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Speaker 1: This episode is brought to you by Moodybody.

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Speaker 2: I've now had the benefit of hindsight where I've been

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Speaker 2: able to compare a spinal cord injury that has caused

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Speaker 2: quadriplegia to depression and anxiety and panic attacks, and I

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Speaker 2: think I can safely say that I have been far

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Speaker 2: more productive with the spinal cord injury than I was

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Speaker 2: with depressions. It's never too late to take a different

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Speaker 2: path or try something different. Like you said, it's okay

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Speaker 2: to be wrong. I think being wrong is awesome. Being

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Speaker 2: wrong is an opportunity to learn. I think we misstep

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Speaker 2: and it's okay. But I think someone also told me

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Speaker 2: that life is not a dress rehearsal. It's happening right now.

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the C's the Ya Podcast. Busy and happy

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Speaker 1: are not the same thing. We too rarely question what

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Speaker 1: makes the heart seeing. We work, then we rest, but

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Speaker 1: rarely we play and often don't realize there's more than

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Speaker 1: one way. So this is a platform to hear and

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Speaker 1: explore the stories of those who found lives. They adore,

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Speaker 1: the good, bad and ugly. The best and worst day

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Speaker 1: will bear all the facets of seizing your yea I'm

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Speaker 1: Sarah Davidson or Spoonful of Sarah, a lawyer turned funentrepreneur

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Speaker 1: who swapped the suits and heels to co found matcha

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Speaker 1: Maiden and matcha Milk Bar. CZA is a series of

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Speaker 1: conversations on finding a life you love and exploring the

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Speaker 1: self doubt, challenge, joy and fulfillment along the way. Hello,

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Speaker 1: beautiful people, back in your ears today with an og interview.

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Speaker 1: It's been so much fun adding yeas of our lives

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Speaker 1: to the mix for something different, and I hope you

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Speaker 1: enjoyed this week's air a few days ago. Don't forget

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Speaker 1: that segment is wholly dedicated to this beautiful yighborhood and

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Speaker 1: meant to be something we create together, implementing your feedback

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Speaker 1: from the servia. So please keep those Yighborhood Watch submissions

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Speaker 1: and feel good recommendations coming so we can keep getting

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Speaker 1: better and brighter each week to our regular scheduling. Today's

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Speaker 1: guest was actually also a yighborhood nomination from one of

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Speaker 1: our most active contributors, affectionately known as Danosaurus. Dana so

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Speaker 1: generously sent a whole list of suggestions for guests a

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Speaker 1: while back, and this is one that has finally come

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Speaker 1: to fruition. Dana is the founder of Junior Doctor's Corner

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Speaker 1: and is a doctor herself, working to provide much needed

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Speaker 1: support to junior doctors entering the wild world of medicine

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Speaker 1: and discuss important topics that are often dismissed or taboo.

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Speaker 1: Junior Doctor's Corner also has its very own podcast, so

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Speaker 1: make sure to check that out if there are any

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Speaker 1: other young doctors listening in. Dana's nomination also hails from

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Speaker 1: the medical world, but is not only a doctor. He

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Speaker 1: is also one of those rare species who has completed

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Speaker 1: degrees in both medicine and law, the holy grail combination

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Speaker 1: that very few around the world dare to tackle. And

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Speaker 1: if that alone weren't enough of a superhuman feat, Dinesh

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Speaker 1: Pelapana is also a quadriplegic and disability advocate, becoming only

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Speaker 1: the second person with quadriplegia to graduate as a doctor

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Speaker 1: in Australia and the first with a spinal cord injury.

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Speaker 1: Despite a life changing car accident in twenty ten, Denesh

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Speaker 1: now works in the emergency department of Gold Coast University

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Speaker 1: Hospital and has co founded Doctors with Disabilities with two

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Speaker 1: of his colleagues. He tells the story so beautifully himself,

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Speaker 1: so I'll stop myself there, but I hope you find

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Speaker 1: his zest for life and indelible positivity as uplifting as

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Speaker 1: I did. PS. The audio is a bit dicky at

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Speaker 1: times the joys of zoom strike again, so excuse a

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Speaker 1: few spots where it's a bit muffled, but otherwise I

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Speaker 1: hope you enjoy Denesh, welcome to Seize the A.

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Speaker 2: Hi. Thanks for having me, sir, Thank.

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Speaker 1: You so much for jumping on the show. You are

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Speaker 1: one of those very rare but incredible species of people

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Speaker 1: who have done not only law but also medicine, the

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Speaker 1: two degrees that I feel mutually exclusive, but not in

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Speaker 1: your case.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I know that there are a couple of us

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Speaker 2: roaming around.

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Speaker 1: I feel like it's literally a couple in the whole nation.

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Speaker 1: Before we kick off, I start by asking everyone what

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Speaker 1: the most down to earth thing is about them, And

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Speaker 1: I feel like you will know the down to earth

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Speaker 1: things about you. But I have already put you on

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Speaker 1: a very very high pedestal with this whole law med

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Speaker 1: graduate thing. So what's something really relatable about you?

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Speaker 2: Down to earth things? I love rap music, like called

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Speaker 2: R and B and hip hop nice. When I'm on

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Speaker 2: my way to work, I've got Biggie pumping out of

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Speaker 2: my car. I like pizza and I like shoes as well.

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Speaker 1: So shoes. They go, oh, they're great. People always struggle.

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Speaker 1: I'm like, no, they're really normal, amazing things.

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Speaker 2: People.

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Speaker 1: I think totally, Well, that's that's the thing. We are

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Speaker 1: all just normal people. But I think often people are

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Speaker 1: introduced to you by your title first, or by your

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Speaker 1: story and your achievements and the highlights, and it's very easy,

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Speaker 1: in your amazing list of achievements and the things you've

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Speaker 1: managed to do in the past couple of years, to

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Speaker 1: forget that you are just a human. Like you sound

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Speaker 1: like a superhuman. So I'm glad you just like shoes

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Speaker 1: and eat pizza. So the first section is your weight TA,

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Speaker 1: which is pretty much the journey from your very early

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Speaker 1: childhood to where you are now. And that's for that

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Speaker 1: exact reason that a lot of people will know you

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Speaker 1: from your title or your achievements or the successes that

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Speaker 1: you've had. And I think a lot of us appear

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Speaker 1: like we woke up knowing what we wanted to do

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Speaker 1: and having the direction that we have if you walked

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Speaker 1: into this chapter of your life. But all of us

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Speaker 1: started somewhere. Most of us have had periods of feeling

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Speaker 1: lost and having you know, sliding doors moments and forks

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Speaker 1: in the road. And I love going through all of

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Speaker 1: those to kind of trace through and see how wow,

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Speaker 1: what shaped you into the person you are now and

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Speaker 1: particularly with you and there was a big turning point

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Speaker 1: in your life. So let's start with young Dinesh. What

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Speaker 1: were you like as a child. What did you think

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Speaker 1: that you wanted to be? Byron and Brizzy was it?

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Speaker 2: Well, actually, I was born in Sri Lanka. We moved

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Speaker 2: to Australia on my tenth birthday, so I had ten

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Speaker 2: years growing up in Sri Lanka. I don't think I

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Speaker 2: had any particular thing when I was growing up where

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Speaker 2: I was like, you know, I want to be this.

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Speaker 2: As I was talking to someone just yesterday, I said

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Speaker 2: why do you want to be a doctor or why

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Speaker 2: did you want to be a doctor, and said, I

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Speaker 2: don't know. Since I was seven, I just wanted to

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Speaker 2: be a doctor. So I was never liked that. But

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Speaker 2: I had all these different ideas and I remember someone

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Speaker 2: really close to me saying that, oh, that's really hard

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Speaker 2: and you may not be able to become that and

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Speaker 2: only the smartest people do this. But then I also

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Speaker 2: had my mom who always made me feel like I

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Speaker 2: could do anything. Whatever crazy idea I had, She's like, yeah,

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Speaker 2: you could probably could you could do that. You can

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Speaker 2: do that. So she's always made me feel very empowered

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Speaker 2: and capable. And I hope that all kids on this

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Speaker 2: planet will have someone like my mum in their lives.

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Speaker 2: But Sri Lanka is a beautiful place today and it's

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Speaker 2: very different. But when I was growing up, it was

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Speaker 2: going through a civil war and it had a lot

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Speaker 2: of conflict and a lot of suffering. A lot of

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Speaker 2: people died and a lot of people were displaced, and

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Speaker 2: it was a hard time for people. I remember talking

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Speaker 2: to some parents a couple of years ago and they said, yeah,

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Speaker 2: those days, we used to take different buses to work

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Speaker 2: because if one of us dies, at least there will

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Speaker 2: be the other who makes it home for the kids.

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Speaker 2: So you know, it was that kind of life, and

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Speaker 2: so it was a really difficult place. And I think

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Speaker 2: the turning point for my parents was trying to get

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Speaker 2: me into a school at one point, and the principles

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Speaker 2: wanted some bribes. Oh my gosh, and my mom sat

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Speaker 2: outside this school for days and days and days and

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Speaker 2: the guy just wouldn't see her or take me in

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Speaker 2: unless you a fee was paid. So we moved here

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Speaker 2: to Australia when I was ten. It's the first time

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Speaker 2: being on a plane. Yeah, I think I threw off

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Speaker 2: the hallway here. But coming to Australia was such an

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Speaker 2: incredible experience because you'd gone from a completely different environment

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Speaker 2: to something that's just you know, the change of seasons.

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Speaker 2: There was suddenly a summer and it was spring and

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Speaker 2: a winter and whatever else, because you like, it is

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Speaker 2: tropical country, and these big, huge supermarkets with and yeah,

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Speaker 2: all these chocolates, and aisle was full of things and Lamington's,

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Speaker 2: which which is something I remember really well.

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Speaker 1: Isn't it so funny the things that stand out like

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Speaker 1: that you've kept as such a strong memory even now.

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Speaker 1: The Lamington's sudden.

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Speaker 2: I just remember the smell of it and the texture

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Speaker 2: of it. It was such a neik thing. But Sydney.

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Speaker 2: We landed in Sydney and we spent only just six months,

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Speaker 2: but I just remember living in this block of apartments

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Speaker 2: and it wasn't it was fairly old. Initially, you know,

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Speaker 2: we didn't really have any furniture and we got it

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Speaker 2: from Vinnie's. I just remember watching Disney cartoons at the

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Speaker 2: neighbors upstairs, and you know, it's really like the first

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Speaker 2: time I'd do all these cool cartoons.

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Speaker 1: That must have been such a weird time for you,

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Speaker 1: like such culture shock.

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Speaker 2: Yeah it was, but it was also like it was

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Speaker 2: also very interesting and very cool. It's just a kid

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Speaker 2: discovering all these new things. So that was just this

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Speaker 2: incredible experience. Then my dad got a job in Byron Bay,

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Speaker 2: so we moved to Byron Bay. Most of primary school

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Speaker 2: and high school from memory was in Byron Bay.

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Speaker 1: Wow.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, this was in the nineties. It was such a quiet.

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Speaker 1: The original sleepy Byron It was.

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Speaker 2: Very sleepy Barron. I had this really great memory. I

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Speaker 2: think I might have been like eleven or twelve, and

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Speaker 2: we used to just ride our bicycles around the town,

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Speaker 2: especially in summer right school holidays is just riding around,

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Speaker 2: eating ice cream and messing around the beach and whatever else.

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Speaker 2: There's just one day where I went to my friend's

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Speaker 2: house and we walked into his house and his mom

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Speaker 2: was sitting on the couch and there was smoke everywhere.

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Speaker 1: In the Why is that so smoky in here?

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Speaker 2: She was holding this massive glass contraption and just looking

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Speaker 2: very chilled out. So that's my friend. What's your mom doing? Oh? Yeah,

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Speaker 2: she's smoking a bomb.

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Speaker 1: What's a bomb?

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Speaker 2: Yeah? I was like, oh.

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Speaker 1: Cool, Oh my gosh.

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Speaker 2: Those days a lot of people partook in bar and

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Speaker 2: Bay and it was nice. It was actually a really

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Speaker 2: beautiful place to grow up. I loved it. But then

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Speaker 2: I don't think I was particularly academic at that time.

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Speaker 1: That's fascinating. Already, everything up to this point is totally

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Speaker 1: not what you would expect if all you were introduced

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Speaker 1: as is a medical law graduate doctor.

