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You're listening to episode 210 
of the Marathon Running Podcast.

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In this episode, we're going to 
hear an inspirational story of a

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runner who was told he would 
never run again. 

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This is the Marathon Running 
Podcast by Letty and Ryan from 

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Week at the Runs. 
Join us in our running community

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for weekly content that is 
motivational, educational and 

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inspirational and that the 
Marathon Running Podcast take 

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you from the starting line to 
the finish line and beyond. 

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Hey runners, and welcome to 
episode 210. 

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My name is Letty. 
My name is Ryan. 

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And we are here today, 
celebrating our 4th podcast 

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anniversary. 
Sure about that. 

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Yes, so I've actually been 
telling people that we are in 

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our fifth year, which we will be
now, but I got really confused 

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so I got us a cake. 
Would you guys have probably 

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seen on Instagram by now where 
I've put happy 5th anniversary? 

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That's confusing right? 
This literally happened 5 

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minutes ago. 
That's pretty funny though. 

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I shouldn't have gotten a number
on the cake, but here we are. 

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But the first podcast, first 
podcast introduction, you said 

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it's our fifth anniversary. 
So happy four years of doing 

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podcasting. 
And I was like, whoa, wait a 

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minute. 
Let me replay that real quick. 

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We are here today celebrating 
our fifth anniversary of this 

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podcast, meaning that we've been
podcasting every single week for

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the past four years. 
Wow. 

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And congratulation, Ryan. 
You just said fifth anniversary 

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and then every four years. 
That's how you turn 5. 

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No, like, look, if you podcasted
for a year, that's your first 

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anniversary. 
If you podcasted for two years, 

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that's your second anniversary. 
If you podcasted for three 

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years, that's your 3rd 
anniversary. 

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It's. 
All that's the podcast. 

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If you podcast 4 years, it's not
your 5th anniversary. 

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So yeah, that was the was it 
called Blooper? 

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The blooper reel. 
Yes. 

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Anyway, so here we are quickly 
about us. 

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So we started the podcast in May
of 2020 and. 

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Now it's May of 2024, so we've 
been. 

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Podcasting for four years. 
And that would be the. 4th 

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anniversary. 
Now we're starting our fifth 

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year. 
There you go. 

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Applause, please. 
It was tough. 

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It was so within those last few 
years of podcasting. 

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Ryan, what have you learned of 
anything? 

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Lady is not a math major. 
Besides the obvious. 

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There's a lot of good 
information in there, like 

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anyone that go back and look at 
other podcasts. 

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I think Letty has done this not 
I don't want to take any credit 

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for it, but she's found some 
really good people that can give

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good advice and and gotten a lot
of good information there. 

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And there's a lot of things that
I learned even surprisingly, I 

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guess maybe or just unexpectedly
I should unexpectedly learned, 

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you know, things that wouldn't 
necessarily make sense, like 

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doing miles slow makes you 
faster. 

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Things of that nature, yeah. 
So I feel like the time you've 

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spent doing the podcast has 
helped you become more popular 

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or get more of a respect out of 
people, I guess. 

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And so you end up getting more 
guests on and are able to get 

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more guests. 
You've been able to go to like 

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the media events at some of 
these marathons and some running

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events where they have a lot of 
new products. 

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And all this stuff has been 
hugely helpful too, because you 

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get to see the new stuff that 
comes out. 

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You get to hear some of the new 
information. 

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You talk to some of the elite 
athletes even. 

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So it's it's really cool. 
That's cool. 

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And then you need to be able to 
like take that information and 

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hopefully provide it in a useful
way for people that are just 

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interested and want to run and 
enjoy running. 

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I think that's awesome. 
Yes, and I'm glad that you ended

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at that. 
The people that are listening, 

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we are so super grateful for 
everybody that tunes into our 

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show, whether it's weekly 
weather, today is your first 

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time, we really, really 
appreciate it. 

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We obviously wouldn't have the 
podcast if you guys wouldn't 

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TuneIn and spread the message. 
And we hope that we can always 

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provide you with, you know, 
information, great guests on 

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nutrition and training, mental 
stuff. 

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The the race recaps that we 
share. 

