Leave A Light On Podcast
Welcome to "Leave A Light On Podcast," the podcast that brings you inspiring stories of ordinary people overcoming extraordinary challenges in their lives. Join us as we delve into the lives of individuals from all walks of life, exploring the adversities they face and the resilience they demonstrate in overcoming them.
In each episode, we'll introduce you to a new guest—a parent, a teacher, a healthcare worker, a student, a veteran, or perhaps your neighbor next door. Through heartfelt interviews and candid conversations, we'll uncover the personal battles they've fought, whether it's overcoming illness, navigating through loss, breaking free from addiction, or facing societal barriers.
From tales of triumph over adversity to stories of perseverance in the face of hardship, "Leave a Light On Podcast" celebrates the human spirit and the strength found within each of us. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and most importantly, you'll be inspired by the resilience and determination of these everyday people who refuse to be defined by their struggles.
So, tune in and join us on this journey of hope, empowerment, and the celebration of the human spirit. Because in the end, it's the stories of everyday people that remind us all that we are capable of overcoming anything life throws our way.
Leave A Light On Podcast
S3 Ep1: Jim Hancock's - London Bombing Heroics and Making the most out of Life
When a young Australian backpacker walked into Russell Square tube station on July 7, 2005, he had no idea he was stepping into one of the darkest moments in London's history. Jim Hancock was simply heading to a job interview when he found himself at ground zero of the 7/7 terrorist bombings that claimed 52 lives and injured over 700 people.
With remarkable courage and compassion, Jim transformed from tourist to first responder in an instant. While others fled the chaos, he stepped forward, offering his limited first aid skills to help the injured emerging from the devastated Piccadilly Line train. For over two hours, he bandaged wounds, offered comfort, and stayed with critically injured survivors—including a woman who had lost her leg—until medical professionals could take over.
The psychological aftermath was profound. Claustrophobia gripped him immediately, and despite his parents' pleas to return home to Australia, Jim chose a different path to healing. He spent the next three years traveling, working outdoors as a surf instructor, and connecting with nature. "If this is as bad as it can get," he reasoned, "then it's not that bad." This perspective became his compass as he navigated the invisible wounds of trauma.
Twenty years later, Jim has transformed this life-altering experience into a mission of healing. Now running Empathy Herbal, a business focused on anti-inflammatory foods and supplements, he applies the wisdom gained through his own recovery journey to help others. Through breathwork, meditation, yoga, and conscious lifestyle choices, Jim discovered that trauma doesn't have to define us—it can become the catalyst for growth and compassion.
His story reminds us that healing isn't about erasing our wounds but integrating them into a life of meaning. As Jim says, "Everything happens for a reason... hopefully the work that I've done today can help others when they need it." Share this episode, reach out on our socials, and remember that even in our darkest moments, someone has left a light on to guide us home.
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Share your stories with us and lets Leave a Light On
Hello, welcome to Leave a Light On podcast, a show that looks to tackle the everyday struggles in our everyday lives. It's time to shed some light on it. Leave a Light on Podcast is not a licensed mental health service and shouldn't be substituted for professional advice or treatment. Things discussed in this podcast are general in nature and may be of a sensitive nature. If you're struggling, please seek professional help or contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.
Speaker 3:Here's your hosts Yo, welcome to Live A Lot On Podcast. We are back, baby. Yeah, we're back.
Speaker 1:Took us a little while we had a little break. Yeah, hope everyone wasn't worried. We're okay. Yeah, we're here.
Speaker 3:We're all good. We just we took a bit of extra time planning season three because we wanted to be bigger and better than ever.
Speaker 2:We wanted to get it right yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we wanted to get it right, so we're back. We're back, baby, just gone for a little while.
Speaker 1:Yeah, had a little holiday. Yeah, yeah, it's good.
Speaker 3:Well, welcome back, Mick.
Speaker 1:Yes, good to see you, shane.
Speaker 3:Yeah, Good to see you Always Back in the chair. Yeah, We've had a few people say when are we releasing?
Speaker 2:again. And guess what? We're out again, we're back.
Speaker 3:We're back Very, very cool and always excited. But today's a really, really cool one. Actually, we have a cool guest who's going to share their story, as we always do on this podcast, sharing stories of inspiration and triumph in the middle of some really trying circumstances, difficult. So today's no different. But today's a little bit different in the fact that it's not a personal triumph, although it does translate into personal triumph. There's also a lot of external circumstances that affect that.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 3:It's not a personal story in terms of something personal. What's the way I'm looking at it? It's not something like you know. I didn't cause this?
Speaker 1:put it that way. It had nothing to do with our guests.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so a little bit of backstory into today. So today's guest is the one and only Jim Hancock, 42-year-old male residing in Rainbow Beach.
Speaker 1:Yes, beautiful place, beautiful place Residing in Rainbow.
Speaker 3:Beach, queensland. Yeah, he had an incredible story, but today, as you will hear, the reason we have him on is because in 2005, which is this year's the 20th anniversary of that- 7th of July 7th of July.
