Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy with William Person

Denise discusses hyperbaric oxygen therapy with former nine-year Team USA Olympic bobsledder, William Person. They discuss how William's career left him battling the devastating effects of CTE, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, which is a progressive degenerative brain disease thought to be caused by repeated head trauma, including concussions and subconcussive hits. Symptoms include memory loss, mood and behavior changes, cognitive decline, and sometimes aggression or tremors, with severe cases potentially leading to dementia. While only definitively diagnosable after death, CTE is linked to activities with repetitive head impacts, such as contact sports (especially American football and boxing), military service, and physical assault. William points out that it is also found in bobsled racers and others who experience extreme gravity forces.

At his lowest point, William could barely get off the floor, lost in confusion and depression. Hope came when he discovered Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, which restored clarity in his thinking, color to his vision, and purpose to his life. Today, William is on a mission to raise awareness of brain damage in sports, and the importance of protecting and healing the brain. He’s also on a mission to open a nonprofit CTE Recovery Center to help athletes and veterans heal at no cost to them.

While this episode is not talking directly about vision, William recounts how he was able to regain his color vision and decrease light sensitivity through Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy. What other brain issues could be helped by this therapy?

His message is both a warning and a call to action: “Protect your brain. Heal after injuries. Don’t wait. It can seal your fate. Be your own advocate—because “they” don’t care. You have to care for yourself.”

William's Social Media Links:

TIktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hyperbarichealing?_t=ZT-8zIHPM1xUkw&_r=1

CTE Recovery Fund: https://gofund.me/ba21055f

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/one.man.with.a.chamber.hbot?mibextid=wwXIfr&mibextid=wwXIfr

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/willp1234567?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

YouTube: https://youtube.com/@braininjurysurvival?si=KfTK-iFXlhLORgQC

 

Click the link above to message me directly. It comes to me as FAN MAIL! How great is that? Just click on the place that says, "If you liked this episode CLICK HERE:"

Transcript

Denise: This is the Healing Our Sight podcast where we discuss vision issues and healing strategies from the patient perspective. The goal of this podcast is to create an awareness of the diverse types of vision issues people experience, to highlight the types of help available, and to open a dialogue between patients to show we're not alone in our vision struggles. As a patient who gained 3D vision at age 54 through vision therapy combined with strabismus surgery, I feel uniquely qualified to offer a hopeful, balanced perspective on the possibilities. Please use the link in the show notes to send me a message and thanks for joining me today. 

Welcome to the Healing Our Sight podcast. I'm your host, Denise Allen and today I have with me William Person. He is a former nine-year Team USA bobsled athlete whose career left him battling the devastating effects of CTE.  At his lowest point, he could barely get off the floor, lost in confusion and depression. Hope came when he discovered hyperbaric oxygen therapy which restored clarity in his thinking, color to his vision and purpose to his life. Today, William is on a mission to raise awareness of brain damage in sports, the importance of protecting and healing the brain, and he's on a mission to open a nonprofit CTE recovery center to help athletes and veterans heal. No cost to them. Welcome, William.

William: Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Denise:: Yeah, it's my pleasure. I think that the whole idea of being able to regain color vision if you haven't had it is fascinating to as far as the visual aspect of it, but obviously this is an issue that goes way deeper than just vision.

William: Absolutely. I had no idea. I think I wasn't seeing colors properly. I had no clue.

Denise: Yeah. And you didn't realize it till it came back, is that right?

William: Yeah. I did a one hour in a hyperbaric chamber. This company let me come and try it out and it's a crazy story is like I didn't believe it was going to work. Like, you know, I had all these other things that, you know, you try to research and find things that's going to help you. And everything I tried ain't nothing, you know, so I didn't expect this to help. So, I said, it's free. What have I got to lose? So, I go in there and I'm entertained for one hour and when I get out, I sit down and put my shoes back on. And if you see my glasses a little bit slightly tinted because of the compression stuff, like I'm. I'm sensitive to smells, sounds and bright lights.

Denise:  Okay.

William: So, I always have a little bit of tint on My glasses. But my thing was when I. When I sat down to grab my glasses to put them on, I put them on, and I looked around and I took them off and I put them on, and I took them off. And the guy said, hey, what's wrong? I said, I don't know. I feel like I don't need my glasses right now. Everything was so bright. And he was like, oh, you one of those. In my head, I'm thinking, okay, here comes the salesman. He's going to try to sell me this $20,000 piece of equipment that I can't afford to write a check for right now.

Denise: Yeah.

William: But he. He was right. Some people get immediate relief, and some people need, like, I think 40 or 50 sessions within 30 days.

Denise: Oh, wow.

William: And so, for me, it took my cloudiness away for six days and. And I was like, whoa, okay, was this a fluke? And, you know, I couldn't believe it. And so, I went back the following week and tried it again, and then I was clear for nine days. And so, after that, like, I. I had to have one. So, I have one in my home now. So, I use it as much as I can.

Denise: So, does the effect last longer than nine days now, or you just use it more often because you get more results by using it more often?

