Speaker 1: Always to say like don't put your dreams on hold,
Speaker 1: which is you don't know what's what tomorrow will bring.
Speaker 1: But it was amazing, So that's what I mean, Like,
Speaker 1: if you want to do something, they just very hot
Speaker 1: up against the world chap and I figured, like all
Speaker 1: I wanted to do since my accident was surf on
Speaker 1: my own, and I figured, I get to do it
Speaker 1: at Waikiki and this most beautiful surf break, So I
Speaker 1: just go out there, try my best and have fun.
Speaker 2: Welcome to the Seas the Yay Podcast. Busy and happy
Speaker 2: are not the same thing. We too rarely question what
Speaker 2: makes the heart seeing. We work, then we rest, but
Speaker 2: rarely we play and often don't realize there's more than
Speaker 2: one way. So this is a platform to hear and
Speaker 2: explore the stories of those who found lives They adore,
Speaker 2: the good, bad and ugly. The best and worst days
Speaker 2: will bear all the facets of Seizing your Yay. I'm
Speaker 2: Sarah Davidson or a spoonful of Sarah, a lawyer turned
Speaker 2: funentrepreneur who's walked the suits and heels to co found
Speaker 2: matcha Maidan and matcha milk Bar. Seize the Yeah is
Speaker 2: a series of conversations on finding a life you love
Speaker 2: and exploring the self doubt, challenge, joy and fulfillment along
Speaker 2: the way. Hello, lovely yighborhood. It is so nice to
Speaker 2: be back in your ears after a huge few weeks
Speaker 2: since we last recorded. Although I'm just realizing now you
Speaker 2: have only heard that episode last week, even though we
Speaker 2: recorded it ages ago. Podcast Land is so weird. We've
Speaker 2: been overseas, we've come back, We've set at our new home,
Speaker 2: which is so exciting, and started the renovations, but have
Speaker 2: also shared a huge and challenging part of our lives
Speaker 2: from earlier this year for the first time, and your
Speaker 2: response has just been overwhelmingly beautiful. I won't go into
Speaker 2: it too much now so as not to take away
Speaker 2: from our incredible guest for this week, and I'll dedicate
Speaker 2: next week's Yeays of our Lives episode to talking about
Speaker 2: it in a little bit more detail. But we experienced
Speaker 2: a pregnancy loss earlier this year and shared what happened
Speaker 2: for the first time last week with the incredible team
Speaker 2: at Della Magazine. Again. I'll go into it in much
Speaker 2: more depth in the next episode, where we will create
Speaker 2: space to kind of cover everything that happened, but I
Speaker 2: just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone listening
Speaker 2: who has shared their own story with us in response
Speaker 2: or sent a message of support. There have been hundreds
Speaker 2: and hundreds, and we've been just so moved by the response,
Speaker 2: and it's been so enormously cathartic. I was actually really
Speaker 2: nervous to share it, weirdly, even though I'm someone who
Speaker 2: shares quite a lot. But anyway, in the meantime, you
Speaker 2: can also head over to Stella's podcast if you miss
Speaker 2: the feature in the magazine Something to Talk About, if
Speaker 2: you want to listen to the initial interview with the
Speaker 2: incredible editor Sarah Lamarkand who was so nurturing and so
Speaker 2: supportive and really helped get the story out when we
Speaker 2: were a bit nervous and not really sure how to
Speaker 2: word it for the first time. It just felt really
Speaker 2: weird to record this week without mentioning it at all,
Speaker 2: But we'll cover it more next week, So just for now,
Speaker 2: thank you all so much from the bottom of our hearts.
Speaker 2: For now, I'm so excited this week's guest, having followed
Speaker 2: her story and had her on our Ultimate wish List
Speaker 2: for many years now, with one of those pinched myself moments.
Speaker 2: Some of you may already know her, but if not,
Speaker 2: Sam Bloom is a world champion surfer, adventure traveler, best
Speaker 2: selling author, neurology nurse and mother of three boys whose
Speaker 2: story also became a global Hollywood hit, Penguin Bloom. That
Speaker 2: heartbreaking story begins in twenty thirteen when Sam was paralyzed
Speaker 2: in a terrifying accident in Thailand when she fell through
Speaker 2: a rotting balcony, But it was the unlikely arrival of
Speaker 2: a beautiful magpie chick called Penguin that helped Sam's grueling
Speaker 2: recovery back in Australia. The photos captured by her photographer
Speaker 2: husband Cameron, which are painstakingly beautiful, were later made into
Speaker 2: a book written alongside legendary author Bradley Trevor Greeve, and
Speaker 2: this then became the basis of Penguin Bloom, starring Naomi Watts.
Speaker 2: Having poured over Penguin Bloom many times, it was just
Speaker 2: surreal to be able to hear Sam chats so candidly
Speaker 2: about grief and redefining joy in real time, rather than
Speaker 2: reading her words in the book. She is so refreshingly
Speaker 2: honest about the defining trauma in her life and the
Speaker 2: challenges that she still enjoys every day, but being able
Speaker 2: to find yay in between all those moments. And what
Speaker 2: I also loved though, was the chance to ask Sam
Speaker 2: about all the other parts of her life that perhaps
Speaker 2: don't relate so much to the story that many know
Speaker 2: her for and maybe haven't been part of the book
Speaker 2: or the movie. I could go on forever, but I
Speaker 2: will let Sam t be the rest of herself. This
Speaker 2: is one of my favorite chats to date. I just
Speaker 2: really felt so much warmth towards her, and I hope
Speaker 2: you guys do too. I'm so grateful for Sam's time,
Speaker 2: and I hope.
Speaker 1: You guys enjoy this chat.
Speaker 2: Sam, welcome to Seize thee.
Speaker 1: A Hey, Sarah, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2: Oh, it is such a pleasure. I have followed you
Speaker 2: for such a long time. I think we said in
Speaker 2: the original email, I've had the very first book for
Speaker 2: a really long time and then have followed your journey since.
Speaker 2: And this is very surreal. It's so exciting.
Speaker 1: Let's cool. Well, I'm just me.
Speaker 2: I'm sure that's easy for you to say, which is
Speaker 2: why we start every episode, particularly with people like yourself,
Speaker 2: where lots of us feel very connected in with your
Speaker 2: journey and are constantly in awe of everything that you do.
Speaker 2: But I'm sure for you, you just feel like you're you.
Speaker 2: So I start every episode by just asking people what
Speaker 2: the most sort of down to earth, normal, random thing
Speaker 2: is about them that reminds people listening that you are
Speaker 2: just a human who has weird habits and does weird things.
Speaker 1: That's so funny. Oh man, I don't know. I just
Speaker 1: guess I'm just like I said, I'm just me, just
Speaker 1: a tomboy. I've always been a tomboy, certainly not academic.
Speaker 1: I like just being kind of physical, you know, getting
Speaker 1: out there doing exercise. Yeah, and just keep it real.
Speaker 2: I love that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I just like keeping it real. You know, don't
Speaker 1: sugarcoat anything. Yeah, don't make something bigger than it, you
Speaker 1: know it needs to be.
Speaker 2: Oh that's so refreshing. And I think that comes across
Speaker 2: in you know everything that you do, that you're just
Speaker 2: exactly who you are and you don't sugarcoat things. And
Speaker 2: I love that so much.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, absolutely know it.
Speaker 2: But I also love that you mentioned you know, you
Speaker 2: weren't academic, and I think there are so many different
Speaker 2: kinds of creativity and intelligence, and not all of them
Speaker 2: necessarily get Like when we're younger and we sort of
Speaker 2: have an idea of what we should become and what
Speaker 2: we're supposed to be, Like, there's so much pressure to
Speaker 2: do certain pathways or to do certain things, and so
Speaker 2: I kind of like to go, particularly with people like yourself,
Speaker 2: where a lot of us have been introduced to your
Speaker 2: story from sort of twenty thirteen onwards, and there's not
Speaker 2: as much airtime about who you were before that and
Speaker 2: how you made decisions about what you wanted to do
Speaker 2: when you were a kid. And having said that you
Speaker 2: aren't very academic, you were a neurology nurse. So I
Speaker 2: beg to differ. But can you take us back to
Speaker 2: very very young Sam and sort of introduce us to
Speaker 2: you know, who you were as a child, what your
Speaker 2: first job was, what you thought you'd be when you
Speaker 2: grew up.
Speaker 1: Sure, well, that's funny because I had it in my
Speaker 1: head that I wanted to be a nurse when I
Speaker 1: was in first grade.
Speaker 2: No way.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I remember our teacher she asked everybody to
Speaker 1: draw a picture, you know, what we wanted to be
Speaker 1: when we grew up, and I drew a nurse and
Speaker 1: she had this massive needle, even though I hate needles,
Speaker 1: and I had the Pyramids. I drew the Pyramids in
Speaker 1: the background because I wanted to go to Africa. WHOA Yeah,
Speaker 1: And I don't know where it came from, but I
Speaker 1: was just saying, I say, Adamant, I'm like, yeah, I'm
Speaker 1: going to be a nurse and I'm going to go
Speaker 1: to Africa.
