From Coma to Courage: Greg Weston’s Story of Survival and Strength

One night on a golf trip ended in a coma — and Greg Weston waking up was never guaranteed.

Greg is one of my closest friends, and even now, hearing him tell this story firsthand still stops me in my tracks.

In 2011, a traumatic brain injury changed everything. What followed wasn’t just survival — it was a long, uncertain road of rebuilding a life from the ground up. From paralysis down his left side and a year in a wheelchair, to the relentless reality of rehabilitation and the cognitive effects of frontal lobe damage, Greg shares the parts most people never see.

We talk about what it really takes to keep going when life doesn’t go to plan — the setbacks, the frustration, and the quiet determination to stand back up, even after the falls.

What makes Greg’s story truly powerful is where he stands today. He now volunteers at the very rehabilitation hospital where he was once a patient, supporting others as they begin their own journey forward. A full-circle moment that speaks to purpose, resilience, and the strength of the human spirit.

We also explore the role of family — including how his son George became his reason to keep fighting — alongside the impact of spirituality, and how tools like functional electrical stimulation are helping him regain movement and independence.

And through it all, there’s still room for humour, love, and lightness — including moments shared with his partner, Heidi.

If you care about mental health, recovery, resilience, or simply understanding what it takes to rebuild when everything changes — this is a conversation worth listening to.

If it resonates, share it with someone who needs it.

Transcript

Greg Weston's Turning Point

SPEAKER_02 0:03

Hello and welcome to the James Grantion Podcast Super Soul Model Series. Today's guest is someone quite close to me. He's one of my best friends, Greg Weston. Greg is a mental health and disability advocate in Solihole in the West Midlands. And back in 2011, he experienced a traumatic brain injury that changed the course of his life. And since then, he's rebuilt things step by step and gives back by supporting others at the very hospital where he was once a patient. And he's helping people regain confidence and independence through his volunteering. More than anything, Greg's story is one of resilience, hope, and purpose, and that life after adversity can still feel full of possibility. This week's guest is one of my best friends, Greg Weston.

SPEAKER_00 0:47

Hi, Jimmy. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_02 0:49

Very well. Thanks for coming on the podcast. Your story, we've watched you as a friend from the sidelines come back from a very, very difficult part of your life, which was almost 15 years ago now. And could you just tell us a little bit about what happened and who you were before, and maybe what happened with this experience of having a traumatic brain injury?

SPEAKER_00 1:16

Well, I always say that my accident happened for a reason because before my accident, you know, we were we were friends at uni, you know. I was a bit of a clown, everyone called me Cheggers because I was like at the party guy and falling around, so on and so forth. I I carried on in in that vein basically, and I went on a golfing trip in 2011 with my friends to Bournemouth.

SPEAKER_01 1:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:41

It's really weird because I can remember the round of golf, like hole by hole, pretty much. I can remember warming up on the Putin Green, playing badly. It was a really tough game of golf. The wind was blowing sideways. I remember going back to the clubhouse, having a load, like a sort of a catch-up with all the boys afterwards, going to the hotel, getting changed. I couldn't even remember what I wore. I remember drinking far too much with the dinner and then going out. I can remember up to about midnight, but about 5:30 a.m. there was CCTV footage of me walking down the street with a couple of guys I'd met on the night out. All my friends had gone home since. And then the CCTV, we went down an alleyway and the CCTV panned off the alleyway. So there was no, we don't actually know what happened down that alleyway. But anyway, subsequently, an ambulance was called and I was rushed to Paul Hospital, which was a local hospital. And then there, having walked onto the ambulance, I then fell into a coma and was taken to Southampton Hospital, put on a live support machine where you very kindly came to visit me. Thank you for having me. I did, yeah. But yeah, so that it was it was looking at one stage as though I might not wake up.

SPEAKER_02 2:54

Yeah.

Coma, Paralysis, Recovery Begins

SPEAKER_00 2:55

And it was my father's partner, apparently just tapped me on the head and said, Wake up, you silly sod, or something like of that vein. And I opened my eyes and it was a miracle. And from that day on, we all knew it was going to be a long, long and difficult.

SPEAKER_02 3:14

So just to reiterate, it was about three weeks in a coma. Was that about right?

