Experience Rich
A traumatic mountain bike accident left me with a shattered neck and a severe spinal injury that required my neck to be fused from C3 to T2 with two titanium rods and sixteen screws. Prior to the accident I lived a very active life: surfing, running, hiking and of course, biking. After the accident, it took several days for the doctors to determine the full extent of my spinal injury with no indication of what the outcome would be for future physical ability. After any trauma, the road to recovery through physical therapy is different for everyone. This is my journey. My purpose is to share the physical and mental challenges that I had to push through to get me back on my feet, even completing a half-marathon, swimming and hiking again. It wasn’t an easy journey (and it’s far from over) but I’ve learned a lot about myself, fear, stress, gratitude and the tools I needed to make my comeback happen. I might even say that it took breaking my neck, to get my head screwed on straight. I hope these episodes help you in some way to overcome whatever physical or mental health challenge you are facing today.
Experience Rich
Fear, anxiety and stress: How I harness my mental strength to rebuild my body, my mind and my life.
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Rich
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Season 1
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Episode 3
Fear, anxiety and stress: the FAS. We all have it at different stages, levels and for different reasons. Now, my FAS is due to a traumatic mountain bike crash that left me with a broken neck held together by two titanium rods and sixteen screws. Yours might be brought on by your job, family, finances, physical or mental health and even today with a pandemic and rolling lockdowns. We can manage fear, anxiety and stress and it's simply done throughout our day. I’ve spent 12 months rebuilding my body and mind after my accident and it’s provided many opportunities to face and overcome my own fear, anxiety and stress.