Speaker 2: Which is amazing because that's obviously what you did, which
Speaker 2: is wild, but it's kind of weird. It's so funny
Speaker 2: because you know, often, like this whole first section is
Speaker 2: called your wayta, which is, yeah, tracing back all the
Speaker 2: chapters of who you've been at different times in your
Speaker 2: life to remind everyone listening that most people with a
Speaker 2: cool pathway or an interesting life story often didn't know
Speaker 2: what they wanted to be or what was coming next.
Speaker 2: But for you, it's rare that we hear that someone
Speaker 2: was like I wanted to be this when I was
Speaker 2: a kid, and then I did it. So how did
Speaker 2: you kind of translate that to getting there? To Like,
Speaker 2: was that with you the whole way through school that
Speaker 2: you wanted to do nursing in Africa?
Speaker 1: Yeah? Absolutely, yeah, yeah, the whole way through school. And
Speaker 1: I've always said this thing for Africa, and like I said,
Speaker 1: I don't know where it came from. And I remember,
Speaker 1: oh how old, maybe I was sixteen or seventeen, and
Speaker 1: I remember and my grandma took me into the city
Speaker 1: because we live it on the Northern Beaches. She turned
Speaker 1: me into town and took me into dimixed into a
Speaker 1: big bookshop. Pick a book. I'm like, okay, Grandma, and
Speaker 1: I picked do you remember Lonely Planet?
Speaker 2: Of course?
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, And I remember I specifically picked like West Africa,
Speaker 1: Lonely Planet, West Africa. I'm like, yeah, I want that.
Speaker 2: That is wild.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's funny. And so I just I think I've
Speaker 1: always been pretty Wasn't it determined? But like if I
Speaker 1: have my mindset on something, I'm like, yeah, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: do it.
Speaker 2: I love that, especially like a Northern Beaches girl, barefoot, tomboy,
Speaker 2: outdoors surfing. It's like Africa. It's not the first thing
Speaker 2: that comes to mind.
Speaker 1: I know, I know it's funny, but yeah, no, it's
Speaker 1: just always been like, yeah, just the one place that
Speaker 1: have been drawn to.
Speaker 2: Wow, it's really funny because the pyramids that we had
Speaker 2: our honeymoon in Egypt a year ago, and we'd both
Speaker 2: been obsessed with like hieroglyphics and gyptology since we were
Speaker 2: kids as well, and it was like one year today
Speaker 2: since we landed. Oh wow, I just had the thing
Speaker 2: pop up, and I had this weird maybe not as
Speaker 2: much like from childhood as you like buying books and stuff,
Speaker 2: but I always was fascinated with the Pyramids and always
Speaker 2: wanted to go, but didn't think i'd work there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, sure, but I mean at least she went.
Speaker 2: Yeah. It absolutely blew my mind. So, okay, so you
Speaker 2: thought you wanted to be do nursing kind of all
Speaker 2: the way through school and then when you did actually
Speaker 2: start that career, like what came next? How did you
Speaker 2: make your way to Africa? And I believe that that
Speaker 2: was where you met your husband was traveling?
Speaker 1: Well you will we kind of Okay. So obviously I
Speaker 1: finished school, went to UNI, and you know the funny
Speaker 1: thing is I actually found it really hard to get
Speaker 1: a job. Really when I finished school year as a nurse,
Speaker 1: I was just say oh, and so my mom and
Speaker 1: dad had a cake shop in Newport, and so I
Speaker 1: would just work there to earn money to go traveling.
Speaker 1: And that's actually where I met Cam because we went
Speaker 1: to different schools and Cam used to come in and
Speaker 1: buy you know, meet pies or whatever. Yeah, and I
Speaker 1: thought he was pretty spunky and seemed really nice. So
Speaker 1: I remember one night I was out with my friend Bron.
Speaker 1: Were just at the local pub and I saw Cam
Speaker 1: and he was with his friend, and so I went
Speaker 1: up to a mask him out to a party. And
Speaker 1: that's kind of where it all started.
Speaker 2: You asked him out. I love that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I said, you want to come to a party
Speaker 1: like tomorrow night or so, I can't remember, maybe it
Speaker 1: was that night or the next night. And then you know,
Speaker 1: swap phone numbers as you did. Because Cam's a photographer
Speaker 1: and so he's got the same passion as me. Loved traveling,
Speaker 1: loves many different people, you know, learning about cultures. And yes,
Speaker 1: so when I finished Uni, I didn't get a job.
Speaker 1: I couldn't get a job, So Cam and I went traveling. Oh.
Speaker 2: Also, was he in Africa with you?
Speaker 1: Not all of it? So Cam and I flew to
Speaker 1: Italy and then went through Greece and then Turkey and
Speaker 1: then we actually went down through the Middle East. I
Speaker 1: love so cool and then over to Egypt. So that
Speaker 1: was Cam's first time to Africa, to the continent.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, that's amazing.
Speaker 1: It was cool. And then so I don't know, We're
Speaker 1: wait for quite a while, and then I flew up.
Speaker 1: Cam had to fly back to Australia for work. So
Speaker 1: I went to London and I got a.
Speaker 2: Job in London.
Speaker 1: No, I'm not in London. I was actually in Hampshire.
Speaker 1: I was looking out for a lord. Yes, he was
Speaker 1: so lovely. He's a QC. His name is Lord Denning,
Speaker 1: Lord Denning. So I was his nurse.
Speaker 2: Stop it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, only for maybe three months.
Speaker 2: Okay, Sam. So I was a lawyer before I met
Speaker 2: I have read so many Lord Denning judgments. That is wild.
Speaker 1: That's so weird that.
Speaker 2: You know, I'm getting a star strike like through you.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, Lord Denning, he's so fancy. He wrote
Speaker 2: every judgment ever.
Speaker 1: Oh wow, he's such a nice. Yeah. He was beautiful. Wow. Yes,
Speaker 1: I lived with him.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, that's so mild to me.
Speaker 1: That's so funny. Yeah. He had the most beautiful house.
Speaker 1: It was like on quite a big property in a
Speaker 1: tiny little town called which It was a beautiful old
Speaker 1: sandstone house.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was amazing. So we'd have obviously breakfast and
Speaker 1: together and lunch and dinner, and he spent a lot
Speaker 1: of time in his library.
Speaker 2: I can imagine.
Speaker 1: I actually don't know what he was doing, I like
Speaker 1: leaving there, but yeah, he was just he was a
Speaker 1: very very kind man. And I remember having Christmas with
Speaker 1: his with Lord Danning obviously and Lady Fox and wow, yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah it was cool. Oh my gosh, Sam, to any
Speaker 2: of like my fellow you know, former colleagues, or anyone
Speaker 2: I started with, there are quite a few who still
Speaker 2: listened to the show, they will be frothing right now,
Speaker 2: like Lord Denning for Christmas.
Speaker 1: What funny. Yes, we'll talk to Lord Danning about driving
Speaker 1: to Africa, and you know, he was really encouraging I
Speaker 1: obviously he loved traveling, and yeah, so that was that
Speaker 1: was great.
Speaker 2: I feel like this is why I love going back
Speaker 2: through the chapters. That often people are like, what do
Speaker 2: you even want to know about like my teenage years
Speaker 2: and my childhood and my first job. And I think
Speaker 2: it's because like often that's that kind of stuff, doesn't
Speaker 2: like I didn't know that about you? And I go
Speaker 2: in deep into the Internet to try and find like
Speaker 2: you know, little nuggets of like random experiences that you
Speaker 2: do and that you end up in somehow to meet
Speaker 2: people that you never thought you'd meet, and they all
Speaker 2: contribute to sort of who people become later in life.
Speaker 2: And I think it's so cool.
Speaker 1: Yeah, oh that's so cool. So yeah, So I was
Speaker 1: with Lot Dunning for three months or however long was,
Speaker 1: and then that's how I saved up more money to
Speaker 1: go to West Africa. Okay, so I finally finally got
Speaker 1: to West Africa. Wow, which is amazing. So I just
Speaker 1: did in like an overland trip.
Speaker 2: So you weren't working, you were traveling at this time.
Speaker 1: He's traveling, Yeah, because I was only I was only
Speaker 1: twenty two. Oh wow yeah, oh my god. Yeah. No,
Speaker 1: it's such a fantastic trip. But you know, going through
Speaker 1: Senegal and Mauritania, Mali, like all on West New West Africa.
Speaker 2: I feel like there's something about we've not spent that
Speaker 2: much time there, but we've done more like East. So
Speaker 2: we spent a bit of time in Rwanda and Tanzania
Speaker 2: and Zanza Baha and a bit of South Africa. But
Speaker 2: I feel like there's something about almost everyone I know
Speaker 2: who's been once has been back many times. Like as
Speaker 2: soon as you go to the continent, it's like I
Speaker 2: need to get back.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, it's the people. I just love the people. They're
Speaker 1: just amazing.