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Speaker 2: Right, some days when I'm working in the kids, these

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Speaker 2: parents coming with their kids and they say, tell, tell

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Speaker 2: little blah blah blah, how hard you had to work

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Speaker 2: to become a doctor and you were when you were

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Speaker 2: in school, And I'm like, oh, I went to school

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Speaker 2: every day.

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Speaker 1: But do you know that's really reassuring, because I think

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Speaker 1: there is a bit of a preconception with certain professions,

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Speaker 1: and medicine, of all the professions that you have to

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Speaker 1: decide when you're very young, and you know, be that

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Speaker 1: person that you mentioned who's seven and wants to be

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Speaker 1: a doctor, and then everything in their life is choosing

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Speaker 1: subjects to be a doctor. And I love that you

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Speaker 1: are an example that you don't have to do it

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Speaker 1: that way. Of course, it's common to do it that way,

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Speaker 1: but so much of this show is about the fact

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Speaker 1: that pathways don't all look the same and they're mostly

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Speaker 1: not conventional. And your first degree wasn't even medicine anyway, so.

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Speaker 2: Exactly, and does the pathway have to be conventional? You know, like,

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Speaker 2: does life have to be linear? Is that what life

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Speaker 2: is like? We finished high school, we do a degree,

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Speaker 2: we get married, we have kids, we work, we retire,

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Speaker 2: and we die. Like, really, is that all life is?

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Speaker 2: Surely not?

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Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, you are like the perfect guest for

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Speaker 1: this show right now, because that's the question that this

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Speaker 1: show is about. Is I think for some people that

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Speaker 1: is the extent of what they think life is. They

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Speaker 1: do think of things in a very linear, conventional way.

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Speaker 1: And I was that person, you know, in my first career,

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Speaker 1: and I shudder to think that I could have closed

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Speaker 1: off so much of what life actually is about by

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Speaker 1: sticking so rigidly to the plan all the time, I'm

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Speaker 1: such a proponent for the nonlinear pathway, and I love

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Speaker 1: that yours has been that way. So how did you

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Speaker 1: first decide on law at QUT? Like why was that

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Speaker 1: your first choice?

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Speaker 2: Well? Actually I didn't have a particular passion or a purpose,

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Speaker 2: and those two things I think are very very important.

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Speaker 2: I was just roaming around and having fun and grade

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Speaker 2: eleven and twelve, like I actually started grade eleven because

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Speaker 2: we started fresh in Brisbane. When I started did the

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Speaker 2: final two years in school, and initially I was like, Okay,

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Speaker 2: I'm going to put my head down and study hard

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Speaker 2: and get whatever. But then you know, I met friends

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Speaker 2: and we started partying and whatever else. My mom she

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Speaker 2: used to get the report cards and it'd be like

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Speaker 2: thirty days absent, and she'd be like, what were you

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Speaker 2: doing when I went to work. You were dressed for school?

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Speaker 2: Like yeah, but then I went back to bed.

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Speaker 1: Oh my gosh again, like you are just smashing through

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Speaker 1: people's perception of what it takes to be a good

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Speaker 1: medical student later in life.

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Speaker 2: So yeah, whenever parents asked me that question, like yeah,

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Speaker 2: it's work hard, yeah, stay in school.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. So yeah, why law? Why was that the first choice?

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Speaker 1: I'm not mad.

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Speaker 2: I had this conversation with my mum. She taught me

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Speaker 2: how to drive, she taught me all these things. She

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Speaker 2: told me about money, she taught me about everything. Really.

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Speaker 2: When I was talking about what I should do with

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Speaker 2: my life, you know, law is really cool, Like why

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Speaker 2: don't you when you try that? So I applied to

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Speaker 2: law and I got into Laura and thinking back, I

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Speaker 2: don't know if my reasons were doing law like they're

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Speaker 2: probably very superficial. I thought, wow, you know, it'd be

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Speaker 2: cool to be a lawyer, and I hear, yeah, it

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Speaker 2: seemed to do cool things, and I'd love to wear

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Speaker 2: a suit and work in the office. I don't think that.

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Speaker 2: It was like, you know, I loved the law and

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Speaker 2: I loved the way. Yeah, so I didn't really think

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Speaker 2: of it that way. So I was going about my

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Speaker 2: life and over a period of time, though, I started

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Speaker 2: to become depressed. The thing is, now I know about this,

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Speaker 2: but when I think back, I didn't have any insight

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Speaker 2: into what was happening to me. Yeah, but over a

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Speaker 2: period of time, I started to really feel quite dull.

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Speaker 2: I wasn't listening to it.

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Speaker 1: Wrap first sign, that's the first sign.

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Speaker 2: No jeez, that's an Amberlyte.

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Speaker 1: That is an Amberlte, Dinesh.

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Speaker 2: Amberlite right there. I should have seen the sign, so

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Speaker 2: you know. But by the way, the music didn't sound

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Speaker 2: as good, and I stopped hanging out with my friends

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Speaker 2: as much, and I loved driving to and I know

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Speaker 2: I wasn't driving my cars March, and just everything seemed

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Speaker 2: a bit dull, even the colors. And I started to

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Speaker 2: get anxious all the time. Then I started to get

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Speaker 2: panic attacked. It's just this debilitating terror. When I was

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Speaker 2: out somewhere, it got so bad to the point where

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Speaker 2: I was afraid to go outside the house. Then I

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Speaker 2: was just stuck inside the house for weeks and weeks

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Speaker 2: and weeks, sleeping patterns change, I was eating differently. So

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Speaker 2: I think there are three things that I learned out

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Speaker 2: of that. One is I think when we go through

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Speaker 2: mental health challenges, there's a medical component to it. So

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Speaker 2: there's definitely a physiological aspect to it. But also I

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Speaker 2: think that it's a like you said, it's an amberlet

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Speaker 2: in our life that probably says, hey, you're actually living

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Speaker 2: the way that you should be. Do you need to

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Speaker 2: adjust the sales and do you need to think about

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Speaker 2: life a bit differently, and I think that's really really important.

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Speaker 2: I think depression like there are causes for that as well,

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Speaker 2: like outside causes. And the other thing I realized is

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Speaker 2: that I've now had the benefit of hindsight where I've

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Speaker 2: been able to compare a spinal cord injury that has

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Speaker 2: caused quadriplegia to depression and anxiety and panic attacks. And

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Speaker 2: I think I can safely say that I have been

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Speaker 2: far more productive with the spinal cord injury than I

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Speaker 2: was with depression. The birds days, I was a prison

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Speaker 2: of my mind and I didn't think I did as

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Speaker 2: much at all. Life like everything was falling. A part

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Speaker 2: I've got my education was suffering, work with suffering, relationships

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Speaker 2: with suffering, and it was all going downhill.

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Speaker 1: I mean, very few people in the world can, with

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Speaker 1: personal insight, make that comparison and give us an actual answer.

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Speaker 1: But how damning on the impact of mental health. I

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Speaker 1: think because it is so invisible, it is so easy

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Speaker 1: for us. I mean not easier, but it's so straightforward

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Speaker 1: to comprehend the debilitating impact of quadriplegia, paraplegia, any kind

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Speaker 1: of long term physical affliction. But it's so fascinating that

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Speaker 1: mental health affected you more day to day, and yet

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Speaker 1: you didn't even understand it enough to pick it up

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Speaker 1: yourself until later.

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Speaker 2: And I think I was talking to a friend maybe

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Speaker 2: last year who also used to suffer from anxiety and

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Speaker 2: panic attacks, and they taught me that they recovered from

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Speaker 2: it after a period of time, but they told me

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Speaker 2: that one of their biggest fears these days is for

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Speaker 2: that to come back. Wow, and not my biggest fear,

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Speaker 2: but I always think, oh, man, imagine if I had

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Speaker 2: to go through that again, that would not be fun.

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Speaker 1: So how did you get to the point where it

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Speaker 1: doesn't recur? Like what pulled you out of it? Was

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Speaker 1: it the life change? Was it realizing perhaps the environmental

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Speaker 1: triggers for that coming on? At what point did you

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Speaker 1: realize that something was more than just the normal spectrum

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Speaker 1: of emotion.

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Speaker 2: It was a combination of things. So there was a

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Speaker 2: medical side of it, and around that time I was

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Speaker 2: also diagnosed with Celiac disease. I had a couple of

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Speaker 2: medical things to sort out, but it was also readjusting

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Speaker 2: the cell in a big way, changing some of my

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Speaker 2: interpersonal relationships. And once I found medicine, you know, I

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Speaker 2: was watching House, and I decided.

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Speaker 1: Stop, it was that really what sparked it? Nod because

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Speaker 1: that would be amazing because literally, one of the things

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Speaker 1: I'm going to ask you in a couple of questions

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Speaker 1: is about plural affusion. And the only reason I know

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Speaker 1: what plural affusion is is because of a House. Because

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Speaker 1: I'm such an amazing diagnostician. I'm literally like, oh, that's

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Speaker 1: definitely sarcoidosis because of those things. My medical vocabulary is

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Speaker 1: amazing because of that show. What actually was it for you?

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Speaker 1: What was it?

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Speaker 2: Like?

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Speaker 1: Law and medicine are traditionally seen as like different forks

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Speaker 1: in the road, not it's not you know, it's either

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Speaker 1: or it's not both.

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Speaker 2: And yeah, I mean, so I had that experience with

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Speaker 2: the depression, I really really thought about life. I think

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Speaker 2: I realized that I wanted to do something with people.

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Speaker 2: I wanted to do something hands on. I wanted to

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Speaker 2: do something where I could just go anywhere in the

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Speaker 2: world and I could just use my brains and my

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Speaker 2: hands to make a difference in someone's life, and just

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Speaker 2: one person was enough. Someone made a change in my life,

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Speaker 2: or some or people contributed to making it change in

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Speaker 2: my life, and it changed my whole world. Yeah, so

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Speaker 2: that that's I think that's a powerful thing that that

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Speaker 2: was one of the reasons why I thought, you know,

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Speaker 2: medicine is a really cool way to do this. I

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Speaker 2: also did this clerkship at a law firm and it

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Speaker 2: was a small firm, and I was just like, what

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Speaker 2: am I doing here? Because like, make sure you build

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Speaker 2: like this.

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Speaker 1: Six minutes every six minutes.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I found it really hard to see a future

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Speaker 2: in that for myself. That's that's how I ended up

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Speaker 2: with the idea of medicine. And once I found that,

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Speaker 2: I was just so energized and I loved this idea

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Speaker 2: and I felt like a new man, you know, And

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Speaker 2: when I turned the corner from that point in my life,

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Speaker 2: I actually remember the very day I drove out of

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Speaker 2: my garage in my car and suddenly the sun was

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Speaker 2: bright and smells.

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Speaker 1: The birds were singing to.

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Speaker 2: You, Champagne was raining from the sky.

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Speaker 1: But do you know that just highlights for me so

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Speaker 1: much exactly what I truly believe about this whole concept

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Speaker 1: of seizing your yea that we do often take a

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Speaker 1: few false starts down different pathways, and you try things

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Speaker 1: on for size, and not one career is going to

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Speaker 1: fit all of us, and it's okay to start something

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Speaker 1: and go, look, this really isn't me, This is some people.

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Speaker 1: This is you know, maybe some people who are similar

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Speaker 1: to me in some ways. But it's just not right

401
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Speaker 1: for me, and it's costing me energy and time and

402
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Speaker 1: like emotional, you know, it's costing me my life of

403
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Speaker 1: trying to stick and make it work. And I love

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Speaker 1: that you felt empowered enough to try something new, because

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Speaker 1: I think some people think when they've chosen something it's

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Speaker 1: a forever choice. They're too old or they've invested too

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Speaker 1: much time and it's going to be a waste go

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Speaker 1: back and start something a new and then you're an

409
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Speaker 1: adult as a student, and you know, people get very

410
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Speaker 1: bogged down in not wanting to be a beginner again

411
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Speaker 1: and being scared of the unknown. And I just I

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Speaker 1: love that you have found you know, you found your

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Speaker 1: ya and you weren't afraid to go after it, and

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Speaker 1: then you reaped the benefits from that first moment of

415
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Speaker 1: turning such a big corner.

