1 00:00:09,360 --> 00:00:12,799 Speaker 1: You're listening to Alive Again, a production of Psychopia Pictures 2 00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:14,360 Speaker 1: and iHeart Podcasts. 3 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:19,000 Speaker 2: My name's Derek McManus. 4 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:27,720 Speaker 3: In nineteen ninety four, I was shot fourteen times. I 5 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:32,080 Speaker 3: was bleeding from multiple massive injuries, and the first doctor 6 00:00:32,120 --> 00:00:33,680 Speaker 3: to get to me said that I was about thirty 7 00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:36,800 Speaker 3: seconds from death and he thought I was already dead 8 00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:40,519 Speaker 3: when he first got there. Since then, I've been talking 9 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:43,800 Speaker 3: about what I now call human durability, and this our 10 00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:50,200 Speaker 3: ability to sustain optimal performance under immense pressures. 11 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:58,640 Speaker 1: Welcome to Alive Again, a podcast that showcases miraculous accounts 12 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:02,080 Speaker 1: of human fragility and resilience from people whose lives were 13 00:01:02,120 --> 00:01:07,119 Speaker 1: forever altered after having almost died. These are first hand 14 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:10,959 Speaker 1: accounts of near death experiences and more broadly, brushes with death. 15 00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:15,200 Speaker 1: Our mission is simple, find, explore, and share these stories 16 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:18,080 Speaker 1: to remind us all of our shared human condition. Please 17 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:20,440 Speaker 1: keep in mind these stories are true and maybe triggering 18 00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:22,720 Speaker 1: for some listener and discretion as advised. 19 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:30,880 Speaker 3: So I was born in Scotland, came out here when 20 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:34,080 Speaker 3: I was three to Australia. I did bring my parents 21 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:37,520 Speaker 3: with me. I was brought up in Elizabeth, which is 22 00:01:37,720 --> 00:01:42,920 Speaker 3: a suburb which was built for immigrants from the UK 23 00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:48,600 Speaker 3: in Adelaide, South Australia. Essentially, it was a tough place 24 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:52,920 Speaker 3: to grow up. It's become kind of like the Bronx 25 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:57,280 Speaker 3: of Adelaide. It's a tough place to grow up. My 26 00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:01,360 Speaker 3: parents were absolutely exceptional and brought us up. 27 00:02:01,320 --> 00:02:02,680 Speaker 2: In a very loving environment. 28 00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:06,680 Speaker 3: But I always had a passion to do something to 29 00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:09,840 Speaker 3: help people, and I became a police officer at the 30 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:13,120 Speaker 3: age of seventeen. I went through training for three years, 31 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:16,920 Speaker 3: graduated when I was twenty and have been a police 32 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:21,080 Speaker 3: officer all my life. So policing originally was appealing to 33 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:24,440 Speaker 3: me because the hero in my life as I was 34 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:27,480 Speaker 3: growing up with my big brother, and my big brother 35 00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:29,280 Speaker 3: wanted to be a police officer, and I've just gone 36 00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:30,799 Speaker 3: I can't think of anything else, so I'm going to 37 00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:33,560 Speaker 3: be a police officer as well. My whole family said, 38 00:02:33,639 --> 00:02:35,880 Speaker 3: you only want to do it because Brian's doing it, 39 00:02:35,919 --> 00:02:39,200 Speaker 3: and I've got no no my idea. My brother changed 40 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:42,840 Speaker 3: his mind and he became a butcher. I couldn't change 41 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:45,840 Speaker 3: my mind otherwise that would prove every one of my 42 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:54,040 Speaker 3: family rights. So that took me into policing. I absolutely 43 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:56,040 Speaker 3: loved doing the job. But I wasn't one of the 44 00:02:56,600 --> 00:03:02,480 Speaker 3: passionate police officers that eat, breathe, sleeps policing every holiday, 45 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:04,080 Speaker 3: you're going visit other police officers. 46 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:07,120 Speaker 2: That wasn't me. But I really enjoyed what I did. 47 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:07,919 Speaker 2: But I got to a. 48 00:03:07,919 --> 00:03:11,440 Speaker 3: Point where I was looking for another challenge and I 49 00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:14,280 Speaker 3: was actually looking outside the police department, and then somebody 50 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:16,320 Speaker 3: said to me, why don't you try Star Group, which 51 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:21,280 Speaker 3: is special task and rescue, high risk, arrest, hostage, siege, 52 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:26,000 Speaker 3: counter terrorism, cliff rescue, cave rescue, mine rescue, helicopter operations. 53 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:29,840 Speaker 3: It's police, but it's the equivalent of your Marines. It's 54 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:34,000 Speaker 3: the equivalent of your Delta Force. I was trained by 55 00:03:34,120 --> 00:03:37,920 Speaker 3: our military elite, which is the SAS, which is the 56 00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:41,360 Speaker 3: equivalent of Delta Force. I was trained by them in 57 00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:43,800 Speaker 3: counter terrorism, so we're operating. 58 00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:44,040 Speaker 2: At that level. 59 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:46,400 Speaker 3: But our skills are very similar to what theirs are. 60 00:03:47,320 --> 00:03:50,640 Speaker 3: And I've gone that sounds interesting. And when I got 61 00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:56,440 Speaker 3: into that session, that became my passion. I absolutely loved 62 00:03:56,480 --> 00:04:00,000 Speaker 3: that environment. It gave me all the challenges that I need, 63 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:02,920 Speaker 3: all the adrenaline that I needed, all the stepping up 64 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:07,040 Speaker 3: to leadership that I needed, all the problem solving creativity 65 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:09,840 Speaker 3: that I needed to overcome those challenges. 66 00:04:09,960 --> 00:04:11,160 Speaker 2: It did become my passion. 67 00:04:17,400 --> 00:04:20,960 Speaker 3: Third of May nineteen ninety four, just finished having a 68 00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:24,080 Speaker 3: veranda and cardboard built on the back of the house, 69 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:27,360 Speaker 3: and as I left for work, my wife said to me, 70 00:04:27,480 --> 00:04:30,039 Speaker 3: when you get home tonight, we are going to have 71 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:34,159 Speaker 3: a Scones jam cream and a cup of tea underneath 72 00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:36,920 Speaker 3: our brand new veranda. And so when I left work, 73 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:39,240 Speaker 3: that's what I had a picture. I'm coming home to 74 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:42,719 Speaker 3: this beautiful little celebration of this new extension to our house. 75 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:47,520 Speaker 3: And the day was an ordinary day and I rode 76 00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:52,160 Speaker 3: my bike twenty kilometers my push bike twenty kimas to work. 77 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:57,440 Speaker 3: I did an hour of exercise paid intense training. 78 00:04:57,080 --> 00:04:59,719 Speaker 2: When I first got to work. That's part of Star Group. 79 00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:03,880 Speaker 3: Once I finished that intense training, I then went and 80 00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:09,000 Speaker 3: played police basketball, which is a social basketball. My resting 81 00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:11,359 Speaker 3: heart rate at the time was thirty eight. I was 82 00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:18,320 Speaker 3: reasonably physically fit. We got a call around about probably 83 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:22,520 Speaker 3: eleven o'clock in the morning to say we've got this offender. 84 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:25,320 Speaker 3: We've dealt with him a couple of times before and 85 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:28,320 Speaker 3: had interactions with him. We know that there's a potential 86 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:31,080 Speaker 3: for him to be violent. He has threatened to shoot 87 00:05:31,080 --> 00:05:34,159 Speaker 3: police in the past, never ever done it, never acted 88 00:05:34,520 --> 00:05:37,920 Speaker 3: anything on violence, never done anything, but he's had these threats. 89 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:40,920 Speaker 3: So Star Group are asked to do a high risk 90 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:44,279 Speaker 3: arrest of this offender. On the day, we had a 91 00:05:44,279 --> 00:05:47,799 Speaker 3: really in depth briefing. We knew what we were doing, 92 00:05:48,279 --> 00:05:56,520 Speaker 3: but everything was just normal. We'd certainly been in situations 93 00:05:56,520 --> 00:06:00,599 Speaker 3: where we had arrested people in high risk situation. They'd 94 00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:05,600 Speaker 3: been armed with weapons, they had been armed with machetes 95 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:11,960 Speaker 3: and swords, and just highly trained, violent people and unpredictable people. 96 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:14,520 Speaker 3: So I've been in those situations a fair bit prior 97 00:06:14,560 --> 00:06:18,479 Speaker 3: to This was nothing new to us, and we went 98 00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:22,520 Speaker 3: in as prepared as we could, knowing what was possible, 99 00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:25,360 Speaker 3: but also knowing that this person has never done anything 100 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:28,159 Speaker 3: of violence. So we couldn't just go in and smash 101 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:31,479 Speaker 3: the door down and arrest this violent person. He just 102 00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:35,480 Speaker 3: threatened violence, he's ever actually done anything, so we had 103 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:37,680 Speaker 3: to do it the socially friendly way and lock on 104 00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:40,240 Speaker 3: the door, ask him to come to the door, and 105 00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:43,599 Speaker 3: let him make a mistake before we could take action. 106 00:06:51,080 --> 00:06:54,320 Speaker 3: As I'm approaching the house, I'm thinking to myself, the 107 00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:57,239 Speaker 3: offenders inside the house, his wife is inside the house, 108 00:06:57,520 --> 00:07:00,719 Speaker 3: his two young children inside the house. And it's going 109 00:07:00,760 --> 00:07:04,360 Speaker 3: through my head. What might that impact be if there 110 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:07,760 Speaker 3: becomes a firefight and I have to start shooting, I 111 00:07:07,880 --> 00:07:10,280 Speaker 3: may hit him, I may hit his wife, I may 112 00:07:10,320 --> 00:07:12,920 Speaker 3: hit one of the children. These things are running through 113 00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:15,440 Speaker 3: my head. As I'm driving up, I get out of 114 00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:18,720 Speaker 3: the car. My passenger, another police officer in Star Group 115 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:21,000 Speaker 3: gets out of the car. On the other side. Two 116 00:07:21,080 --> 00:07:24,480 Speaker 3: people from Star Group in the car behind me get out. 117 00:07:24,520 --> 00:07:27,480 Speaker 3: They follow us up to the house. I've approached the 118 00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:29,680 Speaker 3: corner of the house. I'm standing on the corner of 119 00:07:29,720 --> 00:07:32,960 Speaker 3: the house. I watch the sergeant knock on the door 120 00:07:33,640 --> 00:07:38,440 Speaker 3: and call out to the offender, mister Grosso, it's the police. 