Speaker 2: So after that, how long did you spend sort of
Speaker 2: in those travels and then what brought you home or
Speaker 2: did you kind of stay there for a while.
Speaker 1: Well, finally, well it wasn't funny, but okay, So I
Speaker 1: paid for the West African trip and the truck was
Speaker 1: actually going from West Africa to East Africa. Then I
Speaker 1: was in foriqin fso and I had my bag stolen.
Speaker 1: And back then this is a nineteen ninety four you
Speaker 1: probably might have been born then.
Speaker 2: I was definitely born.
Speaker 1: But yeah, yeah, so you know, he had travelers checks
Speaker 1: like it was just a little bit different then. And
Speaker 1: so I had my money stolen, so I couldn't keep
Speaker 1: going to East Africa because I'd only paid for the
Speaker 1: West African bit. So I was like, damn it. So
Speaker 1: I flew back to London. I got another job for
Speaker 1: a month, and then my friend and I went to
Speaker 1: Morocco just for a holiday and then we were there
Speaker 1: for maybe only three weeks, and I flew back to London.
Speaker 1: And it's a bit of a shitty story because I
Speaker 1: made a really good friend on their trip, a couple
Speaker 1: of really good friends from Australia, and so I was
Speaker 1: back in London. I was just staying in a hostel
Speaker 1: and then I looked down and there was that paper
Speaker 1: T and T and it said osman killed by grenade attack. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And I picked it up and I was like, oh
Speaker 1: my god, and it was my friend Ann and I
Speaker 1: found out he'd gotten killed, and you gowned someone was
Speaker 1: Wren Rwanda was kind of going crazy, so obviously it's
Speaker 1: a pretty terrible time. So someone threw a hand grenade
Speaker 1: at the truck and it exploded and he got sharp
Speaker 1: north through his time. So that's why I came home.
Speaker 1: I remember.
Speaker 2: Oh.
Speaker 1: And the weirdest thing is, and even now later after
Speaker 1: all these years, like you know the rim song Everybody Hurts. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was playing online video hits on the TV and.
Speaker 2: You can't listen to it now.
Speaker 1: I always feel like crying if I hear it. I'm
Speaker 1: so yeah. So I read that he'd been killed and
Speaker 1: my other friend had been really badly injured. So yeah,
Speaker 1: I remember, really mom in tears, going I'm coming home,
Speaker 1: coming home. Yeah, oh my god, that's why I went home.
Speaker 2: Like this is even we're not even to twenty thirteen
Speaker 2: yet and you've already had like a whole lifetime worth
Speaker 2: of experiences. Not really, Oh, I'm so sorry. I feel
Speaker 2: like those are those, you know, defining kind of life
Speaker 2: moments that just change your absolutely your whole perspective on
Speaker 2: sort of mortality and making the most of every minute
Speaker 2: and the things that you just walk along in your
Speaker 2: life thinking blah blah blah like I've got all the time.
Speaker 2: You know, I think they really changed your mind.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's and the worst thing, I mean, obviously the
Speaker 1: worst that he died. But Anne wanted to do You
Speaker 1: wanted to see them, the gorillas. I didn't see them.
Speaker 1: I just wish it's in the grinds.
Speaker 2: Yeah you know.
Speaker 1: So yeah, no, I was devastated when, like when I
Speaker 1: heard that. So yeah, it still makes me sad. Even
Speaker 1: though we didn't know each other for that long, we
Speaker 1: just had this really good connection. And yes, it's bizarre
Speaker 1: how something like that can like yeah, like impact your yeah,
Speaker 1: like you said, your whole life.
Speaker 2: It's also interesting. I feel like, you know, there's friends
Speaker 2: that you have because you share an entire history in
Speaker 2: school life and you're not you've known each other through
Speaker 2: many chapters, and then there's friends often that you meet
Speaker 2: through travel, where you kind of escalate through the first
Speaker 2: two decades of friendship just because you've shared something really intense.
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, bizarre. Yeah. So I remember when I came
Speaker 1: home and when my other friend, like she she got
Speaker 1: incredibly badly injured and then she was in the hospital
Speaker 1: for quite a long time. When she got out, we
Speaker 1: drove down to Wogga, which is where Aunt was from,
Speaker 1: and met his mom and dad and which is really lovely.
Speaker 1: I remember Aunt really loved chocolate, so we went to
Speaker 1: his grave and I remember sticking a chocolate bar in
Speaker 1: his grave. Yeah, and his mom she's so lovely. She's
Speaker 1: still in touch with me and she always makes me
Speaker 1: want to cry because she'll she'll message me and go
Speaker 1: Aunt will be so proud of you and almost.
Speaker 2: What do I say, Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah that was That was my first trip, well,
Speaker 1: I guess second trip to Africa.
Speaker 2: And I feel like it's interesting when you come home
Speaker 2: from somewhere that's just so different to Australia, and I
Speaker 2: mean seeing other cultures and experience in them is what
Speaker 2: lights my life. Like I just I love travel for
Speaker 2: that reason. But I also feel like it's kind of
Speaker 2: disorientating when you get home because you've had all this
Speaker 2: time living in a different way and and having your
Speaker 2: brain expanded, and then you kind of come home and
Speaker 2: you're like got to get used to the day to
Speaker 2: day again, and it's like this, I don't know, I
Speaker 2: get this tension between like wanting to adventure and live
Speaker 2: minute to minute and then you come home and it's like, oh,
Speaker 2: my God, should expectations and like settle down and have
Speaker 2: a life path kind of thing. What was next?
Speaker 1: What did I do? I came home, I don't think
Speaker 1: I still ended up working at mom and Dad's case.
Speaker 2: How did you come back to the shop?
Speaker 1: So thank God for the catchup? What did I do? Then?
Speaker 1: I went to India and Borneo with my sister, and
Speaker 1: in between that we do like little trips, but that
Speaker 1: was that was quite a big, biggish trip away. And
Speaker 1: then when I finally came back, I actually got a
Speaker 1: nursing job.
Speaker 2: So I was saying, yeah, I'm settling down now, I'm
Speaker 2: doing the thing.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's when I got a proper job. Well, it
Speaker 1: was funny. I was on a casual on the casual
Speaker 1: pool at ride Rehab, which is actually where I ended up,
Speaker 1: which was kind of a bit odd.
Speaker 2: No way the same place.
Speaker 1: Yeah, just I was just on the casual pool up there.
Speaker 1: And then I got a proper job at Royal Prince
Speaker 1: Alfred Hospital on the nearest Urge Coward, which was fantastic.
Speaker 1: I love that, And I had a fantastic boss and
Speaker 1: he knew I love traveling, and so like being a nurse,
Speaker 1: you kind of it's pretty cool. You get a lot
Speaker 1: of holidays really. Yeah, Like I used to take six
Speaker 1: weeks off a Christmas and then two weeks off during
Speaker 1: the year.
Speaker 2: Wow.
Speaker 1: So usually the six weeks camera and I would go away,
Speaker 1: like yeah, one time we went to back to Egypt
Speaker 1: and then to Ethiopia, which was awesome. It is amazing. Yeah,
Speaker 1: highly recommend.
Speaker 2: I love your sense of adventure, and I also I
Speaker 2: love the idea that I think something we talk about
Speaker 2: a lot in the show is people's idea of success
Speaker 2: and that being kind of the way you measure your life.
Speaker 2: And like, how far have I come along? And am
Speaker 2: I hitting goals? And am I keeping up with everyone
Speaker 2: around me. But I love that. It sounds like through
Speaker 2: your whole life you've had obviously had goals and a
Speaker 2: vocation and a profession, but like travel and seeing the
Speaker 2: world and other life experiences that aren't just like success
Speaker 2: measurements have been equally valued for you.
Speaker 1: Oh, totally been one, Like you know, oh, I'm going
Speaker 1: to be a nurse and then I'm going to be
Speaker 1: like a clinical nurse specialist and like move up the ranks.
Speaker 1: I've never been, Like that's fascinating. I don't know. I
Speaker 1: just like doing what I like to do.
Speaker 2: And that was when you say it like that, it
Speaker 2: sounds so straightforward, like do the things that make you happy,
Speaker 2: and like just don't do the things that don't make
Speaker 2: you happy.
Speaker 1: To me, that's what I say to everybody, Like if
Speaker 1: you want to do something, then do it. Don't want
Speaker 1: to have regrets totally.
Speaker 2: And yet there's for some reason for so many of us,
Speaker 2: it's actually a really convoluted decision making process of like
Speaker 2: there's a lot of barriers between I want to do
Speaker 2: it and I should do it, and they shouldn't be.
Speaker 2: But it's funny how like we let our brain get
Speaker 2: so clouded by all the reasons why we shouldn't be
Speaker 2: doing those things. I love that you're just like not
Speaker 2: like I want to do what I want to do.