William: Well, I just took a vacation. I plan on opening a wellness center. So, I was back looking at properties for that, and I was going for about between four and six weeks. I'm not quite sure. But by the time it was time to come back to California, like, I was so cloudy. I made a video. I try to do. Make videos and do updates on my Tick Tock channel. So, I could barely talk. I was struggling to form words. Like, I could see them. I just. Sometimes I can't pronounce them.

Denise: Wow.

William: And it's almost like I'm trying to spell out the words in my head as I start talking. It's just so (I) feel like a zombie when I'm like that. I'm just like, you know, you know, oh, man, it's so.

Denise: So, I think it would be helpful for our listeners if we define what CTE is for whoever doesn't know, though, that acronym and what the prognosis has been for you, what the difference is, what the prognosis for the future is even, because it sounds like you. You're really kind of dependent on it at this point.

William: Yeah. Like I said when Joe Namath did his. I'm not sure if we spoke about that on camera or not. He said it reversed his symptoms.

Denise: Let's rewind a second.

William: Okay, let's rewind. Okay.

Denise: Tell our listeners what CTE is for those that don't know at this point.

William: Okay. Well, CTE, I guess it was made more famous around the NFL case. There was a lot of players who had repeated head injuries, and they began to do things outside of their character, like hurt themselves, hurt other people, commit murder, commit suicide. And NFL, I guess they knew about it for a long time, and then they. I guess they tried to cover it. So eventually this doctor figured it out what it is. And actually, they made a movie about it was done by Will Smith. He was one of the. He played the doctor in that movie. And so, what it is, I can't pronounce the word, so I won't even try. But it's season cat tears and time easing network, so.

Denise: Right. And I. So, I have it written down in here. Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy.

William: There you go. Yeah, that's. That's the word.

Denise: I think that people are familiar with traumatic brain injury as a diagnosis, and a lot of people that have traumatic brain injury experience vision issues. So CTE is. It sounds like I haven't done a lot of research on it, but it. From what you're telling me; it's like traumatic brain injury on overdrive. Would that be accurate?

William: Absolutely. Absolutely.

Denise: And you can't diagnose it in anyone until you do an autopsy.

William: Autopsy is the. Yeah, they keep saying they're starting to find these markers in the blood. Some people, they think they can do it pretty soon if it's not already being done. But, yeah, you have to wait until death before you can see it. And in my case, it took for one of my teammates to take his life. You know, a lot of suicides, they usually do. They usually shoot themselves or something like that. And so, some of these athletes, they've been hanging themselves or shooting themselves in the chest, which is graphic. I'm sorry about that.

Denise:  Yeah.

William: But so, they can preserve the brain so the doctors can see what's wrong. And my teammate, yeah, he called me one day speaking gibberish, and he got so frustrated because I. I couldn't understand anything he said. And so, like, something just told me, and he needs help. And my background was mental health at the time. And I didn't do anything except think about it. Every day I thought about it. I don't know how many days went by, how many weeks. I don't even know it was a month or year. I have no Idea because I was so cloudy back then. But eventually I got the word that he went to his family's factory, and he hung himself. And, man, that guilt on me was just crippling because I felt like I knew something went wrong, should have done something, but I didn't do anything, you know? And so, when they checked him, he was actually in stage four. And so, you know, he had the shakes, the tremors, couldn't speak anymore. And there were a few other things. I don't want to put all this medical stuff out there, but it was. It's pretty brutal, right?

Denise: How many changes are there?

William: How many? Four. Once you get to four, then you probably on your way out, it's just like, set up like kind of like cancer.

Denise: Okay.

William: You to that stage four. There's a, you know, you are working on your exit strategy at that point because.

Denise: You're not really able to function at all.

William: No. And my thing is, most people, when you're in that stage, or even a stage one or two, you don't recognize the symbol in yourself either. If it wasn't for my loved ones, family, I would still be walking around just, like, thinking, I'm gonna be a diabetic any day. Because I was going to the doctor. Fifteen years, I say, guys, I think I'm diabetic. Can you check me? You know, they make you drink all this sugary syrup stuff and check it. No, no, you're not. You're good. No, I'm not good.

Denise : They told you for years that you were fine.

William: Yeah.

Denise: Wow.

William: But they always check my blood, but never my brain.

Denise:  Okay.

William: Yeah.

Denise: So, what needs to change as far as diagnosis goes?

William: Ooh. I really can't say because I don't know where the science is. Like, eventually they'll have markers in the blood that'll. That'll. They should be able to recognize it or diagnose it early. But what they need to do is. What I'm working on right now is transparency in sports, which is, like, right now, I followed a class action to get all help from all the athletes from the Olympic team. And one thing that I told  then I won't bend on with negotiating is they have to warn a new generation before they start the sport. See, they didn't warn us. We had no clue. And they still want to fight me on the wording of it, but they just tell, you know, now the new paperwork says you can get a concussion now, but it doesn't tell you what that concussion. What it really means.

Denise : Yeah.

William: Because when I raced, I knew I had a Concussion. Like, my first crash was two weeks before the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. We were in Switzerland. My brakeman on that day, he was knocked unconscious, and I had really bad vertigo. Like, I had it awful, like. So, they sent us back to the hotel and told us not to go to sleep. So, we supposed to watch each other. Like, okay, this guy already been unconscious. He was sleep on the ice doing a World cup live race, right? And I can't sit up in bed without the room spinning. So, who's watching who?