121 00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:42,560 Speaker 3: We want to talk to you. There's no answer at 122 00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:45,040 Speaker 3: this stage. I moved down the side of the house 123 00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:49,400 Speaker 3: towards this glass sliding door because I knew that there 124 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:51,360 Speaker 3: was an opportunity for us to go in through this 125 00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:56,240 Speaker 3: sliding door more effectively, more efficiently, safer and faster. 126 00:07:57,360 --> 00:07:58,400 Speaker 2: And as I. 127 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:01,760 Speaker 3: Approach this glass sliding door, there's curtains across the door, 128 00:08:01,960 --> 00:08:04,600 Speaker 3: heavy curtains. There's no way in the world. He could 129 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:08,119 Speaker 3: see me through those curtains. I felt safe to stand 130 00:08:08,160 --> 00:08:10,600 Speaker 3: in front of them. There was no shadow being cast 131 00:08:10,720 --> 00:08:14,160 Speaker 3: onto the curtains, so it was safe to be there 132 00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:16,680 Speaker 3: because he couldn't see me. But there was a small 133 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:20,680 Speaker 3: gap between the end of the curtain and where the 134 00:08:20,680 --> 00:08:21,480 Speaker 3: door handle is. 135 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:21,760 Speaker 4: Now. 136 00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:24,760 Speaker 3: I know there's a risk, but I figure that risk 137 00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:28,480 Speaker 3: is reasonably small, and everything we do carries a risk 138 00:08:28,520 --> 00:08:31,920 Speaker 3: in this environment. So I think to myself, I'm just 139 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:35,120 Speaker 3: going to reach across air sif doors open. As I 140 00:08:35,240 --> 00:08:38,840 Speaker 3: reach out, all I know is I'm suddenly falling to 141 00:08:38,880 --> 00:08:45,319 Speaker 3: the ground. He fired eighteen times with a SKK Chinese 142 00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:48,240 Speaker 3: military weapon, with the same bullets that the Chinese use 143 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:50,920 Speaker 3: when they go to war. They fired eighteen times and 144 00:08:51,040 --> 00:08:55,000 Speaker 3: hit me fourteen times. I don't feel any pain, I 145 00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:58,400 Speaker 3: don't feel any impact. I don't even hear the sound 146 00:08:58,480 --> 00:09:01,240 Speaker 3: of gunfire. All I'm I know as I'm suddenly falling 147 00:09:01,280 --> 00:09:04,560 Speaker 3: to the ground, and I start getting angry with myself 148 00:09:05,080 --> 00:09:09,640 Speaker 3: and it's spirating myself absolutely livid. How could I be 149 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:15,280 Speaker 3: so stupid to fall for no reason. I'm about halfway 150 00:09:15,320 --> 00:09:18,160 Speaker 3: to the ground and I slowly look over at this 151 00:09:18,280 --> 00:09:21,800 Speaker 3: sliding door and I see there are small round holes 152 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:25,200 Speaker 3: there that hadn't been there just a moment before. And 153 00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:27,720 Speaker 3: then I hear the sound look on fire somewhere in 154 00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:30,319 Speaker 3: the distance. I still haven't felt any impact. I still 155 00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:33,920 Speaker 3: haven't felt any pain. But as I'm falling to the ground, 156 00:09:34,240 --> 00:09:38,000 Speaker 3: I start thinking to myself, Derek, you're falling because you're 157 00:09:38,040 --> 00:09:41,600 Speaker 3: being shot. Don't be too hard on yourself, because if 158 00:09:41,640 --> 00:09:44,720 Speaker 3: you're getting shot, it's quite acceptable to fall over. And 159 00:09:44,720 --> 00:09:50,360 Speaker 3: that is literally what I thought. This was because I 160 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:54,040 Speaker 3: believe I was prepared so well. I've gone through the 161 00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:56,240 Speaker 3: thought process if I get shot, what's it going to 162 00:09:56,280 --> 00:09:56,640 Speaker 3: feel like? 163 00:09:56,679 --> 00:09:57,520 Speaker 2: What am I going to do? 164 00:09:57,960 --> 00:10:02,520 Speaker 3: That I was able to start processing and understand I'm 165 00:10:02,559 --> 00:10:03,079 Speaker 3: being shot. 166 00:10:03,160 --> 00:10:04,439 Speaker 2: I now have a plan. 167 00:10:04,200 --> 00:10:08,600 Speaker 3: Of action that I'm going to put into place. I 168 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:12,120 Speaker 3: fall to the ground. I fall onto my back. My 169 00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:15,079 Speaker 3: feet are pointing directly of where the bullets are coming from. 170 00:10:15,240 --> 00:10:16,480 Speaker 3: My head's facing away. 171 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:18,440 Speaker 2: He's still shooting me. 172 00:10:19,280 --> 00:10:22,080 Speaker 3: He fired eighteen times in less than five seconds. The 173 00:10:22,240 --> 00:10:26,280 Speaker 3: only two bullets I remember fearing hit me up while 174 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:28,839 Speaker 3: I'm lying on the ground on my back, and two 175 00:10:28,920 --> 00:10:32,200 Speaker 3: bullets hit my left thigh. The first bullet hits me 176 00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:38,240 Speaker 3: and time slows down, feels like these two bullets are 177 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:41,200 Speaker 3: thirty seconds. In actual fact, they're about that length at time. 178 00:10:41,760 --> 00:10:44,120 Speaker 3: And as I'm lying on my back, the first one 179 00:10:44,200 --> 00:10:46,920 Speaker 3: hits me, and it's like a sledgehammer. A shockwaves through 180 00:10:46,960 --> 00:10:48,720 Speaker 3: my body all the way to the top of my head. 181 00:10:48,960 --> 00:10:51,720 Speaker 3: And then that shock wave slowly comes back down my 182 00:10:51,760 --> 00:10:54,439 Speaker 3: body again, back down to the point of impact. And 183 00:10:54,440 --> 00:10:58,280 Speaker 3: then the second bullet hits me again. It's that sledgehammer, 184 00:10:58,320 --> 00:11:01,960 Speaker 3: it's that shockwave. It's eemingly thirty seconds. And I'm thinking 185 00:11:01,960 --> 00:11:06,120 Speaker 3: to myself, how can I lie here and just accept 186 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:09,440 Speaker 3: being shot. I wanted to fire back, and I knew 187 00:11:09,440 --> 00:11:14,560 Speaker 3: that I could not see the offender inside. All I 188 00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:19,480 Speaker 3: can see is this dark door a curtain behind it. 189 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:21,920 Speaker 3: But I can hear the sound of gunfire, and I 190 00:11:22,040 --> 00:11:24,440 Speaker 3: just want to fire in the direction of that to 191 00:11:24,520 --> 00:11:27,120 Speaker 3: give him something to worry about, give him some reason 192 00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:29,800 Speaker 3: to stop shooting and run and hide himself. 193 00:11:31,760 --> 00:11:33,439 Speaker 2: As I line up to fire back. 194 00:11:35,559 --> 00:11:39,160 Speaker 3: I start thinking to myself, I'm firing along the length 195 00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:41,480 Speaker 3: of my body. At the other end of my body 196 00:11:41,600 --> 00:11:45,920 Speaker 3: are my feet. My feet are pointing up, and I 197 00:11:45,960 --> 00:11:47,760 Speaker 3: know that I need to get up just that little 198 00:11:47,760 --> 00:11:49,720 Speaker 3: bit so I can shoot over the top of my feet. 199 00:11:50,400 --> 00:11:52,480 Speaker 3: But as I lift my upper body up, I've got 200 00:11:52,480 --> 00:11:55,640 Speaker 3: a flat vest on, I've got weaponry. My upper body 201 00:11:55,679 --> 00:11:58,200 Speaker 3: is much heavier than my feet, and as I lift 202 00:11:58,240 --> 00:12:02,480 Speaker 3: my upper body up, come up the counterbalance. And the 203 00:12:02,640 --> 00:12:07,120 Speaker 3: thought runs through my head. If I shoot now, there's 204 00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:09,760 Speaker 3: a real chance I may shoot myself in the foot. 205 00:12:10,200 --> 00:12:12,600 Speaker 3: And if I shoot myself in the foot, the guys 206 00:12:12,600 --> 00:12:14,520 Speaker 3: at work are going to give me shit for the 207 00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:17,640 Speaker 3: rest of my life. And that's literally what I'm thinking 208 00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:23,040 Speaker 3: at this point. It doesn't stop me acting, it does 209 00:12:23,080 --> 00:12:25,880 Speaker 3: not delay anything at all. But I had this thought 210 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:28,760 Speaker 3: outside the square, and then I still took that action. 211 00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:31,319 Speaker 3: I wanted to fire back six or seven times. I 212 00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:34,559 Speaker 3: couldn't see the target. I knew I had fifteen rounds 213 00:12:34,559 --> 00:12:38,040 Speaker 3: in my weapon. As I pulled the trigger, instead of 214 00:12:38,040 --> 00:12:41,199 Speaker 3: shooting six or seven times, I actually fired thirteen times. 215 00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:45,280 Speaker 3: He fired, I fired back, he fired again, And that 216 00:12:45,520 --> 00:12:49,240 Speaker 3: was all within five seconds. I now roll to my 217 00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:53,080 Speaker 3: right a couple of times, barrel roll along the ground. 218 00:12:53,440 --> 00:12:57,280 Speaker 3: I get to my feet. I'm dealing with some massive injuries. 219 00:12:58,200 --> 00:13:00,120 Speaker 3: I later talked to the doctors and they say, I 220 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:03,880 Speaker 3: don't know how I stood, but I stand up. I 221 00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:06,640 Speaker 3: start walking, and I find I can only stagger. 222 00:13:07,200 --> 00:13:07,400 Speaker 2: Now. 223 00:13:07,440 --> 00:13:09,840 Speaker 3: I've lost thirty percent of the muscle in my left thigh, 224 00:13:10,360 --> 00:13:13,480 Speaker 3: my right achilles tendon, eighty percent of the thickness of 225 00:13:13,520 --> 00:13:16,640 Speaker 3: my right achilles tendon has been taken out. My forearm 226 00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:19,320 Speaker 3: is broken in two places because a bullet went through 227 00:13:19,640 --> 00:13:23,800 Speaker 3: my radius and severed the radial archery. There's a piece 228 00:13:23,840 --> 00:13:26,680 Speaker 3: of shrapnel in my right wrist and that has severed 229 00:13:26,720 --> 00:13:29,360 Speaker 3: the ulner archery in my right wrist. I've got two 230 00:13:29,400 --> 00:13:32,679 Speaker 3: bullets of my stomach, and I lose forty five centimeters 231 00:13:32,720 --> 00:13:37,600 Speaker 3: of bowl in my stomach. But I stagger around the corner, 232 00:13:37,640 --> 00:13:40,440 Speaker 3: and I'm looking for somewhere safe to hide. And my 233 00:13:40,600 --> 00:13:42,880 Speaker 3: legs start to give way, and I know that I 234 00:13:43,040 --> 00:13:46,040 Speaker 3: just need to lean against the wall to gather my thoughts. 235 00:13:46,040 --> 00:13:49,840 Speaker 3: And as I lean against the walls, another quite hilarious 236 00:13:49,880 --> 00:13:54,480 Speaker 3: story in this moment. This flash over to the original 237 00:13:54,600 --> 00:13:58,360 Speaker 3: Naked Gun movie. One of the opening scenes where OJ 238 00:13:58,520 --> 00:14:01,760 Speaker 3: Simpson goes on to a boat to arrest half a 239 00:14:01,800 --> 00:14:05,000 Speaker 3: dozen offenders. He tries to break into the room on 240 00:14:05,080 --> 00:14:07,760 Speaker 3: the boat, stuffs that up. When he gets in, they 241 00:14:07,800 --> 00:14:11,120 Speaker 3: start shooting him. He's getting filled full of holes. But 242 00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:14,319 Speaker 3: he puts his hand out to balance himself, but puts 243 00:14:14,320 --> 00:14:17,160 Speaker 3: it on a hot combustion eater and burns his hand. 244 00:14:17,200 --> 00:14:19,400 Speaker 3: And then he falls against the door and gets weight 245 00:14:19,440 --> 00:14:21,960 Speaker 3: painted on his jacket. And that's the scene that ran 246 00:14:22,040 --> 00:14:24,960 Speaker 3: through my mind, because as I lean against the wall, 247 00:14:25,360 --> 00:14:29,920 Speaker 3: my whole hand folds back along the top of my forearm. 