Meet Tameaka Brown
When pain truly becomes your purpose.
Life was great — at least by all markers of success. I was newly married, had a great job, the mom to an 8-year old son with another baby boy on the way. Spending time with my family and friends was the only thing top of mind — I didn’t have a care in the world.
April 16, 2004 began like any other day. I was enjoying the life I’d built for myself until it all changed with one single, unsuspecting event — my 8-year old son, Roddie, was mauled and killed by 4 pit bulls while playing in his grandmother’s yard.
Grieving one child while literally giving life to another is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.
His death opened my eyes to a world I didn’t want to know existed. I wondered how many others were out there like me-- losing a child this way.
Through a lot of research, I learned 4.5 million dog bites occur each year in the United States — a large percentage of which happening to kids.
I didn’t want Roddie’s life to end there. I didn’t want others to experience this level of pain and I knew I had to do something about it.
I became an expert in dog bites, safety, statistics and responsible dog ownership. I founded the Roddie Jr’s Watchdog Foundation (RJWF) to educated the community on responsible dog ownership and to minimize dog bites on our youth.
Our organization provides support to children ages 0-17 who have been bitten or permanently disfigured by a dog.
This is a lifelong journey.