SPEAKER_00 3:18

Yes, I I believe so. And uh obviously, I I'm not I I don't know exactly what the conversations that were had, but it was looking unlikely at one point that I was going to wake up at all.

SPEAKER_01 3:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:30

And how and and and what sort of state I'd be in if I did wake up, you know, that sort of brain damage was. When I did wake up, I was it was it was it I was paralyzed down my left hand side, like completely couldn't use my left arm, left leg at all. And I was I spent a year in a wheelchair, um, and then it was looking unlikely that I would ever walk again. But I it turns out but I I I did. John Briley's dad, so you know well, Keith, um, gave me a massage on my left leg. He said, Your foot's really cold. Massaged my left leg and I kicked it. And he's like, you know, that's not meant to be happening. And so we carried on massaging, I kicked it again. And then we got spoke to the physiotherapist, and they said, Greg, this means you could walk again. Yeah, and that was magic. That was the start of my road to recovery. But but subsequently, since then, I I've got a very weak left-hand side. It's like I've had a stroke.

SPEAKER_02 4:26

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 4:26

I've lost I've lost the use of my left hand and my I'm wearing a splint on my left leg and I walk with a crutch. I haven't let that sort of like stop me from doing things. Like, as you know, with John Bradley and James Padmer, I walked at Mount Snowden in 2000.

SPEAKER_02 4:40

It's amazing. I mean, to be honest, where you were from a coma, just from a friend's perspective, I remember ironing in my kitchen, hearing the news, and like crying because I thought you're not gonna make it. So the next thing I know is I was down to the hospital, come to visit you whilst you're in the coma, and uh just talk to you. You know, it was just me and you, and you know, loads of people have come to visit you, which is amazing because that's how much love and support you had, even when you were unconscious of it. And um friends are so important, and trying to be there for each other when life is difficult. And I know everybody listening or watching can relate to this is that everyone is going through something, and you know, your story is one of coming back from extreme adversity. So I just wanted to sort of talk a little bit about the recovery, the road to recovery, if we can.

SPEAKER_00 5:37

Yeah, well, it's interesting that you say that because talking of people being able to inspire people and other people that look like in had a serious stroke or an accident. If I could just help one of those people not give up, and which I have done through my volunteering, and it with my recovery, one of the most important roles I've been privileged to do is my volunteering at the hot the very hospital where I was a patient.

SPEAKER_02 6:06

What was the name of the what's the name of the hospital?

Friends, Rehab, And Volunteering

SPEAKER_00 6:08

The Lemmington Spa Rehabilitation Hospital. Yeah, where you again I think you're getting to visit me. Being able to actually use my experience to help other people, it's just been so wonderful. That's given me a real release of life, and it's made fun of that maybe my accident did happen for a reason, and that's I'm a firm believer that my accident did happen for a reason. Stop me being Chegas, the clown, and to start, I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't, you know, I live a very clean lifestyle. Um it's changed me uh as a person and and it's giving me a lot of people.

SPEAKER_02 6:39

But who do you think you were like before the accident versus after the accident? Because you say everything happens for a reason, but when we have like extreme adversity, sometimes people might not think like you, dear. And I I'm absolutely fascinated that you've come to this wonderful new narrative that you've created for yourself that you know this is something good, you know, these are your words. But what what were you like before?

SPEAKER_00 7:05

I was just interested in going out and drinking, getting drunk. You know, I would always be the last one coming home as I wasn't an eye to the accident and womanizing, and you know, I didn't, I wouldn't, I wouldn't, my mum in heaven wouldn't want me to be doing. And it was her way of saying, look, stop this now. You know, I was just interested in earning lots of I had a good job, worked for a big investment bank as a salesman, I was earning good money, but just being really frivolous with it.

SPEAKER_02 7:36

Did you think that you you almost took life for granted? Really?