Speaker 3:For those of you who've been living under a rock would know or wouldn't know, should I say but in London, england, there was an incredibly huge, catastrophic event that happened in 7th of July, and it's known as the London bombings in 2005. And it basically was a terrorist organization that detonated four different bombings, separate bombings, all within one hour of each other. Three of those were on trains, three of those were on trains and one was on a bus, and the total casualty count of this particular event was 52 casualties. So 52 people died, unfortunately, but there were over 700 injuries or people that were affected by this, which is a huge number, massive, huge, and just to think that something like this could even happen is just, it's really.
Speaker 1:Honestly, how many people are on the tube every day in London? I'm surprised there wasn't more.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, it's honestly, it's an incredible event, horrific as it is. And so our guest, jim Hancock, as you'll hear, was actually he wasn't initially a primary involved individual, in fact that he wasn't a survivor from one of the bombings, but Jim was actually in the vicinity of the Piccadilly Line bombing and he happened to be in the area and due to his obviously life, you'll hear but he ends up getting involved in the incident, so we won't delve into it too much and we won't spoil the story, but, yeah, we're really excited for him to share his story and for you guys to hear, um, how incredible it is, uh, that he got involved, um, and some of the incredible work that he did.
Speaker 3:So, without further ado, um, we want to. We want to give you the one and only uh, jim tankoff, when my eyes will stand by the flash of a neon light.
Speaker 2:Let's split the night and touch the sound of silence.
Speaker 3:Well, thank you very much for joining us. We have Jim Hancock. Mr Hancock, thank you very much for joining us. We have Jim Hancock. Mr Hancock, thank you very much. Or Jimmy, as you would be called, thank you very much for joining us. Obviously, you're joining us online, if I can put it that way. You're not in studio with us today, but thank you very much for carving out some time to be with us and to share your story with us, which is an incredible story. So, thank you, jim, for joining us.
Speaker 4:Thank you, thank you for having me?
Speaker 3:Yeah, absolutely, whereabouts in the world are you joining us from again Queensland?
Speaker 4:Yeah, queensland, a small town called Rainbow Beach, to the end of the road, just next to Gary now.
Speaker 3:It used to be Fraser Island. It sounds pretty glorious and I'm sure you're.
Speaker 4:It is.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you'd love it up there.
Speaker 4:Yeah, we had some pretty good surf yesterday, as you guys in Newcastle are probably having at the moment, so it's a nice part of the world and it's beautiful as well.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I can imagine Close to, obviously Australia's beautiful Great Barrier Reef obviously up close to, obviously, australia's beautiful Great Barrier Reef.
Speaker 4:Obviously up there, yeah, a little bit further up the way, fraser Island, the world's largest sand island, is, yeah, not far away. I used to work over there as well as a guide before I went to Indonesia.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you've actually lived a really incredible life when it comes to that kind of thing, which we'll get into a little bit more later, but for people who don't know you, let's give a brief rundown of who you are at this point in time and what do you do.
Speaker 4:Okay, well, I've got my own business, a company called Empathy Herbal, and we focus on anti-inflammatory foods and supplements that support a healthy living lifestyle. We focus on diet and lifestyle choices, things that I've learned over the past 20 years, and that's sort of where I'm at at the moment. Before I became a bit of an anti-inflammatory expert, I've done a couple of winter seasons in the French Alps, in New Zealand, in Australia. I used to live in Indonesia for a year, south America for six months, europe for three years. I used to work as a surf instructor in Europe. Yeah, I worked as a tour guide on Gari, on Kangaroo Island in Australia.
Speaker 3:So, yeah, how good, I mean, you've lived a life, eh yeah quick question if anyone who hasn't been travelling is listening to this, what would your advice be for someone like that?
Speaker 4:go, go. Yeah, your advice for someone like that Go, Go, Go out and explore. Yeah, just yeah. I mean you grow, you become a lot more of a human or you develop skills you would never have got if you'd stayed inside your comfort zone, whether that's at home or even if it's a short holiday around Australia or to a place, a location you know. Everything always works out Like. Life has a tendency to just to work out one way or the other. Whether it's how you plan it or not, it's you know, it moves forward and you evolve and change and grow with every life experience.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And what made you get into this obviously industry that you're in now that you're obviously talking about? You say you deal mainly with anti-inflammatories. What was the reason behind that?
Speaker 4:Well, I mean when I was 20 years old, like in my ultimate wisdom, I broke my patella by snowboarding into a tree.
Speaker 3:I don't know if I can actually hear you say that on the podcast, because my wife is going to hate that. She's going to love hearing that, because she doesn't want me to do any of that kind of stuff, because she always goes you're going to break a bone.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're going to break something for sure.
Speaker 3:So thanks for just confirming her fears for me.
Speaker 4:Well, I mean you just you know, when you're young, like we're a bit older now, like we're not as stupid as we used to be.
Speaker 3:So I'd like to think yeah, let's go so big to differ um, but yeah, I mean, yeah.
Speaker 4:So if I've had said, like six surgeries, and I've, you know, had stem cells, that are staff and I kept waiting for, like you know, the big stem cell treatment's going to reverse arthritis and you know I'll be able to do everything I could, you know, when I was younger. But you know, the older I got, the less likely that magic fix would come from, you know, pharmaceutical, modern medicine advances, and you know, then I just got to a point where I was in Indonesia my knee swelled up. I just had my stem cell, second lot of stem cell three months before and I'm like, like I thought everything was going to be fine but I went surfing and surfed a lot the first day my knee swelled up and like I couldn't move really and I couldn't surf and the surf was epic and my mates were getting sick waves and I was like man, like this sucks, this is meant to be living my dream trip and you know, things meant to be better. It was like physically, you know, for my body, but it didn't work out that way. And then that's when I learned about like JAMU, which is like Indonesia's herbal medicine practices, and I started, you know, combining them in my diet.
