的时候, Monique approached Lanier, a heart failure specialist, and arranged for him to see her cousin. 拉尼尔现在是昆顿健康监测的常规基地，无论他身在何处.

这是非常重要的. 拉尼尔说:“这将是一个终生的问题，永远不会消失。. “即使他的心脏功能有所改善，他仍然需要药物治疗."

The mainstay of treatment is lifestyle improvements, 拉尼尔说, 任何心力衰竭患者都需要一位能够定期监测体重的心脏病专家, blood pressure and medications. 拉尼尔还建议患者与心力衰竭专家会面，开始讨论接下来会发生什么.

Heart failure can worsen despite treatment, 这就是为什么拉尼尔认为病人有机会进入先进治疗的医疗中心至关重要的原因, 其中包括心脏移植或植入称为左心室辅助装置的机械泵, 或使用.

但, 拉尼尔说, "if he's able to lose weight, 保持健康的生活方式，不间断服药, 我希望他能在接下来的10年或更长的线上电子游戏飞禽走兽里表现出色."

昆顿自豪地指出，这是衡量他心脏跳动能力的一个关键指标, known as ejection fraction, 一直在改善. He also acknowledges that with his weight loss, which has plateaued of late, it's easy to get off track.

但 he's determined – and active, 做公开演讲, working on a music career, promoting a book project with a co-author in Austria. 他感谢上帝和他的家人给他带来的成功.

“我的妈妈, 我的姑姑们, 我家里的女人, 我的奶奶——他们都对我成为今天的我起了很大的作用,他说. 他的父亲不在身边，“所以我所做的一切都是为了纪念我生命中的女性."

Monique is hopeful for her cousin. He knows how to overcome, she said. 而且身边都是关心他的人——不仅仅是家人, 但是他有合适的医生”——她认为他会好起来的.

她说:“无论他身体好不好，我都能从他的声音里听出来。. “他一直做得很好. 我喜欢这样."

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