Denise: Yeah.

William: So, it was one of the only injuries you ever get that people tell you not to do anything. And I think that's where the problem comes in. So, I think instead of us trying to put something in place later, we need to put something in place ahead of time. When you first start having those issues, there's got to be something in place to treat those issues.

Denise : Okay, so what I'm hearing is that it comes from having lots of traumatic brain injuries, right?

William: Well, I think it's a little bit more to it than that. There's an article that came out by the New York Times in December of last year, 2024. And this is a crazy story. Like, if I wasn't an athlete, no one would be here to connect that. Connect these dots. When we race with boxing, like, sometimes we. We send test legs down the track. We call that forerunning. So, we'll put some. Sometimes we'll put famous people in there or somebody of importance. So, one day we took fighter pilots down, and supposedly we're only pulling 5G's maximum, and it's supposed to be only for a split second or something. Can't be a. Can't hold it too long because they know it's toxic on the body and brain. So, we took these fighter pilots down, and when I got out of the slant, they were kind of rattled and shook up, and I was like, that's weird. You guys pulled more G forces than us. Why? Why you rattled? Like, I could. That didn't sit well with me. So, all these years, that really sat in the back of my head. So, in December of this last year, an article came out, and guess what? You won't find it unless you get it directly from the Arthur. It's been scruffing Internet, but the fighter pilots have the exact same symptoms as the bobsledders.

Denise: Oh, wow.

William: What? The Parkinson's, depression, suicides. Everything that we have, they have. So I believe it's those G forces as much as it is the concussions, because there are Some people who, who never crash and they got the same symptoms as us, you know, so it's gotta, it's gotta be the G forces and then when you're going down a bobsled track, if there's a little bit of dice is not 100 smooth, it's a vibration like a. So, imagine that shaking baby syndrome is how I kind of describe it. Like your brain is being rattled all the way down that track and, and it's so violent. Like when you get to the turns, like you literally your body will snort for you. Like you can't stop it. Like you don't just go until you get out of that pressure zone and.

Denise: Then it'll release and so are you advocating that some of these sports be discontinued or. Well, because this is how I felt for a long time about boxing and football because I've heard so about so many cases of people having really adverse conditions later in their lives. Right. It's affecting them long term to do these kinds of things. And I can see that's what's happened for you too.

William: Yeah, well, I, I'm not advocating for it to be stopped, but I believe if the people who are in charge are hiding the information from the athletes when they start the sport, they aren't the right people. You should be running the programs. So there needs to be some transparency so that people can protect themselves. Like if you know this is your possibility and you, you know somebody is going to prophesy go through it and you allow them to go and come into the sport, you don't warn them. Like you're, you're part of the problem. You're definitely a part of the problem. Yeah, yeah.

Denise: So, you described that turning point moment where you realized that your teammate should have been helped and then that you needed help. Right. How did you go about finding the answer that you came to?

William: Well, when I had days that I was clear, I was just always trying to read and do as much information as I can find. And I didn't really find much to be very honest, other than its gruesome stuff. Like, you know, all you can read up on is this player did this and they did that and now they're in jail or they're dead. It was like I got to the point where I was literally praying for death. Like I didn't want to wake up anymore. I was like, how can I have another day like this tomorrow? And then, you know, I, yeah, it was just gruesome. But I guess my thing was when I Finally saw Joe Nama speaking about reversing his symptoms. I had never heard anyone say that before. And I was like, first t symptoms. Oh, wow. I got. At least got to try it. And that's. That's kind of where my. And I think it was in around 2022, September is when I first tried it.

Denise: Okay.

William: I was looking at some of the stamps on some of my. I made a video in there. Oh. And I watched it the other day. Oh, my words are so brutal. Just to listen to what I was saying, it was so dark, and I was like, oh, wow. Just, like. It's just. It's hard to, you know, like, go back and see that stuff. I didn't. I didn't know where I. I didn't know how dark things had gotten.

Denise: Yeah.

William: And I guess really something you said a minute ago sparked the things. Like, the symptoms didn't really get to me after I left the sport. They were there while I was with the sport. I just didn't know what they were. Like, for example, I wake up sometime, and I would panic. I didn't know where I was at. So, like, I would be in a panic. I would jump up and hit the light switch real quick. And I can see the pictures on the wall. They always tell me where I was at. Like, I'm in Europe or I'm in Utah or I'm in California or wherever I may be. And I had so many days like that, and I rationalized it. I was like, you know what? I travel so much. I have such a great life that I don't know where I'm at, you know, and same thing. Like, I was in Salt Lake at the time. One of my buddies went to go just hang out. Hadn't seen each other in a while. He's, hey, man. I said, girlfriend over there. I was like, I don't know that girl. And that girl ran over, jumped in my arms. I was like, oh, I guess I do know this girl, you know? And then once again, all athletes think they're the ladies, man. I'm thinking, oh, ladies love me. You know, I got so many women who love me that I, you know, I was rationalizing once again. Like, I just kept painting, just painting over the problem.

