Ten years ago, on August 18, 2015, I sat next to my dad, holding his hand, as he took his last breath. He was only 46 years old. He wasn’t a smoker, he didn’t drink, but the kidney medicine he was prescribed caused skin cancer that spread to his lungs.

That night changed everything for me. I felt powerless. But I made myself a promise — that I would learn. That I would use my engineering mindset not just for roads and bridges, but to understand how the body works… and how to protect my family, and myself.

That experience taught me something that no textbook ever could — that time is precious. We don’t know how much we have, and the best way to honor it is by spending it wisely.

A couple of years later, in 2017, I stumbled upon a documentary called What the Health and a book titled How Not to Die by Dr. Michael Greger. What I learned shocked me. I realized how often the food and medical industries profit from keeping people sick.

But I also discovered something empowering — that what we eat can heal us. That a whole-food, plant-based lifestyle can actually help prevent, and even reverse, diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease.

As an engineer, I saw it like this: when you build a road with the right materials, it lasts. When you fuel your body with the right nutrients, it performs at its best.

So in September of 2017, I made the leap. I committed to a plant-based lifestyle. At first, people thought I was crazy — my friends, my family. But I approached it like any engineering project. I broke it down: research, test, adjust, repeat. Small short-term goals building toward one long-term vision — better health.

Eight years later, I can say this: my cholesterol, blood pressure, and diabetes are gone. My mom, at 62, is thriving. My wife’s autoimmune condition improved. My mother-in-law stabilized her cirrhosis.

And sometimes, I think back and wonder… if I had known then what I know now, maybe I could’ve helped my dad too.