248 00:14:30,120 --> 00:14:34,000 Speaker 3: My forearm is broken in two places. There is no 249 00:14:34,120 --> 00:14:37,720 Speaker 3: support for my wrist that completely folds on top of itself. 250 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:41,160 Speaker 3: And I look at that and I have this flash 251 00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:45,000 Speaker 3: over to the naked gun, and I just say to myself, damn, 252 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:51,040 Speaker 3: this is not a good day. And that's how calm 253 00:14:51,400 --> 00:14:54,760 Speaker 3: I was in that circumstance. I knew that if I 254 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:58,080 Speaker 3: get shot, there are going to be some challenges within it, 255 00:14:59,160 --> 00:15:01,320 Speaker 3: but I've already s set myself up with a mindset 256 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:03,760 Speaker 3: to be able to manage it. So I knew that 257 00:15:03,800 --> 00:15:06,240 Speaker 3: where I was at that time isn't a safe place. 258 00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:08,640 Speaker 3: I know that I need to move to the next 259 00:15:08,640 --> 00:15:11,440 Speaker 3: corner of the house. And as I move away from 260 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:15,480 Speaker 3: that house, my legs grow weaker still and I drop 261 00:15:15,560 --> 00:15:20,560 Speaker 3: to my knees. I'm crawling along on my hands and knees. 262 00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:23,680 Speaker 3: I've gone around the next corner of the house and 263 00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:25,840 Speaker 3: I look up in front of me, and there in 264 00:15:25,880 --> 00:15:28,640 Speaker 3: front of me is a fence and there is no 265 00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:30,560 Speaker 3: way that I have the energy to be able to 266 00:15:30,560 --> 00:15:33,760 Speaker 3: climb over this fence. And at that point I'm dropped 267 00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:37,920 Speaker 3: to the ground. I roll onto my back and I 268 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:53,080 Speaker 3: start worrying about what I'm going to do. Now I 269 00:15:53,160 --> 00:15:58,080 Speaker 3: know that I am absolutely helpless. I have my pistol 270 00:15:58,120 --> 00:16:00,120 Speaker 3: in my hand so that I know that if if 271 00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:03,680 Speaker 3: he comes out, I'm able to shoot. I've got the 272 00:16:03,680 --> 00:16:06,920 Speaker 3: fence to my back to give me some protection that way, 273 00:16:07,560 --> 00:16:11,480 Speaker 3: and I'm facing the direction that he is most likely 274 00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:13,160 Speaker 3: to come from, and I. 275 00:16:13,160 --> 00:16:14,280 Speaker 2: Have my pistol ready. 276 00:16:14,520 --> 00:16:17,000 Speaker 3: If he shows I'll be able to shoot him if 277 00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:21,160 Speaker 3: I need to. I've got massive injuries, their life threatening. 278 00:16:21,440 --> 00:16:25,920 Speaker 3: But I'm lying there for three hours, consciously bleeding for 279 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:31,440 Speaker 3: three hours. And as I'm lying there, I started thinking 280 00:16:31,480 --> 00:16:34,200 Speaker 3: to myself, what have I How have I planned for 281 00:16:34,240 --> 00:16:41,760 Speaker 3: this in the past. Back in nineteen eighty seven, seven 282 00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:44,520 Speaker 3: years prior to the shooting, I was in another incident 283 00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:47,040 Speaker 3: where I was on general patrols before I went to 284 00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:51,680 Speaker 3: Star Group and on general patrols. Twenty minutes past midnight, 285 00:16:51,720 --> 00:16:54,240 Speaker 3: my partner and I found a couple of people sitting 286 00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:57,360 Speaker 3: in a car and they've been shooting up drugs. The 287 00:16:57,560 --> 00:17:00,880 Speaker 3: male driver of the vehicle reached a cross grabbed a 288 00:17:00,920 --> 00:17:05,159 Speaker 3: pistol that was in a handbag of the passenger, grabbed 289 00:17:05,160 --> 00:17:08,159 Speaker 3: that pistol, pointed it at my partner's chest and started 290 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:15,560 Speaker 3: pulling the trigger. The gun was broken, so it needed 291 00:17:15,600 --> 00:17:19,000 Speaker 3: to be cocked before it would actually fire. We got 292 00:17:19,040 --> 00:17:21,480 Speaker 3: into a wrestling match, and in the middle of this 293 00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:24,280 Speaker 3: wrestling match, the guy is calling out to his girlfriend, 294 00:17:24,359 --> 00:17:25,000 Speaker 3: cocked the gun. 295 00:17:25,160 --> 00:17:25,879 Speaker 2: Cocked the gun. 296 00:17:26,280 --> 00:17:30,160 Speaker 3: So she has scrambled over the three of us wrestling 297 00:17:30,560 --> 00:17:33,000 Speaker 3: and she has cocked the gun. And when she has 298 00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:36,879 Speaker 3: cocked the gun, I have slipped my thumb between the 299 00:17:36,920 --> 00:17:39,119 Speaker 3: hammer and the gun to hold the hammer back so 300 00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:45,639 Speaker 3: that it wouldn't fire. That came from a discussion that 301 00:17:45,680 --> 00:17:49,919 Speaker 3: we were having months before on night shift. We were 302 00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:52,879 Speaker 3: sitting around playing hypotheticals. What would you do if, what 303 00:17:52,920 --> 00:17:54,280 Speaker 3: would you do if? And this is one of the 304 00:17:54,280 --> 00:18:00,000 Speaker 3: scenarios we'd discussed. If you got into a wrestling match, 305 00:18:00,640 --> 00:18:02,160 Speaker 3: you know, you had to try and stop the gun 306 00:18:02,160 --> 00:18:04,480 Speaker 3: from firing. How many ways could you actually do that? 307 00:18:04,880 --> 00:18:07,119 Speaker 3: And that was one of the things we discussed. So 308 00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:09,800 Speaker 3: I was in the midst of this high pressure situation, 309 00:18:10,280 --> 00:18:12,439 Speaker 3: though are reflective back on what I had learned in 310 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:19,000 Speaker 3: the past and implemented it. When I got into the 311 00:18:19,040 --> 00:18:23,040 Speaker 3: shooting in nineteen ninety four, I had already gone through 312 00:18:23,040 --> 00:18:27,160 Speaker 3: a scenario and visualization of seeing myself if I ever 313 00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:29,800 Speaker 3: get into a situation where I get shot, what will 314 00:18:29,880 --> 00:18:32,679 Speaker 3: I naturally want to do? What would my mind and 315 00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:35,520 Speaker 3: body naturally want to do, and what would be absolute 316 00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:38,240 Speaker 3: perfection if I had everything the right way? 317 00:18:38,600 --> 00:18:39,760 Speaker 2: And I visualized that. 318 00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:42,600 Speaker 3: So when I actually got shot, it felt like I'd 319 00:18:42,680 --> 00:18:45,520 Speaker 3: been through this before and I was out to implant 320 00:18:45,560 --> 00:18:53,280 Speaker 3: those things that I had taught about. And what I 321 00:18:53,359 --> 00:18:56,159 Speaker 3: knew I needed to do was four things. I needed 322 00:18:56,160 --> 00:19:00,560 Speaker 3: to control panic, not let panic take controller of the situation. 323 00:19:01,160 --> 00:19:01,760 Speaker 2: I needed to. 324 00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:07,240 Speaker 3: Control shock, my natural body's response to physical psychological trauma. 325 00:19:07,440 --> 00:19:09,600 Speaker 3: I needed to slow down my heart rate, and I 326 00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:12,560 Speaker 3: needed to slow down my breathing. And I did those 327 00:19:12,720 --> 00:19:19,960 Speaker 3: four things consciously and deliberately, but I'm laying the three 328 00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:23,520 Speaker 3: hours I finally work out that the trajectory of the 329 00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:26,679 Speaker 3: bullets that he's firing the dust that is coming out. 330 00:19:27,640 --> 00:19:31,320 Speaker 3: He is firing from an elevated place, and he is 331 00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:33,880 Speaker 3: in the attic of the roof, because the dust from 332 00:19:33,920 --> 00:19:37,159 Speaker 3: those bullets was going straight out from that level, and 333 00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:39,960 Speaker 3: so that meant he was up there. At that point, 334 00:19:40,920 --> 00:19:44,320 Speaker 3: I start relaxing because he is not a threat to 335 00:19:44,359 --> 00:19:46,520 Speaker 3: me while he's up there, and that's when I can 336 00:19:46,560 --> 00:19:49,000 Speaker 3: start focusing on my body and slow down my heart rates, 337 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:53,159 Speaker 3: slow down my breathing, control, panic, control, shock. When he 338 00:19:53,320 --> 00:19:57,720 Speaker 3: stopped shooting, I start panicking, where is he? What's he doing? 339 00:19:57,840 --> 00:19:59,160 Speaker 3: Is he coming to hunt me again? 340 00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:00,680 Speaker 2: Worrying. 341 00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:04,920 Speaker 3: My heart rate elevates, my breathing is now shallow and panting, 342 00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:08,200 Speaker 3: until he starts shooting again, and I know that he's 343 00:20:08,200 --> 00:20:10,440 Speaker 3: still up in the attic of the house, and then 344 00:20:10,480 --> 00:20:14,240 Speaker 3: I can relax. And I'm lying there for three hours, 345 00:20:14,560 --> 00:20:18,080 Speaker 3: going through these heightened emotions and then going into the 346 00:20:18,119 --> 00:20:21,320 Speaker 3: relative calm of I know where he is. I can 347 00:20:21,359 --> 00:20:24,280 Speaker 3: start focusing on my body and relaxing and controlling it again. 348 00:20:26,040 --> 00:20:28,480 Speaker 3: But there's a whole series of thoughts that runs through 349 00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:32,399 Speaker 3: my mind, and I am reflecting on conversation that I 350 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:35,960 Speaker 3: had with my wife five years prior to the shooting, 351 00:20:36,600 --> 00:20:39,960 Speaker 3: and that was I know, there's a real possibility I 352 00:20:40,040 --> 00:20:40,960 Speaker 3: may be shot and injured. 353 00:20:41,359 --> 00:20:42,760 Speaker 2: I may be shot and killed. 354 00:20:43,080 --> 00:20:45,920 Speaker 3: And I said to her, if I get shot, there's 355 00:20:45,960 --> 00:20:49,720 Speaker 3: a real possibility if I survive, that I may get 356 00:20:50,240 --> 00:20:52,680 Speaker 3: a spinal injury and I may spend the rest of 357 00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:55,320 Speaker 3: my life in a wheelchair. And if that becomes reality, 358 00:20:55,359 --> 00:20:57,240 Speaker 3: I need you to know that I will be able 359 00:20:57,280 --> 00:21:02,240 Speaker 3: to find a way to make life satisfying because I'm 360 00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:06,919 Speaker 3: taking responsibility for my choice, my behavior, my consequences, but 361 00:21:07,160 --> 00:21:11,480 Speaker 3: the future afterwards as well. I'd already thought, if I get. 362 00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:13,679 Speaker 2: Shot, what will that future potentially look like? 363 00:21:21,800 --> 00:21:26,760 Speaker 3: Lying there for three hours, continuously bleeding, I'm feeling my 364 00:21:26,880 --> 00:21:30,480 Speaker 3: legs closing down and blood is now being re rooted 365 00:21:30,520 --> 00:21:34,400 Speaker 3: to my core. My arms start closing down, they get cold, 366 00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:37,760 Speaker 3: they get weak. Pistol that I'm holding on two falls 367 00:21:37,800 --> 00:21:41,000 Speaker 3: out of my hands and it just falls onto my stomach, 368 00:21:41,760 --> 00:21:43,760 Speaker 3: but I don't have the strength to pick it back 369 00:21:43,840 --> 00:21:47,840 Speaker 3: up again. And I start thinking to myself, the future 370 00:21:47,880 --> 00:21:49,760 Speaker 3: looks like I may spend the rest of my life 371 00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:53,160 Speaker 3: in a wheelchair. But at that point I start thinking, 372 00:21:53,960 --> 00:21:56,840 Speaker 3: and I always retain this sense of optimism, no matter 373 00:21:57,280 --> 00:22:01,800 Speaker 3: what happens to me. I reflect on words my father 374 00:22:01,920 --> 00:22:04,400 Speaker 3: used to say to me as a child, and when 375 00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:06,960 Speaker 3: it was raining, he'd say, look for the silver lining 376 00:22:07,320 --> 00:22:10,199 Speaker 3: around the edge of every dark storm cloud, and that 377 00:22:10,359 --> 00:22:14,080 Speaker 3: was an ethos for life. Behind every cloud, there is 378 00:22:14,119 --> 00:22:17,440 Speaker 3: a silver lining. So it was that sense of optimism. 