Speaker 1: Really, I mean I've always been like that, even though
Speaker 1: I remember one time I saw this magazine Simply Living Okay,
Speaker 1: German that was a bit kind of hippie, and on
Speaker 1: the front cover they had a portrait of a man
Speaker 1: from Bhutan. And then in the end there obviously there
Speaker 1: was an article about like Bhutan, and I'm like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I so want to go there. So I did.
Speaker 2: You just went next day, bought a ticket.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I had to do a track. It was a
Speaker 1: trick you had to go through or was it World Expeditions,
Speaker 1: But it was amazing. So that's what I mean, Like,
Speaker 1: if you want to do something, they just follow follow
Speaker 1: very hot. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I love that so much. And it's actually Bhutan. I
Speaker 2: think that's the country that has the highest gross domestic happiness.
Speaker 2: Is that it?
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a beautiful country and beautiful people.
Speaker 2: So that's still definitely right up there on my bucket list.
Speaker 2: But coming back to that whole like measuring things more
Speaker 2: by happiness and fulfillment and joy rather than like success
Speaker 2: and goals, which is really, if I want anyone listening
Speaker 2: to take anything away from this show, it's to allow
Speaker 2: yourself space to measure your life by how happy you are,
Speaker 2: not just by all those other things. I think one
Speaker 2: of the reasons why your story is so powerful to
Speaker 2: people is that, I mean, up until this point, if
Speaker 2: anyone listening hasn't heard sam story yet, it already sounds
Speaker 2: like there's been a whole entire lifetime of revelations. But
Speaker 2: I mean, like, really, from twenty thirteen is another gigantic
Speaker 2: life changing event that makes it even more impressive that
Speaker 2: you have such a healthy, fresh approach to happiness from
Speaker 2: the depths of darkness to be able to find joy again.
Speaker 2: So can you tell us the story for anyone who
Speaker 2: hasn't heard it?
Speaker 1: Of course, So, like, like I said, I love traveling,
Speaker 1: and then so Cam and I had three boys, or
Speaker 1: have three boys, and we wanted to instill our love
Speaker 1: of travel in them. And you know, actually the most
Speaker 1: frustrating thing is Cam and I wanted to take them
Speaker 1: to Ethiopia and Egypt, and then at the time, I know,
Speaker 1: at the time Egypt it was just a bit too dangerous.
Speaker 1: So we're like, no, we don't want to risk it,
Speaker 1: and so that's why we chose Thailand. We thought, you know,
Speaker 1: it's close, beautiful people, great food, and so yeah, so
Speaker 1: we flew to Thailand, flew to Puquette, and then we
Speaker 1: started heading up north and we're kind of have between
Speaker 1: Picquet and Bangkok, and we'd been in tight End for
Speaker 1: only about four days, and we're staying at this really
Speaker 1: nice hotel, like it was right on the beach. It
Speaker 1: was pretty remote, and then one of the kids spotted
Speaker 1: like this, like an observation deck, and so we went
Speaker 1: up the stairs and then I land on the railing
Speaker 1: and it had dry rot, but I didn't realize, and
Speaker 1: so I fell back six meters, just straight down. And
Speaker 1: so yeah, so I fright broke my back and hit
Speaker 1: my head like sustain like numerous injuries, but obviously breaking
Speaker 1: my back was the worst. Oh my gosh, that was
Speaker 1: my holiday. That was the worst holiday of my life.
Speaker 2: I mean, justifiably, that's not what you want. On day
Speaker 2: four two, I think you fractured your skull, ruptured both lungs,
Speaker 2: and then shadowed your spinal cord.
Speaker 1: Right yeah, so yeah, so I'm paralyzed from my chest
Speaker 1: down like no movement, no, no, feeling nothing.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1: And it's weird, you know because like, like I said,
Speaker 1: I used to be really active before I guess before
Speaker 1: the accident. You know, I'd always be surfing and playing
Speaker 1: soccer and mountain biking. That's who I was. And then
Speaker 1: losing my mobility has always just been like like the
Speaker 1: scariest thing for me. And to have that happen it
Speaker 1: was like what, like, yeah, so I didn't handle it
Speaker 1: very well at.
Speaker 2: All, I mean fair enough. It's like something that you
Speaker 2: can't ever kind of plan for. I mean, no one
Speaker 2: sort of gives you a rule book on like how
Speaker 2: do I rebuild who I am, especially as someone who
Speaker 2: is especially active and who does activities like surfing, which
Speaker 2: you don't immediately think, oh, surfing is really easy as
Speaker 2: a paraplegic. Although speaking of your determination, you have since
Speaker 2: gotten back in the water, but we'll make our way
Speaker 2: back to that. So when it first happened, I mean,
Speaker 2: because you you know, have a background in nursing and neurology,
Speaker 2: did you know straight away like did you get evacuated,
Speaker 2: Like how did you get home?
Speaker 1: Well? No, I didn't know straight away. Well, I knocked
Speaker 1: myself out and I had bleeds on my brain, and
Speaker 1: so I was pretty out of it, and I actually
Speaker 1: had no idea. Really, I had no move but apparently
Speaker 1: in the ambulance I kind of came to and I
Speaker 1: said to Cam, I can't move. I can't move. But
Speaker 1: I don't remember any of this. So my first memory
Speaker 1: is probably there must have been two days after I
Speaker 1: fell and my mom and sister turned up, and I'm like,
Speaker 1: what are you guys doing here? I had no idea
Speaker 1: what was going on. I didn't even know I was
Speaker 1: in the hospital. And then oh, I remember saying to
Speaker 1: mom because I was like strapped onto this spinal board
Speaker 1: and I had this strap going over my chest and
Speaker 1: I remember saying to mom, oh, this is really hurting
Speaker 1: my boods. It was this squishing me. And I remember
Speaker 1: saying I want to get up. I want to get up,
Speaker 1: and I don't remember what she said to me, so yeah.
Speaker 1: And then the next memory is being in theater, but
Speaker 1: I didn't know I was in theater, and I remember
Speaker 1: them putting a central line in my neck and I
Speaker 1: hate needles and actually really hurt. And I remember dripping
Speaker 1: onto this sheet just like thinking what And then I
Speaker 1: saw them pull my t shirt out and cut that
Speaker 1: off and then I just saw the mask come down.
Speaker 1: But again I had no idea, Oh my gosh, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's just weird. I think the nurses were like I
Speaker 1: do remember always putting my arm out and they just
Speaker 1: injected some sort of dankil. So I was pretty out
Speaker 1: of it. And yeah, so no, I didn't know. And
Speaker 1: the tie doctors never said that I was paralyzed. Really no,
Speaker 1: from when I remember, they would say that I have
Speaker 1: spinal shock, and they'd be like, oh, you know, six
Speaker 1: weeks or so, you know, it should kind of get better.
Speaker 1: So in my head, I'm like, Okay, I can do
Speaker 1: like six weeks in hospitals.
Speaker 2: Then I'll go home and be me yeah, it'll all
Speaker 2: go back to normal.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I know it sounds weird, but I just had
Speaker 1: no idea. I must have thought though something bad had happened.
Speaker 1: Because where the accident happened, we will put an ambulance.
Speaker 1: We're driven three hours up to this other hospital. It
Speaker 1: was like a private hospital. It was in a place
Speaker 1: called Wahian. So I was there for about a week
Speaker 1: and a half and then they moved me up to Bangkok.
Speaker 1: And I remember when I was in Bangkok, saying to Cam,
Speaker 1: I wish I'd die, but I meant it though, so
Speaker 1: obviously I realized something was not right. Yeah, yeah, so well,
Speaker 1: I didn't actually find out I was paralyzed until I
Speaker 1: got back to Sydney. Really, yeah, I know it sounds
Speaker 1: so ridiculous. So I remember I got flown back to
Speaker 1: Sydney with a nurse and a doctor. She was a
Speaker 1: thy nurse an Aussie doctor and yeah, I met at
Speaker 1: the airport by ambulance offices and taking straight to roll
Speaker 1: Nor Shore. And yeah, it was the second day there
Speaker 1: and I went and had an MRI. And that's when
Speaker 1: the doctor came up. I remember asking him my mum
Speaker 1: was there next to me. I remember saying, you know,
Speaker 1: we'll ever walk again. It's you. No. I just pulled
Speaker 1: shuit over my head and I burst into tears. That's
Speaker 1: how I found out.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, it's just I feel like you know
Speaker 2: how you were saying before. If you've been asked what
Speaker 2: your biggest fear in life was, most of us have
Speaker 2: you know some big, huge fear that seems so remote,
Speaker 2: like yeah, it's huge fear, but like it would never
Speaker 2: actually happen. You've actually gone through the process of spending
Speaker 2: your whole life hearing something and then one day someone
Speaker 2: literally yeah, it just comes up to you and goes
Speaker 2: by the way. You know, that biggest like impossible, one
Speaker 2: percent chance it would happen to you. Yeah, here it is.