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Speaker 2: Love in life now. But you know you're right, it's

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Speaker 2: never too late. I once met the Delma guy. You know,

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Speaker 2: I do try to stop it I did. I chilled

419
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Speaker 2: out with him in his intra Lanka. Yeah, so cool.

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Speaker 2: I know. So. A couple of things that really struck

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Speaker 2: with me about him is that they do a whole

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Speaker 2: heap of community work, like it was incredible, but the

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Speaker 2: level of social responsibility is amazing. The second thing is

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Speaker 2: you start Delma until it was in his fifties, and

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Speaker 2: how crazy is that?

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Speaker 1: It's amazing.

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Speaker 2: I saw him and you see, like I mean, even

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Speaker 2: the American politicians now are like become presidents in their

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Speaker 2: sixties and seventies.

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Speaker 1: Totally.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I met this like eighty something year old weightlifter,

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Speaker 2: you know, a couple of years early. So it's never

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Speaker 2: too late to take a different path or try something different.

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Speaker 2: And absolutely, like you said, it's okay to be wrong.

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Speaker 2: I think being wrong is awesome. Being wrong is an

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Speaker 2: opportunity to learn. It's an opportunity to go, Hey, this

437
00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:31,560
Speaker 2: something I could do differently, This is something I could

438
00:23:31,600 --> 00:23:34,280
Speaker 2: do better, There's something I could do whatever. I think

439
00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:39,359
Speaker 2: we miss step and it's okay. But I think someone

440
00:23:39,359 --> 00:23:42,000
Speaker 2: also told me that life is not a dress rehearsal.

441
00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:43,080
Speaker 2: It's happening right now.

442
00:23:43,520 --> 00:23:44,440
Speaker 1: I love that.

443
00:23:44,680 --> 00:23:47,199
Speaker 2: I know it's cool. Right. One of the things that

444
00:23:47,320 --> 00:23:50,000
Speaker 2: really kept me going after I got this spinal cord

445
00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:54,040
Speaker 2: injury is that I can say that I live life

446
00:23:54,280 --> 00:23:58,240
Speaker 2: to the fullest until that point. Like I roamed around

447
00:23:58,600 --> 00:24:02,000
Speaker 2: Byron Bay on my bike. I asked that girl out

448
00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:06,480
Speaker 2: in someone. I took that trip with my friends and

449
00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:11,000
Speaker 2: I partied in Japan. I really lived life. And I

450
00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:13,919
Speaker 2: took a trip a few weeks before the accident happened.

451
00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:16,760
Speaker 2: And it's one of the most significant things that I

452
00:24:16,840 --> 00:24:20,040
Speaker 2: remember because it was one of my best friends. He

453
00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:21,879
Speaker 2: caught me up one day and he said, do you

454
00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:24,840
Speaker 2: want to go to Japan? And I was like, Oh,

455
00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:27,360
Speaker 2: I don't want to send money or do I want

456
00:24:27,359 --> 00:24:29,639
Speaker 2: to like spend money? Do I want to know? Like

457
00:24:29,680 --> 00:24:32,240
Speaker 2: you kind of intellectualize those things. So we just turned

458
00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:35,720
Speaker 2: up in Japan with no plans, just a bag. We

459
00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:38,160
Speaker 2: really like had a great time.

460
00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:43,080
Speaker 1: I love how discerning you are with your words. You're like,

461
00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:45,680
Speaker 1: we are, Yeah, I had a great time.

462
00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:50,439
Speaker 2: Yeah, we celebrated life.

463
00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:54,080
Speaker 1: But that is so wonderful because you know, I think

464
00:24:54,119 --> 00:24:57,120
Speaker 1: there is like that adage of the tomorrow that you

465
00:24:57,240 --> 00:25:00,440
Speaker 1: envision and that you take for granted is not guarantee,

466
00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:04,679
Speaker 1: and that is exactly why it is so important to

467
00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:06,520
Speaker 1: make decisions like the one that you made. You know,

468
00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:08,680
Speaker 1: you can always make back money. You can never make

469
00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:12,600
Speaker 1: back time and opportunities and have chances to relive particular

470
00:25:12,720 --> 00:25:16,480
Speaker 1: days again. And I bet now you're just so glad

471
00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:20,000
Speaker 1: that you didn't go. Oh, that's not sensible. I should

472
00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:20,639
Speaker 1: save the money.

473
00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:24,199
Speaker 2: Well, exactly because we went snowboarding and I stood in

474
00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:27,240
Speaker 2: the snow and I felt the snow on my face.

475
00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:30,840
Speaker 2: But I didn't know that three weeks later, for another

476
00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:32,960
Speaker 2: eleven years at least, I wouldn't be standing up in

477
00:25:32,960 --> 00:25:36,520
Speaker 2: the snow again. Oh my god, So how is that?

478
00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:40,640
Speaker 2: That's you know, But if I knew, if someone told me, hey, dude,

479
00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:42,520
Speaker 2: you're going to have a spinal cord injury from a

480
00:25:42,600 --> 00:25:46,520
Speaker 2: terrible car accident in three or four weeks time, we go. Man,

481
00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:49,920
Speaker 2: I'm going to Japan, I'm going to freaking Venezuela. I'm

482
00:25:49,920 --> 00:25:53,800
Speaker 2: going everywhere. You know, that decision has become so much easier.

483
00:25:53,920 --> 00:25:56,399
Speaker 1: And it's suddenly a no brainer. And so it's like, well,

484
00:25:56,440 --> 00:25:59,720
Speaker 1: why can't you pre empt and live that way always

485
00:26:00,119 --> 00:26:01,879
Speaker 1: so that you're not missing out on the chance to

486
00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:04,320
Speaker 1: do it while you have it? Like even lockdown, I

487
00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:07,160
Speaker 1: think is something everyone just assumed they would be freely

488
00:26:07,240 --> 00:26:10,199
Speaker 1: moving in the world and so delayed doing things that

489
00:26:10,240 --> 00:26:12,600
Speaker 1: they wanted to do because they were like, oh, there'll

490
00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:14,320
Speaker 1: always be time to do it, and then suddenly the

491
00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:17,399
Speaker 1: world shut You literally never know what's around the corner.

492
00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:21,159
Speaker 1: You don't, especially in your case, you could never have

493
00:26:21,359 --> 00:26:23,680
Speaker 1: known what was going to happen. And I think there

494
00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:26,400
Speaker 1: is a lot to be said for sparking your own

495
00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:30,200
Speaker 1: moments of like turning points or sliding doors doors, moments

496
00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:33,320
Speaker 1: in your life where you voluntarily choose to rip the

497
00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:35,359
Speaker 1: band aid and make a big, you know, change in

498
00:26:35,359 --> 00:26:38,080
Speaker 1: your life, which you have already done. And in most

499
00:26:38,119 --> 00:26:40,320
Speaker 1: people's episodes, this is the end of their story and

500
00:26:40,359 --> 00:26:42,880
Speaker 1: we move on to the next section. In yours, it's

501
00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:45,159
Speaker 1: barely the start. You just had already squeezed in a

502
00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:49,480
Speaker 1: lifetime of revelations and learnings and pivots. But the next

503
00:26:49,480 --> 00:26:52,560
Speaker 1: section is yourn ata, which is the biggest challenges that

504
00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:54,720
Speaker 1: you've faced along the way, And I think it's the

505
00:26:54,760 --> 00:26:57,320
Speaker 1: perfect time to sort of move on to the accident,

506
00:26:57,600 --> 00:27:02,639
Speaker 1: what happened, what you remember, and how it's been recasting

507
00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:06,960
Speaker 1: your identity and still going after the dream that you

508
00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:09,520
Speaker 1: had before in a different way, with different challenges, but

509
00:27:10,119 --> 00:27:13,159
Speaker 1: going on to be incredibly successful nonetheless.

510
00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:16,919
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, I mean speaking of sliding doors moments. I

511
00:27:16,960 --> 00:27:19,840
Speaker 2: went to visit my parents. It was at thirty first

512
00:27:19,840 --> 00:27:22,800
Speaker 2: of January twenty ten, so a couple of weeks ago.

513
00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:27,760
Speaker 2: It had been eleven years most most years now, I

514
00:27:27,800 --> 00:27:30,920
Speaker 2: don't really kind of forget. And then a few days

515
00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:33,480
Speaker 2: later I was like, oh, thirty first of January, but

516
00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:36,040
Speaker 2: this year I've had a lot of reason to reflect.

517
00:27:36,119 --> 00:27:39,680
Speaker 2: But that Sunday, that weekend, I went to visit. There's

518
00:27:39,800 --> 00:27:42,480
Speaker 2: family member visiting, and I actually wasn't going to go

519
00:27:42,680 --> 00:27:44,720
Speaker 2: to my parents' place to see them because I thought

520
00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:47,639
Speaker 2: I should study and whatever else. But then again I thought,

521
00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:50,080
Speaker 2: you know what, I'll go and say hi. I went

522
00:27:50,119 --> 00:27:52,639
Speaker 2: to see them, And then that Sunday I was just

523
00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:54,960
Speaker 2: like vegging the whole day because that's what I do

524
00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:58,959
Speaker 2: when I go to mom's place, be cood and like

525
00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:02,560
Speaker 2: just hanging out shorts and watch TV. Be a slob.

526
00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:05,639
Speaker 1: I love it. We call them in the neighborhood sloth Sundays.

527
00:28:05,640 --> 00:28:09,000
Speaker 1: Like the idea is the anti productivity.

528
00:28:10,320 --> 00:28:11,439
Speaker 2: I'm going to use that.

529
00:28:11,520 --> 00:28:14,200
Speaker 1: Yeah, i'll send you. There's these big oversized T shirts

530
00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:17,920
Speaker 1: that say hiberyeating. It's like you're rebuilding your ya in hibernation.

531
00:28:18,119 --> 00:28:23,720
Speaker 2: Oh my god, that's so good. I love it so well.

532
00:28:23,840 --> 00:28:26,639
Speaker 2: I was hibery eating and amazing. I was going to

533
00:28:26,680 --> 00:28:29,000
Speaker 2: go at lunch, and then I stayed back, and then

534
00:28:29,040 --> 00:28:31,000
Speaker 2: I was going to go at like three pm, and

535
00:28:31,080 --> 00:28:34,280
Speaker 2: then I stayed back, and then at seven thirty pm,

536
00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:39,200
Speaker 2: I decided to leave. And last thing I did standing

537
00:28:39,280 --> 00:28:42,000
Speaker 2: up until this point was give my mama hug. Oh

538
00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:43,920
Speaker 2: my god, give my mama hug. I got in the car.

539
00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:46,760
Speaker 2: So it was a rainy day that day. It was

540
00:28:46,800 --> 00:28:49,600
Speaker 2: a little bit wet on the road. And then I

541
00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:53,240
Speaker 2: was going to visit a friend along the way, but

542
00:28:53,320 --> 00:28:55,720
Speaker 2: I missed the turn off and then I thought, oh wait,

543
00:28:55,760 --> 00:28:57,840
Speaker 2: I'll take the next turn off. Then I ended up

544
00:28:57,880 --> 00:29:02,080
Speaker 2: in this stretched highway and I thought, okay, well I'm

545
00:29:02,080 --> 00:29:03,640
Speaker 2: going to go and visit this girl.

546
00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:05,320
Speaker 1: Of course it was a girl.

547
00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:06,880
Speaker 2: Oh my god, there, what's a girl.

548
00:29:07,080 --> 00:29:08,360
Speaker 1: It's always a girl, damn it.

549
00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:11,880
Speaker 2: Maybe I'll go so high. So it's in this dark

550
00:29:11,920 --> 00:29:15,920
Speaker 2: stretch of highway. There's been roadworks, there's very little lighting.

551
00:29:16,120 --> 00:29:19,040
Speaker 2: I remember coming up to this little black slick, but

552
00:29:19,080 --> 00:29:21,240
Speaker 2: it came up really quick and as soon as I

553
00:29:21,320 --> 00:29:23,960
Speaker 2: hit it, my car lost control, spinning and spinning and

554
00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:27,440
Speaker 2: spinning and spinning. Then it went up an embankment and

555
00:29:27,600 --> 00:29:30,440
Speaker 2: it came back down the embankment. The nose of the

556
00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:33,240
Speaker 2: car hit the road and it started flipping through the air.

557
00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:37,600
Speaker 2: I know, it was super violent, like the glass was

558
00:29:37,680 --> 00:29:40,800
Speaker 2: just exploding and there were things flying around the cabin.