Speaker 4:Looking at my diet, you know living an anti-inflammatory lifestyle, which is, you know, about meditation, breath work, yoga, exercise.
Speaker 4:You know, putting all these things together to, you know, in a package that you know you're conscious about, and that's sort of how I sort of that was the big turning point. Whether, to, you know, in a package that you know you're conscious about, and that's sort of how I sort of that was the big turning point in my life where I sort of thought, you know, yeah, I'm getting better, my abilities get a balance. You know, I'm fitter, becoming fitter, yeah, and that's sort of why I sort of it worked for me so that, oh well, maybe you can work for other people and that's sort of the long way of. You know how I got to becoming, you know, starting my business and focusing on anti-inflammatory, which you know inflammation is the major cause of heart disease, diabetes, you know, 10 of the most, 9 of the most common conditions, cancer. All this sort of stuff is linked to inflammation and your diet is a really natural way to it's the power you've got.
Speaker 3:I mean we can't agree anymore. Yeah, 100%.
Speaker 2:It is.
Speaker 3:There's so many different things that you can do in order to sustain a healthy lifestyle. Breathwork is such a beautiful thing, like you say. Yoga, meditation all of these just add to such healthy habits that we can do, and it doesn't even need to be in massive doses. It can start off in such small ones and make such a huge difference in that. So kudos to you. Yeah, congratulations on that change, like you say, where you've made that conscious change and not even made it a career. So, yeah, honestly, congratulations. That's amazing, very cool.
Speaker 4:Thank you. Yeah, I mean, it wasn't through choice, it was through necessity, you know, and I happened to have a chronic injury early. That sort of started me on that path where other people it's not so obvious, you know, they might have, oh, I've got a bit of cholesterol or a bit of high blood pressure, and they're like it doesn't really affect their daily movement, so to speak, but they're just like, oh, I'll just take this tablet, you know, so to speak. But they're just like, oh, I'll just take this tablet, you know it's all right. And oh, it's getting a bit worse, I'll just take a bit higher dose of this tablet. And you know, well, that's the point where, you know, some people think, okay, well, how can I not rely on this pharmaceutical treatment to, you know, to live a healthy lifestyle? And that's where the breath work comes in, as you said, sim.
Speaker 3:It comes in, as you said, simplest way to just relieve stress and anxiety it's three deep breaths of, you know, of a type, and that's great for your mental health space yeah, yeah, I mean, like you say this, there is so many, uh, reliances on, um, you know, pharmaceutical meds that sometimes, I mean we, we see it, how often do people get addicted to things or you start to feel like you can't live without these particular medicines or treatments and, yeah, they end up doing more harm than good sometimes.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah, that side effects. You just say, oh okay, well, that's part of it and it's. Yeah, it's a slippery slope and yeah, but there's always a natural alternative. That you I mean. You just look at the way chronic disease has ridden us in the past decades. You know there's a cause to it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, absolutely. Well, that's actually not what we've got you on to talk about, because, yeah, we'll get into that a little bit later. But before we get there, just to give people a more holistic idea of what life looked like for young Jimmy when he grew up, can you tell us a little bit about what life was like for you growing up, jim?
Speaker 4:um, yeah, for me it was pretty normal. I sort of you know, primary school, high school played footy in the winter cricket in the summer. I felt was a little you know, primary school, high school played footy in the winter cricket in the summer. I felt I was a little bit bullied at primary school but high school luckily things turned around and I sort of grew up, you know, not affected negatively from my school experiences and then I went to TAFE and sort of studied outdoor recreation and learned first aid and fitness and then I worked as an instructor for school kids, so teaching quadrics and bushwalking camps, and then I changed to become more into tourism because backpackers seemed a bit more fun when I was like 20 years old and like they want to have more, you can have more banter with them.
Speaker 4:When I was like 20 years old and like they want to have more, you can have more banter with them. And you know I sort of was working on sort of overnight, three-night trips on Kangaroo Island in South Australia, meeting all these amazing people and they're like, oh yeah, we're travelling Australia. It's like I was really jealous that they were having all these amazing experiences travelling and you know I was helping to facilitate that experience on one part of Australia. But I thought, oh man, it's time for me to go overseas and live the life that they were living.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean the fact that, firstly, what a cool occupation to kind of get yourself into.
Speaker 1:You meet heaps of different people.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you obviously interact with so many different people from all walks of life, but not only that. Like I feel like it's life skills that you learn when you do these kind of things. Like you know, it's just so important because I think sometimes we get so caught up on book knowledge and education that we tend to miss these incredible life skills that you can learn just in everyday life. But just, yeah, like you say, being an instructor in camps and things like that what would you say was some of your biggest takes from that experience of being involved in those kinds of environments?
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah, good question.
