Meet Vedo.
Born in former Yugoslavia, now Bosnia, Vedo fled his war torn home in 1992 to Germany for 10 years, and then to the United States. When asked about his decision to come to the U.S., he said, “Nobody wanted us. I wasn’t able to go back to Bosnia. When the country was divided into three ethnic groups, the part I was from was given to the Orthodox Christians, who didn’t really like us. Being an immigrant in my own country didn’t sit well with me.” Vedo finished High School at 16 and did an apprenticeship for collision repair in Germany. When immigrating to the U.S., he wasn’t able to defend his diploma and had to start over.
He said, “The money was really tight. We had to stay with our uncle, who was our sponsor. I had to find a job. Being young and stupid, I had a lot of anger and resentment for everything that happened to me, and I didn’t pursue a job or career like I should have.” He bounced around from job to job making ends meet, being someone who learned skills quickly. In his late 20’s, he realized he wasn’t amounting to anything and decided to pursue a commercial drivers license, put 20% down on a truck with his father, and drove a truck until 2012 when he suddenly woke up with patches of his hair missing. He started losing hair all over his body, and sought medical attention. He said, “The diagnosis was Alopecia. I started receiving shots into my scalp, under my skin, into my face. After a good year and a half of treatments I started to recover, but at the 2 year point it hit me even harder.”
He was placed on various steroids and medications which resulted in folliculitis, leaving boils all over his body. He visited many Doctors, and said, “Everyone had an opinion and everyone wanted to start me on different antibiotics and steroids. I was working for a company I really loved, but with boils under your armpits and all over my face in the heat, it was painful. I became depressed. It felt like the whole world was collapsing on me and was difficult to maintain sanity.” Vedo suffered with this ailment for 5 years, keeping him locked inside his home without a job or affiliation with the outside world. He was on antibiotic for 2 years straight which caused him eating problems and ultimately losing an unhealthy amount of weight. He then took treatment into his own hands. He started a regiment of Vitamin D, Collagen, Zinc, Probiotics, and positive thinking. Slowly, his skin started to clear.
During this time of isolation, he studied ancient cultures and developed a passion for building drones. He said, “Building drones and flying them was truly the only peace of mind I had. I was always fascinated by flight. Even as a little kid in my communist country, I wanted to be an Air Force Pilot. I can’t really put into words what flying means to me. It is absolute freedom. There is no judgement. Just you in the sky.” Vedo is now regaining his health, working again, and continuing to develop his passion for drones. He said, “having a job and not relying on anyone else is also a sense of freedom. I don’t know what it is like for other people, but it is insulting when someone hands me money and I did nothing to earn it or provide any value. Providing value is more acceptable for me than just sitting and hoping help will arrive. This is freedom to me.”