Speaker 1: I know. I couldn't believe it. I was just devastated.
Speaker 1: I remember, yeah, crying, Oh it's just cry. I was
Speaker 1: so I think I was so overwhelmed. I was just like, like,
Speaker 1: as far as I was concerned, it was like my
Speaker 1: life's over. Yeah, you know, like like what the hell
Speaker 1: am I supposed to do now? Yeah, you know, being
Speaker 1: stuck in well, stuck in bed for like three months,
Speaker 1: but you know that was wasn't too bad. But yeah, no,
Speaker 1: I was devastated. I remember just being so sad and
Speaker 1: angry all the.
Speaker 2: Time, and also the whole like I often. You know,
Speaker 2: one of my kind of guiding life philosophies is everything
Speaker 2: happens for a reason, which helps orientate you find the silverlighting.
Speaker 2: Blah blah blah. But there are some scenarios in life
Speaker 2: where you're like, there is no fucking that I love it.
Speaker 2: It does not make sense in every situation.
Speaker 1: No, no, definitely not.
Speaker 2: And it's interesting that it's I think you are such
Speaker 2: an amazing example of the fact that you know, we
Speaker 2: talk a lot about you can redefine the pathway that
Speaker 2: you have and you can find happiness and things you
Speaker 2: never thought you could. And you know, it's easier to
Speaker 2: talk about that in the abstract, but like you actually
Speaker 2: lost everything that you enjoyed about who you were and
Speaker 2: what your life could be. Yeah, so tell us about
Speaker 2: building that back up again, because not that it's don't
Speaker 2: I don't mean to compare scenarios, but I feel like
Speaker 2: people who might be, you know, born with paraplegia, they
Speaker 2: don't know themselves in a different way, whereas you have
Speaker 2: a clear contrast of like, this was my life before
Speaker 2: and this is what I have to get used to now.
Speaker 1: It's the before and alfter I always to say that's
Speaker 1: my old life. Yeah it is weird. Okay, So I
Speaker 1: was in the hospital for about seven months. That's a
Speaker 1: hospital and rehab and yeah, I do remember complaining. There
Speaker 1: was an amazing guy there. He was a sports recreational officer.
Speaker 1: He was awesome. He knew how much I loved sport
Speaker 1: and all that. He would try so hard. He take
Speaker 1: me to your basketball. He take me to murder ball,
Speaker 1: you know, like that where they knock into each other
Speaker 1: and two throwing a ball and everything, and I'd be
Speaker 1: like no, no, And I remember saying to him, maybe
Speaker 1: I could kayak. Oh yeah, yeah, because I thought I'm
Speaker 1: not in the wheelchair, you know, back on the water.
Speaker 1: And so yeah, it was two weeks after I got
Speaker 1: home from rehab. That's when I first started kayaking. And
Speaker 1: it just felt good, like I would just paddle only
Speaker 1: one day a week, Saturday mornings, and that was the
Speaker 1: highlight of my week being just kind of having our
Speaker 1: freedom again. I mean, obviously it wasn't easy, like having
Speaker 1: no core. I'd be like sitting there and I'd be like, well,
Speaker 1: building and just trying to fall out. But yeah, I know,
Speaker 1: it was just fun and it was also it was
Speaker 1: the one day. It was the one thing actually that
Speaker 1: took my pain away. This is the most annoying thing
Speaker 1: about spinal cord injury is like I have no feeling,
Speaker 1: but I'm in constant pain. Really it's so frustrating. It's
Speaker 1: like it's called neuropathic pain, so it's like your nerves
Speaker 1: are guess going crazy, so it's like you're continuously on.
Speaker 2: Fire, so you sort of have no sensations other than
Speaker 2: the ability to feel pain in that area.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's not normal pain. It's just like literally like
Speaker 1: you're sitting in coals or sitting on like stinging needles
Speaker 1: or something all the time. All the time. It's like,
Speaker 1: dam give me a break. So that's why the kayaking
Speaker 1: was really great, because I think it was like a distraction,
Speaker 1: you know, so I had to obviously just focused on
Speaker 1: not falling in the water, and it was just yeah,
Speaker 1: it was this. Yeah, it was a good distraction. And
Speaker 1: then I do remember thinking, wow, you know, the pain's
Speaker 1: not as bad.
Speaker 2: I think it's also really interesting how you didn't do
Speaker 2: it all overnight, like you kind of didn't go from
Speaker 2: where you were to like where you are now where
Speaker 2: you can speak about it, and you couldn't have happiness
Speaker 2: in your day. It was real like, Okay, first, I'll
Speaker 2: just do one day a week and then and I think,
Speaker 2: why the story of Penguin and the magpace so beautiful?
Speaker 2: Is it? Because it reminds everybody like it's just those
Speaker 2: really small things that give you a glimmer of a
Speaker 2: new emotion, like a tiny, tiny glimmer of hope. You
Speaker 2: don't need to have it all sorted out in one day.
Speaker 2: It can be one small distraction that gets you a
Speaker 2: little bit closer every day.
Speaker 1: Oh absolutely, yeah, so yes, okay, So I started the
Speaker 1: kayaking and then yeah, when I came home, I was
Speaker 1: like not any good headspace. I think when I came home,
Speaker 1: I was kind of like, oh my god, this is
Speaker 1: my reality, this is my new life. And I hated it, Like,
Speaker 1: you know, because we can look like, we can see
Speaker 1: the beach and I can see my favorite serfs boot
Speaker 1: and so I would just sit here and I'd look
Speaker 1: at it, and it'd make me so angry, so sad,
Speaker 1: you know, thinking, and I'd always go back. Oh you know,
Speaker 1: if this was like, you know, this time last year,
Speaker 1: I would have been out there. I would have been
Speaker 1: surfing and you know, having the best day. And so yeah,
Speaker 1: I felt like I was on house arrest and I
Speaker 1: hated being here. I felt like a really bad mom. Kius.
Speaker 1: You know the kids were only little Yeah how old
Speaker 1: were they at the time when it happened. They were
Speaker 1: like seven to nine and oh yeah, they're only like
Speaker 1: a little little and you know, I did everything for them.
Speaker 1: And then so when I came home. I felt so
Speaker 1: bad because I couldn't I couldn't take them to school,
Speaker 1: I couldn't run and go down the beach with them,
Speaker 1: and actually and really silly things like I couldn't clean
Speaker 1: the house, you know, just really dumb mom things. But
Speaker 1: I missed so much and going shopping and cooking, and yeah,
Speaker 1: I really struggled, and yeah, it is sad. It was
Speaker 1: about three months after and Noah and I went to
Speaker 1: my mom's house. She lives at the next beach, and yeah,
Speaker 1: and Noah found a little magpie and we thought we
Speaker 1: she died we left her there, so we picked her
Speaker 1: up and bring her home, and yeah, she was so cute.
Speaker 1: She was so adorable. And then so we called it
Speaker 1: penguin because she looked like a baby penguin. Showed that,
Speaker 1: you know, the fluffy chouse, you know, so I was like, oh,
Speaker 1: it just takes like a penguin, and so, yeah, it
Speaker 1: was just great. It was great for me because I
Speaker 1: actually had something to focus on, and she took like,
Speaker 1: you know, instead of just kind of feelings, not sorry
Speaker 1: for myself, but like just wallowing. I guess in like
Speaker 1: self pity maybe, which.
Speaker 2: You're absolutely allowed to do.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, I just kind of put all my
Speaker 1: energy and so did the kids into Penguin because she
Speaker 1: she was so tiny and she needed feeding every couple
Speaker 1: of hours. And oh it was just lovely. It was
Speaker 1: just and I talked to her all the time. I
Speaker 1: would winch to her, I tell her what was going on.
Speaker 2: In my head, because your emotional support bird he was.
Speaker 2: And then because obviously because Cameron's a photographer who was
Speaker 2: documenting this, did he know that he wanted to use
Speaker 2: the photos for something?
Speaker 1: Oh absolutely not, no, no no. So yeah, like Cam continues,
Speaker 1: it takes photos, which is fine. I remember saying to him, though,
Speaker 1: I remember saying, if you're going to take a photo
Speaker 1: of me and Penguin, you can only shoot from my
Speaker 1: waist up. I didn't want the wheelchair. Really, yeah, I
Speaker 1: had a few issues.
Speaker 2: I mean, fair enough, you've come a long way.
Speaker 1: And so, as a joke, said to Cam, why don't
Speaker 1: you start an Instagram account? And so we did it
Speaker 1: and it was just for a bit of fun. So
Speaker 1: we called it Penguin Magpie. And then you know, Cam
Speaker 1: would post a few photos and then I think an
Speaker 1: abas C journalist from Brisbane, I think saw it and
Speaker 1: then it kind of went a bit crazy. So it
Speaker 1: was so far. I remember Cam and I were laughing.