379 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:20,840 Speaker 3: And while I'm lying on the ground, my body's closing down. 380 00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:23,399 Speaker 3: I'm accepting the fact I may spend the rest of 381 00:22:23,440 --> 00:22:26,200 Speaker 3: my life in a wheelchair. I start thinking, how am 382 00:22:26,200 --> 00:22:29,680 Speaker 3: I going to make life interesting? And my thought process 383 00:22:29,760 --> 00:22:34,119 Speaker 3: goes to I played basketball at the moment. I played 384 00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:38,159 Speaker 3: basketball this morning. I'd be able to put basketball together 385 00:22:38,200 --> 00:22:41,479 Speaker 3: with wheelchair. I'll be able to play wheelchair basketball. This 386 00:22:41,520 --> 00:22:45,320 Speaker 3: will be some outlet. Now, remember, my body is closing down. 387 00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:48,880 Speaker 3: He's still firing continuously. 388 00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:49,760 Speaker 2: Bullets pounding through the bricks. 389 00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:53,359 Speaker 3: My body's closing down, and I'm starting to think I 390 00:22:53,359 --> 00:22:59,960 Speaker 3: could play wheelchair basketball. I don't know if you know, 391 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:02,159 Speaker 3: guys and the Special Forces, but we have a slightly 392 00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:05,560 Speaker 3: bigger ego than the average person. And that ego kicked 393 00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:08,959 Speaker 3: in and I literally this is exactly what I was thinking. 394 00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:11,639 Speaker 3: And while I'm lying on the ground, my body's closing down. 395 00:23:11,800 --> 00:23:14,720 Speaker 3: I started thinking to myself, I'm damn good at basketball. 396 00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:17,359 Speaker 3: If I can add something to what they're already doing well, 397 00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:20,080 Speaker 3: we may make the Paralympic finals. I may end up 398 00:23:20,119 --> 00:23:28,280 Speaker 3: with a gold medal. So it was always this continual 399 00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:32,800 Speaker 3: sense of optimism. I was not giving up. I was 400 00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:35,800 Speaker 3: fighting on there was something to fight for. But the 401 00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:38,440 Speaker 3: one thing I knew that I wanted above everything else 402 00:23:39,240 --> 00:23:40,520 Speaker 3: goes back to a conversation with. 403 00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:42,120 Speaker 2: A hat that I had with my wife. 404 00:23:42,560 --> 00:23:44,080 Speaker 3: Even if I spend the rest of my life in 405 00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:46,680 Speaker 3: the wheelchair, so long as I'm able to interact with 406 00:23:46,680 --> 00:23:50,840 Speaker 3: my children. And my children were two, four, fifteen, and 407 00:23:50,960 --> 00:23:53,639 Speaker 3: seventeen at the time, so long as I'm able to 408 00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:57,240 Speaker 3: interact with those children, I will be happy. I will 409 00:23:57,280 --> 00:23:59,760 Speaker 3: find a way to be happy. And they are what 410 00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:02,119 Speaker 3: I was focusing on for that three hours I was 411 00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:10,560 Speaker 3: lying on the ground. At two hours forty five is 412 00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:13,879 Speaker 3: the last time I've looked at my watch before my 413 00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:22,480 Speaker 3: vision closed down. I expected my vision to go to 414 00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:26,040 Speaker 3: shades of gray or black, because I was a pragmatic copper. 415 00:24:26,840 --> 00:24:30,320 Speaker 3: But my vision went to this absolutely pristine white. 416 00:24:30,760 --> 00:24:32,000 Speaker 2: It wasn't a white light. 417 00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:37,320 Speaker 3: It was just an absolute white out, just absolute pristine white, 418 00:24:37,880 --> 00:24:42,439 Speaker 3: and I can't describe how pure white it was. But 419 00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:44,760 Speaker 3: I started thinking to myself, is this what they talk 420 00:24:44,840 --> 00:24:47,160 Speaker 3: about at the end of life? 421 00:24:53,920 --> 00:24:55,320 Speaker 2: Is this it? Am I dying? 422 00:24:55,960 --> 00:24:58,440 Speaker 3: But it's also at that point that I started fighting 423 00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:04,040 Speaker 3: even harder. I started moving my body, and I'm moving 424 00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:06,720 Speaker 3: my body just this little bit to give myself confidence 425 00:25:06,720 --> 00:25:09,520 Speaker 3: that I've got something left. I'm speaking out loud to 426 00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:13,720 Speaker 3: myself and saying, Derek, don't give up, Derek, keep on fighting. 427 00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:18,399 Speaker 3: Fortunately for me, two rifle shots are fired from outside 428 00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:25,400 Speaker 3: the house, back towards the house. When I hear those 429 00:25:25,440 --> 00:25:28,840 Speaker 3: two rifle shots, I know that's my mates from Star 430 00:25:28,920 --> 00:25:35,000 Speaker 3: Group on their way to get me. For the three 431 00:25:35,040 --> 00:25:37,480 Speaker 3: hours that I'm lying on the ground, one of the 432 00:25:37,520 --> 00:25:41,639 Speaker 3: things that runs through my mind continuously was this absolute 433 00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:44,320 Speaker 3: belief that my mates would be with me as soon 434 00:25:44,359 --> 00:25:47,520 Speaker 3: as they possibly could. My mates that were with me 435 00:25:47,560 --> 00:25:49,600 Speaker 3: at the time, they got pinned down by what the 436 00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:52,840 Speaker 3: shooter was doing. They couldn't get me. I've had conversations 437 00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:55,480 Speaker 3: with them afterwards. They wanted to do it, but it 438 00:25:55,680 --> 00:25:58,800 Speaker 3: just seemed too dangerous, so they were pinned down. These 439 00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:03,160 Speaker 3: two rifle shots were confirmation that backup had arrived and 440 00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:04,720 Speaker 3: they were on their way to come and get me. 441 00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:09,879 Speaker 3: Dump of adrenaline into my body, indorphins from my brain, 442 00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:13,680 Speaker 3: and my vision snap back up to absolutely perfect. But 443 00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:17,240 Speaker 3: then I start passing. I'm now passing in and out 444 00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:21,200 Speaker 3: of consciousness because I just don't have enough blood left 445 00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:29,399 Speaker 3: to keep my body and my brain going. The boys 446 00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:33,040 Speaker 3: get to me within about fifteen minutes of those two 447 00:26:33,160 --> 00:26:36,359 Speaker 3: rifle shots. And when the first guy gets to me, 448 00:26:36,720 --> 00:26:40,399 Speaker 3: I come back to consciousness and I know that we 449 00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:41,680 Speaker 3: had this conversation. 450 00:26:43,119 --> 00:26:45,520 Speaker 2: I was a diver. He was a diver as well. 451 00:26:45,560 --> 00:26:48,720 Speaker 3: He was part of Star Group, and we were both divers, 452 00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:52,160 Speaker 3: and as divers, we get the privilege of wearing seahorses 453 00:26:52,160 --> 00:26:55,440 Speaker 3: on our collar to signify that we have the specialist 454 00:26:55,520 --> 00:27:02,199 Speaker 3: skill of diving. And these seahorses, they are something that 455 00:27:02,280 --> 00:27:06,080 Speaker 3: is treasured and revered. It's like the crosses that a 456 00:27:06,160 --> 00:27:11,600 Speaker 3: minister will wear. They are absolutely precious. But Starry's we're 457 00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:14,280 Speaker 3: very good at playing pranks on each other. And if 458 00:27:14,320 --> 00:27:17,960 Speaker 3: you left your shirt lying around where it shouldn't be, 459 00:27:18,119 --> 00:27:21,240 Speaker 3: or you disregard it, people would steal your sea horses 460 00:27:21,280 --> 00:27:24,080 Speaker 3: off of your collars and then hold them to ransom 461 00:27:24,119 --> 00:27:27,119 Speaker 3: for half a dozen beers or sticky buns or something 462 00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:30,480 Speaker 3: like that. And when this diver gets to me and 463 00:27:30,560 --> 00:27:33,199 Speaker 3: I'm lying on the ground, my body's closing down. But 464 00:27:33,320 --> 00:27:37,160 Speaker 3: this diver looked at me, he saw my seahorses, and 465 00:27:37,480 --> 00:27:39,679 Speaker 3: the first thing he said to me was, Derek, at 466 00:27:39,800 --> 00:27:43,520 Speaker 3: least you've still got your seahorses. He looked at my forearm. 467 00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:48,280 Speaker 3: He knew that my forearm broken, bones poking out of it. 468 00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:50,080 Speaker 3: He thought I was going to lose it from the elbow, 469 00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:52,800 Speaker 3: but he knew that He just needed to break the 470 00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:53,879 Speaker 3: tension of that moment. 471 00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:56,960 Speaker 2: And Derek, at least you've still got your sea horses. 472 00:27:57,280 --> 00:27:59,800 Speaker 3: We both had a ry smile and then bang into 473 00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:08,520 Speaker 3: act and they got me out of there. One of 474 00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:10,399 Speaker 3: the other guys that got to me around about the 475 00:28:10,400 --> 00:28:13,520 Speaker 3: same time said to me later, Derek, I didn't even 476 00:28:13,560 --> 00:28:16,400 Speaker 3: recognize you. I knew it was you, but I couldn't 477 00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:20,200 Speaker 3: recognize you. There was no color in my body because 478 00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:24,200 Speaker 3: I've lost so much blood. The boys risked their lives. 479 00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:28,320 Speaker 3: They picked me up, threw me into the van, and 480 00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:31,800 Speaker 3: got me to the doctor. I'm passing in and out 481 00:28:31,840 --> 00:28:35,639 Speaker 3: of consciousness at this point. He said, I wasn't moving, 482 00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:40,360 Speaker 3: I wasn't breathing, and I wasn't making any sounds, and. 483 00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:41,880 Speaker 2: He thought I was already dead. 484 00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:44,640 Speaker 3: He said, I then took what he describes as a 485 00:28:44,720 --> 00:28:48,240 Speaker 3: last gasping breath, and there was a flicker of my eyelid, 486 00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:51,040 Speaker 3: and he thought he may as well at least try, 487 00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:56,480 Speaker 3: because there was this glimmer of hope. I remember the 488 00:28:56,560 --> 00:29:01,479 Speaker 3: doctor saying, and these words reverberated my mind on a 489 00:29:01,520 --> 00:29:04,960 Speaker 3: regular basis. I can't find a pulse, I can't find 490 00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:07,520 Speaker 3: a blood pressure. Find me a blood pressure. Essentially, he 491 00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:10,400 Speaker 3: was trying to get an indravenus strip into my veins, 492 00:29:10,440 --> 00:29:13,040 Speaker 3: but I had so little blood left in my body. 493 00:29:13,080 --> 00:29:16,920 Speaker 3: My veins had all collapsed. He finally found a place 494 00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:19,360 Speaker 3: and then they just filled me with blood. He estimated 495 00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:21,880 Speaker 3: that I was down to the last two units of 496 00:29:21,920 --> 00:29:25,200 Speaker 3: blood in my body. He later said in a news interview. 497 00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:28,960 Speaker 3: All the textbooks so that Derek should have died. The 498 00:29:29,040 --> 00:29:32,040 Speaker 3: only reason Derrius alive is Derek hadn't read the textbooks. 