559
00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:44,640
Speaker 2: And I like to call this my ultimate mindfulness moment,

560
00:29:44,880 --> 00:29:48,000
Speaker 2: because there was a second there where I thought, Okay,

561
00:29:48,280 --> 00:29:50,800
Speaker 2: there's nothing I can do about this right now, so

562
00:29:50,840 --> 00:29:54,480
Speaker 2: I'm going to reframe this into a positive experience. And

563
00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:56,840
Speaker 2: so I thought, I'm going to think of this like

564
00:29:56,840 --> 00:30:01,360
Speaker 2: a rollercoaster and enjoy myself. Stop it, I swear to God.

565
00:30:01,480 --> 00:30:04,320
Speaker 2: So that's what I did. And so when the latter

566
00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:07,400
Speaker 2: part of the accident, I was actually just going, WHOA.

567
00:30:08,040 --> 00:30:10,200
Speaker 1: I guess, like, what can you do? I mean, you

568
00:30:10,240 --> 00:30:13,520
Speaker 1: can't change exactly, But you know what's fascinating about you.

569
00:30:13,560 --> 00:30:17,120
Speaker 1: In the last sort of forty minutes, I've noticed you

570
00:30:16,800 --> 00:30:20,400
Speaker 1: as you have the most incredible recall, which I think

571
00:30:20,520 --> 00:30:23,000
Speaker 1: means that in the moments that you're recalling you were

572
00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:25,880
Speaker 1: so incredibly present and observant of what was going on

573
00:30:25,960 --> 00:30:26,480
Speaker 1: around you.

574
00:30:26,760 --> 00:30:29,480
Speaker 2: Oh, kind of had to be present at that time.

575
00:30:29,320 --> 00:30:30,600
Speaker 1: I suppose, of course.

576
00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:37,400
Speaker 2: Yeah, so yeah, and then the car finally landed, and

577
00:30:37,440 --> 00:30:39,800
Speaker 2: then it was dead silent, and then I was like, well,

578
00:30:39,960 --> 00:30:42,160
Speaker 2: that was quite a ride. And I was wearing this

579
00:30:42,200 --> 00:30:46,400
Speaker 2: white T shirt and it was now mostly red with blood.

580
00:30:47,720 --> 00:30:51,640
Speaker 2: I didn't really feel any pain, but I realized that

581
00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:55,840
Speaker 2: I was paralyzed because I couldn't open the door and

582
00:30:55,920 --> 00:30:58,840
Speaker 2: my fingers weren't working anymore. And then I couldn't feel

583
00:30:58,880 --> 00:31:00,440
Speaker 2: my legs move.

584
00:31:01,200 --> 00:31:03,000
Speaker 1: I knew you knew straight away.

585
00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:07,040
Speaker 2: I knew straight away what had happened, and you straight

586
00:31:07,080 --> 00:31:09,760
Speaker 2: away that within second my life had changed.

587
00:31:10,400 --> 00:31:13,040
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh. Do you think because you had you

588
00:31:13,080 --> 00:31:15,360
Speaker 1: had medical training at the time, that you were more aware.

589
00:31:15,640 --> 00:31:19,360
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, because I met the fireman that came to

590
00:31:19,400 --> 00:31:21,560
Speaker 2: the scene. I met them for the first time a

591
00:31:21,600 --> 00:31:24,440
Speaker 2: couple of years ago. Wow. Yeah, that was really cool

592
00:31:24,480 --> 00:31:27,640
Speaker 2: because they remember. If they say that, one of the

593
00:31:27,680 --> 00:31:30,800
Speaker 2: reasons they remembered it so well is because as soon

594
00:31:30,840 --> 00:31:34,040
Speaker 2: as they turned up, I could tell them what my

595
00:31:34,160 --> 00:31:35,200
Speaker 2: diagnosis was.

596
00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:40,520
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, you know, like the thing that panics

597
00:31:40,520 --> 00:31:43,800
Speaker 1: me the most, and why I am so fascinated by

598
00:31:43,840 --> 00:31:48,240
Speaker 1: our emergency services workers, is that I'm not great in

599
00:31:48,600 --> 00:31:53,479
Speaker 1: time sensitive panic situations. I'm okay in the moment, but

600
00:31:53,560 --> 00:31:56,200
Speaker 1: in my brain, I'm not okay. Do you remember from

601
00:31:56,200 --> 00:31:59,760
Speaker 1: the minute it happened to the minute fireman and ambulance

602
00:31:59,840 --> 00:32:03,040
Speaker 1: work has got to you? What happened? Like that waiting

603
00:32:03,640 --> 00:32:07,040
Speaker 1: of knowing that something's wrong and knowing it's time sensitive,

604
00:32:07,080 --> 00:32:09,760
Speaker 1: but not them not being there yet, like who did

605
00:32:09,840 --> 00:32:11,400
Speaker 1: you call the ambulance yourself?

606
00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:14,880
Speaker 2: Like how do you know? So what happened was there

607
00:32:14,920 --> 00:32:18,239
Speaker 2: was someone behind me and they pulled over and then

608
00:32:18,280 --> 00:32:20,360
Speaker 2: they ran up and they were holding my head because

609
00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:23,560
Speaker 2: my head was all apparently floppy. He didn't have a phone.

610
00:32:23,840 --> 00:32:27,560
Speaker 2: So another car that happened to go by, so then

611
00:32:27,720 --> 00:32:31,200
Speaker 2: the fire truck was the first thing to come. But

612
00:32:31,360 --> 00:32:33,880
Speaker 2: they also hit whatever I hit and they lost control

613
00:32:33,920 --> 00:32:38,400
Speaker 2: of the truck apparently, oh my gosh, I know, and

614
00:32:38,440 --> 00:32:40,760
Speaker 2: then cut me out of the car. But I think

615
00:32:41,640 --> 00:32:43,360
Speaker 2: I was just talking to the guy and was holding

616
00:32:43,400 --> 00:32:47,600
Speaker 2: my head I chat but apparently I was. I was

617
00:32:47,640 --> 00:32:52,320
Speaker 2: a bit distressed by that point, of course, and we're

618
00:32:52,360 --> 00:32:54,800
Speaker 2: friends now he's a good friend.

619
00:32:55,120 --> 00:32:56,480
Speaker 1: That's lovely.

620
00:32:57,320 --> 00:33:02,480
Speaker 2: He tried to find me for years, apparently because they

621
00:33:02,520 --> 00:33:04,880
Speaker 2: wouldn't tell me what happened to me where I was taken,

622
00:33:05,120 --> 00:33:06,920
Speaker 2: And he said they even got to add out in

623
00:33:06,960 --> 00:33:08,240
Speaker 2: the newspaper or something like that.

624
00:33:08,280 --> 00:33:11,160
Speaker 1: He was trying to find you through the paper. Oh

625
00:33:11,240 --> 00:33:12,080
Speaker 1: my gosh.

626
00:33:12,840 --> 00:33:17,800
Speaker 2: Then in twenty fourteen, I think it was or twenty fifteen,

627
00:33:17,920 --> 00:33:19,840
Speaker 2: one of those. It was New Year's Eve and it

628
00:33:19,920 --> 00:33:22,520
Speaker 2: was like ten pm, mom, and I was like cleaning

629
00:33:22,560 --> 00:33:26,760
Speaker 2: the apartments or medical school. I wasn't partying for some reason.

630
00:33:27,360 --> 00:33:32,200
Speaker 2: And we found this police report from the accident and

631
00:33:32,240 --> 00:33:35,800
Speaker 2: it had this guy's phone number on it. So I said,

632
00:33:35,680 --> 00:33:38,000
Speaker 2: the guy that was accident sames Chris Bailey. He wouldn't

633
00:33:38,040 --> 00:33:41,560
Speaker 2: care that I said it. So found Chris's number on

634
00:33:41,600 --> 00:33:44,120
Speaker 2: the bit of paper and then I send a text

635
00:33:44,120 --> 00:33:48,040
Speaker 2: to this message going, hey, do you remember pulling over

636
00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:50,760
Speaker 2: for a guy who had this car accident in twenty ten?

637
00:33:51,520 --> 00:33:54,080
Speaker 2: And I get this message back and it's like, oh

638
00:33:54,120 --> 00:33:56,560
Speaker 2: my god, yes I do. I've I've been trying to

639
00:33:56,600 --> 00:33:59,560
Speaker 2: find you. Can I call you? So Newye's Eve he

640
00:33:59,640 --> 00:34:02,960
Speaker 2: called me. After we have these chats like oh my god, yeah,

641
00:34:03,240 --> 00:34:05,240
Speaker 2: trying to find you. I tryed to find what happened

642
00:34:05,240 --> 00:34:08,200
Speaker 2: to you. We had a chat and it was it

643
00:34:08,280 --> 00:34:11,239
Speaker 2: was so good to reconnect. It was like, whoa, this

644
00:34:11,400 --> 00:34:12,600
Speaker 2: is amazing.

645
00:34:12,680 --> 00:34:13,719
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh.

646
00:34:14,200 --> 00:34:17,000
Speaker 2: Since then we've been friends. And then the first time

647
00:34:17,880 --> 00:34:22,840
Speaker 2: we actually met physically was on Australian Story, so they.

648
00:34:22,840 --> 00:34:25,239
Speaker 1: I watched that. So when you said Chris Bailey, I

649
00:34:25,239 --> 00:34:27,399
Speaker 1: was like, of course he was. He was on it

650
00:34:27,680 --> 00:34:29,319
Speaker 1: and your beautiful mum was on it too.

651
00:34:29,680 --> 00:34:33,080
Speaker 2: Yeah. So that scene on the show was actually when

652
00:34:33,120 --> 00:34:35,480
Speaker 2: I first that was real. It was when I first met.

653
00:34:35,560 --> 00:34:36,880
Speaker 1: Oh that's beautiful.

654
00:34:36,960 --> 00:34:39,759
Speaker 2: So it's really cool. So now we connect, we talk,

655
00:34:40,320 --> 00:34:44,440
Speaker 2: we hang out when we can, and it's just as

656
00:34:44,480 --> 00:34:45,000
Speaker 2: a good guy.

657
00:34:46,440 --> 00:34:48,840
Speaker 1: Before we continue today, I've got a quick word on

658
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659
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660
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661
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662
00:35:03,520 --> 00:35:07,600
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663
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664
00:35:11,719 --> 00:35:14,680
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665
00:35:14,680 --> 00:35:19,360
Speaker 1: on average eleven thousand disposables in our lifetime. But Moodibody

666
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667
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668
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669
00:35:29,680 --> 00:35:32,879
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670
00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:37,399
Speaker 1: and self acceptance, helping us embrace the leaks, periods, tummy rolls,

671
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Speaker 1: and all hallo bloopers. For me, a big part of

672
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Speaker 1: that has been pushing through this stigma around certain topics

673
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674
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Speaker 1: about our bodies. While the idea of period underwear definitely

675
00:35:51,400 --> 00:35:55,319
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676
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677
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Speaker 1: dis greet and comfortable. I understand my cycle better now

678
00:36:03,680 --> 00:36:05,520
Speaker 1: and feel more in touch with my body as well

679
00:36:05,560 --> 00:36:08,000
Speaker 1: as facing head on the impact of the products I

680
00:36:08,040 --> 00:36:11,800
Speaker 1: was using on our beautiful planet. I highly recommend you

681
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682
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683
00:36:18,160 --> 00:36:24,440
Speaker 1: in the show notes. Now, so I mean that was

684
00:36:24,520 --> 00:36:27,080
Speaker 1: twenty ten. The accident, you were twenty five years old.

685
00:36:27,920 --> 00:36:30,799
Speaker 1: I think most people around that time in their life

686
00:36:30,800 --> 00:36:33,319
Speaker 1: have a quarter life crisis where suddenly you're closer to

687
00:36:33,360 --> 00:36:36,279
Speaker 1: thirty than twenty and like it's a lot going on.

688
00:36:36,400 --> 00:36:41,879
Speaker 1: You know, the twenties are very tumultuous finding yourself. It's angsty, you.

689
00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:42,880
Speaker 2: Know, and.