Denise: Yeah.

William: And then eventually I realized, like, I'm not recognizing people that I know. I don't recognize familiar faces. And it took another athlete from Canada to put out a video about that. Later, after I finally told people, and I was so embarrassed about it. Like, I had this thing that I've been doing for years. How are you doing? Oh, how are you? You know, I never say names because I, I just can't remember, you know. And so, like I was slowly just covering up all the problems, cover them, rationalizing them. And then when they kicked in, oh my God, like, it was brutal. It was brutal. Wow.

Denise: Wow. Okay, well, so when you discovered that hyperbaric oxygen therapy was going to help you, that was from what Joe Namath said, right?

William: Absolutely.

Denise: And then you went and tried it. Can you describe a little bit about what happened that first visit?

William: Well, it was really. I hopped in this thing, and I spent an hour in there and I don't know if I went to sleep or whatever. I set a couple alarms. The guy was still there with me. He had to go do something in the building. And he came back an hour and I hopped out. But that's when he, that's when the whole glasses situation happened. When I put them on, took them off. Oh, by the way, they said they still talk about me. They call me the Peter Parker syndrome. So, when Peter Parker got bit by the spider, he didn't eat the glasses. That's what they, that's what they call me now. So, I'm the Peter Parker guy. So, a lot of people, they market a lot of chambers because of that situation. And I tell them, please just keep sharing. You know, it's something that really saved me. And, but like, like, and that's another thing. Like, it was at one point I was feeling so great. I was feeling good. I hadn't felt this much relief in so long. I said, okay, I'm where Joe Namath is. I don't think I need it anymore. Let's do a little test. I stopped using it by around week three. Oh my God, I just found a video. Recently I was made. I made videos about it. I didn't know I was so dark and depressed. And I, yeah, I was back where I started at and I didn't know why. This eight-foot chamber was in my living room at the time. I was literally had to trip over it. And I went, oh yeah. I was doing a test to see if I still need it, I still need it. And I got back in and it took a few days, and it balanced me back out again. But the thing is, like, for me, since I do still rely on it, like I was a little heartbroken for a while. Like, I was thinking, wait a minute, these other guys said they got permanent relief, like, why not me, you know? And then I found a video that When I was doing some research, the guy, he passed away last year. I don't know his name, but he lived in the iron. You know, the iron lung is. Yes, it's, it's shaped just like my chamber. There's no difference.

Denise: Okay.

William: The difference is his head stuck out and he had to keep his body in this iron lung for 57 years. Wow. And he has such a great attitude. And I was looking at this guy and I'm thinking like, I'm never going to complain again.

Denise: Yeah.

William: Just make sure I just stay up on my treatment. And this last month was another situation where I was gone for a while. And I know now I still need it. Like I, I, I'm not one of those people who get the permanent relief. However, they tell me if I use a higher-pressure chamber, there's a chance it could still, it could still wind up helping me more and making it permanent.

Denise: Okay.

William: I don't know if that's true or not, but I'll be trying it in the next couple weeks.

Denise: Well, it sounds like it's similar to other therapies. Every person is different. And so, you have to figure out, find the threshold that works for you or the amount of therapy that, that works for you. I mean, I had to take a lot more vision therapy than the normal person.

William: Yeah.

Denise: Before I gained the visual results that I was after.

William: Do you happen to know Steve Holcomb? His story?

Denise: Don't.

William: He actually is the most successful bobsled driver the US has ever had. I pushed him in his first world championships was first top 10 ranking in 2003. Okay. He had a problem. He was going blind and he was driving bobsled blindly.

Denise: Wow.

William: So, they found out that he was actually going blind and they found, they did an experimental surgery. You can look at. I forgot what it's called, but his name I think it's named after. But I did. They took the contacts and put it behind the corner or something. Now we have perfect vision. And he had to learn how to drive all over again.

Denise: Yeah.

William: But unfortunately, he, he was one of the other athletes who committed suicide. Oh yeah. And he's actually from Utah as well. But yeah, he was, he's the only gold medalist bobsled driver since 1957. Was, what's that guy? Billy Fisk was the last one to like in the 50s. And so, Stephen came in and he was just doing great, man. He was one of the best drivers in the world for the last 15 years until he took his life around 2018, I believe.

Denise: That's so sad. Yeah, so I don't think that people would normally think about doing hyperbaric oxygen therapy when they're looking at, you know, recovering from a brain injury or even, you know, worse with the CTE symptoms. How are people going to find out that this is an option?

William: Well, I. I don't know. That's a good question. But I'm in a. I have a lake house I picked up during COVID It's. It's in. It's near my hometown in St. Louis, about 50 miles outside. It's out in the middle of nowhere. It's so healing there. And so, my goal is really, like, if I got the, if I was able to get the equipment right now, like, I can open right away. I got three bedrooms, two bath. I'm never there. I just have to make sure. I'll be there to make sure I get people set up and I could start treating people like today. However, I have another building in St. Louis my dad used. Well, my dad owns it. He retired a few years ago and he's ready to sell it. So, I can do more good over there. Like, I can probably treat 5, 10 people a day over there. And my lake house, it'll be limited, you know, Like, I was doing a paperwork last night and I've realized I can probably on the minimal. If I just help like five people a day, I can probably help at least 1500 people. Minimal. Minimal. That's the minimal side. It doesn't take much and it's, you know, just. The equipment is just expensive.