499 00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:38,840 Speaker 3: There's an estimation that he fired about two thousand rounds 500 00:29:39,680 --> 00:29:41,880 Speaker 3: during that three hours that I was lying on the ground. 501 00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:46,640 Speaker 3: My mindset, my mindset was the one thing that kept 502 00:29:46,720 --> 00:29:47,200 Speaker 3: me alive. 503 00:29:48,040 --> 00:29:49,440 Speaker 2: Having that planning. 504 00:29:49,200 --> 00:29:53,520 Speaker 3: Mind already of a controlling planet, controlling shocks, flying down 505 00:29:53,520 --> 00:29:56,800 Speaker 3: my heart rates, slowing down my breathing. I'd already pictured 506 00:29:57,520 --> 00:29:59,479 Speaker 3: five years prior to the shooting and the lead up 507 00:29:59,520 --> 00:30:02,520 Speaker 3: to it. I'd picture myself being in this situation, and 508 00:30:02,560 --> 00:30:04,120 Speaker 3: I said to myself, what will. 509 00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:06,160 Speaker 2: My mind want to do? What will my body want 510 00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:06,440 Speaker 2: to do? 511 00:30:07,080 --> 00:30:09,280 Speaker 3: And so I anticipated that I would go into this 512 00:30:09,360 --> 00:30:15,239 Speaker 3: panic and I don't need to stay positive, and I 513 00:30:15,280 --> 00:30:18,480 Speaker 3: have this natural sense of optimism, and that comes from 514 00:30:18,520 --> 00:30:20,720 Speaker 3: being able to accept the fact that I made the 515 00:30:20,800 --> 00:30:22,840 Speaker 3: choice to put myself in a situation where I may 516 00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:26,280 Speaker 3: get shot. I now am shot. It's me that needs 517 00:30:26,320 --> 00:30:30,400 Speaker 3: to take control and influence the outcome. Look for help 518 00:30:30,440 --> 00:30:32,280 Speaker 3: from anywhere I can get it, but I've got to 519 00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:36,600 Speaker 3: drive it. And retaining that sense of optimism for the 520 00:30:36,640 --> 00:30:39,959 Speaker 3: future is one of those big things for me, and 521 00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:42,320 Speaker 3: I think that's why I started thinking about if I 522 00:30:42,360 --> 00:30:44,400 Speaker 3: live the rest of my life in a wheelchair, how 523 00:30:44,440 --> 00:30:47,479 Speaker 3: can I make that interesting. It gave me some reason 524 00:30:47,520 --> 00:30:50,800 Speaker 3: to keep on fighting, because if everything was bad, I 525 00:30:50,840 --> 00:30:53,800 Speaker 3: may as well just give up, and so maintaining that 526 00:30:53,880 --> 00:30:58,800 Speaker 3: positive mindset always having a determination that I needed to 527 00:30:58,840 --> 00:31:03,239 Speaker 3: find something I could to positively influence the situation that 528 00:31:03,280 --> 00:31:12,800 Speaker 3: I was in at the time. One thing that stands 529 00:31:12,880 --> 00:31:16,760 Speaker 3: out for me that has never been able to be explained, 530 00:31:16,760 --> 00:31:20,840 Speaker 3: and I don't understand it, is while I was lying 531 00:31:20,880 --> 00:31:24,360 Speaker 3: on the ground in the initial stages, I saw a 532 00:31:24,400 --> 00:31:28,640 Speaker 3: helicopter in the distance. It was a pure white helicopter. 533 00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:32,920 Speaker 3: It had no markings on it, which is just illogical 534 00:31:32,960 --> 00:31:39,000 Speaker 3: for any sort of air transport in any way, shape 535 00:31:39,080 --> 00:31:42,960 Speaker 3: or form. And it was just hovering in the distance, 536 00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:47,640 Speaker 3: this white helicopter, and I remember lifting my pistol and 537 00:31:47,760 --> 00:31:51,920 Speaker 3: just waving at this helicopter, sort of trying to signal 538 00:31:52,280 --> 00:31:56,840 Speaker 3: I'm alive, I'm here, get me some help. When I 539 00:31:56,880 --> 00:32:00,680 Speaker 3: came out afterwards and spoke to people who were at 540 00:32:00,680 --> 00:32:03,880 Speaker 3: the scene as well, I said, where's that helicopter come from? 541 00:32:04,120 --> 00:32:06,920 Speaker 3: And you know whose was it? And people say, there 542 00:32:06,960 --> 00:32:08,760 Speaker 3: was no helicopter there. I don't know what. 543 00:32:08,720 --> 00:32:09,560 Speaker 2: You're talking about. 544 00:32:10,240 --> 00:32:13,280 Speaker 3: So I don't understand that this was within the first 545 00:32:13,840 --> 00:32:18,000 Speaker 3: twenty minutes of the shooting, and so I'm fully conscious 546 00:32:18,080 --> 00:32:22,120 Speaker 3: in my mind, I'm fully conscious. A lot of people 547 00:32:22,160 --> 00:32:25,680 Speaker 3: say that this was something sent from God. 548 00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:26,800 Speaker 2: To give me a signal. 549 00:32:28,360 --> 00:32:31,440 Speaker 3: I'm not religious, but I understand what people are saying, 550 00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:34,800 Speaker 3: and I cannot explain it any other way. I am 551 00:32:34,920 --> 00:32:38,800 Speaker 3: convinced that there was no helicopter there. It was something 552 00:32:38,880 --> 00:32:44,240 Speaker 3: that I saw in my mind, or you know, if 553 00:32:44,280 --> 00:32:46,800 Speaker 3: there is a god, it plays on my mind. 554 00:32:46,840 --> 00:32:48,160 Speaker 2: Where was it? What was it? 555 00:32:48,720 --> 00:32:51,840 Speaker 3: Why did I have this vision of a helicopter that 556 00:32:51,880 --> 00:32:56,960 Speaker 3: wasn't there? For me, this was a sign everything was 557 00:32:57,000 --> 00:33:01,400 Speaker 3: going to be all right. Re gave me a sense 558 00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:03,160 Speaker 3: of relief, a sense of optimism. 559 00:33:03,880 --> 00:33:04,600 Speaker 2: At that time. 560 00:33:11,320 --> 00:33:14,080 Speaker 3: They stabilized me, They pumped me full of blood, and 561 00:33:14,120 --> 00:33:18,600 Speaker 3: then flew me to hospital. I had six hours of surgery, 562 00:33:19,360 --> 00:33:22,880 Speaker 3: and as I went into surgery, my wife was told 563 00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:25,680 Speaker 3: I am a fifty to fifty chance of surviving surgery 564 00:33:26,080 --> 00:33:29,080 Speaker 3: because of the complications I had from the massive injuries. 565 00:33:29,880 --> 00:33:32,240 Speaker 3: And when I survived surgery, I was still a fifty 566 00:33:32,280 --> 00:33:36,640 Speaker 3: to fifty chance of having major complications because two bullets 567 00:33:36,640 --> 00:33:41,080 Speaker 3: of my stomach, the amount of bowel content and feces 568 00:33:41,320 --> 00:33:45,520 Speaker 3: that emptied into that cavity, there could be major complications 569 00:33:45,560 --> 00:33:48,920 Speaker 3: with bacteria and infections, and there was still a risk 570 00:33:48,960 --> 00:33:54,000 Speaker 3: of me dying at that stage. So it was pretty bad. 571 00:33:55,480 --> 00:33:57,520 Speaker 2: And then the doctors told me. 572 00:33:58,840 --> 00:34:03,440 Speaker 3: Once I got through most conscious and having conversations with them, 573 00:34:03,600 --> 00:34:05,640 Speaker 3: they told me that there was a real possibility I 574 00:34:05,640 --> 00:34:10,320 Speaker 3: would never walk properly again. Damaged meculees tendon, thirty percent 575 00:34:10,440 --> 00:34:14,160 Speaker 3: of muscle missing in my left thigh, you know, my 576 00:34:14,239 --> 00:34:16,879 Speaker 3: stomach was going to be a problem for the rest 577 00:34:16,920 --> 00:34:19,120 Speaker 3: of my life. Thirty percent of the muscle was taken 578 00:34:19,120 --> 00:34:22,279 Speaker 3: out of my left forearm as well, and I would 579 00:34:22,320 --> 00:34:24,879 Speaker 3: probably never walk properly again. I may spend the rest 580 00:34:24,920 --> 00:34:26,680 Speaker 3: of my life in a wheelchair or at least with 581 00:34:26,719 --> 00:34:30,719 Speaker 3: a walking stick. But when I'm on my own in 582 00:34:30,760 --> 00:34:35,760 Speaker 3: the middle of the night, there is absolute calamity outside 583 00:34:35,840 --> 00:34:41,359 Speaker 3: my room and there's a clanging of metal and it 584 00:34:41,719 --> 00:34:43,400 Speaker 3: basically wakes up half the hospital. 585 00:34:43,480 --> 00:34:44,240 Speaker 2: It was so loud. 586 00:34:44,719 --> 00:34:48,360 Speaker 3: I went straight into panic attack, and I thought somebody 587 00:34:48,440 --> 00:34:50,919 Speaker 3: is coming in. They're destroying everybody else, and they're coming 588 00:34:50,960 --> 00:34:53,319 Speaker 3: to shoot me. Now I'm all bandished up, I can't 589 00:34:53,320 --> 00:34:55,480 Speaker 3: get out of bed, I can't move. That caused myself 590 00:34:55,560 --> 00:34:58,839 Speaker 3: extreme bay and for five to ten minutes, I am 591 00:34:58,880 --> 00:35:03,200 Speaker 3: just lying there, absolute panic, thinking that somebody is going 592 00:35:03,239 --> 00:35:04,920 Speaker 3: to kill me. And I'm just sitting there waiting to 593 00:35:04,960 --> 00:35:09,480 Speaker 3: be murdered. After about ten minutes, I start thinking to 594 00:35:09,480 --> 00:35:12,800 Speaker 3: myself to know something. There's no other calamity, there's no screaming, 595 00:35:12,840 --> 00:35:16,040 Speaker 3: there's no shooting, nobody's come into the room. And I 596 00:35:16,200 --> 00:35:18,920 Speaker 3: start thinking to myself, Okay, so it was just maybe 597 00:35:18,960 --> 00:35:22,520 Speaker 3: an accident. And my emotions start coming down. But I 598 00:35:22,600 --> 00:35:26,920 Speaker 3: don't berate myself for this. I don't get angry. I 599 00:35:27,200 --> 00:35:30,239 Speaker 3: go and within five days I throw my hand in 600 00:35:30,280 --> 00:35:31,680 Speaker 3: the air and I go to know something. 601 00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:36,680 Speaker 2: I need to talk to a psich. It took three months. 602 00:35:37,000 --> 00:35:39,600 Speaker 3: Before I was able to get to a pyke. And 603 00:35:39,680 --> 00:35:44,280 Speaker 3: in that three months, I've had bad dreams. I've had 604 00:35:44,520 --> 00:35:47,839 Speaker 3: a nightmare of what I call a pseudo nightmare. And 605 00:35:47,880 --> 00:35:52,160 Speaker 3: this pseudo nightmare, I have been to work and I 606 00:35:52,200 --> 00:35:54,439 Speaker 3: get shot, and this is all in the dream. I've 607 00:35:54,440 --> 00:35:57,840 Speaker 3: been to work, I get shot, I've recovered, I've returned 608 00:35:57,840 --> 00:36:02,319 Speaker 3: to a star group, and I know that somebody out 609 00:36:02,360 --> 00:36:05,239 Speaker 3: there is still threatening to shoot me again. And so 610 00:36:05,560 --> 00:36:10,200 Speaker 3: I'm staying in the shadows, being protected, looking after myself 611 00:36:10,200 --> 00:36:14,160 Speaker 3: and not exposing myself to any danger. And in my dream, 612 00:36:14,400 --> 00:36:17,520 Speaker 3: I have this conversation with my police partner, and I say, 613 00:36:17,520 --> 00:36:20,279 Speaker 3: this is not living, this is an existence. This is 614 00:36:20,320 --> 00:36:23,440 Speaker 3: not living. I'm not enjoying my life. And if I'm 615 00:36:23,440 --> 00:36:25,160 Speaker 3: going to get shot, I don't know whether it is 616 00:36:25,239 --> 00:36:26,719 Speaker 3: or it isn't going to happen, but I'm going to 617 00:36:26,760 --> 00:36:28,960 Speaker 3: live my life, and if I do get shot again, 618 00:36:29,360 --> 00:36:31,600 Speaker 3: I will find a way to manage that as well. 619 00:36:32,760 --> 00:36:37,800 Speaker 3: And then my dream flashes over to where people are loading. 620 00:36:38,320 --> 00:36:40,759 Speaker 3: There's two offenders, and one of them is loading a 621 00:36:40,880 --> 00:36:45,279 Speaker 3: rifle with really sharp bullets. Why sharp bullets, I don't know, 622 00:36:45,400 --> 00:36:49,080 Speaker 3: but that's what the dream was. He loads that. 623 00:36:49,239 --> 00:36:51,640 Speaker 2: The dream comes back to me and as I walk 624 00:36:51,680 --> 00:36:52,400 Speaker 2: out out of. 625 00:36:52,400 --> 00:36:55,839 Speaker 3: A shop, I get shot in my left shoulder and 626 00:36:56,040 --> 00:36:59,280 Speaker 3: I get woken out of my sleep. I sit upright 627 00:36:59,360 --> 00:37:01,440 Speaker 3: in bed, and the pain. 628 00:37:01,200 --> 00:37:02,600 Speaker 2: That I feel in. 629 00:37:02,600 --> 00:37:06,240 Speaker 3: My left shoulder is the excruciating pain that you would 630 00:37:06,840 --> 00:37:09,960 Speaker 3: expect to feel from being shot. It was worse than 631 00:37:09,960 --> 00:37:12,959 Speaker 3: the day I actually did get shot. This was excruciating pain. 632 00:37:13,600 --> 00:37:16,400 Speaker 3: But I forced myself to keep my eyes closed, and 633 00:37:16,400 --> 00:37:18,840 Speaker 3: I forced myself to go back to sleep because I 634 00:37:18,880 --> 00:37:20,480 Speaker 3: wanted to find out how the dream finished. 635 00:37:21,080 --> 00:37:23,520 Speaker 2: And I went back into the dream and I rolled 636 00:37:23,520 --> 00:37:26,440 Speaker 2: around the corner. I crawled around the corner, rolled. 637 00:37:26,200 --> 00:37:29,000 Speaker 3: Into a safe spot, and I woke up and so 638 00:37:29,080 --> 00:37:32,080 Speaker 3: I called my pseudo nightmare. Started out as a nightmare, 639 00:37:32,440 --> 00:37:35,120 Speaker 3: but I went back into it and I took control 640 00:37:35,160 --> 00:37:37,680 Speaker 3: of what that outcome was going to be. Now they 641 00:37:37,760 --> 00:37:42,520 Speaker 3: call this lucid dreaming, as I have since learned. But 642 00:37:43,320 --> 00:37:46,520 Speaker 3: when I went to the psychiatrist three months after the shooting, 643 00:37:46,760 --> 00:37:48,839 Speaker 3: I told him that I had this panic attack of 644 00:37:49,200 --> 00:37:50,880 Speaker 3: oh my god, I think I'm going to be murdered. 