690
00:36:44,920 --> 00:36:49,320
Speaker 1: Let alone literally losing the use of limbs that you

691
00:36:50,280 --> 00:36:52,960
Speaker 1: actually consciously remember having and that you've built your whole

692
00:36:52,960 --> 00:36:56,600
Speaker 1: adult identity having. For you to have known yourself one

693
00:36:56,640 --> 00:36:58,719
Speaker 1: way and then as an adult have to rebuild your

694
00:36:59,040 --> 00:37:03,799
Speaker 1: hopes and dreams and relationship with yourself, many people, I

695
00:37:03,880 --> 00:37:08,359
Speaker 1: think would have not gone on and pushed through to

696
00:37:08,440 --> 00:37:12,399
Speaker 1: continue their path as a doctor and have pushed through

697
00:37:12,440 --> 00:37:15,040
Speaker 1: the many more barriers that you have faced since then

698
00:37:15,520 --> 00:37:19,160
Speaker 1: with a disability attempting to move into medicine, to have

699
00:37:19,239 --> 00:37:21,920
Speaker 1: then become admitted to the Supreme Court last year as well,

700
00:37:22,080 --> 00:37:24,200
Speaker 1: and to have the positive outlook that you have as well.

701
00:37:24,239 --> 00:37:28,080
Speaker 1: Because in things like this, I have a theory that

702
00:37:28,160 --> 00:37:31,200
Speaker 1: everything happens for a reason, and it explains most things

703
00:37:31,200 --> 00:37:33,759
Speaker 1: in the world. When I talk to someone like you,

704
00:37:34,080 --> 00:37:37,640
Speaker 1: it doesn't work for me anymore suddenly, because I can't

705
00:37:37,640 --> 00:37:39,880
Speaker 1: say that a tragic accident like that. I don't know

706
00:37:39,880 --> 00:37:42,799
Speaker 1: what the reason is for that happening, but I'd love

707
00:37:42,840 --> 00:37:46,439
Speaker 1: to know what you think about luck. And you don't

708
00:37:46,480 --> 00:37:48,279
Speaker 1: seem to have taken it on as like, oh, I

709
00:37:48,320 --> 00:37:50,120
Speaker 1: had such bad luck, Poor me. I don't want to

710
00:37:50,160 --> 00:37:52,759
Speaker 1: do anything else in my life. You've gone on to

711
00:37:52,800 --> 00:37:56,759
Speaker 1: help other people and to start doctors with disabilities and

712
00:37:56,840 --> 00:38:00,640
Speaker 1: to fight for more access for people with disabilities in

713
00:38:00,680 --> 00:38:03,880
Speaker 1: your industry and beyond. So I imagine that wasn't an easy

714
00:38:03,960 --> 00:38:07,799
Speaker 1: journey nor a quick journey. How did you rebuild your identity?

715
00:38:08,080 --> 00:38:12,799
Speaker 2: So, speaking of identity, I'm a fairly vain guy. I'm

716
00:38:12,840 --> 00:38:17,040
Speaker 2: just going to work for well, I mean for physical appearance.

717
00:38:17,080 --> 00:38:21,040
Speaker 2: I spent the time doing my hair and the shoes, and.

718
00:38:21,080 --> 00:38:22,920
Speaker 1: Oh the shoes. I did not, yeah, the shoes.

719
00:38:23,600 --> 00:38:28,480
Speaker 2: So that identity, that was a very difficult thing to

720
00:38:28,520 --> 00:38:33,000
Speaker 2: get back. I met a very very young person who

721
00:38:33,000 --> 00:38:36,239
Speaker 2: had a spinal cord injury and their family said that

722
00:38:36,280 --> 00:38:38,960
Speaker 2: they didn't look in the mirror for a couple of months.

723
00:38:39,080 --> 00:38:39,560
Speaker 1: Wow.

724
00:38:39,760 --> 00:38:41,880
Speaker 2: I didn't actually look in the mirror for about probably

725
00:38:41,920 --> 00:38:46,200
Speaker 2: two years. Wow. Yeah, I didn't know how Like, it's

726
00:38:46,239 --> 00:38:55,280
Speaker 2: just that's fascinating, but that physical identity, like even clothing

727
00:38:55,360 --> 00:38:58,160
Speaker 2: and dressing and whatever else, like, it took a long

728
00:38:58,320 --> 00:39:03,759
Speaker 2: time for me to myself again. It has been extremely challenging.

729
00:39:04,080 --> 00:39:06,880
Speaker 2: There were days when my mom and I we didn't

730
00:39:06,920 --> 00:39:09,239
Speaker 2: know where we were going to live. We didn't have

731
00:39:09,280 --> 00:39:11,520
Speaker 2: any money, we were in a heap of debt, we

732
00:39:11,520 --> 00:39:15,399
Speaker 2: were alone. Some days. I was sick, critically sick some days.

733
00:39:15,480 --> 00:39:17,560
Speaker 2: So there were all these challenges that we had. I

734
00:39:17,600 --> 00:39:20,040
Speaker 2: guess what, I feel like the luckiest guy on earth.

735
00:39:20,440 --> 00:39:22,040
Speaker 1: Shut up.

736
00:39:21,239 --> 00:39:25,160
Speaker 2: I feel like me and mom like some days, actually

737
00:39:25,239 --> 00:39:28,680
Speaker 2: every day life it's so damn good. Yeah, Like I live,

738
00:39:28,840 --> 00:39:31,400
Speaker 2: I live in the gold Gos, but I look over

739
00:39:31,440 --> 00:39:34,160
Speaker 2: to my left, I can see the beach and the ocean.

740
00:39:34,840 --> 00:39:38,680
Speaker 2: I see nature. I go to work and I'm like, yeah,

741
00:39:38,719 --> 00:39:40,960
Speaker 2: I get to work as a doctor, and I get

742
00:39:41,000 --> 00:39:44,640
Speaker 2: to work in emergency departments and see people and help people,

743
00:39:44,719 --> 00:39:47,879
Speaker 2: and we're in this amazing country. I get to got

744
00:39:47,880 --> 00:39:51,759
Speaker 2: my mom. I've been educated. How lucky a mom. I

745
00:39:51,760 --> 00:39:56,640
Speaker 2: feel like the luckiest and the journey hasn't been easy.

746
00:39:57,000 --> 00:39:59,720
Speaker 2: I also sometimes think that you can't make a sword

747
00:39:59,760 --> 00:40:02,360
Speaker 2: with putting it into the fire and beating it with

748
00:40:02,440 --> 00:40:06,120
Speaker 2: a hammer. So I feel like that's what I've experienced,

749
00:40:06,160 --> 00:40:08,520
Speaker 2: and hopefully I'm a better human for it, and hopefully

750
00:40:08,560 --> 00:40:11,640
Speaker 2: that I'm stronger for it. And that's honestly how I

751
00:40:11,680 --> 00:40:14,640
Speaker 2: feel to them. I'm grateful. I am grateful for so

752
00:40:14,719 --> 00:40:17,719
Speaker 2: many things every day and are consciously I am grateful for things.

753
00:40:17,760 --> 00:40:19,480
Speaker 2: I think gratitude is really important.

754
00:40:19,719 --> 00:40:22,080
Speaker 1: I was just going to say, I think gratitude is

755
00:40:22,120 --> 00:40:23,240
Speaker 1: the antidote to everything.

756
00:40:23,320 --> 00:40:23,600
Speaker 2: Really.

757
00:40:23,640 --> 00:40:27,799
Speaker 1: It's such an easy practice to work into your day

758
00:40:28,120 --> 00:40:32,040
Speaker 1: that people forget in really tough times. But it's impossible

759
00:40:32,040 --> 00:40:34,759
Speaker 1: to be angry and grateful at the same time. And

760
00:40:34,840 --> 00:40:36,480
Speaker 1: I remind myself of that all the time.

761
00:40:36,640 --> 00:40:39,520
Speaker 2: Well, Sarah, you're telling me that about your trip to

762
00:40:39,560 --> 00:40:42,120
Speaker 2: a wander in the schools. I went to Shri Lanka

763
00:40:42,160 --> 00:40:44,520
Speaker 2: after the spileal cord injury, and I saw how other

764
00:40:44,600 --> 00:40:48,480
Speaker 2: people with spinal cord injury live there and their lifespans

765
00:40:48,520 --> 00:40:52,799
Speaker 2: are significantly shorter than mine. Their opportunities are nothing like

766
00:40:52,840 --> 00:40:56,400
Speaker 2: the ones I have. The support structures are nothing like

767
00:40:56,680 --> 00:41:00,759
Speaker 2: what I have. So how can I not be grateful

768
00:41:00,880 --> 00:41:03,200
Speaker 2: for my life? How can I not be thankful? Like

769
00:41:03,440 --> 00:41:08,200
Speaker 2: it'd be dishonoring them? At the very least. I'm superlated.

770
00:41:08,520 --> 00:41:13,520
Speaker 1: I think it's such a valuable lesson and insight into

771
00:41:13,600 --> 00:41:16,840
Speaker 1: how I mean, the adversity that you have faced even

772
00:41:16,880 --> 00:41:20,680
Speaker 1: before the accident is still quite a lot of things

773
00:41:20,680 --> 00:41:23,320
Speaker 1: to have had to build resilience for and have strength

774
00:41:23,360 --> 00:41:26,600
Speaker 1: to get through and to stay directed and motivated. But

775
00:41:26,640 --> 00:41:29,600
Speaker 1: then add the complete loss of your ability to walk,

776
00:41:30,120 --> 00:41:32,440
Speaker 1: and when you had been really outdoorsy and you did

777
00:41:32,480 --> 00:41:34,759
Speaker 1: have a whole identity based around that, it's just, I mean,

778
00:41:34,800 --> 00:41:37,479
Speaker 1: it's extraordinary, but it's a I think there's so many

779
00:41:37,480 --> 00:41:39,600
Speaker 1: practical things that we can take away from that in

780
00:41:39,680 --> 00:41:42,480
Speaker 1: any kind of adversity, the way to just get your

781
00:41:42,520 --> 00:41:45,640
Speaker 1: head right around it, Gratitude being a really big thing.

782
00:41:45,680 --> 00:41:49,560
Speaker 1: But what else helped you and drove you to move

783
00:41:49,600 --> 00:41:53,440
Speaker 1: back into medicine and graduate from med school. I think

784
00:41:53,440 --> 00:41:56,440
Speaker 1: you were the first quadriplegic medical intern in Queensland and

785
00:41:56,480 --> 00:41:59,359
Speaker 1: the second person with quadriplegia to graduate as a doctor

786
00:41:59,400 --> 00:42:02,480
Speaker 1: in Australia ever first with a spinal cord injury. But

787
00:42:02,560 --> 00:42:05,000
Speaker 1: then found it tough to get a job and to

788
00:42:05,080 --> 00:42:08,160
Speaker 1: fight for your place and have had people ask what

789
00:42:08,200 --> 00:42:11,480
Speaker 1: the patient's reactions are and I know there was a

790
00:42:11,520 --> 00:42:13,919
Speaker 1: time where you graduated and then didn't were the only

791
00:42:13,960 --> 00:42:15,520
Speaker 1: one in your cohort who didn't have a job for

792
00:42:15,520 --> 00:42:18,560
Speaker 1: a little while. So what helped you get through those

793
00:42:18,920 --> 00:42:22,480
Speaker 1: darker times where it wasn't You didn't have the perspective

794
00:42:22,520 --> 00:42:24,680
Speaker 1: that you do now, and the things to be grateful

795
00:42:24,719 --> 00:42:26,239
Speaker 1: for were more obscured.

796
00:42:26,239 --> 00:42:29,400
Speaker 2: Perhaps, Well, the I think the hardest time was actually

797
00:42:29,400 --> 00:42:32,400
Speaker 2: the period after this final cord injury, immediately after this

798
00:42:32,480 --> 00:42:35,000
Speaker 2: final court injury. That's when it was just like a

799
00:42:35,080 --> 00:42:37,000
Speaker 2: fight to make it through the next day and the

800
00:42:37,040 --> 00:42:39,719
Speaker 2: next day and the next day. There were setbacks, there

801
00:42:39,719 --> 00:42:42,319
Speaker 2: were complications, there were all sorts of things for that

802
00:42:42,400 --> 00:42:43,920
Speaker 2: was really the hardest time. But when I got to

803
00:42:43,960 --> 00:42:46,200
Speaker 2: that point where i'd finished at school or when I

804
00:42:46,280 --> 00:42:49,520
Speaker 2: was getting through school, like we'd already been through like

805
00:42:49,880 --> 00:42:55,399
Speaker 2: so many challenges, sometimes life threatening sometimes otherwise. So by

806
00:42:55,440 --> 00:42:57,520
Speaker 2: that point I'm like, man, I'm just going to keep fighting.

