Split Peak Soup
Welcome to Split Peak Soup Podcast! I’m your host, Neal Kearney. I feel very blessed to have been born and raised here in Santa Cruz, California. Santa Cruz is a hotbed for talented individuals, including, but not limited to: professional surfers and skaters, master surfboard shapers, internationally renowned artists, expert musicians, boundary pushing intellectual thinkers, and out-of-this-world explorers of consciousness.
Working as a professional journalist for the past twenty-plus years, I’ve had the opportunity to sit down with these extraordinary humans and in-depth and insightful chats. While these discussions have helped inform many written pieces that I’m proud of, I oftentimes felt that I was leaving a lot of meat left on the bone, as the few quotes I’d incorporate into my writing oftentimes seemed to strip my interviewees of their own authentic voices.
Luckily, we are entering a brave new world, where the podcast has risen as a popular form of storytelling and media consumption. From Joe Rogan to Conan O’Brien, podcasters have officially taken over. And now, I’m joining the fray. The Split Peak Soup Podcast is my way of using my skills as a story-teller to offer long format conversations with those whose stories deserve to be told.
So, what are you waiting for? Pull up a cozy chair, grab a napkin and your favorite spoon, and get ready to dig into another savory serving of Split Peak Soup!
Split Peak Soup
Split Peak Soup Podcast Episode 8-- Claudio Morales Bettini
Coming back from a life-changing spinal cord injury has got to be one of the most difficult things a person could go through in their lives. These people are confronted with a choice....either rise to the occasion and make the best of their traumatic event, or submit to the enormity of it all.
One man who is not letting his spinal cord injury get in the way of accomplishing his dreams is Claudio Morales Bettini, of Santiago, Chile. In 2012, Claudio was involved in a car crash that nearly took his life. After being stabilized at the hospital, it became clear that he would lose the ability to walk.
Despite such a prognosis, the twenty-three year-old was able to navigate the perilous waters of prescription medication dependance, depression, and pain with grace and determination. After a year long, grueling physical therapy campaign, Claudio was able to get back into the water. He found that, with a dedicated crew and a modified surfboard, he could still enjoy the blissful sensation of riding perfect waves.
Additionally, Claudio went back to school, became a psychologist, and is now helping other people in times of despair reclaim their happiness. He's become a force to be reckoned with in competitive adaptive surfing events, and has found community with non-profit organizations such as High Fives.
In this conversation, we touch on all this, and much more, from moving from Chile to California in eighth grade, to working with clients suffering from substance abuse and mental health conditions due to childhood trauma.
This man's story is both touching and inspiring. So what are you waiting for? Dig into this tasty serving of Split Peak Soup!