Denise: Yeah.

William: And then for me also, I gotta build that building out too, because it was a, it was a roofing company for a while. This, this building is so big, it has like three addresses on it. Like, so it's one of those.

Denise: Yeah, but so are people normally getting this kind of therapy in a hospital setting when they do Machine.

William: Oh, I'm sorry. Well, you know what? There, there's different levels of pressure.

Denise: Okay.

William: The one, the one that they said that I, when I first started, they said the one that works better with mental health is the one that's the lowest pressure chambers, like a 1.3 atmospheres. I think that makes your body believe it's about nine feet underwater. So, what it does is it turns your blood is more like a gas and so it can get through all the blockages. Like, I'll tell you this one story. Like, I used to help Jamie Foxx with some stuff back in the day. And so, when I found out that. Well, matter of fact, I don't Know if you remember that old song, Blame it on the Alcohol with Jamie Foxx.

Denise: You don't.

William: Ooh, I'll give you a thumbs down on that. No, that was a really huge song. We had Ron, remember, in the video, and it was like, Ron Howard and all these. We made, you know. You know. You know Ron Howard, right?

Denise: Yes.

William: It was a little Opie. We made him look. They made him look like a thug in this video. You can go find this. It was a great video. I patrol with friends of mine, and so I helped them do product placement for Jane. So, when. I don't know if you know, he. Jamie got sick a few. About a year ago, maybe a year and a half ago, he got really sick. They. They said he might have had a stroke on set, and I didn't know if it was true or not. The science behind hyperbaric oxygen is. Let's say you have a stroke and you're in a wheelchair, and you go through the hyperbaric oxygen treatment, more than likely, you won't need to. You won't need to walk. You might. You'll probably just walk again on your own. If you need a cane and you go through the treatment, you're definitely going to be walking. That's what they say. And I don't know if this. I just go by what I read and what I hear and all the medical search stuff. So, I called his team. I said, guys, please don't tell me if Jamie had a stroke because I don't want to be responsible for the leak. I said, but if he did, please check into this. This is what the science says. I don't. I don't even know if he did it or didn't do it. But I definitely put the message out there and sort of hyperbaric oxygen, it heals a lot of stuff. It do. Like, if you ready to have. If you have cancer, a lot of doctors will have you do hyperbaric before you start chemo. And then after chemo is over, they'll have you do it again. And it's. But you can't do it while you have chemo in your body. That's absolutely a no. No. It'll make it too toxic.

Denise: So.

William:  That machine does a lot of stuff. And, like, I didn't even want to try, to be honest. Like, one thing that scared me, like, you. I heard these weird stories. Like, Michael Jackson had one in his house. I was like, now I'm gonna be the weird guy, you know, I'm the weird guy with the hyperbaric chamber that, you know, and. But I'm so blessed to have it. Like, I, Yeah, I. Man, I don't know how I, like, I can't talk when I don't use it. Like, it's that bad. Like, I lose it all and I'm walking around like a zombie.

Denise: The familiarity I have with it is. A few years ago, my mom and my stepfather had carbon monoxide poisoning.

William: Absolutely.

Denise: As the. The door got left open, the car got left on, you know, flooded the house while they were sleeping. They woke up. Luckily, they woke up. My mom was able to wake my stepfather up because probably not going to wake up if she didn't wake him up. And they.were, you know, fairly bad off. They're in their 80s. Right. And so, it was kind of traumatic and dangerous and all of that. And so they put them in. They tried to put them both through the hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Right?

William: Yeah.

Denise: And my mom's sailed through it and it helped and she felt way better. And my stepfather couldn't handle being in that enclosed space because he had, you know, he's.

William: Claustrophobic.

Denise: Claustrophobic, right. And so, people with claustrophobia just can't handle being in the hyperbaric chamber a lot of times. So, I mean that. I think that's the drawback of recommending the therapy for everyone. Not everyone's going to be able to handle it.

William: Well, I addressed that in some of my videos. I bought the biggest one I could find.

Denise: Oh.

William: Like, I can literally lay on my back if I stretch my arms out. I can't touch the top of my chamber. I'm. It's like a tube, like a cylinder.

Denise: Okay.

William: And. And then mine's about almost eight feet long. I'm six foot one and a half, so I'm two feet from touching the either end. But I got a. Plenty of. I got to fit two people in my chamber.

Denise: Okay.

William: But like. But there were some that stops like, right above your face, like, and people who, like, hike those mountains, like Mount Everest, they take those with them, you know, like, they got some.  I couldn't handle that one. I wouldn't know. Like, absolutely not. But, yeah, that is definitely an issue.

Denise: Okay. I'm glad that you addressed that, because I didn't know they came in a lot of different sizes like that.

William: Oh, man. I got some. Like, you can put 10 people in.

Denise: Yeah, that be a trick.