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Hopefully they're not just 
entertaining, but helpful for 

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your own races. 
And then, of course, the 

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inspirational stories that I 
feel like we don't share enough 

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of. 
But because this is an 

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anniversary episode, we do have 
an inspirational story for you 

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guys today. 
So it's actually fitting too, 

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because the guest that you 
actually brought on as a 

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veteran, right? 
Yes, Jared Ewing, our guest is a

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veteran, and he was super happy 
when I told him this podcast is 

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going to air the first day on 
Memorial Day. 

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And yeah, he has a very, very 
inspirational story. 

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Can you give us some history on 
Memorial Day and what it's 

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about? 
Memorial Day is a day to honor 

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and remember those who died 
while they were serving in the 

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US military. 
It was originally called 

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actually Decoration Day, and it 
began after the Civil War with 

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people decorating the graves of 
the fallen soldier soldiers. 

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So today, you know, traditions 
include visiting cemeteries, 

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holding parades, flying the 
American flag at half staff 

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until noon, then raising it to 
full staff and participating in 

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barbecues and gatherings. 
That sounds like you just took 

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it right off the top of your 
head. 

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It was so smooth. 
I did, and and of course one of 

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the other ways of celebrating 
Memorial Days nowadays is for us

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running 5K's wearing American 
flag clothing. 

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So Lydia, are you doing a 5K? 
No, I'm not running a 5K. 

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As you know, I'm not cleared 
yet, but I'm going to go to a 

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5K. 
My friend Diana is running the 

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5K with a stroller and I'm going
to create a video titled You Got

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Beaten by a Stroller for our 
YouTube channel. 

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Our YouTube channel is at 
running podcast, so hopefully 

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she'll actually beat everybody 
so I can use that title. 

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If not, we'll we'll tweak it. 
Well, she'll still beat a bunch 

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of people, I'm sure. 
Yes, she consistently runs five 

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KS in the 1819 minutes with a 
stroller, so it's pretty 

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amazing. 
I think that deserves some kind 

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of light shined on it. 
So you want to get into our 

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motivational story of the day? 
Yes. 

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So without any further ado, 
we're now going to hear from 

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Jared Ewing. 
All right, so I'm back on with 

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Jared Ewing. 
Jared, thank you so much for 

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joining me today. 
Yeah, thank you. 

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Thank you for having me on. 
I appreciate it. 

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It's good seeing you again, 
speaking with you. 

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Yes, absolutely. 
And just to give our listeners a

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little bit of a background, I 
met you at the Boston Marathon. 

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We had a mutual friend that, 
well, two mutual mutual friends 

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that introduced each other. 
And then we figured out that we 

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both were on the same podcast, 
the On the Run podcast as 

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guests. 
And so then we talked about your

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story a tiny little bit and you 
let me know that you'd be 

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absolutely willing to inspire 
our community as well and Share 

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your story with us. 
So I really appreciate that. 

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Yeah, it was, it kind of 
happened so quick. 

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There were just like kind of 
noticing each other at, at, at 

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Boston. 
And I was like, wow. 

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And it was that very first day 
at Boston too. 

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So what a way to start the 
Boston weekend, you know, seeing

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you and meeting you guys and and
yeah, just getting a little bit 

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to tell you just a little bit of
my story at that time. 

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So, all right, so let's hop 
right into that. 

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Your story is super 
inspirational. 

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You were exiting a bar and as 
you exited walking towards your 

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Uber, you were hit by a drunk 
driver, landing you in the 

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hospital and with huge problems 
in your legs. 

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Luckily you survived, but 
perhaps you can take us back to 

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how this all happened and the 
moment of your accident. 

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Sure. 
So at the time I was like 32 

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years old. 
I was, I would say, in the pride

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of my life. 
I had just started running 

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marathon once. 
This is 2017. 

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I ran my first marathon. 
I got into reading about David 

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Goggins and, and all everything 
he's about. 

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And then the Iron Cowboy that 
did like 15 iron men, I mean, 50

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iron men for 50 days. 
So I was like, all right, next 

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year there's three different 
marathons in the state of Ohio, 

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all within four to five weeks. 
That would be pretty cool if I 

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could do those. 
So I trained up for a full year 

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and I ran. 
It was the Columbus Marathon, 

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Air Force Marathon and Akron 
Marathon all within five weeks. 

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So the, the winter had come and 
I was still kind of, I just got 

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to, to swimming and biking. 
I was going to train myself up 

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to actually do an Ironman. 
So I was in really good shape at

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that point. 
I was serving in the military as

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well, National Guard, Army for 
full time. 