Speaker 4:I like to ask good questions yeah exactly For me, like working with the school kids, like the high school kids, it was like you know, they're just so, you know they're just starting to become humans. You know, I mean obviously they're just starting to become humans. You know, like I mean obviously like they're just starting to become adults. Put a point, yes, so that, yeah, they're developing personality and these sort of things, especially around age 10 or year 10, and so, yeah, just to try and be a good role model, I guess for them was an important working in that sort of dynamic with with children. Um, and then at heart, like when I started tour guiding, it was more just like explaining things, having fun, you know, having a sense of humor, a bit of banter. That was good. That was probably why I went to england, because that was the most. You know, they've got this good sense of humor that we sort of share in australia, um, so I was just trying to be entertaining, informative and friendly.
Speaker 3:Absolutely, yeah, okay, so obviously we've said now that you spent a bit of time in Indonesia after you had completed all of these courses and these studies and you'd done your instructing from the backpacker side of things, gone to Indonesia, had a bit of fun in Indonesia for two weeks, if I'm not mistaken from what you were telling me and then hopped along to London, and that's kind of where we now get into, obviously, the gist of this podcast. So you were in London in 2005. And for someone who's just made that connection about why this could be a potential interesting fact is because in 2005, london had an incredibly devastating attack um occur, um, and the reason why, uh, you were interviewing one of the reasons why is because you were actually at the forefront of this attack. Can I ask you a little bit about this situation? But let's before. What did life in London look like leading up to prior to this event on July 7th 2005?
Speaker 4:Yeah, for me, I just arrived there, been there like a week or so, and everything was new and fresh and it was summer and people were happy, and on the 6th, the 7th, england had just been announced that they were going to hold the Olympics, so there was big parties and, you know, everyone was happy. Um, yeah, it was a really good environment to be in and, as a as a young traveler being overseas for the first time, you know, sort of it was the perfect time to be there.
Speaker 3:Um, were there any warning signs prior to this, beforehand? Did you notice anything out of the norm in terms of the environment or anything like that? Or you know your security, or anything like that. Did you see anything? That was just a red flag, if I can put it that way.
Speaker 4:No, there was nothing like that. It was. You know the opposite. You know everyone was opposite. Everyone was happy, everyone was cheerful. Yeah, they just got the Olympics. Yeah, everything was good. There was no indication of anything negative happening or occurring.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah. And then obviously, like I said, on July 7th day, after such an incredible, obviously say iconic moment for London to receive the 2012 Olympic and get awarded, that, on the 7th of July at approximately 8.50 in the morning, there were three very devastating events that occurred at 8.50 in the morning that kind of rocked not only European public but, I think, the world, because obviously, seeing something like this happen to at the time probably global leaders and they always have been global leaders when it comes to just how they you know where they sit in terms of the hierarchy in the world but there were three simultaneous explosions in the London underground that occurred at 8.50 in the morning, by Islamic terrorist organization that had been planning this for quite some time, apparently. But the reason why this is so personal to you is because you were actually in the vicinity of one of these explosions.
Speaker 4:Yeah, correct. Yeah, I was in between. I was staying in a hostel in London between King's Cross and Russell Square and had a job interview to go to the morning of the 7th and that's sort of how I ended up at the station after the bomb had exploded and that sort of yeah, it was by accident that I ended up, sort of being there yeah, so there were.
Speaker 3:There were three different explosions um, as you said, liverpool street, aldgate station, and then on the circular line, which um was edgeware road. Um, and piccadilly line, as we said, which is the piccadilly line is is the one that you're referring to, where you were, uh, fairly close, because you you were saying you were at king's cross. Is that correct?
Speaker 4:yeah, so, um, yeah, it happened between the king's cross and the russell square. Um, and uh, yeah, like I guess, I woke up in the morning because I had a job interview to go to and wasn't too sure, you know, the night before I planned my trip because back then they didn't have internet on phones. So I was like, oh, I'm going to go to the Russell Square Inn because it's a smaller tube station, it should be easier to find the right tube and to get to the job interview which I had, which, funny enough, was for a job in the French Alps as a chalet host. So that job in the in the french alps, as a chalet host, so it was. That was pretty exciting. I definitely didn't want to be late or miss my tube. So, yeah, planned it well, um, sort of walked out the tube, the hostel door, and turned left and went to the russell square tube and got there probably 10 minutes after the bomb had happened.
Speaker 4:Um, when I got there, the tube station was closed so I couldn't, you know there was, the tubes weren't running. So I'm like, oh great, how do I get to my interview? And now, before internet, I was like, well, there's no way, I'm going to my interview. I didn't even know how to call them to say that I wouldn't be there.
Speaker 4:So I just sort of asked the ticket seller, who was standing in front of the gates that were closed, like do you need, like, a first aid or do you need, you know, help? Because the people inside they weren't really injured, but they were definitely vague or there was definitely something wrong. Like some people were really dirty, other people were just like they were just standing around like in shell shock and yeah, I could sense that. So I went in and sort of that's where I started helping Initially it was me and then there was another Kiwi girl in there as well who sort of had some first day training and then after a little bit, some nurses and some doctors ran down from a nearby hospital and we were the yeah, that was, we had the station for probably the first hour or so before really paramedics and you know enough staff or enough you know trained experts came to be able to, you know, treat the people that were injured there and start evacuating them to hospitals and getting them the help they needed.
