Mathew Ursua

Mathew Ursua got his start chasing ambulances through the streets of Honolulu.

His adventures as a stringer submitting dramatic images of firefighters, paramedics and police officers to local TV news stations came as he took up reporting for college newspapers.

But Ursua, a real life "Nightcrawler," had a secret. The bright eyed, ambitious man who as a socially awkward kid in elementary school showed promise as a writer and dazzled teachers with eloquence and sometimes verbosity, had been battling the onset of schizophrenia.

Leading up to summer 2015, he rose through the ranks at University of Hawaii at Manoa's student paper, becoming the chief photo editor. While covering the news, he struggled to keep up his grades, ultimately flunking out of school, but not before interning as a news reporter for the state's biggest daily newspaper, Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

With his "extraordinary year among giants" behind him, Ursua explores insanity, disability, love and loss in his writings.

Today, Ursua lives with family in Hawaii and shares life stories on his blog. Whenever he can, he walks through the city with his cameras, waiting and hoping to see breaking news.