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00:00Well basically what inspired the trek, back 25 years ago I was involved in a road traffic accident
00:05I was pronounced dead on the side of the road and then I was in a coma for four weeks
00:10when I was in my coma my family were told on numerous occasions that I had severe brain damage
00:14because from the scans they did on me they could see shadow on my brain so they said if he wakes
00:18up your son he's not going to recognize anything and walk, talk, use his arms and legs ever again
00:22so I woke up in my coma after four weeks I remembered who people were but the doctors
00:26came around a couple days after that and said you'll never walk again and I said to the doctor
00:30I guarantee I'll walk with this hospital and he said he won't, I argued with the surgeon and then
00:34I learned to walk again it took me two weeks to walk again so I defied medical advice I suppose
00:39or they couldn't believe it so I learned to walk again and then um yeah so that's that's what I
00:44did and then also I met the man last who saved my life by tracking on google oh wow I went to meet
00:48I went to meet him the professor who's still operating on me and he said you're a miracle
00:52he said he should be dead he said he should have died on so many occasions he said look how big
00:55and strong you are he said that's incredible so I just wanted this walk I thought after I've been
00:59on the television show The Traitors um obviously I did it because I want to I got a great profile
01:03now the reason I went on the show was to get a profile talk on mental health and well-being
01:07because I struggled for 25 years on mental health big time behind closed doors and um I struggled
01:13with that so I want to this walk I'm doing now is to show people who've been told they can't do
01:17can't do something and being told they're not good enough suffered a trauma suffered their
01:21mental health a brain injury you can't keep believing in yourself and you can't achieve
01:25most things in life you put your mind to work hard you can achieve anything you want
01:29so me you know being told I couldn't walk again to walk in 1200 kilometers is a big achievement
01:33for me yeah no absolutely and I mean it's such a such a broad question and you might not have an
01:39answer for it but I mean to be told that you would never walk again and you were defiant that you
01:43would and obviously you did it where do you where do you think you summoned that from where do you
01:47think that came from uh right I thought a lot of people asked me that to be honest so growing up I
01:54was in a house I suppose with three brothers two older one younger and my family an old school
01:59family like we're all big strong rugby boys and security gym people and that sort of thing so
02:04looking back and I've done a lot of work on myself a lot of mental health studying and reading the
02:07last couple of years and I was growing up not just in my house but it's like toxic masculinity I
02:11suppose we call it now yeah was I grew up knowing being determined winning is everything being the
02:15best pushing yourself all the time and striving so even though you know it's downsizing when it
02:20comes to emotional availability my parents we didn't show any emotions or anything at all
02:24on the plus side they gave me the strength and resilience to be determined to prove people wrong
02:28so they told me I couldn't walk again I wanted to prove people wrong that I could so I had that
02:32internal self-belief I suppose internal drive and motivation to prove people wrong and also I was 21
02:39years of age and I had so much to give in life and no disrespect I couldn't be in a wheelchair from
02:43from five to 21 being sporty and fit and strong to be in a wheelchair at 21 I think I wasn't ready
02:48for that I know you'd adapt I know people adapt to things but I just wasn't ready for that I thought
02:53no I'm going to prove he's wrong I can walk again I'm going to believe in myself I just I had a drive
02:56and determination and built in me I suppose I did it and you speak about mental health and obviously
03:03this is a big part of the walk as a man do you find that more kind of needs to be done for
03:10male mental health and awareness around male mental health and just getting men
03:14actually talking? Oh yeah definitely it's going the right direction but there's still a huge stigma
03:19around it and that's what I'm that's why that's the reason I'm on a tv show to be honest to get
03:22a platform because I'm a big strong guy gym goer and if I can talk to people if I can open up and
03:27talk anybody can talk because there are hundreds of messages from people now like big strong guys
03:31you know they're singing how you can open up I struggle to open up because you wear a mask
03:35basically all my life I've worn a mask I suppose being this big strong rugby man who can't show
03:39any feelings and emotions I assumed it would make you weak but it doesn't make you being
03:43vulnerable is actually brave and courageous so for the last like six months of my life I've been
03:47totally vulnerable in front of millions of people on telly and the news so I've been totally
03:52vulnerable and being myself I mean my true authentic self now so I've taken off my mask
03:56I'm now being true to myself so it's hard I mean I'm not going to sit here and say it's easy it's
04:00difficult you feel you feel isolated you feel lonely you feel vulnerable you feel scared
04:04out of control so being vulnerable is hard but I also feel content and happy that I'm changing
04:09lives now. Yeah and obviously the traitors was massive you know everyone's talking about it
04:15everyone was watching it and to go into that experience like you say you went in there to
04:22raise awareness for mental health and talk about your journey and your experience how did you find
04:28the experience though on your own mental health and has there been kind of care for you afterwards
04:33and you know how's that whole experience been? Yeah my own mental health is fine to be honest
04:37because at the end I'm quite level-headed down to earth my feet kept on the ground but at the end
04:41there's a game and I've obviously done a lot of studying and reading on mental health myself so