807
00:42:57,600 --> 00:43:00,319
Speaker 1: Yeah, I can do anything now, Like.

808
00:43:00,440 --> 00:43:02,919
Speaker 2: Oh, you don't give me a job, well, we'll see that.

809
00:43:02,920 --> 00:43:09,919
Speaker 2: That just having gone through the hard times before really helped.

810
00:43:10,040 --> 00:43:14,320
Speaker 2: I also had some amazing people around me, just incredible people,

811
00:43:14,320 --> 00:43:16,000
Speaker 2: And I think that's the other thing that you need

812
00:43:16,040 --> 00:43:19,080
Speaker 2: to I have. I have a friend and I love

813
00:43:19,160 --> 00:43:22,799
Speaker 2: them dearly. And they're always busy, always a lawyer. He's

814
00:43:22,800 --> 00:43:23,480
Speaker 2: also a lawyer.

815
00:43:23,840 --> 00:43:25,160
Speaker 1: Oh a surprise, surprise.

816
00:43:26,360 --> 00:43:29,120
Speaker 2: But every time I doesn't pick up the phone, and

817
00:43:29,160 --> 00:43:30,839
Speaker 2: it's sort of like, I'm too busy for that. I'm

818
00:43:30,840 --> 00:43:34,279
Speaker 2: to be for that. Yeah, I barely see them. So

819
00:43:34,840 --> 00:43:37,680
Speaker 2: I think that it's important to cherish the people around you.

820
00:43:38,400 --> 00:43:41,400
Speaker 2: And two, if people fight for you, you need to

821
00:43:41,400 --> 00:43:44,120
Speaker 2: fight for them as well. So there have been a

822
00:43:44,120 --> 00:43:46,200
Speaker 2: lot of people around me that made a huge impact.

823
00:43:46,239 --> 00:43:49,760
Speaker 2: And one person I remember, she came to the hospital

824
00:43:49,800 --> 00:43:52,160
Speaker 2: when I had the accident and she hung up the

825
00:43:52,200 --> 00:43:56,399
Speaker 2: poem Invictus by my bedside. Have you ever read them? Yeah,

826
00:43:56,920 --> 00:44:00,960
Speaker 2: meaning invincible, right, and it talks about the unconn Krugel's soul.

827
00:44:01,480 --> 00:44:01,840
Speaker 1: That's you.

828
00:44:02,080 --> 00:44:04,759
Speaker 2: It's just small acts like that. I mean, I'm talking

829
00:44:04,800 --> 00:44:06,680
Speaker 2: about it too, eleven years later.

830
00:44:06,600 --> 00:44:08,719
Speaker 1: And it's still Yeah, is imprinted.

831
00:44:08,880 --> 00:44:12,440
Speaker 2: It's still imprinted in my mind. So things like that.

832
00:44:12,960 --> 00:44:16,480
Speaker 2: Late last year, I was I had the huge honor

833
00:44:16,640 --> 00:44:20,520
Speaker 2: of giving the National Museum an object of significance to me,

834
00:44:20,800 --> 00:44:23,440
Speaker 2: which is displayed at the National Museum camera at the moment,

835
00:44:24,040 --> 00:44:27,000
Speaker 2: and what I gave them was one of my scrubtops,

836
00:44:27,080 --> 00:44:31,400
Speaker 2: because scrubtop signifies who I am, and then on that

837
00:44:31,480 --> 00:44:34,480
Speaker 2: scrubtop past signatures of a bunch of people that have

838
00:44:34,560 --> 00:44:37,719
Speaker 2: played a part in this journey. The lecturers that taught me,

839
00:44:37,840 --> 00:44:40,640
Speaker 2: the friends that were there for me, so all these

840
00:44:40,680 --> 00:44:44,080
Speaker 2: people that have played a part in this journey, and

841
00:44:44,120 --> 00:44:45,840
Speaker 2: it was such a cool thing to be able to

842
00:44:45,840 --> 00:44:49,279
Speaker 2: honor them in that way, because you know, I am

843
00:44:49,360 --> 00:44:51,920
Speaker 2: who I am because of them, and we also need

844
00:44:51,960 --> 00:44:54,760
Speaker 2: to make sure that we're there for people as wrong totally.

845
00:44:55,080 --> 00:44:57,840
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think you're the sum of the five people

846
00:44:57,880 --> 00:44:59,920
Speaker 1: you spend the most time with, and you have to

847
00:45:00,040 --> 00:45:04,840
Speaker 1: choose them wisely. But also it takes a village, everything does.

848
00:45:05,040 --> 00:45:07,480
Speaker 1: There's no one I've had on the show or who

849
00:45:07,480 --> 00:45:10,560
Speaker 1: I've ever spoken to, really, even though their achievements might

850
00:45:10,600 --> 00:45:13,680
Speaker 1: outwardly seem individual, no one's really ever gotten there without

851
00:45:14,040 --> 00:45:16,600
Speaker 1: a huge army of people who have helped get them there,

852
00:45:16,640 --> 00:45:19,520
Speaker 1: even in small contributions along the way. But everyone remembers

853
00:45:19,719 --> 00:45:23,960
Speaker 1: the ten or twelve people who have done particular things

854
00:45:24,040 --> 00:45:27,080
Speaker 1: or had particular conversations with you that are pivotal, and

855
00:45:27,120 --> 00:45:29,200
Speaker 1: that then you've had the chance to pass that on

856
00:45:29,200 --> 00:45:30,880
Speaker 1: to other people as well. You've probably been one of

857
00:45:30,880 --> 00:45:33,400
Speaker 1: the five or twelve in someone else's life. And I

858
00:45:33,400 --> 00:45:36,840
Speaker 1: think we're so interconnected, and people forget that. You sometimes

859
00:45:36,840 --> 00:45:38,800
Speaker 1: take it on yourself that you have to get there alone,

860
00:45:38,960 --> 00:45:40,160
Speaker 1: and no one does.

861
00:45:40,560 --> 00:45:43,719
Speaker 2: No one does, I know, and that's so important, Like

862
00:45:43,800 --> 00:45:47,600
Speaker 2: that's really important. And I think giving, you know, like

863
00:45:47,680 --> 00:45:50,439
Speaker 2: we're we're so that's one of the other tricks to life,

864
00:45:50,800 --> 00:45:54,799
Speaker 2: I reckon, because we're so inward looking sometimes like I'm

865
00:45:54,840 --> 00:45:57,560
Speaker 2: feeling this way, I need to do this for myself,

866
00:45:58,880 --> 00:46:02,840
Speaker 2: But actually I think life is about looking outwards and

867
00:46:02,880 --> 00:46:06,520
Speaker 2: seeing what we can give. Giving is such a joyous thing.

868
00:46:06,840 --> 00:46:09,839
Speaker 2: It's fulfilling and it's an awesome thing. So I think

869
00:46:10,320 --> 00:46:13,759
Speaker 2: being giving is also really important, so giving to other

870
00:46:13,800 --> 00:46:18,759
Speaker 2: people around you even really be happy with all the

871
00:46:18,800 --> 00:46:20,920
Speaker 2: money that you accumulent at the end of the day

872
00:46:20,920 --> 00:46:24,360
Speaker 2: when you have that last second on this planet one day,

873
00:46:24,760 --> 00:46:27,600
Speaker 2: you know, look, okay, I've got seven million dollars and

874
00:46:27,640 --> 00:46:31,239
Speaker 2: that's a great thing. I need to think, Wow, you know,

875
00:46:31,560 --> 00:46:34,840
Speaker 2: I've connected with so many people and that may last

876
00:46:34,840 --> 00:46:38,520
Speaker 2: a long time. I think feel free, dnswer is we

877
00:46:38,640 --> 00:46:40,759
Speaker 2: just we'll be happy about the things that we gave.

878
00:46:41,360 --> 00:46:43,360
Speaker 1: My mum always said, Mum and I always have a

879
00:46:43,440 --> 00:46:45,719
Speaker 1: laugh to each other, like you can't take it with you,

880
00:46:46,400 --> 00:46:49,440
Speaker 1: so like you might as well enjoy it widely and

881
00:46:49,480 --> 00:46:52,800
Speaker 1: with the people you love now, Like no one it

882
00:46:52,840 --> 00:46:55,040
Speaker 1: doesn't matter how selfish people are, like at the end

883
00:46:55,080 --> 00:46:56,719
Speaker 1: of the day on their deathbed that it doesn't it

884
00:46:56,960 --> 00:46:58,640
Speaker 1: But I can't do anything with that money. It doesn't

885
00:46:58,680 --> 00:47:01,359
Speaker 1: come with you anywhere. So I think that's something that

886
00:47:01,400 --> 00:47:03,319
Speaker 1: probably we all need to reflect on a little bit more.

887
00:47:03,400 --> 00:47:04,520
Speaker 1: Is like, at the end of the day, you're never

888
00:47:04,560 --> 00:47:06,400
Speaker 1: going to regret. I don't think anyone will get there

889
00:47:06,400 --> 00:47:08,799
Speaker 1: and go I wish I gave less. I wish I

890
00:47:08,800 --> 00:47:14,239
Speaker 1: did less nice things person And it's funny also that

891
00:47:14,320 --> 00:47:17,080
Speaker 1: you said happiness. We talked a little bit at the

892
00:47:17,120 --> 00:47:20,280
Speaker 1: start about you know, the difference between happiness and success

893
00:47:20,320 --> 00:47:23,120
Speaker 1: and how they're very conflated, and of course they're related,

894
00:47:23,160 --> 00:47:25,759
Speaker 1: but I don't think they're necessarily the same thing. And

895
00:47:26,160 --> 00:47:29,840
Speaker 1: I think Hollywood's a perfect example that money and things

896
00:47:30,000 --> 00:47:34,160
Speaker 1: and fame and celebrity and outward success doesn't equal happiness

897
00:47:34,239 --> 00:47:38,880
Speaker 1: in and of itself. So what's your relationship to success?

898
00:47:39,120 --> 00:47:41,799
Speaker 1: You have a lot of metrics. You have an Order

899
00:47:41,840 --> 00:47:46,239
Speaker 1: of Australia Queensland Australian of the Year this year. Congratulations.

900
00:47:46,960 --> 00:47:50,440
Speaker 1: But for you, what are your metrics of measuring success?

901
00:47:50,560 --> 00:47:53,960
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean those things. I think. I'm so grateful

902
00:47:54,120 --> 00:47:57,800
Speaker 2: to our community. Firstly, you know, to my friends, family

903
00:47:57,840 --> 00:48:00,279
Speaker 2: and loved ones, from being there for me to this

904
00:48:00,400 --> 00:48:03,200
Speaker 2: journey and getting here. Most of all my mothership.

905
00:48:03,640 --> 00:48:06,000
Speaker 1: She's such a legend. She's like in the background.

906
00:48:06,080 --> 00:48:09,000
Speaker 2: However, yeah, she's in the background. I don't think she

907
00:48:09,080 --> 00:48:16,360
Speaker 2: realized he's running off. So I'm really thankful. And you know,

908
00:48:16,400 --> 00:48:20,879
Speaker 2: those milestones are hopefully reflect the importance of giving someone

909
00:48:20,960 --> 00:48:24,080
Speaker 2: a chance in our society and not saying that Okay,

910
00:48:24,120 --> 00:48:26,920
Speaker 2: this person has a spinal cord injury or this person's this,

911
00:48:27,040 --> 00:48:31,319
Speaker 2: or that anyone can make anything in our country. Absolutely,

912
00:48:31,440 --> 00:48:34,120
Speaker 2: But for me, it also holds me at a higher

913
00:48:34,160 --> 00:48:37,160
Speaker 2: standard to myself and I think, you know, this just

914
00:48:37,280 --> 00:48:39,160
Speaker 2: means that I need to keep doing what I'm doing

915
00:48:39,239 --> 00:48:42,920
Speaker 2: and to keep doing more. But success is really like

916
00:48:43,040 --> 00:48:46,920
Speaker 2: what I can give back to society. That that's success,

917
00:48:46,960 --> 00:48:51,800
Speaker 2: and that's happiness to me. You know, like students sometimes

918
00:48:51,840 --> 00:48:54,520
Speaker 2: reach out if just as an example, I think it's

919
00:48:54,520 --> 00:48:56,839
Speaker 2: important to give time to people like that and Okay,

920
00:48:56,920 --> 00:48:58,720
Speaker 2: let's catch off for a coffee and let's talk about

921
00:48:58,840 --> 00:49:00,640
Speaker 2: a career and what you want to do with it,

922
00:49:01,120 --> 00:49:04,040
Speaker 2: and I'll help you in whatever way I can. So

923
00:49:04,200 --> 00:49:07,560
Speaker 2: it's stuff like that, and it's that interconnectedness and community

924
00:49:07,880 --> 00:49:10,640
Speaker 2: that's what gets us through these times like pandemics and things.