William: And I live in LA, and there's a lot of people who build them in their houses, like in their garage. They have these huge. Because, like, I hate to say that, but, you know, in LA, people use them as the fountain of youth.

Denise: Oh.

William: So, yeah, like, they're in them all the time. And they're expensive out here. Like, you're. You can literally spend 200 an hour, minimum. I haven't seen them any cheaper than $200.

Denise: Yeah.

William: Yeah. And so, if you need somebody like me who needs like 40 sessions within 30 days, like, that's a lot of money.

Denise: It is a lot of money.

William: And I'm probably over more than 400 dives in, so. So, 400 times 200. Oh, my G.

Denise: Just.

William: I would be toast. There's no way in the world I could have sworn that.

Denise: Yeah. So, it's. It's that barrier to access issue where you can't afford the therapy, but you really need the therapy, and that's why you've decided to become an advocate, is that right?

William: Absolutely. And then the other thing is, I ran into a problem. I found something that 100% worked. I know it works. My family knew it worked. Everybody knew it worked. But then I couldn't afford it. I don't want to do that to anybody else. And the very fact that it's only oxygen, like, I. I just don't want to do that. Like, I'd rather be the hero. I'm gonna skip some meals. I'm gonna do what I need to do to help you. That's just. I've always kind of been. Yeah, that's. And that's the goal. It's just to open it up, let people come through. I'm gonna give you a free hour in my chamber and probably the red-light stuff, and. And hopefully it'll work for you.

Denise: Yeah.

William: And worst-case scenario, you'll know and you won't have to spend 20, $30,000 before, you know. You're gonna know already. Yeah, yeah. Just. Just imagine if you needed a insulin, but you can't afford the insulin. Like, that's what it felt like to me. And the crazy part is, like, once I placed the order for my chamber, it took about two months to get there. I think by the time it showed up, it was like. I never had a treatment before. I was just. I was out of it. I just. Oh, man, it's. It's brutal and it's brutal and, like, I was literally lost in my own neighborhood sometimes. And when I left the Olympic team, I had. I bought my guinea car, always wanted a Porsche. Never thought I'd be Able to own one. And one day, hey, I can. I can have that, you know, So I bought it and I got to the point where, like, I had it for many years at that time, but, like, certain days I wouldn't get behind the wheel because I was cloudy, used, and my re. I know my reflexes work appropriately. So, I started walking. I would make sure I get up every day. I go walk to the store, give me a salad or something like that, walk home. And sometime, like, I just, like, I could literally get lost in my own brain. It's only. Just only got to go up one street, make a left. It was that simple. But that brain, when it shuts off, it's. It's brutal. And like, I think that's what really sparked me to really start fighting because it's kind of like it just doesn't make sense for us to be that way over a sport.

Denise : Yeah.

William: You know, and to know that they knew it was happening and to. And they just decided not to share that information with us, like, that's like. It just made me so upset.

Denise: So, the symptoms were happening when you were still in the Olympics and under a doctor's, the Olympic doctor's care. Right.

William: We have an Olympic doctor. And if you're lucky enough, some of us had what they call Olympic nose, called elite athlete health insurance. Like it's from the Olympic team, get a certain amount of insurance, but first chance they get, they're going to pull that from you. You're not going to get to keep that very long. So, it's kind of like you’re kind of on your own. Like, the doctors don't really come evaluated too often. Matter of fact, they almost never really came about. They maybe come to see you once a year when the season start, unless you got some kind of big problem. But like, I raced for nine years, and I took between one to seven rides per day down that track four to six months of the year for nine years. So, I have literally hundreds of rides. Yeah, I've never seen a doctor, like, they want to crash me twice within an hour. We're fresh. World cup in Oxford, Germany, and they crashed me twice within an hour. I didn't see a doctor. Time we were knocked unconscious at World Cup. Never saw a doctor. You know, matter of fact, you know, Prince Albert, you Prince of Monaco, he was. He was a bobsled driver for Monaco, and he was there that day with two other celebrities. It was Michael Schumacher, who's a race car driver, and Anna Kournikova. That's how I guess her Name, She's a tennis player. And so, when we crashed, he was right there, you know. So, when I, you know, when I got ready to Paramedics were looking at me, he came over and winked at me. And I'm not thinking clearly. And I was like, I have a lot of gay friends. I live in LA. So, most of my. I'm saying 78 of my friends are probably gay. You just. out here, I just assume everybody's. Yeah, I just. You don't offend anybody. You don't. It's pronoun things like, I. I had to do an application the other day. I didn't know what the. How to pick my own pronouns because I'm just so kind of out of the loop. I can't remember all this stuff. So, Prince Albert winked at me, and I was like, oh, my God. I didn't know he was in love with me. I just, you know. And so, for years, I was like, okay, I just don't want to lead him on. You know, this is, you know, he's a nice guy. Guy's cool, you know. And then it took for me to realize years, years later, that guy wasn't in love with me. I had a concussion. I wasn't thinking properly.

Denise: Right. Yeah.

William: And that's kind of how it is when the brain goes. It's just like you. It's gonna do what it wants to do, and you, you just kind of long for the ride.

Denise: So, it seems to me that there should be more oversight, there should be more examinations of what's going on with your brain health as you're participating in these kinds of sports.