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I was living in Columbus. 
And so I came up to Cleveland 

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for the, for the weekend because
I have friends and family. 

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That's where I'm from. 
I'm from Akron, just a little 

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bit South of Cleveland. 
And so it was a regular weekend.

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I came up the Verizon friends 
and we all decided to go up to 

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Cleveland for a friend's 
birthday. 

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So there was about seven of us. 
We Ubered all the way up there. 

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And so, you know, it was a long 
night, long night of drinking 

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and celebrating. 
And it was the end of the night 

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is about two, 2:05 in the 
morning. 

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So it was time to go home. 
So a friend, you know, ordered 

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up the Uber ride. 
So we left the bar thinking, you

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know, we're going to go catch 
the Uber, get all the way back 

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down to Akron and head home and 
it'll be all just a another 

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night. 
And so whenever I was actually 

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in the bar took a left. 
There's a street that's right 

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out in front of you, but the 
Ubers can't pick you up there. 

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It's like a place where only 
civilians and stuff can walk at.

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So we we took a left and we're 
walking down towards towards the

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Uber pickup area, which is like 
a roundabout and me, me and my 

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buddies kind of leading the 
charge. 

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The rest of the people were kind
of like just hanging back. 

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I don't know, I just very slowly
exiting the bar. 

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And so as I'm talking to him, 
he's off to my left. 

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The the buildings are off to my 
left as well, the streets off to

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my right. 
And so I'm, I'm looking to the 

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left. 
I'm talking with my buddy and 

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out of nowhere, I kind of hear 
like, you know, the sound of 

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like screeching tires and it 
seems like there's a flash of 

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light just out of nowhere. 
And so I turn to my right and it

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looks like that this car is just
coming directly at me. 

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And so all I can do is just 
brace myself because I'm like, 

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OK, like I'm gonna get hit. 
And so it all happens very 

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quickly, just out of nowhere, 
like boom, just happened. 

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And so I got hit pretty hard. 
I got thumped. 

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I hit the ground. 
And when I'm on the ground at 

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this point, I'm not exactly sure
what happened. 

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I, I assume the car hit me. 
And so I'm on the ground. 

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I'm, I'm trying to get up and I 
can't, you know, my adrenaline's

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going. 
So, you know, I'm a tough guy. 

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I'm like, all right, get up, 
Jared. 

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I'm on like, whatever. 
So I try to get up and I can't. 

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And I thought that was kind of 
weird. 

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And so then I started feeling 
like my leg, you know, my left 

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leg, just like burning and 
pulsating. 

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And I, I looked down and sure 
enough, my leg was, was pretty 

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mangled up. 
It was almost like a, like a, a 

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steak knife, you know, like 
flayed me open. 

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I could see my bone. 
The, the pant legs were, the 

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pant legs were all mangled up 
and bloody. 

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So it wasn't a pretty sight. 
You know, I knew then and there 

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that my life had just changed 
and I didn't want to freak out 

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too bad. 
You know, so with my military 

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training and everything, I have 
seen photos, I've gone through 

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plenty of first aid training, 
shock training and all of that. 

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So I knew I didn't, I was going 
to be bleeding out pretty bad. 

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So I didn't know what was going 
to happen. 

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I didn't want to go into shock. 
And so I kind of just started 

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focusing on something like a 
star of some sort and just 

225
00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:10,120
started focusing on my breathing
and, and at the same time, you 

226
00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:14,920
know, with every pulse of my 
heart, my leg feels like there's

227
00:12:14,920 --> 00:12:17,960
lightning going through it and 
it's burning at the same time. 

228
00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:20,920
So I was very, at this point, I 
was sobered up. 

229
00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:24,120
I was very conscious. 
There wasn't a second of it that

230
00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:26,320
I was in and out. 
So I was very aware of 

231
00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:28,480
everything going on. 
There was people, you know, 

232
00:12:28,760 --> 00:12:31,000
obviously the friends and stuff 
I was with was like kind of 

233
00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:34,760
yelling, some were crying and, 
and we're sitting there and 

234
00:12:34,760 --> 00:12:37,000
we're just trying to, you know, 
figure out what to do. 