Speaker 1: I was like, this is so bizarre, Like he was
Speaker 1: getting people from overseas wanting to write a little story
Speaker 1: on Penguin, from India, Israel all this. We were like what, Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was bizarre. And then a few people publishers wanted
Speaker 1: to do is store a book and we were like
Speaker 1: that's just weird. Like we were like, who would want
Speaker 1: to my book with our family photos?
Speaker 2: Yeah, that is such a weird content. What do you
Speaker 2: think about it?
Speaker 1: Yeah? And then Hypercollins ABC email Cam and then Cam
Speaker 1: message Bradley Trevor Grieve, who actually wrote our books.
Speaker 2: I love was the author.
Speaker 1: You know. Cam was kind of like, what do you
Speaker 1: think you know about telling our story? And then I
Speaker 1: think it was like twenty four hours later Bradley wrote
Speaker 1: back and he said, I'll tell your story okay. So
Speaker 1: he was making Penguin almost like a like a vessel.
Speaker 1: I guess you could say, like to tell my story,
Speaker 1: like he was telling my stories through Penguin, which sounds odd. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but it was really cool. I mean I'd never met Bradley.
Speaker 1: It's kind of perfect timing for me because I was
Speaker 1: still like, you know, pretty I was not happy, and
Speaker 1: I hated always wing into Cam because he had enough
Speaker 1: and he had to obviously look after me and the boys.
Speaker 1: And so it was really nice talking to Bradley with
Speaker 1: Scott like almost every day for hours, and I would
Speaker 1: just yeah, just tell Bradley every scene how I was feeling,
Speaker 1: good days, bad days, you know, funny things, sad things.
Speaker 1: So it's kind of quite cathartic, I think, just talking
Speaker 1: and sharing things with him.
Speaker 2: I think I discovered him through the Blue Day Book,
Speaker 2: which I think is maybe not his first one, yeah,
Speaker 2: but I think it was the one that kind of
Speaker 2: like exploded and solid.
Speaker 1: Okay, I remember that too. That was massive.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was like the one that really started me
Speaker 2: thinking about redefining like a shit day and it's you know,
Speaker 2: one bad day is in a bad life, and then
Speaker 2: there's all and then you know, after I found that book,
Speaker 2: I kind of bought all these books, and I think
Speaker 2: that actually might have been how I came across Penguin
Speaker 2: Bloom in the first place. But I mean again, it's
Speaker 2: one of those things where like you would never have
Speaker 2: guessed that that is what would come of your story,
Speaker 2: but no.
Speaker 1: A million years what I know? Yeah, it was this,
Speaker 1: It was this weird, but it was it was great.
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Speaker 2: and listen today. And then it went on to become
Speaker 2: a like, not just an international bestseller, but a Hollywood movie.
Speaker 1: I know, right, I know. Yeah. So one of the
Speaker 1: producers from the film, Emma Cooper, came new Emma from
Speaker 1: from years ago, you know, obviously being a photographer. And
Speaker 1: then so Emma is best mates with Naomi Watts. So
Speaker 1: Emma gave a book to Naomi and it just really
Speaker 1: resonated with him. His name. He also has a couple
Speaker 1: of kids, and you know, I guess, being a mom herself,
Speaker 1: she would say, Wow, I want to make this into
Speaker 1: a film. I want to produce it and act in it.
Speaker 2: What I love how most people are like they want
Speaker 2: you know, their wildest dreams would be to get onto
Speaker 2: someone famous, to like play them in a movie. I meanwhile,
Speaker 2: she's asking if she can be.
Speaker 1: You seriously that wild? Yeah, No, it was really cool.
Speaker 1: I mean I'm so lucky. Like she is the most
Speaker 1: down to earth loveliest person ever, you know, Like I was,
Speaker 1: I as, I was pretty nervous when I first met
Speaker 1: her for lunch and I was going came, oh my god,
Speaker 1: oh my god, Like you know, she's like a movie star,
Speaker 1: and I was thinking, oh, I hope she's not like
Speaker 1: a princess, you know, like the whole like just open
Speaker 1: the top. But honestly, as soon as we met, yeah,
Speaker 1: she just hit it off. She's so lovely.
Speaker 2: Oh my god.
Speaker 1: I'm so lucky.
Speaker 2: I mean I think you think that it's luck, but
Speaker 2: also I think good things come to good people, and
Speaker 2: like you know, I think people find each other as
Speaker 2: well when they have some amazing product or some project
Speaker 2: that's going to come out that they're meant to be
Speaker 2: together for, like you and Bradley, and like you know,
Speaker 2: I feel like it all kind of comes together and
Speaker 2: it's it's it's amazing that you have gone from a
Speaker 2: place of literally hating sort of your day to day,
Speaker 2: which is so understandable and such a natural like reaction
Speaker 2: to everything you love being taken away from you to
Speaker 2: now being able to not only like change so many
Speaker 2: other people's perception of happiness and fulfillment with the book
Speaker 2: and the film, but also like getting back in the
Speaker 2: water yourself. You've gone on and like as you said,
Speaker 2: you started canoeing. I love how humble you are. Like
Speaker 2: I just kind of got in the water. I'm like
Speaker 2: you then kind of won like some national titles, but
Speaker 2: then also became a world surfing champion. Gal, what do
Speaker 2: you mean.
Speaker 1: I know, it's very strange because I used to surf.
Speaker 1: You know, I've grown up surfing and so I've always
Speaker 1: feel comfortable in the ocean. Yeah, but I mean after
Speaker 1: my accident that I was like, you know, there's no way,
Speaker 1: like I I surfing is just like a write off.
Speaker 1: And so it actually took five years, and you know
Speaker 1: how it came about. It was like this random act
Speaker 1: of kindness.
Speaker 2: It was a letter, wasn't it.
Speaker 1: It was a letter yep, from Nolah Wilson and her
Speaker 1: son is Julian Wilson, who was a professional surfer. And
Speaker 1: I mean I didn't know.
Speaker 2: I didn't know them.
Speaker 1: And then Nola this wrote me this most beautiful letter
Speaker 1: encouraging me to get back out on the ocean, get
Speaker 1: back out on the water, and I was like, okay,
Speaker 1: so I kind of everything to Nola. Wow, Oh no,
Speaker 1: she's such a legend, Like she's just the coolest lady.
Speaker 2: I mean, I think you're the coolest lady ever, but oh.
Speaker 1: No, Nola is just amazing. She's so beautiful. Like even
Speaker 1: like she'd come down and watch me compete at some competitions,
Speaker 1: you know in New South Wales, and you know, just
Speaker 1: she's always just so like she's again she's like, oh,
Speaker 1: I'm so proud of you. She's just yeah, she's a
Speaker 1: beautiful lady. So I know, just that that one letter,
Speaker 1: it's completely changed everything.
Speaker 2: And it's so interesting because I think so much of
Speaker 2: your story is like the perfect example of all the
Speaker 2: themes we talk about on the show, but just on steroids,
Speaker 2: like the idea of like we all you know, we
Speaker 2: talk about self doubt very often and confidence and trying
Speaker 2: out new things outside the comfort zone, but then also
Speaker 2: that if you have the right tribe around you, it
Speaker 2: just takes one conversation to kind of push you over
Speaker 2: the edge to either believe that you can or that
Speaker 2: you can't like, depending on who you surround yourself with.
Speaker 2: But that is an example literally on steroids. It's like,
Speaker 2: I didn't know if I could get back in the water.
Speaker 2: That would be enormously scary without the same physical strength.
Speaker 1: Oh it was. It was scary and it was frustrating.
Speaker 1: And some days I'd hate it, and you know, and
Speaker 1: I'd get angry at Cam going because he was always
Speaker 1: in the water obviously with me, and you know, and
Speaker 1: I'm like, you don't get this, Cam like it's not
Speaker 1: the same and no, no, you known't have a wind.
Speaker 1: But then other days that we just have like such
Speaker 1: a great time and catch beautiful waves, and so yeah,
Speaker 1: it definitely had its ups and down. Yea. Honestly, I
Speaker 1: would do absolutely anything to be able to grab my
Speaker 1: board and run down the beach and be on my own,
Speaker 1: I find because I used to be quite alone. No
Speaker 1: I did. I used to go mound bike on my
Speaker 1: running like I liked being on my own, and I'd
Speaker 1: get surfing on my I mean, obviously I would do
Speaker 1: stuff with friends.
Speaker 2: You had some friends, had a couple.
Speaker 1: Of friends, but you know what I mean, I just
Speaker 1: liked my own company and I missed that after my accident.
Speaker 1: I missed that so much, just not being able to escape.
Speaker 2: Yeah, can you explain adaptive surfing to people who don't
Speaker 2: actually know we've actually had Did you know Barney Miller?
Speaker 2: Have you met him?
Speaker 1: Barnie? I went in my first competition against Barney. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so kind I guess Barney also inspired me to compete.
Speaker 2: I love Fine He and Kit. We've known them for
Speaker 2: a while. They were on the show, like in its
Speaker 2: very first year, and I cry every time I watch
Speaker 2: that documentary. It's just so amazing.