Life’s Small Things Matter

SPEAKER_00 7:40

Yeah, that's one of the most important things. Whenever I do talks, particularly do I do talks to schools. One of the main things I always make sure I say is do not take life for granted. You know, like simple things like brushing your own teeth, going to the toilet. I mean, at one point I was wearing a nappy and weaning into a catheter, um brushing your own teeth, give being able to get dressed yourself. I couldn't put my splint on. They said I couldn't move home until I could prove that I could you know put my splint on. But being able to live back at home and appreciate eating food at your own table and just the simple, the simple pleasures of life. Yeah, exactly. But we it's probably true to say I think I think everyone would be says that they would be guilty to taking those for granted. You know, when you go out for a lovely walk on the in the mountains, or I know you appreciate it, but I I ran the London marathon before my accident, and you know, I just took it for granted that I could go out running, yeah. Um swimming in the sea. I mean, these are still things that I still want to try and do. There are like hide hiding my girlfriend is amazing, like she's just getting the seat with the rubber ring, and but there are ways around tackling these things, but amazing, you know.

George And The Will To Live

SPEAKER_02 8:48

Like I love it. I mean, it's a your story is also one of just perspective, you know, to just think, hey, listen, life is precious and it's fragile, and you're really good at sharing that. I I just wanted to sort of say, you know, what if you've gone through a brain injury and and you're recovering and you you're staying in these places where you know they're looking after you, what's your motivation to to try and get better? Like you you I know you have a son, you've got George. Yeah. Tell us a little bit about that relationship and how that inspired you to get well.

SPEAKER_00 9:26

George was uh George was and is a great motivation of mine. I always said that I gave him life and he gave me the reason to live. I say that over and over again, but it is so true that the days when George saw me in a wheelchair in a hospital bed.

SPEAKER_02 9:41

I mean, he didn't How old was George then, and how how old is he now?

SPEAKER_00 9:45

He was around sort of three and a half, three and three quarters. So he was he was probably too young to know what's going on. He just knew because I spent four max and I used to take him away every weekend. This one weekend was about the only weekend I hadn't seen him. I mean, his mother broke up. But um, he has been a phenomenal motivator for me and and my journey, even to this day, you know. And as he's got older, his patience with me has got greater now. Now he's you know he'll open doors for me when we go out, and you know, he he he's growing into uh a lovely young man. Um and he's got his own um adventure at the moment, um, going over to America to continue his football sort of career. Um, but yeah, he would be he was a massive motivator to me, and I felt my mum with me in heaven as well.

Spirituality And Finding Purpose

SPEAKER_02 10:40

I love this. You you definitely have like a spiritual aspect of your recovery, and I think that's really amazing because sometimes people may just think, oh, it's just doctors, but you know, there sometimes has to be something greater to help you want to find a way to improve, you know, and that's definitely something that you you talk about. Yeah, it's a little bit about like your motivation, you know, with your mum in heaven, because I know your mum passed away uh in 2004, but when you had this accident, you do talk about I feel like my mum was looking after me. So tell us a little bit about that.

SPEAKER_00 11:15

Interesting because I don't I don't I had a friend that was into seeing like spiritualists, you know, people that read you, and wow, that was just overwhelming. So I went to this place in Levington, and as soon as I walked in, the ladies just felt like I had something with me, and she came straight to me and said, Do you know you've got someone with you? If not knowing anything about me, I mean she could see that I was limping, but she wouldn't have known this severity of my accident. Right. And she said, Have you got someone in heaven that's in her late 60s, early 70s? My mum died when she was 69, right? I was like, Yes, that that that means something to me. And she then said, Um, well, this lady wants you to know that she was with you when you're in your coma, and that I had a choice to either go and be with her in heaven or stay on earth and be a father to my son, and that and that she, although she wanted to be reunited with me, she's very proud that I actually chose to stay on earth and be a father to my son. And I was like, literally like, wow.

SPEAKER_02 12:20

Yeah, how did that make you feel? Because we we go on about our day-to-day business, but it's very rare or seldom that you will come across someone who tells you something that really resonates deep at your core after the severity of what you've gone through. You you kind of think it's a miracle that you're alive as it is.

SPEAKER_00 12:36

Yeah, well, it was I I I will answer your question, but sort of just to carry on from that other story. So I went again, and this lady didn't come to me first this time, but she came, she did come to me and say, Um, have you had an accident? So on and so forth. Yeah, and she goes that um she actually talked about God actually saying that he believes that you've got a real purpose to help inspire people, and he thinks I'll do that by writing books. And I still am in the process of writing my book ironically, it's taken me so long to write because I've deleted it twice, and it's I've actually put a thing at the end saying it's ironic that someone with the brain injuries writing his books, I've lost it on pages and words. And she says that you're gonna write um books that are gonna help beat people's uh recovery Bibles, if I effectively, not by you know what I mean, the recovery journals.