645 00:37:50,920 --> 00:37:53,759 Speaker 3: I told him about this pseudo nightmare. I told him 646 00:37:53,800 --> 00:37:58,000 Speaker 3: about the bad dreams that I've got back to Star 647 00:37:58,120 --> 00:38:01,160 Speaker 3: Group and I've gone into houses with half dozen other 648 00:38:01,239 --> 00:38:04,800 Speaker 3: Star Group and we've shot offenders, and we've diffused bonds 649 00:38:04,840 --> 00:38:06,920 Speaker 3: and we've broken down drug labs. 650 00:38:06,920 --> 00:38:08,280 Speaker 2: But always a good outcome. 651 00:38:08,360 --> 00:38:12,600 Speaker 3: It will struggle when I'm sweating, and I picked his 652 00:38:12,680 --> 00:38:15,080 Speaker 3: brain about who's dealt with it? Well, who's dealt with 653 00:38:15,120 --> 00:38:17,640 Speaker 3: a bad leave? What can I anticipate if I And 654 00:38:17,719 --> 00:38:20,600 Speaker 3: he's picked my brain about if you experienced this, how 655 00:38:20,680 --> 00:38:22,560 Speaker 3: might you handle it? What might you think about it? 656 00:38:23,840 --> 00:38:26,560 Speaker 3: And we had a really good about two to three 657 00:38:26,640 --> 00:38:29,680 Speaker 3: hour discussion, and at the end of it, he's gone 658 00:38:29,719 --> 00:38:33,400 Speaker 3: derect Psychologically, you have no PTSD, you have no anxiety, 659 00:38:33,400 --> 00:38:36,520 Speaker 3: you have no depression. Yes, you've got these little incidents 660 00:38:36,560 --> 00:38:38,160 Speaker 3: that are happening, but. 661 00:38:38,080 --> 00:38:39,080 Speaker 2: They are not prolonged. 662 00:38:39,280 --> 00:38:41,960 Speaker 3: They are one off and they are not repeated. And 663 00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:44,359 Speaker 3: you've got a really good concept of what you might 664 00:38:44,440 --> 00:38:46,799 Speaker 3: experience and how you might be able to deal with it. 665 00:38:47,239 --> 00:38:49,960 Speaker 3: So I'm going to clear use psychologically to go back 666 00:38:50,000 --> 00:38:53,720 Speaker 3: to work tomorrow, and you don't need any ongoing therapy. 667 00:38:53,840 --> 00:38:56,799 Speaker 3: How is this possible? Most people thought I should be 668 00:38:56,800 --> 00:39:00,040 Speaker 3: in therapy for decades, and I certainly didn't rule that 669 00:39:00,160 --> 00:39:03,560 Speaker 3: out either. But when he said I was psychologically able 670 00:39:03,560 --> 00:39:08,560 Speaker 3: to go back to work, I was just like, Okay, 671 00:39:09,360 --> 00:39:14,680 Speaker 3: I'm very very fortunate that I'm a driven person. I'm 672 00:39:14,680 --> 00:39:18,800 Speaker 3: also a very fortunate person none of those bullet kidneys, livers, 673 00:39:19,200 --> 00:39:21,520 Speaker 3: all that sort of stuff. So very very fortunate in 674 00:39:21,560 --> 00:39:24,920 Speaker 3: that way. But I'm also a very driven person. The 675 00:39:24,920 --> 00:39:26,320 Speaker 3: one thing that I wanted was to be able to 676 00:39:26,360 --> 00:39:28,759 Speaker 3: get back and interact with my kids, and all I 677 00:39:28,800 --> 00:39:31,200 Speaker 3: wanted to do was run, hop, skip and jump with them, 678 00:39:31,239 --> 00:39:35,399 Speaker 3: and that was my drive. Initially, there was always this 679 00:39:35,560 --> 00:39:38,480 Speaker 3: dream that if I had perfection, I would go back 680 00:39:38,480 --> 00:39:41,680 Speaker 3: to stargroup with what the doctors were saying to me 681 00:39:41,800 --> 00:39:46,440 Speaker 3: that was going to be very, very unlikely. But the 682 00:39:46,480 --> 00:39:48,840 Speaker 3: fitter I got, and the more I started running, hopping, 683 00:39:48,920 --> 00:39:53,080 Speaker 3: skipping with the kids, I then started looking at what 684 00:39:53,120 --> 00:39:55,719 Speaker 3: could I do, what more could I do, and the 685 00:39:55,760 --> 00:39:57,799 Speaker 3: glimmer of hope that I'd be able to get back 686 00:39:57,840 --> 00:40:03,600 Speaker 3: to fully operational with Stargroup growing in the distance. And 687 00:40:03,640 --> 00:40:07,000 Speaker 3: it took two and a half years of physical growing, 688 00:40:07,480 --> 00:40:16,080 Speaker 3: highs lows, tears, fears, successes, failures, absolute catastrophic failures of 689 00:40:16,120 --> 00:40:20,400 Speaker 3: my body, but always kicking back. And two and a 690 00:40:20,400 --> 00:40:23,360 Speaker 3: half years later I went back to fully operational with 691 00:40:23,480 --> 00:40:26,240 Speaker 3: Star Group, went back to Sniper, went back to Diver, 692 00:40:26,360 --> 00:40:30,520 Speaker 3: went back to high risk arrests, hostage, siege, helicopters. All 693 00:40:30,560 --> 00:40:33,960 Speaker 3: the stuff that I love I got. And again, I'm 694 00:40:34,040 --> 00:40:37,560 Speaker 3: very fortunate that I managed to get back there and 695 00:40:37,600 --> 00:40:40,920 Speaker 3: be fully operational again. And here I am twenty percent 696 00:40:40,920 --> 00:40:44,520 Speaker 3: of an Achilles tendon. I've gone back to Stargroup, I 697 00:40:44,640 --> 00:40:49,960 Speaker 3: have competed in triathlons, I have ridden my mountain bike 698 00:40:50,040 --> 00:40:53,720 Speaker 3: over the top of the Himalayas, higher than Everest Base camp. 699 00:40:55,000 --> 00:40:58,680 Speaker 3: And so I'm living this full life what I now 700 00:40:58,800 --> 00:41:02,120 Speaker 3: talk about with psychio tists and psychologists is that I 701 00:41:02,160 --> 00:41:05,840 Speaker 3: didn't have post traumatic stress. I had post traumatic growth. 702 00:41:06,680 --> 00:41:09,360 Speaker 3: And that is a really powerful thing for anybody that 703 00:41:09,440 --> 00:41:12,440 Speaker 3: goes through trauma to come out with that growth mindset 704 00:41:12,600 --> 00:41:14,959 Speaker 3: of what have I learned and what can I share 705 00:41:15,000 --> 00:41:18,400 Speaker 3: with other people to better prepare them for their challenges. 706 00:41:18,880 --> 00:41:22,400 Speaker 3: And this post traumatic growth is, as I see it, 707 00:41:22,560 --> 00:41:27,480 Speaker 3: collateral benefit that has come from my approach to it 708 00:41:27,800 --> 00:41:31,000 Speaker 3: five years prior, when I started preparing for it, the 709 00:41:31,120 --> 00:41:33,560 Speaker 3: way I managed it on the day, and certainly my 710 00:41:33,640 --> 00:41:35,080 Speaker 3: recovery afterwards. 711 00:41:38,760 --> 00:41:39,879 Speaker 2: The big thing that. 712 00:41:39,960 --> 00:41:44,799 Speaker 3: Changed for me was my concept of the power of 713 00:41:44,840 --> 00:41:47,160 Speaker 3: our minds. I haven't gone to the point where I 714 00:41:47,160 --> 00:41:49,960 Speaker 3: think I'm superhuman. I don't think that I'm able to 715 00:41:50,000 --> 00:41:52,560 Speaker 3: achieve things that I've never been able to achieve and 716 00:41:53,120 --> 00:41:55,120 Speaker 3: can do things that other people can't. I'm just an 717 00:41:55,200 --> 00:41:59,200 Speaker 3: ordinary bloke. I'm still just an ordinary bloke who will 718 00:41:59,200 --> 00:42:02,000 Speaker 3: get injured the same as everybody else. But I know 719 00:42:02,080 --> 00:42:05,040 Speaker 3: that my mindset is different, and that's what I like 720 00:42:05,080 --> 00:42:08,479 Speaker 3: to do these days, show other people how they could 721 00:42:08,480 --> 00:42:12,320 Speaker 3: have that really strong mindset as well, but as preparing 722 00:42:12,400 --> 00:42:15,760 Speaker 3: for the challenges that they can expect in their life. 723 00:42:15,920 --> 00:42:18,120 Speaker 3: They don't have to prepare for being shot, but it's 724 00:42:18,120 --> 00:42:22,680 Speaker 3: about acknowledging exactly what could possibly happen and then preparing 725 00:42:22,719 --> 00:42:27,760 Speaker 3: well for it physically, mentally, and emotionally. There's a theory, 726 00:42:27,800 --> 00:42:30,720 Speaker 3: and I can't remember whose theory it is, that within 727 00:42:30,800 --> 00:42:35,040 Speaker 3: every eighteen month period, there is some sort of catastrophe 728 00:42:35,040 --> 00:42:35,800 Speaker 3: in our life. 729 00:42:36,280 --> 00:42:37,680 Speaker 2: Now, it may be a. 730 00:42:37,600 --> 00:42:39,960 Speaker 3: Physical injury to us, it may be an illness. It 731 00:42:39,960 --> 00:42:43,120 Speaker 3: may be the car engine blows up, it could be 732 00:42:43,640 --> 00:42:49,160 Speaker 3: the dog gets injured, it could be problems with the house. 733 00:42:49,200 --> 00:42:52,440 Speaker 3: But within every eighteen month period there is something that 734 00:42:52,480 --> 00:42:55,840 Speaker 3: happens that really challenges us, and we just need to 735 00:42:55,840 --> 00:42:58,880 Speaker 3: be able to accept, Okay, there is another challenge. What 736 00:42:58,960 --> 00:43:00,600 Speaker 3: do I need to do to be to get through 737 00:43:00,640 --> 00:43:03,399 Speaker 3: it and be happy and manage it in the best 738 00:43:03,400 --> 00:43:09,120 Speaker 3: way we can. I've got a model for human durability 739 00:43:09,120 --> 00:43:12,760 Speaker 3: and the Golden circle, and the underlying principle behind it 740 00:43:12,800 --> 00:43:16,320 Speaker 3: is open on us confronting conversations about the reality of 741 00:43:16,360 --> 00:43:20,279 Speaker 3: our choices and the possible consequences for the future. There 742 00:43:20,320 --> 00:43:23,719 Speaker 3: isn't anything new that happens in life. We all know 743 00:43:23,840 --> 00:43:27,480 Speaker 3: that other people's houses burned down, and there's an outside 744 00:43:27,600 --> 00:43:30,160 Speaker 3: chance that may happen to our house, so we need 745 00:43:30,200 --> 00:43:34,400 Speaker 3: to have insurance. We need to have fire alarms, we 746 00:43:34,440 --> 00:43:37,360 Speaker 3: need to have fire extinguishers and all. 747 00:43:37,200 --> 00:43:38,799 Speaker 2: That sort of stuff available to us. 748 00:43:39,800 --> 00:43:41,960 Speaker 3: Majority people will never need to use them, but we 749 00:43:42,040 --> 00:43:44,879 Speaker 3: need to have them there because there's this possibility. So 750 00:43:45,400 --> 00:43:48,399 Speaker 3: we should have in our mind there's possibility the house 751 00:43:48,440 --> 00:43:51,320 Speaker 3: may burn down, we may have a car accident, somebody 752 00:43:51,360 --> 00:43:54,520 Speaker 3: may get set. We've got health insurance, all those things 753 00:43:54,520 --> 00:43:58,880 Speaker 3: in place to help cover those things, and we just need. 754 00:43:58,680 --> 00:44:04,799 Speaker 2: To not dwell and not wallow in worry. 755 00:44:04,960 --> 00:44:07,440 Speaker 3: But just be aware of what the worst thing that 756 00:44:07,520 --> 00:44:10,680 Speaker 3: might happen as well as the best thing. And it 757 00:44:10,800 --> 00:44:15,960 Speaker 3: is that balance of understanding those two extremes and not 758 00:44:16,080 --> 00:44:19,800 Speaker 3: being overwhelmed by one or the other and just accepting. 759 00:44:27,640 --> 00:44:29,280 Speaker 2: I've got some idea that they may happen. 760 00:44:29,680 --> 00:44:33,040 Speaker 3: If they do, what might I do, rather than going, oh, 761 00:44:33,080 --> 00:44:34,520 Speaker 3: that will never happen to me, and I don't want 762 00:44:34,520 --> 00:44:36,520 Speaker 3: to think about it, because if I think about it, 763 00:44:36,520 --> 00:44:38,239 Speaker 3: oh my gosh, I'm going to be too scared to 764 00:44:38,320 --> 00:44:41,200 Speaker 3: even go to sleep at night thinking about No. No, 765 00:44:41,320 --> 00:44:44,920 Speaker 3: let's just be aware of it that it's possible and 766 00:44:45,000 --> 00:44:47,279 Speaker 3: have some idea of what we might do, and if 767 00:44:47,320 --> 00:44:50,480 Speaker 3: that is too much, then let's not put ourselves in 768 00:44:50,520 --> 00:44:53,200 Speaker 3: the circumstances where that could happen. If you're really worried 769 00:44:53,200 --> 00:44:57,279 Speaker 3: about the house burning down, then take extra measures to 770 00:44:57,400 --> 00:45:01,480 Speaker 3: make sure that you protect yourself from that. I think 771 00:45:02,560 --> 00:45:07,239 Speaker 3: the ebb and flow of happiness and challenge, it's just 772 00:45:07,280 --> 00:45:13,120 Speaker 3: a natural part of life. I think that we will 773 00:45:13,160 --> 00:45:15,120 Speaker 3: go through life and we'll get to a point where 774 00:45:15,160 --> 00:45:18,640 Speaker 3: we are really good at something, and we don't just 775 00:45:18,680 --> 00:45:20,680 Speaker 3: sit there and go, i'm good at this. I'm going 776 00:45:20,719 --> 00:45:23,560 Speaker 3: to stay in this moment. We go i'm good at this, 777 00:45:24,320 --> 00:45:27,520 Speaker 3: and now on board, I want to take on another challenge. 778 00:45:27,680 --> 00:45:30,880 Speaker 3: And so we quite often just bring challenges upon ourselves 779 00:45:31,120 --> 00:45:34,359 Speaker 3: because we choose to do so, because there's something better 780 00:45:34,400 --> 00:45:37,200 Speaker 3: we want to do, there's something that we want to achieve. 