Speaker 3:Yeah, what were some of the things that you were tasked with doing? Obviously, you were saying you were doing some first aid and stuff like that. What did this first aid look like? Was it just on minor cases? Was it just on people that were coming through from the actual tunnels where the train explosions had happened? What were some of these kind of cases that you were dealing with?
Speaker 4:these kind of cases that you were dealing with. Yeah, so, like, initially it was more just like chatting with people, so, hey, you're okay. You know, like, what happened? Like, oh, there was, there was a crash and I was like, okay, well, you know, you're all right, you're up here now, like just being trying to be reassuring as possible for the first you 15 minutes and then the longer it went on, the more, you know, severe it became.
Speaker 4:Like, you know, people come up with bigger cuts or bigger scratches and you know, like, um, yeah, so initially it was just you know, conversations and you know, and then it wasn't until later on that you know the people were missing limbs and bigger scratches and you know.
Speaker 4:So, you know I didn't do, luckily I never had to do first aid. You know, like cpr, I mean, um, but yeah, the doctors were doing that and there were some nurses there and I just sort of tried to, you know, stick within my lane and what I felt comfortable, what I could do best, which was you bandaging little scratches and cuts. And you know, there was one guy who had a pretty bad injury on his foot and me and the Kiwi chick she had first day we sort of helped him to bandage that and looked after him, and his butt and his shirt was ripped open, and so, in my ultimate wisdom of first date, I took his tie off around his neck and wrapped it around his chest so he was able to try and stay warm. It was really just a bit of a hodgepodge at that point, and I think that's probably why they took a photo of him walking out of the station later on, because he looked a little bit, you know.
Speaker 3:Worse for me A bit funny, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I mean your particular explosion explosion, like you say, and the piccadilly one was actually the explosion that had the most casualties. Um, so it would have been a pretty devastating kind of scene to to be part of, even if you were, like you said, dealing with just the minor ones. Um, it would have been pretty chaotic.
Speaker 1:And you also turned up with nothing to help them with. You didn't have your little first aid pack in the back of your bucket in your handbag, did you?
Speaker 4:No, nothing. I mean, there was nothing there until the nurses and doctors arrived. So luckily there wasn't anybody there that needed anything major. It was just like a little simple first aid kit at the station. So, yeah, luckily they brought some supplies and were there in time for the you know, the major people.
Speaker 4:I, yeah, once I tried to run down to, I ran down the stairs carrying some water and a few supplies that we basically had to try and go to the train to help people off of the train because the people that had come out first had walked past the carriage that had got bombed and they were like there's some sick people down there that really need help. So I sort of ran down the steps to try, and, you know, get down there to help get people up to you know the doctors that were there that could do, you know, get down there to help get people up to you know the doctors that were there that could do, you know, obviously, a lot more skills than what I had to. But when I got down, the bottom was really eerie. It was like super warm and dusty and it was silent and it was spooky. And I ran, yeah, and there was some police officers standing at the edge of the tube and I was like you know, I want to go and help and they're like no, you can't go down there.
Speaker 3:Well, yeah there's an interesting fact on that as well is that the reason why I think that they stopped the initial first responders from going without prior knowledge or prior clearance is because, apparently, what they were saying is that at the time, the ira, which was the organization that claimed the bombings, what they would do is they would, they would, they would ignite the original bombing but there would be a secondary bomb that would be then done later, detonated later once first responders were on the scene. So it was actually the major bomb or the intentional one that they wanted was the second one, because they wanted to get the first responders. And I think that's like you're saying why the police were standoffish and saying no, no, no, we don't want anyone going down there is because at the time they weren't sure if there was a second device. That's happening, yeah.
Speaker 4:Mm-hmm, mm-hmm yeah, that would make sense. I mean like, and also like from watching the documentaries that have come out I think you've watched maybe one or two as well like From watching the documentaries that have come out I think you've watched maybe one or two as well like the people that were at the scene, that crime scene, and going through it all after they said it was horrific, like 23 people dead in bits and pieces all over everywhere, I feel like essentially, it was a good thing that I wasn't able to go down and witness you know that scene. You know seeing people missing arms and legs and getting CPR done up the top was enough to not like to be traumatized from it, let alone witnessing all that. You know that mess.
Speaker 3:Yeah Well, let's talk about that in terms of what that looked like for you. So you're obviously in the middle of all the situation and obviously things started to maybe stabilize, as you so referred. What did that look like for you then, in that situation, once things had started to kind of stabilize you know first responders had taken the scene what?
Speaker 1:did you do?
Speaker 4:Yeah, what did it look like for you? So, before the first aid arrived, like the proper first, like the paramedics and all that arrived, there was probably like five or six people critically injured that were there, like you know, but they're missing a limb in one way or another. And I sort of stayed with one lady and just would chat into her, making sure that she stayed conscious and just trying to take her mind off the fact that she's got no leg now and, you know, just trying to, you know not to keep it light. I guess you know there's nothing that I can do. Like her leg's been, we've got a torn decay around her leg so she's not bleeding too much. That's the main injury. So it was more just, you know, keeping her company. Yeah, so that you know, because marionetics would arrive. I think it was.