SPEAKER_02 13:32

And you were told that.

SPEAKER_00 13:33

I was told that in in the spiritualists, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:36

Wow, cool. How did that make you feel?

SPEAKER_00 13:40

It just all makes me feel like this is this did happen for a reason. I mean, that that's the that's the only way I can continue to get out of bed. I mean, don't get me wrong, right? I f I still I'm still a massive falling hazard. I literally fell ahead over hills for Heidi. I've told me the story a million times first message, yeah, and fell over.

Independence After Falls And Mindful Walking

SPEAKER_02 14:03

I came to visit a couple of years ago to the house in your old house, and I remember I was downstairs just uh whilst you were having a shower or something like that upstairs, and I think I was watching television and I heard a big thud, and I came upstairs because it was very rare because I, you know, I'd I'd just come to visit, and you know, it was the first time in a really long time I'd seen you because I was abroad, and I heard a big thud, and you went, Don't worry, buddy, it's just normal. I was like, What have you done? You go, I've fallen over again. And I said, Do you want some help? And you were like, No, I don't want any help. I've got to get up myself.

SPEAKER_00 14:41

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 14:42

And I thought and I thought that that was pretty remarkable because as someone who naturally cares and wants to help anybody, you won't think, let me lift you up. And you were like, Don't help me, I've actually got to get up here.

SPEAKER_00 14:54

But it's so interesting that you say that and so relevant because that's exactly what the hospital said to me. They said, Look, we cannot discharge you until you can put your spint on yourself and until we can prove to us that you can get up off the floor. Because falling over is I I I fall over. I mean, I fell over at a friend's party, and I got another bleed on the brain, actually, which was looking at how that could be quite a big sort of setback. Um, fortunately, it did go and it was okay, but that was again my mum and headren just saying, you know, buck, you know, just steady, steady goes, steady as you go.

SPEAKER_02 15:31

Indeed. So you just got to be very mindful of every step, right?

SPEAKER_00 15:35

Absolutely. And and you know, when you walk up a mountain, you just put one foot in front of the other and off you go, sort of thing. But I have to literally think about, and it's also I've got to think about bending my left knee because I walk with about a profound limp. And that's because I've got no hamstring basically, I've completely lost the hamstring in my left leg. Right. So I walk with like a straight leg, and so that's and it sounds crazy, but that's why, like, you know, if you get a carpet, one of those carpets that are literally like five millimeters high.

SPEAKER_02 16:07

You've got to be very mindful to lift your leg over that, right?

SPEAKER_00 16:10

Yeah, I can literally just catch it and then I'm over.

SPEAKER_02 16:14

How did you you summit Mount Snowden under those circumstances? You went with John and Paddy.

Functional Electrical Stimulation Device

SPEAKER_00 16:20

Yeah, uh they said that walking at Mount Snowden with me, it was harder than when they did the Snowden marathon. Yeah, two times because of the going so slowly, it was actually harder than walking at them because it was cold. We did it in August, but it was cold. But one thing that I have had, which to talk about Mount Snowden that helped I didn't actually wear this about Snowden, but you know the electric box I wear on my leg.

SPEAKER_02 16:43

Yeah, so tell us about the electric box so that people can understand what that is.

SPEAKER_00 16:47

It has been a massive part of Monica, but it's called a functional electronic stimulation machine, it's quite similar, I believe, to a TENS machine that everyone seems to know about. It's not it's not a TENS machine, but it's similar. And what you do is you wear two pads on your leg, there's got to be they've got to be put in exactly the right spot, or it doesn't work. And then there's a little box that you press a button on, and it's got a wire that goes under your heel, and then that links into the box as well. And every time your heel hits that wire, it sends an electrical impulse up to your leg and helps you pick up your leg.

SPEAKER_02 17:21

Wow, that's impressive, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 17:23

So going back to the analogy of stepping over like a little rogue, yeah, it helps you pick it up that high. It's it's phenomenal.

