Degsy Hay, The Hay Patrollers

For the first time in his life, Degsy Hay is settled. He doesn't have to worry about which bin his next meal is coming from, which snowy bench he's gonna sleep on, or who he'll have to fight to stay alive. Things are going well. His dream of setting up the Hay Patrollers, offering a safe alternative to gang life, has become a reality, and his crew of young people are making the community a better place, patrolling shopping centres, cleaning up the neighbourhoods, helping the elderly and disabled. He's living with his best friends Winston, Sheila and Mya getting to know the brother and sister he never knew he had and learning to live without looking over his shoulder. Life is good.

Then, one night, his house is torched with him and his friends inside. He barely makes it out of the deadly inferno in one piece, and Winston is even less fortunate. He is alive but left in a coma, and it doesn't look good. Someone out there has a serious problem with Degsy's vision for a safer, gang-free London, and they ain't gonna stop setting fires till Degsy gets the message.

As the police search for the arsonist, Degsy and the others try to keep life and the Hay Patrollers rolling on as calmly as possible, but life is anything but calm for Degsy when fourteen-year-old Sudanese immigrant Slope rocks up in his life. Slope is violent, aggressive, lost and in need of support everything Degsy was at that age and Degsy is determined to help him even if it takes him as far afield as Australia.

Meanwhile, the senior Hay Patrollers are giving talks in school and prisons, sharing their stories with young people, showing how one bad decision can lead to a lifetime of regret. For Sheila, the experience of sharing her story of abuse, teenage prostitution and the death of a friend is too much to bear, leading to tragic consequences. For Mya, reflecting on the drug-dealing murderer she once was, and how she has turned her life around, leads her to search for redemption and forgiveness.

With Winston showing no signs of waking up, everyone scared, and the police getting no closer to finding the arsonist, Degsy steps up, scours the streets and tracks down an adversary far more dangerous than he had imagined. The only way out will drag him back down into a gutter he has fought so hard to escape: to violence, deception and criminal activity. And when he is forced to ask himself just how far he will go to protect his friends, family and the Hay Patrollers, even he is surprised by the explosive answer.

Read about Degsy's strength and courage as he survives and overcomes the childhood and teenage years that no young person should ever have to experience in Degsy Hay: A Juvenile Redeemed. Available on Amazon.

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