Stephen Langerby has been in and out of Reno most of his life. After several traumatic moments, including a van accident when he was 21, which got him qualified for disability payments, and many other health issues, Langerby now finds himself living on the streets and looking for marijuana to help ease his pain.
He’s originally from Florida so he likes to dress the part and always looks for sun when he can find it in downtown Reno even on cold gloomy days.
For Stephen, Reno is a home base between Amtrak trips he takes around the country. Here’s the description he gave of his own life to street reporter Daniel Lowe as part of our #humansofreno series giving a voice to our neighbors living on the streets to hear their own perspectives on our changing city and their own trials and tribulations.
“I’m dressed like I came from Florida because I came from Florida.
Even though I live on the street, I've never dressed like a bum.
The first time I came to Reno, my parents got divorced in Wisconsin and my mom moved us out to Davis, California. And so my first memory of Reno was coming on I-80 and we had our cat in the car. And so I put my cat in my backpack and went into Circus Circus .
I had just graduated eighth grade.
15 years ago I had fungal pneumonia. So I was in the ICU for 16 days. After 13 days, the other four people up there had died of pneumonia. I was the last one. And so they put a tube in my shoulder. Went from my shoulder straight into my heart valve and they pumped the medicine through my heart for three days, to either live or die. Well, during the fungal pneumonia, I coughed myself into a hernia. And so I waited.
I had one surgery, they removed the mesh, put another one in. That one failed right away. So then I waited 14 years until a robot was designed at the Northern Nevada Surgery Center in Sparks. So 14 years with the ruptured hernia by my belly button.
And I get a call from Medicare and they said, you have to be in Sparks, Nevada, May 9th at 4:00 A.M. the robot's made, and you're gonna be the first one to do your surgery.
I have no wife or kids. And so I hopped on Amtrak, got a place to live, took the city bus up to the hospital, walked into the emergency room at midnight and said, I'm Steven. I'm here to have this robot do my surgery.
I asked the doctor, I said, why in the hell did you have to have me take the bus at midnight to be here? He puts his hand on my shoulder and he says, ‘Steven, robots don't sleep.’
They put a huge silicone disc around my entire stomach and everything.
You can pay $500 and get a 30-day Amtrak pass and pick 10 cities.
So like last year right after my hernia surgery, I was like, I might as well heal on Amtrak. So I paid the 500 bucks, went from here to Denver to New York, to Washington D.C. to Raleigh, North Carolina. And then you come back all the way back through.
When I came back to Reno, I stayed a month, and then I said, well, I'm gonna do that again, but I'm gonna go the other direction.
I went through New Mexico, then to Flagstaff, Arizona, spent time at the Grand Canyon, and then it took me to Austin, Texas. And I spent the winter in Austin, Texas, playing disc golf and eating chocolate
With your 30 day Amtrak pass, they have a special area in every train station. It's more comfortable seats, better bathrooms, places to plug your phones and computers in, so you show your 30 day pass and you go into a [special] area.
I get 900 bucks a month and rent anywhere is more than 900. And then trying to find someone that's cool…
I just got burned. My birthday was October 2nd. My fishing buddy, I've known for two years, a Vietnam vet, I gave him $450 cash all the last of my money on my birthday. He was supposed to get a place to live. And then he flaked and he took off with my money. I’ve never seen him since.
So now I'm sitting here flat broke … And then I go to all the little stoner spots and find their roaches and smoke pot. So that keeps me going.
I haven't eaten solid food in probably 16 years now. So I live on bananas, nuts, some fruit, but I haven't eaten a sandwich or a cheeseburger or sat down and had a meal in 15 years now.
If I eat food, I feel like I'm gonna die.
My dad was a Lutheran minister. So people around here, they call me an angel and I kind of believe it. You know,
I always make sure that I preach to the young kids to make sure that they're on the right path. I'm someone that all the kids can come to for anything. They can come to me and I'll take care of it. I'll help 'em.
That's why I got my Illuminati tattoo. I got it tattooed on my neck.”