SPEAKER_02 17:31

It helps stimulate you so you lift it higher, or is it actually what does it?

SPEAKER_00 17:36

Yeah, it helped it helps me pick up my foot, yeah. Because I've got you've got drop foot. Okay. And it's it's a wonderful bit of machinery. I mean, I wish I'd born that to walk up Mount Snowden.

SPEAKER_02 17:50

But to be honest, right, it's a it's a miracle that you're walking after everything.

Mount Snowdon For Charity

SPEAKER_00 17:54

Yeah, but did you hear about what happened going back to Mount Snowden? So we it took me eight and a half hours, like it would take you probably an hour and a half. I was doing all in aid of a a girl that had a brain tumour. So it was from like there was no way I wasn't gonna do it. Then I got to the top in the cafe, you know, eight and a half hours later, sat without having fallen over. I'm assuming off, but I hadn't fallen over. Sat on the bench, you know, one of those fixed benches. Yeah, got my leg stuck under it and fell off it. Literally ended up smashing my arm, just falling off the bench having a drink.

SPEAKER_02 18:27

Oh, that was so you you you have all these challenges as a result to try and get to the destination, which was I'm gonna get to the summit safely and gonna get down safely, and I'm gonna do this to raise awareness for the young girl.

SPEAKER_00 18:42

Raise money, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:44

Amazing, amazing job, uh, amazing because Greg, quite frankly, this might not have ever been. You might not have been able to do anything, and it is fortunate that you can walk, albeit assisted with the electric electronic impulse. I mean, that's a miracle. I mean, it's it's amazing that you can speak because at the beginning of your recovery there was a lot of challenge, wasn't there, whilst the brain was trying to reset.

SPEAKER_00 19:11

And particularly with what was coming out of my mouth as well.

SPEAKER_02 19:13

Yeah, I mean, you you had zero filter saying things, didn't you?

SPEAKER_00 19:17

Zero filter at all. I mean, I was asking to bed with me, and it was just I was actually put on a one-to-one, which basically means you know, you have to have someone with you all the time. I was upsetting other patients, and that was really challenging, actually. So that's been a big part of my recovery.

SPEAKER_02 19:34

So, what what do you like most about yourself now in comparison on this on this journey? Because I've noticed there's been such a shift in you as a person, like you're still the same lovely person, but there's been a massive shift.

Love, Humour, Gratitude

SPEAKER_00 19:49

I am so grateful to be alive. I really have got a massive, I know it's a bit cheesy, but a gratitude, attitude, you know what I mean. Like I listened to it. I I'm so grateful to be alive, I'm grateful to have an absolutely beautiful girlfriend, a wonderful son. My girlfriend, as you know, she's been on your show as well.

SPEAKER_02 20:07

Yeah, Heidi was on amazing, amazing, inspirational tools. So tell us a little bit about Heidi. I mean, both of you have got like physical disabilities, and yet you still maintain a really loving, wonderful relationship. And I think Heidi's really good at being able to share life with a disability in a really positive way online, and I think you do as well, and you're such a wonderful match, and you bring such a naturalness to perhaps a part of life that people don't get to see. You shine a light on it and do it with such such a beautiful, natural way, and it's really fun to watch this journey of you, you guys, and I think that that's really it's so rare. I've never seen it.

SPEAKER_00 20:51

Do you know what, buddy? Basically, what is really a lot of my friends, you included, said that they thought that the perfect match for me would be to find someone that'd been through the same journey as me. That is what is so beautiful. I don't I don't see her as being I just see her as a beautiful woman that sits down a lot. Exactly. She used to be sex on legs, she's now sex on wheels, you know.

SPEAKER_02 21:17

And I I love that it because the humour, the lightness, despite the accidents, despite the troubles, you know. I know that Heidi uh has to sit in a wheelchair all day long. But my golly, is she full of life? And my golly, are you full of life, you know? And that and that's what the world needs a little bit more of, I think, to shine a light on sometimes adversity strikes us in different ways, and whoever's listening may be for sure going through something or know somebody who's going through somebody. But you you really stand as a message and Heidi as a message of hope and possibility. It's a m it's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 21:58

And what's it? We were double Aries, so her birthday was on Thursday. Right. My birthday's coming up this Thursday. I'll be reaching the big five-o. I'm very blessed.