04:44I've got coping mechanisms and strategy I can implement so I was fine with the whole thing but
04:49also you know I like for example I had pictures of all my family around the room where I was staying
04:54so every night they go back and talk to my photos my family you know I get out of my off my chest
04:58and bottle things up which is I did that for 25 years bottling my feelings and emotions up so
05:03I was talking to my photos and every couple of days when you're in the castle as well
05:07you have a psychologist comes around your room just check on you make sure you're okay and even
05:11after the show finished for months after they'd ring you every so often check on you make sure
05:16you're okay if you need any help and support plus there's a number you can ring at any time so
05:20in all fairness I can't fault you know the TV programs I'd slaked over the years
05:25about their well-being but I can't fault them they were brilliant with me and the rest of the cast
05:28as far as I know so you know they used to bring me I could bring them whenever I wanted to to be
05:32honest but I was fine never had any issues or problems to be honest yeah no that's good that's
05:36good people get so invested in these shows and uh yeah it can be hard hard to deal with I imagine
05:40but no it's really good it's really it is I can see why it's high pressure environment and you
05:44know it is tough to me don't get me wrong you know the biggest thing I struggled with is being away
05:48from my family and loved ones for like four weeks nearly so that was that was tough but um yeah but
05:53I just regard the game itself it was it's a game at the end of the day it's an intense game but
05:57yeah I didn't lose my temper I was fine on the 10th it was I come across quite well I think so
06:02I did I don't everybody put on myself probably think so I didn't uh yeah I knew I was being
06:06filmed on a regular basis and I usually kept telling myself the people outside who I care
06:10about and love they're gonna love me exactly the same if I win lose come third last doesn't matter
06:14that's what that's what counts is the people who love me and who care about it close to me that's
06:18all that matters and nothing will change with them yeah yeah that's good yeah it was a great series
06:22it was um yeah yeah very intense but um yeah uh what about the the cast of the traitors then I
06:29mean so you're starting your walk at the castle again um but have you kept in touch with them are
06:35they supporting you you're going to see them along the route at all or have you planned that yeah
06:39yeah we got we got a whatsapp group obviously everybody's quite everybody's popular everybody
06:42knows we've got a whatsapp group going and uh yeah we have a chat now and again we meet up now
06:46and again and chat everybody gets on we have all respect all towards each other and yeah I think
06:50the casting we all get on there's no issues anybody in there and um yeah obviously hopefully
06:54some of them can join me on the walk but everybody's busy at the moment that's where they
06:57got the time hopefully obviously a couple of them will join me manchester jazz uh there's a few
07:01others will join me you know paul maybe and yeah so yeah that's all being organized at the moment
07:05I want as many people to join me as possible maybe people who've had a trauma brain injury
07:10more than area to be honest it's like a need to support as well but I want to people to join me
07:13it's gonna break the stigma and smash it yeah I want to have a good life really yeah yeah brilliant
07:17and how are you preparing for it how are you preparing for the track a lot of walking
07:22so um yeah it's doing a lot of work so how can you prepare I've always been my strength and
07:26fitness and health has always looked after myself but obviously I've I've been like short
07:31sharp explosive strength training and rugby and things there's a difference to endurance so uh
07:35yes just doing longer walks like back-to-back walks on a daily basis walking for eight nine
07:39hours a day on back-to-back days to build up my stamina really cool brilliant um yeah and then
07:46a final one then so you'll your route brings you through knighton glade street and talgarth
07:51um along along those routes in particular will you have time to kind of stop and see any of it
07:57or you're just going to power through and yeah see where it takes you no no the whole point of
08:02me doing it I'm doing it for the brain injury charity headway but I'm doing it is also mainly
08:06from the mental health side of things I want people I want to talk to as many people as
08:10possible so I'm hoping to stop every two days in a school university a club whatever and talk
08:15about mental health give mental health talks I'm trying to 30-odd talks if I can um so yeah many
08:20more people I talk to the better so I'll try and stop and talk to people who've struggled with their
08:24confidence self-esteem their mental health their trauma whatever so I I tick lots of boxes I
08:28suppose who's in a coma told I couldn't walk ever again struggle mental health so I want to speak
08:32to bad people who've you know been through things and just chatting when I'm walking and say how
08:37did you how did I overcome these certain things and I'll give them hints and tips and that's the
08:40more people I talk to the better really brill and headway I'm assuming that was just a natural
08:45choice for you to do that for yeah well it was you know I didn't use them at all when I had my
08:50brain injuries 25 years ago so I didn't really know much about them back then they asked me if
08:54I'd be there um I fronted their national campaign a couple months ago a life rewritten after a brain
08:58injury so I fronted their national campaign and it was just I just chose them to be honest with you
09:02and uh yeah they're a great charity doing great things they they help change people's lives so
09:07they they don't just support the people who survive brain injury they support the families
09:10as well so people don't realize the implication it has on the families because some of them have
09:14to give up work to care for people it just changes lives to be honest the work they do is really good