Speaker 4:Just they took so long because of, you know, King's Cross probably got prioritised more because of it being a bigger station and then there was the bus and then there was all the other tubes as well. So that's pretty why it took so long. Then, once they did arrive it's funny you mentioned about the IRA because the police had to clear the station. They thought there was another bomb outside in a car or under a car. That's something they couldn't identify. So they cleared the station of all the people that were not critically injured. So that was the fell that I helped with a sore foot and you know, initially helped and then the people that were just sort of standing around there in shell shock didn't know where to do, what to do, how to leave. So they cleared them out and then the people with first day training, we went back back in and stayed there until the ambulance beds and hospital beds had been brought down to safely evacuate these people to get the medical treatment that they needed.
Speaker 3:Yeah, well, like you mentioned, obviously the trains were not the only affected things. There was obviously an hour later, after the trains had been detonated, there was a bus bomb that had gone off an hour later. That had devastating effects as well.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah, and I think that might be, you know, like trying to get people as they find other means of transport. So that was sort of a little bit of that same tactic, I guess, that the perpetrators used.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, there's so many interesting facts when I did some research behind this Even with the bus bombing, I mean, I mentioned to you before we started recording this is that the initial bomber actually wasn't meant to be on that bus in the first place. He was supposed to be on a train, like the other three were, and he actually ended up missing his train and ended up then being on a bus, and so that was also why it was an hour later, because in those stages, obviously, cell phones are pretty new, like you say, there wasn't much internet going around and so the communication wouldn't have been on point with them. But yeah, even the reports were saying that they were worried that these particular bombs they didn't know that the actual bombers had detonated and they thought they might have been remotely detonated with cell phone signals and that they didn't know if there was any others, because even on the bus one, apparently, there was a police officer that said there was a suspicious bag that was on the bus.
Speaker 3:still, that they were worried was a secondary device. Yeah well, so, like you say, there was just so much unknown in this particular circumstance. And yeah, it's not like there things are today hey, yeah, the information wasn't getting out as quickly.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, so 100 yeah, it would have been. It would have been an incredible um situation to be part of. Like you say, where you just to me. It's just mind-blowing to think that that you just was like, yeah, how can I help? Because the initial reaction for most people would probably be I need to get to safety. Unless you're involved in first responding somewhere, I think most people's survival instinct kicks in and goes okay. I need to get out of here, yeah it's the flight situation rather than the fight situation.
Speaker 4:So I think that's, yeah, I mean, I I sort of like, well, I had that first day training when I did high school, after high school, and then I had the surf instructing like um, life-saving like first day, sort of stuff, so and I didn't, I didn't feel like I was in danger or there was anything any reason to you know be fearful. It was more, just like you know, compassionate. You know, oh man, these people look like they need help and I felt like I could help. So it was, it was it really wasn't a calculated decision, it was just like, oh well, what can, what can I do, you know?
Speaker 4:And then at the end of it, it was like, you know, like after two hours or two and a bit hours, you know, they cleared everything out and I end up it was difficult to just like walk away from the involvement or watching, you know, like witnessing these major injuries and like how do you digest it, how do you process all that, those experiences, what you've seen? So I sort of couldn't walk away and I think that's why lots of people in the tube station it was full, because people didn't know how to walk, to leave. You know, like, once you sort of were in there, you couldn't go, like you were sort of, yeah, all shell-shocked and the thing, all the people up the top, they'd walk past the carriage, you know, and they'd sort of seen how devastating it was, you know, they saw the worst of it. So they've got up the top like whoa, like what's going on, and to walk outside, like yeah, I mean outside, like I don't know, yeah, mm, yeah, I mean.
Speaker 4:So, yeah, sorry back to like, yeah, I couldn't walk away. So I ended up picking up bits of rubbish and cleaning up and stuff like that at the tube station after, like up the top, just you know, with some other people there, we just sort of, you know, tried to yeah, just couldn't walk away. And luckily I did stick around and help out, because that's when I got to chatting with some of the other nurses that were there and that was a big part of the recovery of talking about it with other people that knew the experience that I'd gone through. I'd also shared that experience or witnessed those things. So that was a big part of the recovery process afterwards of, just you know, just talking.
Speaker 3:Yeah, well, I mean, let's look at that, because obviously this kind of event would have, you know, huge kind of impact on your psyche, your mental health, your you know, the way you think, the way you feel. What are some of the tools that you found were really helpful when it came to processing, first of all, what you had done and what you had walked through and then, secondly, dealing with emotions, feelings, thoughts, memories of such a traumatic event?
Speaker 4:So I guess, like directly afterwards, it was just more about like just talking, like just opening up and experience and, you know, having someone else literally understand what you're saying and like how you feel, because they've already been there, they've walked that step, as opposed to talking to someone who hasn't wasn't it didn't have that experience. So that was the immediate helpful bit. Yeah, after that then I sort of I couldn't, I was a bit claustrophobic, I couldn't be inside, like. I went back to my hostel and they're like you've got to stay in here, you can't go outside because we need to account for who's here and who's not. So that was a really an event that I sort of was yeah, I needed to get outside. They wouldn't let me get outside. So I almost I didn't want to hurt myself or anything like that, but I almost jumped out a window at the hostel just to get space. No reason, I didn't because it was raining and I didn't want to hurt myself.