William: Absolutely. They need something. They have to do something.

Denise: Right.

William: And the number one thing I was like, put this way, if they had told me this was going to be what my life was going to turn into, there is no way in the world I would have ever stepped a foot in that split. Not once and definitely not a thousand times as I did. I would have never. You know, some people, they deserve the right to understand what they're getting into.

Denise: Yeah.

William: You know, as a matter of fact, think, like, I know about four people who, from America committed suicide. Well, there's others. Like, when I started asking questions about. Then other people say, oh, I tried to commit suicide, or I attempted to. And I. There were so many more attempts.

Denise: Yeah.

William: And I, I was like, whoa, I, you know, nobody's talking about this.

Denise: You know, no one's tracking the percentages to see how the sport is affecting people long term.

William: It sounds like I'm not sure because someone did tell me, someone who worked for the office, they knew about the issues, and they wanted more protection. And so, what they did. I don't want to really say what they did over here, but they did something to try to cover themselves. And it was about the time that around the Salt Lake City, I heard they couldn't find helmets that were safe but aerodynamic. So, they wanted more protection for themselves. The, the Olympic team did. That's what I was told. And you know, just. In other words, they covered it up so that the sport will continue and they can keep doing business as usual.

Denise: Right.

William: And my thing is, you, you can't do it. That's just, that's the. No, no. You're playing with people's lives, and you have to at least let them know, like some athletes are going to be athletes. They're going to do it no matter what. They don't care. Yeah, man. And they'll, they'll still get people, but at least they'll understand what they're getting into. So, my goal was not to destroy the sport. My goal is just transparency.

Denise: Okay.

William: No more, no more to it than it. I, I really loved my time out there. I loved a lot of my teammates. I love traveling and doing what we were doing and representing our country, you know. You know, I always tell people like it was people asking about the military. I say, oh, not represented the country in a different way, you know, but you know, it's, it's. I still got to represent this country, but it's just, I wish I had. Wish that my information had been disclosed. Yeah, yeah. And then now I'm watching the other athletes around the world is. So, what I've been talking about has now become a global issue. It's, it's happening in a lot of the countries, but no one's connecting the dots. I'm not. I seem like I'm the first one to just openly speak about it. And really when I first started speaking about it, I was hoping this is what I really thought was going to happen. I thought somebody had the answers to what was going on. And if I start talking, everybody's going to start talking and we're going to find out what the answer is and we're going to heal ourselves. That's what I thought was going to happen, but that's not really what happened. It was just more cover up, like, oh, you know, what are you talking about? These headaches? Like, come on, man, how many more people do we have to bury or, you know, do we get on these memorial phone calls and we're all sad like, no, just stop what we're doing. Let's figure out what's wrong. Let's fix it.

Denise: Yeah.

William: Or not. If it can't be fixed, then, you know, then it can't be fixed. But it can be fixed. Yeah, just every track, they make it a little bit more technically difficult. And when you put those big turns in there, that's where all the pressure is. That's where all the G forces hit you. That's what destroys the brain.

Denise: Yeah. Yeah. Very, very dangerous. It. It sounds like what we're doing is painting a kind of hopeless picture right now. That's not exactly what I expect the intention is today. Right. So, if you're wanting to offer some hope to people, what. What's the message that you want to leave people with today when they. They listen to this podcast and all of the discussion of this topic?

William: Well, actually, what I really hope to see happen down the road, I promise you, I was in dementia. There's no. I don't need a doctor to tell me I wasn't or was. I know where I was. And that, that brings me back to like, you see, so many people are older and once they get there, they just kind of let them go. They medicate them up until they can't, you know.

Denise: Yeah.

William: I really kind of think. And there's some study out there that says it's true. Like, if your family is going into dementia or Alzheimer's, the oxygen is going to help them, because that's where I was. And I really think. And I would be blessed, like, if. If that's the answer and that's a result that comes out and it's consistent and it helps people. I wouldn't mind getting this condition if it's going to save other people down the road. I want to see some people who have Alzheimer's, dementia get in there and see if it's going to flip them around.

Denise:: Yeah.

William: Because, ah, there was no hope for me. Doctors? Nope. Studies? No. Joe Nameth. Yeah. Which is really weird. Yeah.

Denise:  So, Joe Nameth was the 1 case study and there hadn't been a lot of people using it for CTE prior to that or after.

William: Right now, what I do know, there's always been people. Those things have been. It was created in the 1800s, I believe.

Denise: Okay.

William: So, it's been around a long time. And I'm not like a conspiracy kind of guy, but they say if they can't sell you a pill, you know, they not going to, you know, the insurance companies and big pharma don't really want it. Don't want it around. And they do all spend all the money with the, you know, the lobbyists and all that type of stuff. But this kind of really does look that way.

Denise: Yeah.

William: You know, for me to get in that chamber and feel better in an hour and like, come on now. That's just, that's, you know. Yeah, yeah. It doesn't make sense. One hour later, and I was like, hey, wait a minute, I'm alive. Like, it doesn't take much.

Denise: Yeah.

William: It's just expensive. Those things are so pricey, right? Yeah.