Speaker 1: They're the best couple ever, best best.
Speaker 2: But for those who haven't listened to that one, how
Speaker 2: does adaptive surfing work? And how did you kind of
Speaker 2: build up your strength?
Speaker 1: Again? Okay, so, I mean I'm pretty lucky. I've always
Speaker 1: been pretty strong in my arms, So so for me
Speaker 1: now surfing means essentially lying on my board. Obviously I
Speaker 1: can't stand up, and so I ride a normal shortboard
Speaker 1: and so but what it is, it does look a
Speaker 1: little bit weird, I guess, some weird looks. Sometimes I've
Speaker 1: got two fins on the top of my board, so
Speaker 1: they keep my legs in place.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, if.
Speaker 1: You know what I mean, yeah, Barney had the same
Speaker 1: So I copied that idea of Barney, because otherwise, like
Speaker 1: if a wave came, my legs would a leg would
Speaker 1: just get pushed off and then I'd fall. So I've
Speaker 1: got two fins on the top and then obviously like
Speaker 1: the three you know underneath, like a normal good and
Speaker 1: I've got a handle at the front. Does that make sense?
Speaker 1: So I grab a handle and then and then hold
Speaker 1: the side of the board. It must look very strange.
Speaker 1: It's almost like boogets. It's like boogie boarding, but on
Speaker 1: a surfboard.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Okay, so someone gets you on the wave. So
Speaker 2: Mick and Barney are always partners in the competition. So
Speaker 2: Cam is your.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but that's changed now. Yeah, okay. For five years
Speaker 1: I did have Cam pushing me onto the waves and
Speaker 1: helping me get back out because I find paddling really
Speaker 1: hard because well I have no core and so I
Speaker 1: find it really hard to like arch up and to paddle.
Speaker 1: I almost paddle with my head on the board.
Speaker 2: Yeah, to get more.
Speaker 1: It's very strange. Yeah, And so last year I went
Speaker 1: to Hawaii and there's different classifications. Obviously, you know, some
Speaker 1: people like Barney, for example, doesn't have great strength in
Speaker 1: his arms, whereas I mean, and then but I do.
Speaker 1: And you know, some people are missing limbs, there's visually impaired.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of different categories. And so I went
Speaker 1: to Hawaii to compete, and two days before the competition,
Speaker 1: they're like, oh, we want to reclassify you because you're
Speaker 1: looking really strong. Seriously, and so I went in and
Speaker 1: they're like, yeah, you're not getting any help. Now. I
Speaker 1: was kind of freaking out, going, oh, how embarrassing if
Speaker 1: I can't catch a wave. And I was like, okay,
Speaker 1: I was. I remember, I was so like, oh my god,
Speaker 1: oh my god, like you know, and the camera. I
Speaker 1: went out just for a practice when I'm going to camp.
Speaker 1: Don't touch me. Don't touch me. I do not touch me.
Speaker 1: I have to do this on my own. And so
Speaker 1: I caught a couple of ways and say, okay, this
Speaker 1: is pretty tricky. And then oh man, even the night
Speaker 1: before the competition, and I just figured I just kind
Speaker 1: of changed my mindset. I figured I have nothing to lose.
Speaker 1: I was actually up against the world champion in my
Speaker 1: new division. Oh my, oh god. And it was so funny.
Speaker 1: I remember I went up to this mom. She was
Speaker 1: an American mom. Her daughter competes in another division. And
Speaker 1: I said to the mom, I'm like, Sarah's pretty good,
Speaker 1: isn't she Sarah who was I was competing against. And
Speaker 1: she goes, oh, yeah, she's gonna mup the floor. I'm like, okay,
Speaker 1: thank you for the bruceive confidence.
Speaker 2: Oh my god.
Speaker 1: So I'll say, okay, cool, I've got nothing to lose.
Speaker 1: I'm up against the world champ. And I figured, like
Speaker 1: all I wanted to do since my accident was surf
Speaker 1: on my own. And I figured, I get to do
Speaker 1: it at it and this most beautiful surf break, So
Speaker 1: I just go out there, try my best and have fun.
Speaker 1: And so I did, and I was super lucky and
Speaker 1: I got a couple of good waves and I beat it.
Speaker 1: I beat Sarah.
Speaker 2: Yes, oh my god, you want gold two years in
Speaker 2: a row.
Speaker 1: This wasn't It's not well still, you know this is
Speaker 1: It's called the Adaptive World Tour. So what there is
Speaker 1: is three different locations for an adaptive surfing. It's a
Speaker 1: competition away. It was the first the first stop.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, yeah, I was.
Speaker 1: And so from now on, I mean, yeah, I get
Speaker 1: no assistance in the water.
Speaker 2: That is crazy.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's pretty hard. And last year I went to
Speaker 1: Worlds and it was in it's in northern California and
Speaker 1: it's it's in December. It was so cold and so awful,
Speaker 1: and I remember I did run in my heads. And
Speaker 1: it's funny because I was against Sarah A. She's American,
Speaker 1: and she goes to me, you did really well in
Speaker 1: good surf and really bad in city surf. I'm like, yeah, no, interesting, yeah.
Speaker 1: And so in the final, it was so windy and
Speaker 1: so horrible, and I so did not want to go
Speaker 1: out and I just bombed. Man. I just I think
Speaker 1: I kind of caught one wave, but I just literally
Speaker 1: went over the falls. I was like, this is just shit.
Speaker 1: So and all I wanted to do. All I wanted
Speaker 1: was the hood to go off so we could come in.
Speaker 1: It was such a long twenty minutes. I was like,
Speaker 1: so I came forth.
Speaker 2: That's still amazing.
Speaker 1: Oh. I thought I'd be more gutted, but I was
Speaker 1: just kind of like in a weird way, like and
Speaker 1: the other girls I was up against. I was up
Speaker 1: against two Americans and a South African. They were are
Speaker 1: really like great girls. So we kind of just had fun.
Speaker 1: So I started cool. I was like, yeah, I didn't
Speaker 1: mind coming forth. I regatted, but I was okay with it.
Speaker 1: And yeah, and then this year we just weren't Hawaii
Speaker 1: about a month ago for the same comp as last
Speaker 1: year in Hawaiian and yeah, straighted it again. So only
Speaker 1: just only just what did you love it? Yeah? I
Speaker 1: get nervous. I get nervous before competing and I can't
Speaker 1: eat and I know I have to and oh wow, yeah,
Speaker 1: I get the full nerves and then it's like, I
Speaker 1: don't know. I felt good in my final this year
Speaker 1: in Hawaii, Like my paddle fitness was quite good and
Speaker 1: I felt strong.
Speaker 2: What do you do when you get Like we talk
Speaker 2: a lot about how self doubt is actually not a
Speaker 2: bad thing. Like nerves are kind of a sign that
Speaker 2: I feel like if I turned up to say, a
Speaker 2: speaking gig and I wasn't nervous, I'd be like, you're
Speaker 2: not invested enough, Like you're getting a bit complacent. But
Speaker 2: what do you do with that? Like how do you
Speaker 2: talk yourself down from like so you don't throw up?
Speaker 1: I know I try not to. Well, I can't bear
Speaker 1: it when people are I kind of like just kind
Speaker 1: of let me alone. Let me just kind of focus,
Speaker 1: I do this and take some deep breath and just
Speaker 1: just yeah, I don't know, just kind.
Speaker 2: Of hope for the best, just like get in the zone.
Speaker 1: I know. Yeah. I remember my first ever World Championships
Speaker 1: and we had the three kids over there. This was
Speaker 1: in San Diego, and they were so excited, which was
Speaker 1: so cute. But they're like, hey, you, oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: like this, leave me alone. You know, I'd never completed
Speaker 1: like before like that, And I was, yeah, no, I
Speaker 1: just yeah, just try and focus and just do some
Speaker 1: deep breathing.
Speaker 2: And trying it all out.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I still get crazy nervous.
Speaker 2: I love that though. I think that's so like it's
Speaker 2: a nice sign that you still really care about the outcome.
Speaker 1: And yeah, yeah, when you want to do well, like
Speaker 1: when everybody wants to win.
Speaker 2: Yes. So in between your competing, you do a lot
Speaker 2: of public speaking. You've had Bradley did a second book
Speaker 2: on your story, Sam Bloom, Heartache and bird Song, And now,
Speaker 2: I mean, I can imagine, particularly after the movie, that
Speaker 2: there are so many people who love your story. I imagine
Speaker 2: you get inundated with people sharing the ways it's you know,
Speaker 2: impacted them. And I forget recognized as well, Like, how
Speaker 2: like your life has changed so much? How is it?
Speaker 2: Like where are you at now?
Speaker 1: No, it's cool. I mean that's the one thing about
Speaker 1: like the only thing that like I have found positive
Speaker 1: in this whole crazy journey is sharing my story and
Speaker 1: just being able to help other people. I can't bear
Speaker 1: the word like inspirational because I'm not that, but like,
Speaker 1: you know, I love the fact that I have kind
Speaker 1: of encouraged other people, like especially to get into the surfing.