SPEAKER_01 22:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:11

Made it to 50 because it's at one point was looking like I wasn't, and I'm glad that you'll be celebrating that with me.

SPEAKER_01 22:16

Yeah.

The Lessons He Leaves Us

SPEAKER_00 22:16

In London. Um, but yeah, we we she's she's I I I could be quite cheeky, as you know, and she's so cheeky as well. She's got a really dry sense of humour. I was it her and George are just my two biggest inspirations.

SPEAKER_02 22:32

You've managed to show that life continues regardless of what happens.

SPEAKER_00 22:38

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 22:39

And I just want to ask you what you think that people could take away listening if they're going through anything or know somebody who's going through something that looks extreme or severe. What could you tell them that's something that they could hold on to, given your story?

SPEAKER_00 22:57

One thing I would like to say, and this is going to sound a bit crazy to some people say, What are you talking about? I'm actually glad that my accident happened to me. Who would you say you would say that it was glad that it'd be in a coma and a wheelchair and all that kind of stuff? I am actually blessed that this accident has happened to me because it's taken me on a different path. And my dear mother always says everything happens for a reason. And I I firmly believe that this accident happened for a reason. And and as I said earlier, to be able to actually inspire and help people now. I've got a real purpose in life now because of this accident. And I firmly believe that Hyde and I wouldn't have been together if it wasn't for our respective accidents.

SPEAKER_02 23:36

Now I like to label it as a journey because it's a new journey. And I think that if we label things, we can look at them as negative or positive, but if we see it as a journey, then life took you down a different route.

SPEAKER_00 23:48

Absolutely. I was interviewed by Hunters Moore, where I went after the Lempton rehab, and they could entitled the video Gregory's Journey Towards Independence.

SPEAKER_01 23:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:58

That's I love what you said there, Buddy, because that's that's uh exactly how I view it. It's been it's a journey, and it has been my journey to independence. Gaining my independence is is so important to me and to my recovery.

SPEAKER_02 24:12

I I just really want to just add this as well. How important is choosing the right words to you now? You know, because you're you're a man of humour, we always have a laugh, but like words are words are are are shaping our life, and I want to know how you use words in a way differently now than perhaps you used to.

SPEAKER_00 24:30

Well, absolutely, and I've had frontal lobe brain damage, right? Which has affected my memory and it affects impulsivity and all that kind of stuff. And having had a choice of brain injury, I I mean I I used to, I've got a degree, you know, I did A-level English. I was very articulate before my accident. I think words, words are very important, aren't they? I mean, there's a saying, isn't there? Words can be like daggers, you know, they can they could be really hurtful or they could be really inspiring. Um, so choosing the right words is very important to me. I have to say a lot of the time I choose the wrong words instead of saying like Heidi, your hair looks lovely today. I'll say, Heidi, your hair looks dreadful today. You know what I mean? Like, like one word can really literally, or even one letter of one word can literally, but you know, like the words that you're using in your volunteering, Greg, you know, are helping shape the future of people's lives. Definitely, definitely.

SPEAKER_02 25:31

So, just in closing, Greg, what one thing would you really like people listening who know somebody that might be going through something really tough or is personally experiencing something that's really tough? What would you like them to know given your story and given your experience?

SPEAKER_00 25:48

Well, I think, as my dear mother in heaven used to say, everything happens for a reason. Um, and there is always hope. You know, so at one point it was looking like I was going to spend the rest of my time in hospital, but I didn't, and now I'm actually pleased, as I said, it sounds crazy, but I'm pleased to put me to put me on a different path. If I could be someone's self-help guide or recovery guide, then it hasn't all happened for nothing. This new journey is helping others. There's always hope. I think that's one thing I'd like to leave out, really.

SPEAKER_02 26:19

This week's super soul model is Greg Weston. Thank you, Greg.

SPEAKER_00 26:24

Thank you so much, buddy.

SPEAKER_02 26:26

Thanks for listening. And if this episode helped you, share it with someone you care about. It might just give them a little clarity or a fresh perspective today.