235
00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:41,720
And so a buddy of mine I had 
just met that night, another 

236
00:12:41,720 --> 00:12:46,120
guy, they kind of rushed over to
me and they took their belts off

237
00:12:46,120 --> 00:12:48,840
their off their off their pants.
And they were going to make a 

238
00:12:48,840 --> 00:12:51,520
tourniquet for me. 
And so I knew that was like what

239
00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:54,200
was needed because at that time 
the, the cops weren't quite 

240
00:12:54,200 --> 00:12:57,880
there yet. 
So they took the belts off, they

241
00:12:57,880 --> 00:13:00,680
wrapped it around my leg and 
they yanked on it. 

242
00:13:00,920 --> 00:13:05,080
And it hurt really too bad, as 
you would assume, but I knew 

243
00:13:05,080 --> 00:13:07,920
that's what was needed. 
So we're sitting there waiting. 

244
00:13:07,920 --> 00:13:10,800
And so I told people to go put 
post over me because me. 

245
00:13:10,800 --> 00:13:14,280
And in the meantime, so this is 
middle of December in Cleveland,

246
00:13:14,280 --> 00:13:15,920
OH. 
So it's pretty cold. 

247
00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:18,680
And of course, you know, I 
didn't really wear a coat that 

248
00:13:18,680 --> 00:13:21,600
day because I knew it was going 
to be in and out of the car, in 

249
00:13:21,600 --> 00:13:23,800
and out of the bars. 
So it was a long sleeve shirt. 

250
00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:26,960
But so everybody kind of grabbed
their coats and kind of put them

251
00:13:26,960 --> 00:13:30,040
on me because you want to keep 
yourself warm to keep the blood 

252
00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:33,520
kind of circulated in your core.
And so I'm sitting there and I'm

253
00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:35,680
waiting and I'm waiting. 
And there was one guy holding my

254
00:13:35,680 --> 00:13:38,520
head, kind of talking to me. 
There was another guy holding my

255
00:13:38,520 --> 00:13:40,400
hand. 
And so we're all just kind of in

256
00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:43,400
this together. 
Try, you know, trying to get get

257
00:13:43,400 --> 00:13:46,960
me to focus on, on breathing 
and, you know, keep my mind off 

258
00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:49,560
what was, you know, try to keep 
my mind off what was going on. 

259
00:13:49,560 --> 00:13:53,760
But, you know, that was hard. 
But, you know, at at that point,

260
00:13:53,800 --> 00:13:55,720
I wasn't sure if I was going to 
live or not. 

261
00:13:55,720 --> 00:14:00,000
I saw all the blood loss. 
I knew for sure, at a minimum, I

262
00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:01,560
thought for sure my leg was 
gone. 

263
00:14:01,560 --> 00:14:05,080
I thought my life had changed, 
you know, for the rest of my 

264
00:14:05,080 --> 00:14:07,120
life. 
And so all I kept on thinking 

265
00:14:07,560 --> 00:14:10,960
was was, you know, so they say 
your life flashes before your 

266
00:14:10,960 --> 00:14:12,720
eyes. 
But for me, it was just like 

267
00:14:12,720 --> 00:14:15,960
jolted with like 100 questions 
of, you know, am I going to see 

268
00:14:15,960 --> 00:14:18,640
my family? 
Am I going to, you know, see my 

269
00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:21,480
God daughters again, you know, 
with all these things I haven't 

270
00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:24,200
done, so I don't know why they I
thought of the world majors. 

271
00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:26,960
I was like, Oh my, like I just 
started running like why me? 

272
00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:29,320
Why now I'm in the best shape of
my life. 

273
00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:33,480
I this is what I trained up like
to do was like go on and do an 

274
00:14:33,480 --> 00:14:36,240
Iron Man. 
I had career implications. 

275
00:14:36,280 --> 00:14:38,880
I was wanting to get done. 
So all these like things that I 

276
00:14:38,880 --> 00:14:41,680
had wanted to get done were just
jolting through my mind. 

277
00:14:41,680 --> 00:14:44,880
You know, what ifs and, you 
know, I just ultimately wasn't 

278
00:14:44,880 --> 00:14:46,200
sure if I was even going to 
live. 

279
00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:51,080
So I'm sitting there and finally
the ambulance shows up. 

280
00:14:51,520 --> 00:14:53,960
And so the ambulance comes, 
picks me up. 

281
00:14:54,400 --> 00:14:56,800
That's the only time I really go
out of it. 

