CLEVELAND, Ohio — For John Traylor, his restaurant Johnny Fryer's in Gas USA on East 131st in Cleveland is more than just a job.
It's his way to give back to his community with a good meal at a cheap price.
He also calls it his own personal form of therapy.
"It's been a positive foundation inside my life, because when I'm feeling distraught and depressed I can come and cook and I can make somebody happy," Traylor said.
Traylor told 3News his life changed forever 20 years ago near the corner of West 47th and Lorain.
"And when I get there, the guy shot me. When he shot me, I don't know, I just woke up and all my belongings were gone," Traylor said.
He said he was shot in the head while trying to help friends who were caught up in the wrong crowd.
To this day, he's still on the road to recovery.
"I got fragments all in my face and my back is messed up and stuff and my eyesight is bad and I cant hear out this ear. I may look good on the outside, but on the inside I'm really struggling," Traylor said.
Since then, he uses his restaurant to make a positive impact in the neighborhood and influence teens heading down the wrong path. He's hopeful they can learn from his story and see him as a role model.
"It's a lot of kids out here that be getting in trouble. I was one of those kids and I changed my life and turned it around," Traylor said.
He's urging others to step up and be a positive influence in their community.
Meanwhile, does he think about the person who shot him those two decades ago?
"I don't even blame him. I been forgave him, I don’t really think too much about it. I hope he’s doing fine honestly, and I hope he learned from his mistake," Traylor said.
An approach he encourages the community to take, sure that he can create a ripple effect of love and light to show that there's so much more to live for.
"We need more community activists as young kids that's 16 and 15, not just guys that are my age that's already old," Traylor said. "We need you young kids to come out and speak up because this is your environment, this is your community and honestly its your peers that's being the ones that are being murdered."
You can see Bri Buckley's previous story with John Traylor below:
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