Speaker 1: You know, it's so funny. There's three new Aussies who
Speaker 1: are hopefully going to be on the team on the
Speaker 1: Ustraine team representing Australia this year for the adaptive surfing
Speaker 1: And yeah, no, it's really cool. Like there was this
Speaker 1: one guy. Well actually, like last year, I did a
Speaker 1: talk and then a dad came up to me, and
Speaker 1: you know, the dad was in tears and he's going
Speaker 1: on my sons, he's had a paragliding accident. He's in
Speaker 1: ron not sure you know, he's paralyzed, and you now,
Speaker 1: I was just like thinking, oh my god, what like
Speaker 1: you know, what do I say? And so I said
Speaker 1: to him, I said, look, just get get Chris as
Speaker 1: his son to reach out to me when he's ready,
Speaker 1: and he did and I was so stoked. And then
Speaker 1: he came up up to my house. He was in
Speaker 1: hospital and his girlfriend drove him up here, and I know,
Speaker 1: we just hit it off. He's just he was incredibly active,
Speaker 1: like he'd go hiking, you'd do search and rescue, like
Speaker 1: here's a goer. And he used to surf. And then
Speaker 1: it was funny. I went up to see him when
Speaker 1: I was in rehab and I was telling him about
Speaker 1: the Hawaiian competition and he's like, well, can anyone go?
Speaker 1: I'm like yeah, and then I over a cup of tea,
Speaker 1: He's like signing up, going, okay, I'm going to do it.
Speaker 1: I was like hell yeah. So it was this awesome. So,
Speaker 1: I mean, man, Chris hasn't even been injured for a year.
Speaker 1: It's going to be a year on Sunday and then yeah,
Speaker 1: so he came to Hawaii. That was his first overseas trip.
Speaker 1: This one just now yeah a month ago. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: he competed and you know, he was also up against
Speaker 1: like obviously the world champion, and he did so well.
Speaker 1: He came forth out of Saturday or fourteen guys. I
Speaker 1: was like, dude, come on, and he's like, that's not
Speaker 1: going to haugh. I'm like, Chris, that's amazing. But it's
Speaker 1: just really nice. I remember in messaging me when he's
Speaker 1: still in rehab, like you know, he wasn't any good space.
Speaker 1: He was like me, he kind of hated it, like
Speaker 1: you know, he was angry, and he said, this is
Speaker 1: the first time I've been excited since my accident. And
Speaker 1: then the other day, yeah, we kind of trained together
Speaker 1: a lot now, and then he said, yeah, the other day,
Speaker 1: like being in Hawaii with his girlfriend Jazz, who's also
Speaker 1: just a legend, he said, that was the first time
Speaker 1: we've been happy, like you know, just that it's okay,
Speaker 1: that's it sucks. Everything sucks, but you can still have fun.
Speaker 1: So that to me makes everything, like, yeah, this makes
Speaker 1: me feel good, like if you can just help someone,
Speaker 1: because I know exactly how he feels just being in
Speaker 1: that in that just horrible dark space.
Speaker 2: And I think, I know you don't like the word inspiring,
Speaker 2: but I think sometimes people in a dark place, any
Speaker 2: kind of dark place, they need something just to remind
Speaker 2: them that it is possible, like things can suck in
Speaker 2: a way that you think is never going to end
Speaker 2: or that could never change. But people find a new purpose,
Speaker 2: they can find new joy, and it takes a long time.
Speaker 2: Like I also think people think you probably healed really quickly,
Speaker 2: but I'm sure it took you a really long time.
Speaker 1: Are you kidding? It took ages. I mean, I mean,
Speaker 1: I still don't accept it. I'll never be okay with this, Like, man,
Speaker 1: I hate it so even sometimes I still wake up
Speaker 1: now and go, oh god, damn much. You know, I
Speaker 1: just would do anything to be mere, just thine I'm
Speaker 1: going for a bush work or whatever. Yeah, no, I'll
Speaker 1: never be okay. But like you said, like if you
Speaker 1: find a purpose or something that you love doing, it changed.
Speaker 1: It does change everything, you know, not like I mean,
Speaker 1: oh man, the amount of I remember saying to Cam Oh,
Speaker 1: like quite a long time ago, I remember saying to him,
Speaker 1: I said, you know what, I've had five epic days
Speaker 1: in a whole year. You know, I'm like, that's just shit. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but now obviously you know, like, no, we have like
Speaker 1: heaps of good days and we're just lucky. We've got
Speaker 1: to meet amazing people and do really cool things.
Speaker 2: Oh that's so lovely? Was that magpiees in the background
Speaker 2: by the way, just then.
Speaker 1: Could you hear it? Yeah, it's a little baby and
Speaker 1: it comes to be fed. It's not crazy from there.
Speaker 1: I can't hand fed or like doesn't sit on my
Speaker 1: lap or anything.
Speaker 2: You have a new magpie friend.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's not the same. I don't know if it
Speaker 1: to we're a girl yet. But yeah, they're always outside.
Speaker 1: We're so cute. And we didn't really give it a name.
Speaker 1: Where there's like the two of them, we call that
Speaker 1: little twins. We go, oh baby.
Speaker 2: So my aunties who live around the corner from us,
Speaker 2: my mum's sister, they have somehow adopted baby magpies as well,
Speaker 2: similar and they I gave them your book like ages
Speaker 2: ages ago and they've raised them like with sources of
Speaker 2: milk and now they like hand feed them every day
Speaker 2: as well. And they're in Europe at the moment, so
Speaker 2: they were like, can you please feed our magpies. I'm like,
Speaker 2: they're not, you're magpies, but they're like they'll wait every
Speaker 2: day like they expect their food. So you better go
Speaker 2: over this. I'm feeding these magpies. Hilarious literally, aw Sam, Well,
Speaker 2: this has just been so lovely. You are such an
Speaker 2: absolute legend, and I so appreciate your time. I love
Speaker 2: quotes and not everyone does. But is there a.
Speaker 1: Yeah, aay? Is it a quote from me or a
Speaker 1: quote that I love anybody?
Speaker 2: Or it could even just be like a thought on
Speaker 2: happiness or joy or just something that you want to
Speaker 2: leave the listeners with.
Speaker 1: Always to say, like, don't put your dreams on hold,
Speaker 1: which is you don't know what what tomorrow will bring.
Speaker 1: And that is the one thing I am thankful for
Speaker 1: up until the accident. Like I said, if I wanted
Speaker 1: to do something, then I'll do it. Imagine how devastated
Speaker 1: I'd be if I wanted to get to Africa but
Speaker 1: I never did, you know, Like look at that. I'm like, so, yeah,
Speaker 1: don't you change on hold? Just go for it.
Speaker 2: Oh that's such a beautiful way to end. I often
Speaker 2: think that there's always a reason to delay doing what
Speaker 2: you want to do. There's always something that you could
Speaker 2: allow to be a reason. But yeah, you don't necessarily
Speaker 2: always have the time that you think. And I think
Speaker 2: that's a really really lovely takeaway.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so if you want to do it, and do it,
Speaker 1: so you're going to baton.
Speaker 2: We're in that like interesting stage of life right now
Speaker 2: where we're just starting to think about having a family,
Speaker 2: and I'm like, I've got a squeeze in so much.
Speaker 2: Before I went to Antarctica and December, I was like,
Speaker 2: what else wanted to get out of my system? Fantastic
Speaker 2: lots of penguins, not magpies, but penguins. Yeah, right, Sam,
Speaker 2: Where can we find you? Where can we find you book?
Speaker 2: If anyone is interested in having you speak? Like, where
Speaker 2: can we find you?
Speaker 1: There is a website sand Bloom. Just google sand Bloom.
Speaker 2: Amazing. I'll pop it in the show notes. Yeah, thank
Speaker 2: you so much. This is delight.
Speaker 1: This has been so fad. It's so cool. It's so
Speaker 1: cool talking about the past.
Speaker 2: What an incredible human being who still seems quite bewildered
Speaker 2: that anyone is interested in her story, which is so endearing.
Speaker 2: I loved speaking to Sam so much, and I hope
Speaker 2: you guys found her as refreshing and inspiring as I did.
Speaker 2: If you don't already have a copy of her book,
Speaker 2: I'll pop links in the show notes along with her
Speaker 2: social pages, website, the movie and the like. She actually
Speaker 2: has a couple of books, as we mentioned. If you
Speaker 2: enjoyed Please do take a moment to share the episode
Speaker 2: or leave a review to keep growing our beautiful neighborhood
Speaker 2: as far and wide as possible. I'll be back next
Speaker 2: week with Ange to chat about the past few weeks,
Speaker 2: so if you do have any questions or things you'd
Speaker 2: like covered, please shoot us a DM before then, and
Speaker 2: in the meantime, I hope you're all all seizing, you're
Speaker 2: yahy