925
00:49:10,719 --> 00:49:12,600
Speaker 2: Right totally, Yeah, what are you going to do with

926
00:49:12,640 --> 00:49:15,000
Speaker 2: your ten million bucks? Sitting at.

927
00:49:16,640 --> 00:49:20,640
Speaker 1: Well, you with your ten million bucks or two million?

928
00:49:20,680 --> 00:49:22,960
Speaker 1: I think it was the grant that you've got. Tell

929
00:49:23,040 --> 00:49:25,239
Speaker 1: us about some of the incredible things you're doing. I

930
00:49:25,239 --> 00:49:30,200
Speaker 1: heard you're doing thought controlled rehab and paving the way

931
00:49:30,360 --> 00:49:33,719
Speaker 1: for other people who might experienced final cord injuries, but

932
00:49:33,760 --> 00:49:37,000
Speaker 1: also the amazing advocacy that you've been doing for other

933
00:49:37,000 --> 00:49:40,000
Speaker 1: people with disabilities, because I think there's a lot of

934
00:49:41,560 --> 00:49:45,200
Speaker 1: not misunderstanding, but I think still quite a lot of

935
00:49:45,200 --> 00:49:49,120
Speaker 1: discrimination against people for their physical abilities.

936
00:49:49,320 --> 00:49:52,160
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's not just you know, we see it

937
00:49:52,200 --> 00:49:58,680
Speaker 2: from education, employment, healthcare, community access. It's really widespread. Some

938
00:49:58,719 --> 00:50:02,600
Speaker 2: of the disparities people living rurally, you know, for them.

939
00:50:02,600 --> 00:50:06,520
Speaker 2: It's also even more During COVID nineteen, we saw some

940
00:50:06,680 --> 00:50:09,960
Speaker 2: countries that were talking about taking a different approach with

941
00:50:10,280 --> 00:50:14,040
Speaker 2: life saving treatments. If you're a person with disability, you know,

942
00:50:14,239 --> 00:50:18,160
Speaker 2: we see all that stuff. It's been really a confronting thing.

943
00:50:18,880 --> 00:50:23,040
Speaker 2: But of late, in particular, I've had the opportunity to

944
00:50:23,080 --> 00:50:28,600
Speaker 2: be a witness for the Disability Royal Commission in some

945
00:50:28,760 --> 00:50:32,680
Speaker 2: roundtables with the federal government and un COVID nineteen and

946
00:50:33,120 --> 00:50:35,359
Speaker 2: really speak out about some of the issues that are

947
00:50:35,360 --> 00:50:38,759
Speaker 2: affecting people with disability and hopefully that's going to make

948
00:50:38,800 --> 00:50:42,040
Speaker 2: a positive impact because there is stuff that we need

949
00:50:42,080 --> 00:50:44,400
Speaker 2: to do not just here but around the world with

950
00:50:44,480 --> 00:50:48,080
Speaker 2: the spinal cord injury research that's really exciting. So today

951
00:50:48,360 --> 00:50:51,040
Speaker 2: I was this afternoon, I was at our research lab

952
00:50:51,239 --> 00:50:55,319
Speaker 2: and we are really i think, starting to uncover just

953
00:50:55,440 --> 00:51:00,000
Speaker 2: the surface of how the brain and spinal cord works

954
00:51:00,239 --> 00:51:03,279
Speaker 2: with spinal cords. So around the world we've seen some

955
00:51:03,440 --> 00:51:09,400
Speaker 2: really amazing work done around thought controlled rehabilitation and drug

956
00:51:09,480 --> 00:51:14,160
Speaker 2: therapy and electrical stimulations that are actually restored function some

957
00:51:14,320 --> 00:51:16,799
Speaker 2: function at least in people that have been paralyzed for

958
00:51:16,920 --> 00:51:20,080
Speaker 2: years and years and years. Wow, this is the kind

959
00:51:20,120 --> 00:51:23,080
Speaker 2: of stuff that where we got a ground for to

960
00:51:23,360 --> 00:51:26,759
Speaker 2: build on. And again this has been a journey. That's

961
00:51:27,680 --> 00:51:30,880
Speaker 2: speaking of sliding doors. Right. So a few years ago

962
00:51:31,120 --> 00:51:34,239
Speaker 2: I was in my elevator on my floor and this

963
00:51:34,440 --> 00:51:37,200
Speaker 2: Italian dude gets into the elevator lived a couple of

964
00:51:37,200 --> 00:51:39,080
Speaker 2: doors down from me in my partment building, and we

965
00:51:39,160 --> 00:51:42,200
Speaker 2: start talking. If this dude gets in and he talks

966
00:51:42,200 --> 00:51:44,279
Speaker 2: in his Italian accident, we start chanting in terms that

967
00:51:44,320 --> 00:51:47,080
Speaker 2: he's a scientist at Griffith. So me and he talk

968
00:51:47,239 --> 00:51:50,640
Speaker 2: and over time we start talking about spinal cord injury.

969
00:51:50,640 --> 00:51:53,080
Speaker 2: And I'm like, man, you know, there's all this cool

970
00:51:53,080 --> 00:51:57,080
Speaker 2: stuff happening in the US and Switzerland. And he's like, oh,

971
00:51:57,400 --> 00:51:59,480
Speaker 2: you know, I wonder if we can start doing some

972
00:51:59,520 --> 00:52:02,560
Speaker 2: of these things here. So then there was equipment that

973
00:52:02,600 --> 00:52:05,760
Speaker 2: we needed, the headset that actually does the thought control

974
00:52:06,080 --> 00:52:09,600
Speaker 2: read your brain. So I was at a colleague's office

975
00:52:09,920 --> 00:52:12,879
Speaker 2: and I started talking to him about this stuff. I said, oh, yeah,

976
00:52:12,880 --> 00:52:16,080
Speaker 2: we just need to find a few bits equipment, including

977
00:52:16,080 --> 00:52:18,319
Speaker 2: one of these headsets. I was like, oh, dude, I've

978
00:52:18,360 --> 00:52:21,719
Speaker 2: got one right here, and he opened the draw yeah,

979
00:52:21,760 --> 00:52:24,400
Speaker 2: and he pulls out I haven't got one, but I

980
00:52:24,480 --> 00:52:27,080
Speaker 2: have two. So we found all this equipment and we

981
00:52:27,120 --> 00:52:30,000
Speaker 2: started fiddling around and realized, oh my god, we can

982
00:52:30,040 --> 00:52:33,560
Speaker 2: actually build on what they're doing there. So we started

983
00:52:33,560 --> 00:52:35,640
Speaker 2: working on it. We had proof of concept and we

984
00:52:35,680 --> 00:52:39,759
Speaker 2: applied for a grant. We got the grant. Now we've

985
00:52:39,880 --> 00:52:44,640
Speaker 2: got the two million dollars funding in the lab doing

986
00:52:44,680 --> 00:52:44,960
Speaker 2: the thing.

987
00:52:45,600 --> 00:52:46,840
Speaker 1: That's amazing.

988
00:52:49,480 --> 00:52:51,759
Speaker 2: One day I can do this podcast again with you,

989
00:52:51,840 --> 00:52:53,799
Speaker 2: but I'll be saying stop it.

990
00:52:53,960 --> 00:52:57,319
Speaker 1: I just got those sumps. Oh my gosh, that would

991
00:52:57,360 --> 00:52:58,440
Speaker 1: be incredible.

992
00:52:59,760 --> 00:53:00,439
Speaker 2: That's the dream.

993
00:53:00,680 --> 00:53:07,279
Speaker 1: Well, i'll hold you to that, hold me to it. Well,

994
00:53:07,280 --> 00:53:09,879
Speaker 1: there's one more section and just a few questions. It's

995
00:53:09,960 --> 00:53:13,759
Speaker 1: my favorite section, and I'm sorry everyone listening. I know

996
00:53:13,840 --> 00:53:16,399
Speaker 1: I always run this so that there's not much time

997
00:53:16,480 --> 00:53:18,239
Speaker 1: left for it because I just get so distracted by

998
00:53:18,239 --> 00:53:20,680
Speaker 1: the story because it's so fascinating. I have one more question, though,

999
00:53:20,719 --> 00:53:24,560
Speaker 1: before we move on, which is just about how you

1000
00:53:24,719 --> 00:53:26,919
Speaker 1: found particularly as an adult. I think as a child

1001
00:53:26,960 --> 00:53:29,480
Speaker 1: you might not see the nuances or the subtleties of

1002
00:53:29,520 --> 00:53:33,480
Speaker 1: people's behavior changing, But when you did start to rebuild

1003
00:53:33,560 --> 00:53:36,640
Speaker 1: friendships and relationships, I imagine a lot of people wouldn't

1004
00:53:36,680 --> 00:53:39,359
Speaker 1: have known how to act around you, and how to

1005
00:53:39,480 --> 00:53:42,279
Speaker 1: be and how to support you best, how to not

1006
00:53:42,320 --> 00:53:45,800
Speaker 1: be weird, and then sometimes by trying not to be weird,

1007
00:53:46,000 --> 00:53:49,480
Speaker 1: that'd be even weirder, only out of care and compassion.

1008
00:53:49,920 --> 00:53:52,400
Speaker 1: But I think, you know, like a lot of the

1009
00:53:53,200 --> 00:53:55,200
Speaker 1: I said before that there's a lot of discrimination, I

1010
00:53:55,239 --> 00:53:57,200
Speaker 1: didn't actually mean that. I think there's just a lot

1011
00:53:57,239 --> 00:54:01,120
Speaker 1: of in access because of miss understanding or because of

1012
00:54:01,440 --> 00:54:05,600
Speaker 1: not thinking as empathetically because we don't have that same experience.

1013
00:54:05,600 --> 00:54:08,280
Speaker 1: And I think it's the same in being around people

1014
00:54:08,680 --> 00:54:10,560
Speaker 1: and trying to support them through the experience because you

1015
00:54:10,600 --> 00:54:12,799
Speaker 1: just don't know what they're going through and you can't empathize. Really,

1016
00:54:13,200 --> 00:54:16,120
Speaker 1: how was that for you? And is there anything that

1017
00:54:16,160 --> 00:54:19,200
Speaker 1: you wish that you could tell people not to do

1018
00:54:19,840 --> 00:54:23,759
Speaker 1: or not to say that you don't want to hurt

1019
00:54:23,760 --> 00:54:26,920
Speaker 1: anyone's feelings, but is there anything that triggers you or

1020
00:54:26,960 --> 00:54:28,600
Speaker 1: that like people do all the time that you're just

1021
00:54:28,680 --> 00:54:30,839
Speaker 1: you just wish that you could just say, don't do that, man,

1022
00:54:31,280 --> 00:54:32,960
Speaker 1: like that is anaty.

1023
00:54:33,160 --> 00:54:36,000
Speaker 2: Until you quit. A couple of things ones funny. When

1024
00:54:36,040 --> 00:54:38,719
Speaker 2: I was in the hospital straight after this happened, one

1025
00:54:38,719 --> 00:54:41,760
Speaker 2: of my good friends, so she came to the hospital

1026
00:54:41,760 --> 00:54:44,640
Speaker 2: and she's like, oh, you know, I've stuffed my knee

1027
00:54:46,280 --> 00:54:48,160
Speaker 2: you know, I won't be able to walk for like

1028
00:54:48,239 --> 00:54:51,880
Speaker 2: two weeks. I was like, oh, it was so funny.