282
00:14:56,800 --> 00:14:59,040
So I blacked out for the 
ambulance trip. 

283
00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:01,680
So they must have shot me up 
with something good before we 

284
00:15:01,680 --> 00:15:05,200
get to the ER. 
And so when I get into the ER, 

285
00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:08,600
that's when I kind of woke up. 
They were cutting all my clothes

286
00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:12,280
off of me. 
And so I kind of knew that was 

287
00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:15,680
the process of what happens 
before you go into the OR just 

288
00:15:15,680 --> 00:15:20,240
from again, some sort of medical
background of in the military. 

289
00:15:21,080 --> 00:15:23,880
So I know that I was getting 
ready to go to war in a sense. 

290
00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:27,360
So they're cutting all my 
clothes off me and then they 

291
00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:29,600
start asking me questions like, 
Hey, where are you from? 

292
00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:31,440
What's your name? 
So they're trying to gain how 

293
00:15:31,440 --> 00:15:33,120
conscious I am and I did very 
well. 

294
00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:35,720
I, I would, I would think I was 
nailing all the questions. 

295
00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:38,640
I was pretty proud of myself, 
you know, asking me people's 

296
00:15:38,640 --> 00:15:41,520
phone numbers to call. 
So I gave them my parents, 

297
00:15:41,520 --> 00:15:44,240
'cause, you know, these days I 
can't even, I can hardly tell 

298
00:15:44,240 --> 00:15:46,800
you. 
It's my, my, anyone's numbers 

299
00:15:46,800 --> 00:15:48,200
really. 
You know, you just click on a 

300
00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:49,840
button. 
So for whatever reason, my mom, 

301
00:15:49,840 --> 00:15:52,400
my dad's phone numbers were 
still stuck in my head. 

302
00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:56,480
So I gave them their numbers. 
And so they're getting ready to 

303
00:15:56,480 --> 00:16:00,560
kind of cart me out of the ER 
and into the OR and they got the

304
00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:04,520
gas mask ready there. 
The trauma surgeon comes up to 

305
00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:08,000
me and she, she explains to me 
that my legs, she's like, you 

306
00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:09,920
know, your leg got pretty 
mangled up. 

307
00:16:09,960 --> 00:16:13,560
It's, it's pretty bad. 
She told me we're not sure if we

308
00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:16,320
can save it, but we're going to 
do our best. 

309
00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:21,760
And so I pretty much just, you 
know, respond to her like, Hey, 

310
00:16:22,600 --> 00:16:24,320
I just, I just want to stay 
alive. 

311
00:16:24,320 --> 00:16:27,600
Just keep me alive. 
I'm not, who cares about my leg?

312
00:16:27,600 --> 00:16:30,160
I mean, yes, try to keep it. 
I said, yeah, let's, let's try 

313
00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:31,760
to keep the leg. 
But I was like, honestly, just 

314
00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:33,760
keep me alive. 
Let's go to war. 

315
00:16:33,760 --> 00:16:36,720
Let's do our best to try to save
everything we can, but honestly,

316
00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:39,360
just keep me alive. 
And, you know, let my mom and 

317
00:16:39,360 --> 00:16:43,160
dad know that I love them and 
you know, that they need to get 

318
00:16:43,160 --> 00:16:44,960
there, that they need to get 
there, but don't give them too 

319
00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:47,200
many details. 
So I don't, I didn't want them 

320
00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:50,280
to kind of worry too much 
because it's about a 50 minute 

321
00:16:50,280 --> 00:16:52,280
trip to get from where they were
to Cleveland. 

322
00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:57,280
And so they put the gas mask on 
me and I was out, I was out 

323
00:16:57,280 --> 00:17:00,440
cold. 
So then next thing you know, I'm

324
00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:05,079
waking up in the ICU And so 
obviously first thing on my mind

325
00:17:05,079 --> 00:17:09,839
is do I have my legs still, you 
know, and I'm getting pumped 

326
00:17:09,839 --> 00:17:12,920
with all those sorts of meds. 
So I'm not exactly sure. 

327
00:17:13,720 --> 00:17:15,720
So I'm like, all right, I got to
look down. 

328
00:17:15,720 --> 00:17:19,800
This is what we got to do. 
And so I looked down and I kind 

329
00:17:19,800 --> 00:17:25,040
of see my my foot underneath the
sheets and I kind of like tuggle

330
00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:28,359
tuggle on the on the sheets and 
I could see my foot was there. 