Denise: Well, it's amazing, and I'm glad that you have been able to get the results that you're getting and that you're spreading the word that this is a therapy that can be beneficial for people. And it sounds like not just for CTE, but for many other things. And I don't even think we know what all of those other situations are at this point that could be helped by.

William: There's a lot of people who do know. I just, I kind of stay in my lane, you know, and I, I just keep getting these little. They'll feed me some breadcrumbs here and there, and I'm thinking, like, what helps that too?

Denise:: Okay.

William: Yeah, it's, it's really amazing. Like, matter of fact, I think one thing, like, I kept hearing all these stories about how, you know, these conspiracy theories, how they were just, people don't want to do them because of, you know, the big farm. And, and then I remember Jay Leno had got burned or something, and I saw him on TV inside out in the chamber, and I was like, okay. And then I, I, I was working with a, A professional chef. So, when a lot of really expensive homes, I started seeing these things in the homes with, in these rich people's homes that this their fountain of youth. And I was like, wow. I'm just like, you've got to be kidding me. But, yeah, it's a real thing and it really helps.

Denise: Yeah.

William: I, I do hope one day that I'll find something to make it permanent.

Denise: Yeah.

William: Solution and permanent relief. But, you know, I'm blessed to have what I have because I know where I came from.

Denise: Yeah.

William: Yeah. Awesome.

Denise: Any last words of wisdom you want to leave our listeners with today?

William: Man? Guys, look, look up on my TikTok. I lay it out for everybody. This is what I'm dealing with. I tell you, the good and the bad. You know, I don't, I don't candy coat, anything. I just tell the truth.

Denise: Yeah.

William: You know, dude, if you're dealing with this and really, it's your loved ones around you who's going to help save you. Because if it wasn't for my dad seeing me like this, I'll try to explain what I was dealing with to people. And most people automatically say, oh, yeah, I forget things all the time, too. I'm like, no, it's not quite that. There's a lot of commonalities to regular things. You can easily dismiss it as yeah, but until my dad saw it in real time. Yeah. The one thing I would love to say is, like, if you have people in your life who played football, or soccer is the number one sport right now for CTE, they played those sports, check on them because they're going to tell you that they're okay, but they're really probably not okay because they don't get to see it on themselves. Like, when I went to St. Louis to do something, I was putting some new cabinets in the house in my sister's house. And my dad was a contractor his whole life. So, he's gonna meet me at the store in the morning. He said he'll call me. So, I didn't want to be late. So, I took my wallet, I put it in my car in my sister's garage. So, when my dad called me in the morning, I said, okay, I'm ready. So, I hopped up. I go to the car. My wallet's not there. I was like, oh, my God. Like, I went in the house, looked in the bedroom, wasn't there. I asked my sister, asked my niece and my nephew. They hadn't seen it. I'm thinking, like, now I'm walking back and forth between the car in the garage and my bedroom looking for my wallet. I can't find it now. My dad called me. He's upset. He like, you still home? I was like, yeah, Dad, I don't know what's going on, man. I can't find my wallet. I I. And he's just so. He's livid, boy, he's so mad, and I'm wasting his time. He's at the store waiting on me right now. And I was like, dad, I put the wallet in the car last night, so I'll be ready. So, while I'm on the phone and telling him that I walked to my car, it's right there in the spot where I put it the night before. And so, I was literally walking back and forth, and that was the first time, my family, because I was on the Olympic team and traveling all the time, they never. We spent a lot of time apart.

Denise: Yeah.

William: So, they got to see it on me in real time. And when my family saw it, they were like, oh, oh, my God. Now I. We believe you. We get it now. We get it. And. And then I had a support team behind me, but until then, I was toast, man. And so, your loved one is the one that's going to help you guys. So, if you listening to this and you were athlete, there's an article written by the New York Times called Sled Head. It will outline all the CTE stuff that my teammates were going through. It's pretty consistent across the board with all sports who deal with it. Read that article, share it with your loved ones and. And listen to them, because they'll see it on us before we can see it on ourselves. Yeah.

Denise: Okay.

William: And that. That would be my advice.

Denise: Very nice. I. I think that's great advice. Can we link that article in the show notes?

William: Absolutely.

Denise: Get to that.

William: I don't know how to do that. You have to tell me and I'll. I will definitely.

Denise: Send me the link. I'll put it in there for people.

William: Okay. That's even better. Yeah.

Denise: Good. And I'll put in your social media links, too, for people to.

William: Okay. I appreciate that. Yeah. It was great meeting you.

Denise: You too. Thank you for.

William: Yeah, congratulations on your. On your journey, too, so thank you.

Denise: Yeah, I was. I was going to make sure I let people know that my TEDx talk is actually live now, so.

William: Yeah.

Denise: People to watch now.

William: Yeah.

Denise: Very, very exciting. I think it's going to be really helpful for people to hear your story and know that there is help.

William: Yeah. I appreciate it. I hope so. I really hope so. No other reason they do it than that.

Denise: Thank you for listening to the Healing Our Sight podcast. I'd love to hear from you. Please share and also join our Facebook community at Healing, our site to leave suggestions or comments. Have a great day.