781 00:45:37,480 --> 00:45:39,600 Speaker 3: We may want to do things for other people, but 782 00:45:40,120 --> 00:45:44,400 Speaker 3: we push ourselves to find that next challenge. And if 783 00:45:44,440 --> 00:45:47,279 Speaker 3: you don't find your next challenge, your next challenge will 784 00:45:47,320 --> 00:45:50,319 Speaker 3: find you anyway, and so we're always going to be 785 00:45:50,320 --> 00:45:57,279 Speaker 3: dealing with it. But the catastrophes in life, the fires, 786 00:45:57,400 --> 00:46:01,359 Speaker 3: the deaths of loved ones, the car engine blowing up, 787 00:46:01,560 --> 00:46:06,359 Speaker 3: the house needing major renovation, all those sorts of things 788 00:46:06,440 --> 00:46:10,520 Speaker 3: that naturally happen. I don't know why they happen, but 789 00:46:11,280 --> 00:46:13,680 Speaker 3: I just know that they are part of life. You 790 00:46:13,800 --> 00:46:18,000 Speaker 3: look back through history, and from the day that history 791 00:46:18,040 --> 00:46:21,080 Speaker 3: has been written, everybody has been dealing with some sort 792 00:46:21,120 --> 00:46:23,640 Speaker 3: of challenge throughout their life. Then they'll get into a 793 00:46:23,680 --> 00:46:26,560 Speaker 3: really happy place, and then there'll be another challenge, and 794 00:46:26,600 --> 00:46:28,240 Speaker 3: then they'll find another happy place. 795 00:46:28,800 --> 00:46:29,319 Speaker 2: It's just the. 796 00:46:29,280 --> 00:46:30,879 Speaker 3: Ebb and flow of life. And I think the more 797 00:46:30,920 --> 00:46:34,759 Speaker 3: that we accept at and we say it is going 798 00:46:34,800 --> 00:46:37,680 Speaker 3: to be normal for us to have challenges, so let's 799 00:46:37,680 --> 00:46:40,520 Speaker 3: approach it positively, get through it as fast as we 800 00:46:40,640 --> 00:46:44,000 Speaker 3: can and get back to that happy place, the more 801 00:46:44,000 --> 00:46:46,920 Speaker 3: time we're going to spend in happiness. And it's not 802 00:46:46,960 --> 00:46:49,839 Speaker 3: going to be a resentment of I hate what is 803 00:46:49,840 --> 00:46:52,959 Speaker 3: happening to me. It's kind of like, well, now these 804 00:46:52,960 --> 00:46:56,120 Speaker 3: things are going to happen. It's not that I enjoyed 805 00:46:56,160 --> 00:47:00,760 Speaker 3: being shot, but I certainly accept it because the choices 806 00:47:00,800 --> 00:47:03,120 Speaker 3: I made, this was a real possibility. 807 00:47:03,200 --> 00:47:07,120 Speaker 2: So I suffered terribly it interrupting my life. 808 00:47:07,120 --> 00:47:09,319 Speaker 3: I went through a lot of pain in surgery and 809 00:47:09,360 --> 00:47:14,200 Speaker 3: recovery and pushing myself to get fit was absolutely excruciating 810 00:47:14,200 --> 00:47:17,600 Speaker 3: at times, but there was a purpose, and it's that 811 00:47:17,680 --> 00:47:20,040 Speaker 3: purpose I think that we've got to keep on focusing on. 812 00:47:22,760 --> 00:47:25,560 Speaker 3: I do risky stuff throughout my life now. I'm still 813 00:47:26,160 --> 00:47:29,120 Speaker 3: riding bikes and the Himalayas, I walk the Coda track, 814 00:47:29,320 --> 00:47:33,440 Speaker 3: I skydive. I still do risky stuff now, but I 815 00:47:33,480 --> 00:47:36,040 Speaker 3: don't see myself as a risk taker. I see myself 816 00:47:36,040 --> 00:47:39,720 Speaker 3: as a risk manager, and there's a really distinct difference. 817 00:47:39,760 --> 00:47:41,640 Speaker 2: I look at what skills and. 818 00:47:42,080 --> 00:47:44,759 Speaker 3: Environment and support I have around me to give me 819 00:47:44,840 --> 00:47:48,600 Speaker 3: the best chance of success. I'm not afraid to die. 820 00:47:48,800 --> 00:47:51,479 Speaker 3: I don't want to die, but it's going to happen 821 00:47:51,520 --> 00:47:55,719 Speaker 3: to us all. I had a conversation with my children 822 00:47:56,960 --> 00:47:58,719 Speaker 3: as I was sitting next to my mother as she 823 00:47:58,840 --> 00:47:59,360 Speaker 3: was passing. 824 00:48:00,680 --> 00:48:03,560 Speaker 2: Was I upset? Absolutely? Was I crying? Absolutely? 825 00:48:04,440 --> 00:48:07,040 Speaker 3: But it was also celebrated Mum's life. But I turned 826 00:48:07,040 --> 00:48:09,400 Speaker 3: to my children and said, you need to be aware 827 00:48:09,400 --> 00:48:12,080 Speaker 3: of what's happening here, because eventually what's going to happen 828 00:48:12,120 --> 00:48:13,640 Speaker 3: is it's me that's going to be in the bed 829 00:48:13,880 --> 00:48:16,120 Speaker 3: and you're going to be sitting here, and we need 830 00:48:16,160 --> 00:48:18,960 Speaker 3: to have this environment where we're comfortable that this is 831 00:48:19,000 --> 00:48:43,239 Speaker 3: a part of the process of life. 832 00:48:45,320 --> 00:48:47,759 Speaker 1: Welcome back, This is Alive again, joining me for a 833 00:48:47,800 --> 00:48:50,879 Speaker 1: conversation about today's story. Are my other Alive against story 834 00:48:50,960 --> 00:48:55,399 Speaker 1: producers Lauren Vogelbaum, Nicholas Dakowski and Brent Die And I'm 835 00:48:55,440 --> 00:48:55,840 Speaker 1: your host. 836 00:48:56,040 --> 00:49:01,840 Speaker 4: Dan Bush loved talking to Derek mcmahonus. Yeah, what a story. Huh. 837 00:49:02,000 --> 00:49:02,360 Speaker 2: Yeah. 838 00:49:02,520 --> 00:49:05,600 Speaker 5: I was kind of in awe of him the whole 839 00:49:05,640 --> 00:49:11,720 Speaker 5: time because I'm like, I'm listening to and I'm like, God, 840 00:49:11,800 --> 00:49:15,440 Speaker 5: I wish my brain would go to that place. But 841 00:49:15,680 --> 00:49:18,840 Speaker 5: I you know, I that's not any of the trading 842 00:49:18,880 --> 00:49:20,840 Speaker 5: I had. I went to theater school. 843 00:49:21,040 --> 00:49:22,719 Speaker 4: I just thought he was I was like this, this 844 00:49:22,800 --> 00:49:26,400 Speaker 4: is this guy's superhuman. He's special. This isn't normal. This 845 00:49:26,480 --> 00:49:29,720 Speaker 4: seems insane to me that he was able to conjure 846 00:49:29,800 --> 00:49:33,200 Speaker 4: so much calm in the moment after having been shot 847 00:49:33,280 --> 00:49:36,960 Speaker 4: fourteen times. And also the stuff he laughs at himself about, 848 00:49:37,200 --> 00:49:39,640 Speaker 4: like with ego flaring up and him going, oh, well, 849 00:49:39,880 --> 00:49:43,320 Speaker 4: I'm going to be a gold medalist now. You know, 850 00:49:43,400 --> 00:49:45,279 Speaker 4: you get shot fourteen times and you're on your back, 851 00:49:45,320 --> 00:49:46,800 Speaker 4: bleeding out and you're thinking I'm going to be a 852 00:49:46,840 --> 00:49:47,440 Speaker 4: gold medalist. 853 00:49:47,520 --> 00:49:48,600 Speaker 6: Now, worry this is great. 854 00:49:48,680 --> 00:49:51,279 Speaker 3: Yeah, this my basketball. 855 00:49:50,719 --> 00:49:54,960 Speaker 4: Not exactly, but like, that's that kind of resilience or whatever. 856 00:49:55,239 --> 00:49:56,279 Speaker 4: He has a different. 857 00:49:56,000 --> 00:49:58,040 Speaker 5: Word for it, human durability. 858 00:49:58,360 --> 00:50:01,239 Speaker 4: Human durability, but he's I was like, that's not human, 859 00:50:01,280 --> 00:50:03,080 Speaker 4: that's not normal. But then I started kind of going 860 00:50:03,120 --> 00:50:04,440 Speaker 4: through it, and I was like, well, what are the 861 00:50:04,520 --> 00:50:07,960 Speaker 4: because he insists that no, this is not there's nothing 862 00:50:08,000 --> 00:50:12,560 Speaker 4: special about me. It's it's simply a forcing yourself to 863 00:50:12,600 --> 00:50:15,600 Speaker 4: review these potentialities before they happen. I don't know if 864 00:50:15,600 --> 00:50:16,799 Speaker 4: you could do them all, but I do that with 865 00:50:16,880 --> 00:50:19,960 Speaker 4: my kids. I'm like, Okay, let's in the event of 866 00:50:19,960 --> 00:50:23,080 Speaker 4: a fire, we're gonna have a fire drill. You know, 867 00:50:23,160 --> 00:50:25,200 Speaker 4: here's what we're going to do. You jump out the 868 00:50:25,200 --> 00:50:27,120 Speaker 4: window whatever, Here's how you open the window. And we 869 00:50:27,480 --> 00:50:29,600 Speaker 4: do actually do these fire drills sometimes, and I'll actually 870 00:50:29,719 --> 00:50:32,319 Speaker 4: set off the fire alarm in my house just to 871 00:50:32,360 --> 00:50:34,680 Speaker 4: add some you know, because those are the conditions that 872 00:50:34,719 --> 00:50:36,319 Speaker 4: they would have to rehearse. You know that they would 873 00:50:36,360 --> 00:50:38,919 Speaker 4: actually be into some degree, right, and I feel good 874 00:50:38,920 --> 00:50:40,520 Speaker 4: that they know exactly what to do. We meet in 875 00:50:40,560 --> 00:50:45,080 Speaker 4: the driveway or whatever, but you can't rehearse every situation. 876 00:50:45,320 --> 00:50:48,200 Speaker 4: But it was just insane. How he was able to 877 00:50:48,280 --> 00:50:50,960 Speaker 4: sort of find calm despite all the things that were 878 00:50:50,960 --> 00:50:52,919 Speaker 4: happening to him physically and mentally, I don't know. 879 00:50:52,920 --> 00:50:57,600 Speaker 5: And I wonder if that is because of his intensive 880 00:50:57,719 --> 00:51:02,680 Speaker 5: training that he's gone through, or if he's just built 881 00:51:02,719 --> 00:51:03,520 Speaker 5: that way in. 882 00:51:03,480 --> 00:51:07,480 Speaker 7: The fires in Hawaii, and Eily's concordance said the same thing. 883 00:51:07,719 --> 00:51:11,160 Speaker 7: You know, while Heino was burning down, she just kept thinking, 884 00:51:11,160 --> 00:51:13,120 Speaker 7: what is my next step would I have to do 885 00:51:13,200 --> 00:51:16,839 Speaker 7: to survive over the next three minutes? And I guess 886 00:51:16,840 --> 00:51:19,400 Speaker 7: she had dive training, so she knew how to handle 887 00:51:19,400 --> 00:51:22,440 Speaker 7: herself in the water. But beyond that, you know, getting 888 00:51:22,480 --> 00:51:26,400 Speaker 7: from the burning down city down to the water, she 889 00:51:26,480 --> 00:51:29,440 Speaker 7: was just taking it one minute at a time. And 890 00:51:29,480 --> 00:51:32,759 Speaker 7: then another thing in Nate Dorn's story, he talked about 891 00:51:32,760 --> 00:51:34,120 Speaker 7: when he was a kid and he would do all 892 00:51:34,160 --> 00:51:37,399 Speaker 7: these stunts, like jumping off the. 893 00:51:37,120 --> 00:51:38,359 Speaker 2: Roof of a building or something. 894 00:51:38,400 --> 00:51:40,320 Speaker 7: He could always he would always see how he was 895 00:51:40,360 --> 00:51:41,319 Speaker 7: going to land in his mind. 896 00:51:41,360 --> 00:51:42,640 Speaker 4: He would always see the role. 897 00:51:42,520 --> 00:51:43,279 Speaker 2: He was going to do. 898 00:51:43,400 --> 00:51:45,960 Speaker 4: Yeah, if you can pre visualize the situation, maybe that 899 00:51:46,040 --> 00:51:49,239 Speaker 4: statistically raises your chances of actual survival. 900 00:51:49,440 --> 00:51:49,560 Speaker 6: Well. 901 00:51:49,560 --> 00:51:51,240 Speaker 7: I thought it was interesting too what he said about 902 00:51:51,440 --> 00:51:55,520 Speaker 7: how he had to modulate his like breathing and his 903 00:51:55,560 --> 00:51:58,480 Speaker 7: blood like he had to he physically would calm himself 904 00:51:58,480 --> 00:52:01,080 Speaker 7: down and bring his blood pressure and all that, and 905 00:52:01,120 --> 00:52:03,360 Speaker 7: it sounded almost like you're regulating a machine. 906 00:52:03,440 --> 00:52:11,960 Speaker 4: I love the naked gun story. Yeah. Can you imagine 907 00:52:12,000 --> 00:52:14,000 Speaker 4: your shot fourteen times and you stagger back and you 908 00:52:14,000 --> 00:52:16,319 Speaker 4: put your hand up, hold yourself up. You flashed to 909 00:52:16,320 --> 00:52:17,120 Speaker 4: the naked gun. 910 00:52:17,480 --> 00:52:21,560 Speaker 5: I wonder how, I wonder how much of that was shock? Yeah, 911 00:52:21,840 --> 00:52:24,640 Speaker 5: it was his body going into shock and just like 912 00:52:24,800 --> 00:52:27,560 Speaker 5: protecting him from that. I mean, I've never been in 913 00:52:27,600 --> 00:52:32,920 Speaker 5: a situation where I was that battered and that close 914 00:52:32,960 --> 00:52:36,680 Speaker 5: to bleeding out that my body has done that. So 915 00:52:37,040 --> 00:52:40,879 Speaker 5: I yeah, I mean this is I'm not going to say, 916 00:52:41,000 --> 00:52:45,719 Speaker 5: completely alien to me. I've gotten very calm under very 917 00:52:45,719 --> 00:52:50,680 Speaker 5: stressful situations, but this just seemed so much more intense. 918 00:52:51,239 --> 00:52:54,120 Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean right, I mean, you know, I haven't 919 00:52:54,160 --> 00:52:59,360 Speaker 6: gone through this level of training where you're asked to 920 00:53:00,719 --> 00:53:03,440 Speaker 6: think about and to act through these sort of scenarios 921 00:53:03,480 --> 00:53:06,480 Speaker 6: all the time. They say in disaster preparedness that, right, 922 00:53:06,719 --> 00:53:09,800 Speaker 6: if you can just get like shave like a second 923 00:53:09,840 --> 00:53:12,160 Speaker 6: off of your reaction time, give yourself a little bit 924 00:53:12,200 --> 00:53:15,880 Speaker 6: of an opportunity to set yourself up for better success. 925 00:53:16,080 --> 00:53:20,520 Speaker 6: And listening to this story in particular, I was thinking like, like, 926 00:53:21,160 --> 00:53:25,399 Speaker 6: is this superhuman? Is this more normal than we think 927 00:53:25,440 --> 00:53:27,840 Speaker 6: it is, or is it like those diagrams of the 928 00:53:27,840 --> 00:53:31,799 Speaker 6: planes that came back where you're like, oh, they didn't 929 00:53:31,840 --> 00:53:34,280 Speaker 6: get shot in the wings, and so they did come back. 930 00:53:34,400 --> 00:53:37,080 Speaker 6: And that's why we're seeing that. That's why we're hearing 931 00:53:37,120 --> 00:53:39,080 Speaker 6: this story because he had this training. 