1029
00:54:51,880 --> 00:54:55,279
Speaker 2: But she's like got the purest heart and was like,

1030
00:54:55,920 --> 00:54:57,840
Speaker 2: I think she just wanted She was just talking to

1031
00:54:57,880 --> 00:54:59,480
Speaker 2: me becase we didn't even think of it, So that

1032
00:54:59,520 --> 00:54:59,920
Speaker 2: was really fun.

1033
00:55:00,840 --> 00:55:02,800
Speaker 1: I can imagine you're just being like, oh.

1034
00:55:02,680 --> 00:55:03,480
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah.

1035
00:55:03,560 --> 00:55:06,919
Speaker 1: I was like, ah, cool man.

1036
00:55:07,360 --> 00:55:10,040
Speaker 2: I also reflect on the fact that I have some

1037
00:55:10,520 --> 00:55:13,680
Speaker 2: dear close friends now who have only known me after

1038
00:55:13,719 --> 00:55:20,000
Speaker 2: that accident. Yeah, that's like a weird thing, and that's

1039
00:55:20,040 --> 00:55:20,720
Speaker 2: also cool.

1040
00:55:20,880 --> 00:55:26,759
Speaker 1: That is cool. So the very last section is your plata.

1041
00:55:27,040 --> 00:55:31,120
Speaker 1: And I don't know, as an admitted lawyer slash doctor,

1042
00:55:31,920 --> 00:55:33,440
Speaker 1: I don't know how you would have time to do

1043
00:55:33,480 --> 00:55:36,560
Speaker 1: anything else. But I think one of the most important

1044
00:55:36,560 --> 00:55:39,000
Speaker 1: things when you do love your job is that you

1045
00:55:39,040 --> 00:55:42,440
Speaker 1: do something outside your job that's completely unrelated to productivity

1046
00:55:43,080 --> 00:55:47,759
Speaker 1: to achieving. I mean, particularly being a doctor. Achieving and

1047
00:55:47,800 --> 00:55:51,040
Speaker 1: productivity and using your brain is like and learning and

1048
00:55:51,080 --> 00:55:55,040
Speaker 1: continually self bettering is like hardwired into your brain. But

1049
00:55:55,120 --> 00:55:57,040
Speaker 1: plata is what do you do to forget what time

1050
00:55:57,080 --> 00:55:58,799
Speaker 1: it is? What do you allow yourself to do that

1051
00:55:58,920 --> 00:56:02,759
Speaker 1: is purely for joy. Mine is gardening, even though I'm

1052
00:56:03,000 --> 00:56:07,640
Speaker 1: terrible at it and like crime books or war movies

1053
00:56:07,800 --> 00:56:09,839
Speaker 1: like nothing to do with what I do, but it's

1054
00:56:09,840 --> 00:56:11,719
Speaker 1: the stuff that makes my brain switch off. So what

1055
00:56:11,760 --> 00:56:12,640
Speaker 1: are those for you?

1056
00:56:12,719 --> 00:56:15,960
Speaker 2: Well, I'm going to tell you something that might maybe

1057
00:56:15,960 --> 00:56:18,440
Speaker 2: it's an unexpected answer, but I think it's important to

1058
00:56:18,440 --> 00:56:21,240
Speaker 2: find joy in what you do every day as well.

1059
00:56:21,440 --> 00:56:24,399
Speaker 2: So I find joy in medicine and going to work

1060
00:56:24,440 --> 00:56:27,880
Speaker 2: and whatever else. So that's super important for me. Anyway.

1061
00:56:28,160 --> 00:56:30,120
Speaker 2: I like to have fun no matter what I'm doing.

1062
00:56:30,920 --> 00:56:35,799
Speaker 2: But if we're talking about things outside, I suppose professional activities.

1063
00:56:37,719 --> 00:56:42,000
Speaker 2: Music like that rap yep, I love the rap. I

1064
00:56:42,120 --> 00:56:47,759
Speaker 2: love the rap on my movies. I like it's like

1065
00:56:47,880 --> 00:56:51,160
Speaker 2: being outside, like in the sun. I might I think

1066
00:56:51,200 --> 00:56:53,759
Speaker 2: I'm addicted to it now because I spent so much

1067
00:56:53,960 --> 00:56:57,239
Speaker 2: time in a dark place, not knowing whether it's day

1068
00:56:57,320 --> 00:57:00,799
Speaker 2: or night, injury and not know when I'll be able

1069
00:57:00,840 --> 00:57:03,920
Speaker 2: to be outside. My room is just like I never

1070
00:57:04,000 --> 00:57:06,320
Speaker 2: closed the b lines. It's just glass order ceiling and

1071
00:57:06,360 --> 00:57:09,799
Speaker 2: I can see outside. So I just love chilling outside,

1072
00:57:09,920 --> 00:57:12,120
Speaker 2: like to see they're having a coffee or eating somewhere.

1073
00:57:12,239 --> 00:57:14,880
Speaker 2: And I like doing fun things like I went, I

1074
00:57:14,960 --> 00:57:18,320
Speaker 2: went paramotoring once. You know, I've been in a rally car,

1075
00:57:18,600 --> 00:57:21,840
Speaker 2: I've been what else, I've been on a pallet. I've

1076
00:57:21,880 --> 00:57:24,440
Speaker 2: been a glider, like a you know, it's not like

1077
00:57:24,520 --> 00:57:28,400
Speaker 2: a hang glider, but a glider that's inclodes. I like

1078
00:57:28,480 --> 00:57:32,840
Speaker 2: doing stuff like that amazing, So that's pretty fun. Just

1079
00:57:32,960 --> 00:57:35,440
Speaker 2: anything fun, really like doing fun things.

1080
00:57:36,000 --> 00:57:39,600
Speaker 1: Do you know what's weird? How many people you would ask,

1081
00:57:39,760 --> 00:57:42,040
Speaker 1: including my former self, what do you do for fun?

1082
00:57:42,560 --> 00:57:44,840
Speaker 1: And they kind of look at you like what, like

1083
00:57:45,000 --> 00:57:46,520
Speaker 1: what what do you mean for fun?

1084
00:57:47,000 --> 00:57:47,320
Speaker 2: Like what?

1085
00:57:48,120 --> 00:57:50,880
Speaker 1: What's fun? And that's why it's called playta because it's

1086
00:57:50,960 --> 00:57:53,640
Speaker 1: like a call out to that juvenile in a child

1087
00:57:53,800 --> 00:57:56,360
Speaker 1: that people let die. And it's like, no, you're not.

1088
00:57:56,680 --> 00:57:58,320
Speaker 1: I mean you have to grow up in some areas,

1089
00:57:58,360 --> 00:58:00,000
Speaker 1: but keep the inner child alone.

1090
00:58:00,720 --> 00:58:01,840
Speaker 2: Yeah, totally.

1091
00:58:02,880 --> 00:58:05,880
Speaker 1: Second last question, what are three interesting things about you

1092
00:58:06,000 --> 00:58:07,600
Speaker 1: that don't normally come up in conversation?

1093
00:58:08,800 --> 00:58:12,280
Speaker 2: So? I love cars. I love cars and most things

1094
00:58:12,360 --> 00:58:17,920
Speaker 2: with engines, Like I'm just I really love cars and

1095
00:58:18,000 --> 00:58:21,919
Speaker 2: I always have so cars, and I think I don't

1096
00:58:22,160 --> 00:58:24,439
Speaker 2: I think my middle name is actually a last name.

1097
00:58:24,800 --> 00:58:26,400
Speaker 2: So yeah, a lot of people ask me what the

1098
00:58:26,440 --> 00:58:28,520
Speaker 2: middle name is, but it's I think it's more like

1099
00:58:28,600 --> 00:58:32,080
Speaker 2: iving to last names. I think my last name is

1100
00:58:32,120 --> 00:58:35,959
Speaker 2: actually Plopano, so from my understanding, and this might be wrong.

1101
00:58:37,000 --> 00:58:39,880
Speaker 2: In Sri Lankan history, I think the king sort of

1102
00:58:40,360 --> 00:58:44,120
Speaker 2: allowed some families to govern over certain parts of the

1103
00:58:44,200 --> 00:58:47,560
Speaker 2: country and they literally have these houses that they governed

1104
00:58:47,680 --> 00:58:51,560
Speaker 2: out of. One of these houses. And there's a village

1105
00:58:51,720 --> 00:58:54,320
Speaker 2: called Palapana now, which is where I'm from. That's where

1106
00:58:54,400 --> 00:58:58,880
Speaker 2: my family has that house. So Palapano was. Yeah, it's

1107
00:58:58,920 --> 00:59:00,440
Speaker 2: got a little bit of his through to it.

1108
00:59:00,640 --> 00:59:01,480
Speaker 1: It's amazing.

1109
00:59:03,760 --> 00:59:08,920
Speaker 2: The third one, okay, I really also like chocolate.

1110
00:59:10,560 --> 00:59:12,920
Speaker 1: Favorite chocolate bar? What would you take on a desert island.

1111
00:59:13,280 --> 00:59:16,400
Speaker 2: It's a significant weakness for me, so it's not really

1112
00:59:16,400 --> 00:59:20,400
Speaker 2: a chocolate bar. But I like Natella like just by

1113
00:59:20,480 --> 00:59:20,920
Speaker 2: the spoon.

1114
00:59:21,200 --> 00:59:22,000
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, me too.

1115
00:59:22,160 --> 00:59:25,880
Speaker 2: And there's a really awesome chocolate bar. I think it's

1116
00:59:25,960 --> 00:59:27,920
Speaker 2: called Whittikers or Whitman's.

1117
00:59:27,960 --> 00:59:31,680
Speaker 1: But it's the Coconut Oh, the slab, the mini gold Oh, yes,

1118
00:59:31,880 --> 00:59:36,960
Speaker 1: so good, it's dangerous. Amazing. Very last question, since I

1119
00:59:37,040 --> 00:59:38,880
Speaker 1: love quote so much, what's your favorite quote?

1120
00:59:39,240 --> 00:59:41,520
Speaker 2: Yeah? I have many that I love, but I think

1121
00:59:41,600 --> 00:59:46,160
Speaker 2: the biggest one that probably encompasses a lot of things

1122
00:59:46,240 --> 00:59:49,240
Speaker 2: that we've talked about tonight, and it also encompasses the

1123
00:59:49,320 --> 00:59:53,040
Speaker 2: reason why I do medicine is that it's something It's

1124
00:59:53,080 --> 00:59:55,040
Speaker 2: a quote that my mom loves and I can't remember

1125
00:59:55,080 --> 00:59:57,680
Speaker 2: where it comes from, and it is that by helping

1126
00:59:57,760 --> 01:00:00,520
Speaker 2: one person, you may not change the world, but you'll

1127
01:00:00,600 --> 01:00:01,560
Speaker 2: change the world for them.

1128
01:00:01,840 --> 01:00:05,800
Speaker 1: That's beautiful. I think that's really important, so important. Oh

1129
01:00:05,920 --> 01:00:08,760
Speaker 1: my gosh, you are absolutely extraordinary. Thank you so much

1130
01:00:08,920 --> 01:00:12,520
Speaker 1: for your time and wisdom, and I just can't wait

1131
01:00:12,560 --> 01:00:15,800
Speaker 1: to see what you do next with this new technology

1132
01:00:15,960 --> 01:00:18,400
Speaker 1: and research. And I hope we keep in touch.

1133
01:00:18,680 --> 01:00:19,680
Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure.

1134
01:00:20,320 --> 01:00:24,640
Speaker 1: What an incredible display of gratitude and strength in the

1135
01:00:24,760 --> 01:00:28,320
Speaker 1: face of a big fat naty AA. I just found

1136
01:00:28,360 --> 01:00:31,520
Speaker 1: this story so heartwarming, and Danesh was just such a

1137
01:00:31,600 --> 01:00:34,720
Speaker 1: delightful person to chat too. If you enjoyed the episode,

1138
01:00:34,960 --> 01:00:37,080
Speaker 1: please do take a moment to share it so we

1139
01:00:37,160 --> 01:00:40,640
Speaker 1: can keep spreading the YAY and subscribe or drop us

1140
01:00:40,680 --> 01:00:43,280
Speaker 1: a review if you haven't already. It helps us keep

1141
01:00:43,360 --> 01:00:47,080
Speaker 1: growing and securing you wonderful guests. I hope you're having

1142
01:00:47,120 --> 01:00:49,640
Speaker 1: an amazing week and are seizing your ya