331
00:17:28,840 --> 00:17:31,560
And so I was like, OK, like, 
like, all right, that's like 

332
00:17:31,560 --> 00:17:33,600
step one. 
We still got my leg there. 

333
00:17:34,360 --> 00:17:37,120
Then I'm like, OK, what can I 
can I move it? 

334
00:17:37,120 --> 00:17:40,920
Like what's going on here? 
So I see if I can move my toes 

335
00:17:40,960 --> 00:17:43,960
and I can move my toes. 
So that was kind of check too 

336
00:17:43,960 --> 00:17:46,880
for me. 
And really those were like after

337
00:17:46,880 --> 00:17:50,080
those two big things, I was 
like, OK, I think I'm like, I'm 

338
00:17:50,080 --> 00:17:52,880
going to be OK, like, OK, I got 
got the leg. 

339
00:17:52,880 --> 00:17:56,200
I can move my toes. 
All right, the big checks, but 

340
00:17:56,200 --> 00:17:59,480
what I didn't know was like 
everything in between, pretty 

341
00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:04,000
much my ankle to my to my knee 
was pretty jacked up, right? 

342
00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:07,480
I didn't know that because I 
assumed the whole leg was there.

343
00:18:08,520 --> 00:18:11,960
So I'm kind of in and out of it.
I see all my friends that were 

344
00:18:11,960 --> 00:18:14,400
there with me that night. 
Most of them showed up, you 

345
00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:16,200
know, in the ICU. 
They wanted to be there when I 

346
00:18:16,200 --> 00:18:19,320
woke up, my mom, my dad was 
there and a few of my really 

347
00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:21,200
close friends that they had 
gotten a hold of. 

348
00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:25,680
And so kind of when the whole 
room was there, I, I kind of 

349
00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:27,600
knew in a sense that I was going
to be OK. 

350
00:18:27,600 --> 00:18:29,360
I knew, you know, life had 
changed. 

351
00:18:29,360 --> 00:18:32,640
I wasn't sure exactly what 
happened, but I, I felt like in 

352
00:18:32,640 --> 00:18:34,600
my heart like everything was 
going to be OK. 

353
00:18:36,120 --> 00:18:40,040
And so we waited on the 
doctor's, but this is, I don't 

354
00:18:40,040 --> 00:18:42,800
know how long this was, but 
eventually the the surgeon came 

355
00:18:42,800 --> 00:18:45,840
in, the one that spoke to me 
right before she put me out and 

356
00:18:45,840 --> 00:18:49,320
she had let me know that it 
wasn't. 

357
00:18:49,360 --> 00:18:51,480
So it wasn't the car that 
directly hit me. 

358
00:18:51,480 --> 00:18:55,480
The car hit a concrete Ballard. 
So like those poles that are on 

359
00:18:55,960 --> 00:18:59,000
sidewalks that keep cars off the
sidewalks, like they're like 

360
00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:05,280
every five feet or so. 
So the car hit one of those and 

361
00:19:05,280 --> 00:19:09,000
the concrete all from that 
exploded off like shrapnel wood 

362
00:19:09,160 --> 00:19:11,560
and exploded off pretty much 
into my leg. 

363
00:19:11,640 --> 00:19:14,480
So the car hits that, all the 
concrete rips off that and 

364
00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:17,080
dislodges off into my leg. 
And so the concrete from that is

365
00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:20,200
about what ripped my leg off. 
So the car never quite touched 

366
00:19:20,200 --> 00:19:24,040
me, but all that concrete is is 
what pretty much made in my leg,

367
00:19:24,040 --> 00:19:28,360
just jacked it all up. 
And so then they told me like, 

368
00:19:28,360 --> 00:19:31,240
hey, we had to remove your calf 
muscles. 