932 00:53:39,400 --> 00:53:41,759 Speaker 4: I think he ascribes a lot to the training. I mean, 933 00:53:41,760 --> 00:53:43,640 Speaker 4: he spends a lot of time saying, well, he even 934 00:53:43,680 --> 00:53:45,440 Speaker 4: goes back. At one point he's like he stops and 935 00:53:45,440 --> 00:53:48,640 Speaker 4: he's like, well, I had had a similar situation, not 936 00:53:48,880 --> 00:53:52,839 Speaker 4: a similar situation completely, but he had to put his 937 00:53:52,880 --> 00:53:55,920 Speaker 4: thumb between the hammer of the gun, yeah, after she 938 00:53:55,960 --> 00:54:02,799 Speaker 4: had cocked it. And he had visualized that scenario too, 939 00:54:02,880 --> 00:54:06,280 Speaker 4: in a weird way, not exactly, but it wasn't wrestling 940 00:54:06,280 --> 00:54:08,680 Speaker 4: in a car, but he had to visualize what if 941 00:54:08,800 --> 00:54:11,239 Speaker 4: somebody was trying to cock a gun and there's no 942 00:54:11,280 --> 00:54:13,400 Speaker 4: other way to stop them. The other thing, too, is 943 00:54:13,400 --> 00:54:15,600 Speaker 4: that kind of a counterpoint to like pre visualizing and 944 00:54:15,640 --> 00:54:19,759 Speaker 4: seeing an outcome, This idea that if you really it's 945 00:54:19,840 --> 00:54:21,879 Speaker 4: really hard to do. But I think you know, people 946 00:54:21,920 --> 00:54:24,200 Speaker 4: who meditate a lot are better at this. Instead of 947 00:54:24,239 --> 00:54:26,880 Speaker 4: being reactive to a situation, sort of what you were saying, 948 00:54:27,160 --> 00:54:30,200 Speaker 4: learn about being non reactive and sort of learning how 949 00:54:30,200 --> 00:54:33,960 Speaker 4: to train yourself to calm your breathing and to slow 950 00:54:34,000 --> 00:54:36,000 Speaker 4: your breathing and to slow your heart rate. What I've 951 00:54:36,000 --> 00:54:38,440 Speaker 4: noticed lately is that when I try to just really 952 00:54:38,480 --> 00:54:41,800 Speaker 4: ground down, whether I'm trying to do a meditation session 953 00:54:41,880 --> 00:54:44,480 Speaker 4: or not, just or I'm just sitting outside, like with 954 00:54:44,520 --> 00:54:46,040 Speaker 4: all the stuff that's happening in the world and how 955 00:54:46,120 --> 00:54:48,759 Speaker 4: terrifying it is, and for me to stop and go, 956 00:54:48,840 --> 00:54:51,719 Speaker 4: I'm not being attacked by a lion right now. You know, 957 00:54:52,000 --> 00:54:55,680 Speaker 4: it's hard not to imagine that a horrible future that 958 00:54:55,800 --> 00:54:58,960 Speaker 4: might come because of, you know, everything that's happening in 959 00:54:59,000 --> 00:55:00,440 Speaker 4: the world and all of the things that you can be 960 00:55:00,440 --> 00:55:03,520 Speaker 4: afraid of, and the violence that we see that we're 961 00:55:03,520 --> 00:55:06,440 Speaker 4: inundated with at all times through social media, and the 962 00:55:06,520 --> 00:55:08,759 Speaker 4: violence we see on all of our feeds, and it 963 00:55:08,800 --> 00:55:11,080 Speaker 4: starts to get into you, and it's maybe some low 964 00:55:11,160 --> 00:55:13,160 Speaker 4: level stress that you start to carry. But then I'll 965 00:55:13,200 --> 00:55:14,760 Speaker 4: look out and I'll say I've got my cup of coffee. 966 00:55:14,760 --> 00:55:17,000 Speaker 4: I'm looking at the sun, I can hear the birds, 967 00:55:17,719 --> 00:55:20,880 Speaker 4: and I start to calm down and just kind of 968 00:55:20,920 --> 00:55:23,920 Speaker 4: realizing lately that the future does not exist. It doesn't 969 00:55:23,960 --> 00:55:28,040 Speaker 4: exist at all. You know, the past did exist, but 970 00:55:28,080 --> 00:55:30,760 Speaker 4: it doesn't exist anymore either. The only thing that actually 971 00:55:30,840 --> 00:55:32,960 Speaker 4: exists is the present and if there's nothing attacking me 972 00:55:33,040 --> 00:55:36,160 Speaker 4: right now. And it's this idea of sort of of 973 00:55:36,280 --> 00:55:39,480 Speaker 4: course from that, but maybe aligned with it is you know, 974 00:55:39,960 --> 00:55:43,440 Speaker 4: if you think you're going to be happy someday, you know, 975 00:55:43,880 --> 00:55:46,399 Speaker 4: some day, if only this would happen, or if only 976 00:55:46,440 --> 00:55:48,680 Speaker 4: this person would be president, or if only I could 977 00:55:48,719 --> 00:55:50,920 Speaker 4: have this house, or if only I could meet this person, 978 00:55:50,960 --> 00:55:53,040 Speaker 4: you know, you will not be happy someday if you 979 00:55:53,040 --> 00:55:55,319 Speaker 4: cannot be happy in the present moment. And the same 980 00:55:55,320 --> 00:55:57,960 Speaker 4: thing goes for the opposite of that. So it's not 981 00:55:58,080 --> 00:56:02,080 Speaker 4: just about happiness. It's all so true about trauma. Right. 982 00:56:02,239 --> 00:56:03,880 Speaker 5: Fuck, I'm in trouble. 983 00:56:08,880 --> 00:56:11,600 Speaker 4: Right but I find myself spiraling in these in these 984 00:56:11,600 --> 00:56:15,719 Speaker 4: fearful thoughts, and talking to Derek, I was I was like, 985 00:56:16,640 --> 00:56:19,279 Speaker 4: if he can do that under this extreme situation where 986 00:56:19,320 --> 00:56:23,120 Speaker 4: in the present moment he actually is dying, then why 987 00:56:23,160 --> 00:56:25,800 Speaker 4: can't I do it in my day to day where 988 00:56:25,840 --> 00:56:29,759 Speaker 4: all of my fears, whether valid or not, are not 989 00:56:29,840 --> 00:56:33,479 Speaker 4: actually you know, they're not. They don't exist. Nothing's happening now. 990 00:56:33,640 --> 00:56:36,080 Speaker 4: If we can ground into the moment, it's a counterpoint 991 00:56:36,120 --> 00:56:40,280 Speaker 4: to pre visualizing the outcome. That might also be another tool. 992 00:56:40,640 --> 00:56:43,640 Speaker 4: I think also his survival mode, his resilience came from 993 00:56:43,680 --> 00:56:46,600 Speaker 4: this optimism, so being calm in the moment, being able 994 00:56:46,640 --> 00:56:51,400 Speaker 4: to foresee a potential outcome. But besides that, this optimism 995 00:56:51,400 --> 00:56:54,240 Speaker 4: that he had, in the sense of humor that he had, 996 00:56:54,440 --> 00:56:59,920 Speaker 4: that also carried him through recovery. Like a lot of 997 00:57:00,160 --> 00:57:04,360 Speaker 4: people I think could have. You know, I would have 998 00:57:04,480 --> 00:57:06,799 Speaker 4: probably suffered a lot more and had a lot more 999 00:57:06,880 --> 00:57:09,080 Speaker 4: doubt about whether or not I could make a full recovery. 1000 00:57:09,360 --> 00:57:12,160 Speaker 4: But Derek, he just kind of blew past that and 1001 00:57:12,280 --> 00:57:15,560 Speaker 4: imagine himself rejoining Star Group at some point, and he did, 1002 00:57:15,600 --> 00:57:17,560 Speaker 4: in fact have this full recovery after about a year 1003 00:57:17,560 --> 00:57:20,160 Speaker 4: and a half or two years and jumped back in 1004 00:57:20,200 --> 00:57:22,480 Speaker 4: and kept doing rescue. I don't know, I've never heard 1005 00:57:22,480 --> 00:57:24,920 Speaker 4: of anything like that. It just sounds it sounds superhuman 1006 00:57:24,920 --> 00:57:25,120 Speaker 4: to me. 1007 00:57:25,360 --> 00:57:26,600 Speaker 2: But oh yeah, I could. 1008 00:57:26,640 --> 00:57:29,080 Speaker 5: I mean, I imagine in the same situation. If I 1009 00:57:29,120 --> 00:57:31,800 Speaker 5: didn't just assume I'd be dead, I'd be like, I'm 1010 00:57:31,800 --> 00:57:33,160 Speaker 5: going to be a I'm going to be just like 1011 00:57:33,200 --> 00:57:37,000 Speaker 5: a head in a jar. This body is done. 1012 00:57:37,080 --> 00:57:39,720 Speaker 4: It's easy to look at the negative possibilities when we 1013 00:57:39,840 --> 00:57:41,240 Speaker 4: lose all the things that we're used to, When we 1014 00:57:41,320 --> 00:57:43,680 Speaker 4: lose a limb, or we lose our voice, or we 1015 00:57:43,720 --> 00:57:45,600 Speaker 4: lose our sight, or we lose it would be it's 1016 00:57:45,680 --> 00:57:49,080 Speaker 4: very easy to quickly go into a spiral of Okay, 1017 00:57:49,120 --> 00:57:52,560 Speaker 4: my life is over. And I've never had to do it. 1018 00:57:52,600 --> 00:57:55,280 Speaker 4: But I wonder, at least not to that extreme, but 1019 00:57:55,320 --> 00:57:58,320 Speaker 4: I wonder we all have that capacity to shift from 1020 00:57:58,320 --> 00:58:00,120 Speaker 4: that and go, okay, but what does this give me? 1021 00:58:00,160 --> 00:58:01,720 Speaker 4: He did it in two seconds. I'm going to be 1022 00:58:01,760 --> 00:58:05,280 Speaker 4: a gold medalist in a wheelchair. You know. But how 1023 00:58:05,320 --> 00:58:07,320 Speaker 4: do we how do we you know, where we find 1024 00:58:07,320 --> 00:58:12,920 Speaker 4: the capacity to shift in our lives with our challenges, 1025 00:58:13,000 --> 00:58:16,200 Speaker 4: as big or little as they are, to a more positive, 1026 00:58:16,960 --> 00:58:20,560 Speaker 4: you know vision, I guess, and not just to have it, 1027 00:58:20,600 --> 00:58:22,320 Speaker 4: not just to go oh, got to be positive now, 1028 00:58:22,560 --> 00:58:25,200 Speaker 4: but rather just to kind of have that as part 1029 00:58:25,240 --> 00:58:27,080 Speaker 4: of you, to just have it as like your first 1030 00:58:27,120 --> 00:58:30,040 Speaker 4: thought is like, oh cool, well this means I'm going 1031 00:58:30,080 --> 00:58:31,040 Speaker 4: to be a gold medalist. 1032 00:58:31,640 --> 00:58:35,680 Speaker 6: Yeah. As a as a sort of depressive person, I 1033 00:58:35,800 --> 00:58:41,360 Speaker 6: find the optimism part equally superhuman to the getting shot teen. 1034 00:58:41,200 --> 00:58:42,760 Speaker 3: Times and shame. 1035 00:58:43,760 --> 00:58:46,520 Speaker 6: I'm like, I'm like, I I don't operate that positively 1036 00:58:46,680 --> 00:58:47,760 Speaker 6: on a good day. 1037 00:58:48,800 --> 00:58:51,640 Speaker 5: Although I have to admit, like one of those like 1038 00:58:51,760 --> 00:58:56,360 Speaker 5: weird passing fantasies that I've always had when I'm just 1039 00:58:56,480 --> 00:58:59,800 Speaker 5: stressed out with my life is like maybe I could 1040 00:58:59,880 --> 00:59:05,600 Speaker 5: just like maybe I could just go into a coma, 1041 00:59:05,760 --> 00:59:10,280 Speaker 5: Like maybe if if something bad happened to me, truly bad, 1042 00:59:10,360 --> 00:59:14,840 Speaker 5: to take me out of this, Like maybe it would. 1043 00:59:14,680 --> 00:59:17,560 Speaker 6: Be a beautiful coma. I would love to just lie 1044 00:59:17,600 --> 00:59:18,800 Speaker 6: down for a while. 1045 00:59:18,640 --> 00:59:20,440 Speaker 5: Which is like, yeah, maybe I could get some rest. 1046 00:59:21,640 --> 00:59:24,720 Speaker 4: Well, all of this does his story really does heavily 1047 00:59:24,760 --> 00:59:27,360 Speaker 4: point towards this idea for me and reiterated for me, 1048 00:59:27,520 --> 00:59:32,520 Speaker 4: like panicking or worry and stress about a future that 1049 00:59:32,800 --> 00:59:36,320 Speaker 4: you have no idea whether it will exist, and at 1050 00:59:36,320 --> 00:59:39,400 Speaker 4: the moment it absolutely does not exist. I guess his 1051 00:59:39,480 --> 00:59:43,280 Speaker 4: message to me is one of preparedness, Like be prepared 1052 00:59:43,320 --> 00:59:46,120 Speaker 4: so that you don't have to live in a state 1053 00:59:46,160 --> 00:59:49,800 Speaker 4: of constant you know, stress, so I'm just thinking about 1054 00:59:49,800 --> 00:59:53,800 Speaker 4: this across the entire spectrum of human experience, you know, 1055 00:59:53,880 --> 00:59:57,000 Speaker 4: from being shot fourteen times and lying it there bleeding out, 1056 00:59:57,040 --> 01:00:00,400 Speaker 4: to you know, just doing the dishes like. 1057 01:00:03,000 --> 01:00:04,840 Speaker 5: That's the that's the same thing. 1058 01:00:06,680 --> 01:00:09,320 Speaker 4: Anyway, it was a real delight to talk to to Derek. 1059 01:00:09,360 --> 01:00:13,600 Speaker 4: He was incredibly generous with his time, and he had 1060 01:00:13,680 --> 01:00:16,280 Speaker 4: he had some really good stories that did not make 1061 01:00:16,320 --> 01:00:19,400 Speaker 4: the cut, but I just I really enjoyed talking to him, 1062 01:00:19,400 --> 01:00:21,800 Speaker 4: and he's just an incredible guy and it was it 1063 01:00:21,880 --> 01:00:23,520 Speaker 4: was very inspiring to talk to him. 1064 01:00:23,600 --> 01:00:24,400 Speaker 5: Yeah, I'm a big fan. 1065 01:00:41,480 --> 01:00:45,040 Speaker 1: Our story producers are Dan Bush, Kate Sweeney, Brent Die, 1066 01:00:45,440 --> 01:00:50,040 Speaker 1: Nicholas Dakoski, and Lauren Vogelbaum. Music by Ben Lovett, additional 1067 01:00:50,120 --> 01:00:54,160 Speaker 1: music by Alexander Rodriguez. Our executive producers are Matthew Frederick 1068 01:00:54,200 --> 01:00:57,400 Speaker 1: and Trevor Young. Special thanks to Alexander Williams for additional 1069 01:00:57,440 --> 01:01:01,240 Speaker 1: production support. Our studio engineer are Rima L. K Ali 1070 01:01:01,360 --> 01:01:05,600 Speaker 1: and Noames Griffin. Our editors are Dan Bush, Gerhart Slovitchka, 1071 01:01:05,760 --> 01:01:09,200 Speaker 1: Brent Die, and Alexander Rodriguez. Mixing by Ben Lovett and 1072 01:01:09,240 --> 01:01:13,720 Speaker 1: Alexander Rodriguez. I'm your host, Dan Bush, Alive Again is 1073 01:01:13,760 --> 01:01:17,000 Speaker 1: a production of i Art Radio and Psychopia Pictures. If 1074 01:01:17,000 --> 01:01:20,040 Speaker 1: you have a transformative near death experience to share, we'd 1075 01:01:20,040 --> 01:01:23,680 Speaker 1: love to hear your story. Please email us at Alive 1076 01:01:23,720 --> 01:01:27,760 Speaker 1: Again Project at gmail dot com. That's a l i 1077 01:01:28,040 --> 01:01:30,800 Speaker 1: v e A g A I N p R O 1078 01:01:31,400 --> 01:02:00,000 Speaker 1: j e c T at gmail dot com.