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In 1984 the true story of George Marcello a recovering heroin addict facing 20 years who realizes in later years that God held him back from escaping while he was incarcerated. God had prepared an inspirational humanitarian journey for George. He constructed twenty years of amazing projects, including a 12,000 km walk across Canada to thank his anonymous organ donor. His skills enabled him to raise a billion dollars. His work with organ donations saved more people than any other person on earth. His anonymous Torch Of Life was touched by over a million people including St Pope JohnPaul 2 who blessed it on September 5, 2001, & wisely urged George to pass it to the kids. He obeyed by recruiting over 1000 students in the next 15 years. During his final years George meets & prays with the Undercover RCMP who busted him at 16 & the brother of his anonymous organ donor.
SYNOPSIS:
This feature is a 6 part series which begins with Book One Growing up in Toronto's Little Italy neighbourhood. His parents arrive from Italy in 1955. In his first 13 years he grows up as a good Catholic boy, excelling in sports & school, while working 3 jobs.
There isn't a third choice. Unfortunately at 13 years old in BOOK 2 in George chose the latter As soon as he hits his teenage years he gets trapped in a world of wise guys, heroin addiction & prison becomes his second home. He would later thank God for his heroin addiction & prison because it saved him from becoming a full fledged wise guy & got rescued every time he got arrested. In 1984 he reaches his bottom facing 20 years for a drug conspiracy. While attending trial he plans a brazen escape with his co accused. He has aspirations to die in a hail of bullets. Destiny has different plans, after overpowering the guard, he cannot take the final steps as he screams tat his friend to go without him. 3 months after his friend gets apprehended, the trial concludes. Miraculously they are found not guilty. George tries to understand whats happening to him as we watch him praying with the late night TV Evangelists. God speaks to him, I have plans for you that why I held you back from escaping.
In 1986 at 31 years old in Book Three, Recovery & Drug Advocate, we follow George as he makes his way to a 2 years drug treatment centre, followed by a commitment to help others like him. He recruits every hardcore heroin addict in the city & brings them to a church basement where they begin a 12 step program called Narcotics Anonymous. By 1995, 5,000 members join.He & his recovering friends film their recovery Some say they were breaking NA Spiritual Traditions & cause civil war in the world of 12 Step Programs. He would often say "you know what the difference between an Alcoholic & a Heroin Addict is. An Alcoholic will lie & rob from you, & a Heroin Addict will lie & rob from you & then help you look for it."
He creates a charity starts walking. By walking a marathon a day he proves organ transplantation is a cure & not voodoo medicine. He wakes up the world & convinces Governments to invest almost a billion dollars. His Journey is compared to an Italian Wise-guy Forrest Gump as millions around the world touch his Torch Of Life including St Pope John Paul 2, who, George meets in 2001. The Pope urges George to pass the Torch to the kids.From 2002 to 2013, George faithfully follows his wise words by recruiting over 1000 students from thousands of cities to carry the Torch around the world.Sadly we discover he has powerful adversaries who continue to discredit & destroy him & claim all his achievements by quietly spreading the news that he was a heroin addict & a convict. He is a very easy political target, & gets harmed time & time again. George not only woke up the world to the organ shortage, he also had the solutions to address it. He became an organ policy geek. He claims his adversaries were not just hurting him, they were killing thousands of people waiting for organ transplants, right up to this day. He kept saying time & time again, I have a truckload of organs, open the damn doors.
In 2014-present in Book Six. George get afflicted with terminal kidney disease as result of long term use of anti-rejection drugs. It's ironic because he championed those drugs & proved they were a cure. He still defending the drugs stating 20 years of extra living is a cure. He lives day to day as to he tries to keep his charity Step By Step alive.Watching his charity & journey dying is harder than dying himself. Bedridden his writes his life story, because he wanted to silence his adversaries by disarming their little secret. He also prepares a shovel ready world student torch relay campaign. He won't die until he finds a team to make a film or TV /Web Series based on the Step By Step Journey. He feels it just around the corner. The film would get millions of supporters who touched the Torch Of Life, & played a role in this journey. A very rich admirer from the Middle East claims he will finance a well made world class film. Many well known folks in the film business are starting about this project. In case you needed to know; George promises that all his funds & resources from the film will go to Step By Step so he could resume his world student torch relay.That includes spectacular events in the Middle East in memory of of the Palestinian & Israeli kids & the 3 organ donor mothers bringing the Torch to Pope Francis. Just imagine that this was really happening. We would all witness dramatic increases in organs transplants around the world. We would see Palestinians & Israeli's donating organs to each other & watching this happened in other troubled & conflict based areas. And finally like a full circle, the film would address the Opioid Crisis. Will George survive to see these final chapters of his journey & finally understand why god chose him.
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