Speaker 4:It was just like I just needed to be out and sort of, and that sort of was what led me, you know, the following weeks, months, years afterwards is just to, you know, to be out, to, you know, not get stuck inside a home or an office or you know, just adventure, travel, be outdoors, you know, because I guess I saw how you know how quickly our fragile life is, that you know it can be taken from you. You could be walking one day then not the next, like it's sort of life's upside down. And yeah, I didn't want to look at the newspapers, I just sort of wanted to distance myself from it. You know, I never found out who of the people that got brought up survived and who didn't. You know if any of them did Like I'm sure they did, but I don't know if you know, unfortunately I never got that closure and you know, I wanted to sort of not look at the news, not look at events, like that I tried to be.
Speaker 4:You know, I was a bit like, you know I don't want to deal with if there was another bombing and like on the Madrid train or other stuff since then, I'm like no, I don't want to know about it, I don't want to see it, I don't want to hear it, you know, because of the fact that, yeah, like following it, there was a guy, the guy I helped with the missing foot, the guy I helped following it. It was a photo taken of him and it was published in the newspaper. The newspaper, or the guy who took the photo, erased one of his feet from the image. So I was a pretty, very angry first journalist. I came across after buying that newspaper and I fully blew up at him and I was like, yeah, really angry, not violent, but just really angry, and he's like man. I didn't take the photo, I emphasise, with you feeling this way, but yeah, it was just a little bit of a distrust of the media as well.
Speaker 3:Yeah, absolutely. I mean, often you hear of you hear of moments where media have misinterpreted or their job is to obviously report on the circumstances that have transpired, and I think sometimes they tend to try and make it more than what it is in order to sell copies or get the ratings that they need. So absolutely, I 100% understand your frustration and your disappointment in that aspect. Do you feel in that moment there was more that you're dealing with than just the distrust of the media in terms of how you were feeling and processing the information and the situation that you just walked through, rather than the fact that this picture was misinterpreted?
Speaker 4:So I mean, I guess it's just an overload of the senses that you know at the time and it was more later on, upon reflecting, and you know that I sort of did distrust the reporting of it. I guess let's put it that way. But yeah, directly after it was more focused on, like you know, getting out of London and getting back to the coast and going surfing again because that was a big part of my recovery and like, yeah, and then two weeks afterwards there were some more bombings that you know these other guys tried to do it again but their bombs failed, fortunately, and I remember Mum calling me two weeks later saying, oh, it's happened again. I'm like I don't want to know, I don't care. Not the fact I don't care, don't want to know, I don't care, I don't not. Not the fact I don't care, no, that's not. It was more like for my mental health. I need to like disconnect from from that experience and move on and put it to the back of your mind for as long as I could.
Speaker 4:And then you know it wasn't until later on in life that you know you have to sort of deal with these traumas that happen with it. For me it was that pretty major event. But for other people it could be being bullied at school, it could be something when you're a kid, it can be anything bullied at work or tripping over, breaking your leg, anything. We all have these traumas and they have to be resolved at some point. So it was a lot later on that I sort of started addressing those things and that's where the breathwork, the meditation, the yoga and all that sort of stuff became really helpful yeah, it's, it's a processing mechanism, I think, where we we tend to suppress rather than we we tend to process.
Speaker 3:Um, and that's that's something that I think we need to learn as a society that suppressing something doesn't help, but processing something does.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah yeah, and that's, that's a great point. I mean, then back though, and then that's taken 20 years for this philosophy or mentality to become more forefront.
Speaker 1:But back then it was like move forward not, you know not not, just yeah, go on, because even back 20, you know go on, yes sorry, going back 20 years ago there wouldn't have been any of those support lines or like lifeline or anything like that that would have been over there for you or to be the same degree as they are now to be able to help you. Like you literally left that circumstance that afternoon when that was, you know, you left the train station and went home and there was probably, you know, went back to the hostel and there's only the people to talk there and there was no one probably to help you. You know, in that initial first stages where now, if that happened now, you'd be able, you know there'd be a lot of more services available to be able to help you through that initial process.
Speaker 4:Yeah, a hundred percent, You're right there, Like I didn't, I don't have any contacts from anyone else. That was there, Like back then it was only email and I don't have. You know, I'd love to be able to contact some of the nurses I work with or even some of the patients are there, you know, being in Australia and it happening over there, you know, so far away, and you know I think that was a bit difficult to move on because I didn't have that closure from it. I just had those conversations following the event to sort of help move forward but not to bring, you know, not to resolve that sort of the underlying questions that I had, you know later on, yeah.
Speaker 3:So, let me ask you this question and I'll end with this question with you, jim is that, looking back now and knowing what you know, what would your advice to someone who is walking through a very traumatic experience in their life? What would your advice to these people or that person be?
Speaker 4:Yeah, you've got to sort of look at the bigger picture. Quite often we can get too caught up in, you know, looking at the problem too closely. So you need to take a step back and just evaluate, you know, the bigger picture, whether it's like you know, does that make sense? I don't know if I put it pretty well, but you know like you just need to not get so caught up in the problem and then take a step back and then the solution will present itself. Um, you know, like I think about you know, people that have ptsd, like it was a terrorist attack, a bombing. So these are like the guys that go to veterans that you know now luckily get all the support that they need. Um, yeah, I went off track there. Maybe it just happened now, but yeah, I guess it's like I don't know. Does that make sense? How can I say that better?
Speaker 3:No, I kind of think to myself. I can't remember who it was, but they did this experiment where there's an ant on a on a piece of paper, um, and the ant is free to roam around on this piece of paper, there's no hindrances on this piece of paper, but what the individual does is they take a pen and they draw a circle around the ant, and the ant will not cross that line, it'll stay within the parameters of that circle, even though there isn't a physical boundary. This line that you've drawn on this piece of paper confines this ant, and what happens is it will eventually obviously just stay within this confinements of this circle. And then what they did is they took a spider and they did the same thing with the spider, and the spider was on the piece of paper and they drew a circle around the spider. And the same thing the spider was confined within the circle, even though there wasn't a physical barrier. It wouldn't step over the line of the circle, made the circle smaller and again, um, the the wouldn't, wouldn't move out of the circle. But eventually what happened is it became so small that the spider couldn't function within the circle and it walked, it broke the line of this.
Speaker 3:Uh, that was drawn, the smaller one, but then the interesting thing, then, about that is that the spider then would never be confined to a circle again after this. So you would take another blank piece of paper and you would draw a circle around it, and it wouldn't. It would. It would ignore the circle because it realized its trust, that it realized that there wasn't a barrier there anymore, that this, the thing that it had been so scared of in the initial thing that I confined it and kept it restrained was actually not real. It was a figment of its imagination. And once it had realized that it could never be restrained again in that same thing and I think that's what you're trying to say is that we tend to restrain ourselves when it comes to these traumatic experiences and we draw these circles of limitations around us where we tend to feel claustrophobic and can only see within this, confinements of where we're at.
Speaker 3:Once you start to look past that and break out and realize that these confinements are just figments of our imagination or limitations that we're placing on ourselves, we start to realize that there is more, that these things can't hold us back, and I think, from my understanding anyway, is that what is that's kind of what you're trying to say in this situation. Is that it's? It's not about looking within in these situations and going, how can I deal with it, but let's look outside of the situation and say let's uh, let's expand the limitations. This particular event hasn't defined who you are.
Speaker 4:Yeah, so the event hasn't defined, it's just given me a learning curve, a learning experience. It's not the experience that I imagined when I first went to London, but it's definitely given me some, helped me to learn more skills in mental health. And you know, and, and, and you know it was like like following that, like mum and dad, like I'll just come home. You know, come home to Australia, it's safe. I'm like, nah, I'm not coming home and I didn't go home for three years. Yeah, I'm staying away, like I'm like it's not, like if this is as bad as it can get, then it's not that bad. I mean, luckily for me it wasn't that bad.
Speaker 4:But, like you know, I agree, you know whether you've had an injury or something like that. You know it's like people tend to go in their shell, like it's like oh, I broke my knee. You know, I've got to be careful, I shouldn't play sport or I shouldn't do this activity. But in actual fact, you know, the only way you're going to beat arthritis is by doing small activities every day. The only way you're going to beat mental health is by doing little breath works, doing meditation, doing these little things every day and then small habits to build up to become life-changing. You know habit skills and then you can, you know, roam the bit of paper wherever you like, or all the other bits of paper. Yeah, it's all about taking the positive out of a negative, essentially, and you know, breaking those barriers, which is the circle around the spider or the ant.
Speaker 3:Well, I mean, I'm not going to put it any better Jim, thank you so much for sharing your story, sharing, obviously, what was a very traumatic event and a huge event in history, and sharing your perspective and your personal journey in that and personal journey of progression through that and past that. So from us here we want to say thank you so much for sharing and having that ability to share that and also just your perspective on life after something traumatic. So thank you so much. We really appreciate that, jim.
Speaker 4:No problem, thanks for having me on boys. You know everything happens for a reason. You know you're doing this podcast to help other people and they're going to listen to this at the right time when they need to hear it and hopefully the work that you do and the work I've done today can help them when they need it.
Speaker 3:And yeah, everything happens for a reason, absolutely, absolutely Well. Thank you so much for your time, thanks for joining us. We really appreciate it.
Speaker 4:And then, if anyone wants to get hold of you in terms of find out more information, do you want to shout out to any of your socials anything like that, jim Yep, empathy Herbal is my brand, my business. It's you know. It's empathy is the medicine the world needs. It's sort of why I wanted help that day, or other people helped that day. It's you know why I want to offer expertise and help where I can. So, yeah, empathy herbal.
Speaker 3:Empathy, herbal Awesome. Well, jim, thanks again for your time. Really appreciate it and we wish you all the best. And thank you for joining our community on Live. A Lot on podcast. We really appreciate the time.
Speaker 4:Thank you, boys, you do a great job. Appreciate being on here, thanks very much Thanks, jim.
Speaker 3:Keep well, and we'll chat to you soon.
Speaker 2:Hey, thanks for listening. We hope you managed to gain some insight from today's episode. Jump onto our socials and reach out, and until next time, wherever you are, let's leave a light on.