369
00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:34,760
And so that was kind of really 
hard to like sink in and think 

370
00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:37,240
of. 
I had heard it, but it was like 

371
00:19:37,240 --> 00:19:39,520
so surreal. 
So they told me they had removed

372
00:19:39,520 --> 00:19:42,880
my calf muscles and my Achilles 
tendon, that they were too 

373
00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:45,680
shredded up, they couldn't be 
saved and they had to be 

374
00:19:45,680 --> 00:19:48,080
removed. 
And then they told me the two 

375
00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:51,520
teeny tiny muscles that are back
to the soleus were left there, 

376
00:19:51,520 --> 00:19:54,440
but they were useless 'cause 
there was no, again, no Achilles

377
00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:58,960
tendon form and that they were 
just going to be kept there in 

378
00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:02,520
case I kept my leg. 
So at this point I had heard all

379
00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:04,280
that. 
So I'm trying to sit there and 

380
00:20:04,280 --> 00:20:06,280
think of how to take it all in 
and. 

381
00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:12,480
Again, I kind of, you know, felt
kind of daunting and felt as 

382
00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:15,800
daunting at first. 
And and then I'm really good at 

383
00:20:15,800 --> 00:20:20,080
kind of quick and turning that 
switch like, hey, OK, no more 

384
00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:21,840
caps. 
The rest of my life like that is

385
00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:24,080
crappy. 
That's a long time because I 

386
00:20:24,080 --> 00:20:25,800
want to live, you know, a long 
life. 

387
00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:29,440
But I was like, but we can't sit
here and dwell on it. 

388
00:20:29,440 --> 00:20:31,120
It is what it is. 
They're gone. 

389
00:20:31,360 --> 00:20:34,320
I'm not going to get them back. 
And so I was like, we got to 

390
00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:36,440
move forward. 
So I quickly just turned, kind 

391
00:20:36,440 --> 00:20:39,560
of turned the page in my head. 
And then I was like, all right, 

392
00:20:39,560 --> 00:20:42,160
you know, let's see what we got 
to do moving forward. 

393
00:20:43,800 --> 00:20:47,640
Wow, I mean, I don't even know 
where to start, first of all, 

394
00:20:47,640 --> 00:20:49,280
and we're going to get back to 
that. 

395
00:20:49,280 --> 00:20:53,120
I, I, I think having that 
attitude, that whole, it is what

396
00:20:53,120 --> 00:20:55,600
it is. 
That's a personality thing. 

397
00:20:55,600 --> 00:20:58,120
And like I said, we'll circle 
back to that, but wow. 

398
00:20:58,320 --> 00:21:02,280
So it almost sounds like the car
could have killed you but for 

399
00:21:02,280 --> 00:21:07,040
the concrete hole which then 
shattered your leg. 

400
00:21:07,480 --> 00:21:11,440
So I guess silver lining, right?
Yeah, absolutely. 

401
00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:12,840
Yeah. 
Like it could have been much 

402
00:21:12,840 --> 00:21:15,320
worse. 
I tell people either the car 

403
00:21:15,320 --> 00:21:18,040
could have hit me and we don't 
know what would have came with 

404
00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:19,760
that. 
Like, would it have shattered my

405
00:21:19,760 --> 00:21:22,040
hip? 
Would it have possibly killed 

406
00:21:22,040 --> 00:21:25,240
me? 
Maybe it misses me and hits 

407
00:21:25,240 --> 00:21:27,840
somebody else in the group, 
which I can't stand the thought 

408
00:21:27,840 --> 00:21:31,680
of that because I'm not sure if 
anyone else would have quite, 

409
00:21:32,320 --> 00:21:36,000
you know, got through it like I 
have or, or thrive through it 

410
00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:39,160
like I have. 
And, you know, just because all 

411
00:21:39,160 --> 00:21:42,160
the training and everything and 
my size and, and how my legs 

412
00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:46,480
were built at that time. 
But yeah, so it was just, you 

413
00:21:46,480 --> 00:21:49,760
know, that was just the wrong 
place at the wrong time. 

414
00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:52,920
You know, that's it's, it's, 
it's so insane to think about 

415
00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:55,800
it. 
You know, it's do if I stayed in

416
00:21:55,800 --> 00:21:58,280
the club one minute later, did 
it? 

417
00:21:58,400 --> 00:22:01,480
Does it happen if I leave one 
minute sooner or does it happen?

418
00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:05,120
You know it, but you can't think
that way because that's not what

419
00:22:05,120 --> 00:22:06,840
happened. 
What happened is the reality of 

420
00:22:06,840 --> 00:22:09,200
it. 
And so you kind of again, move 

421
00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:10,720
it. 
I got to move forward and I 

422
00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:14,200
can't sit here and think about 
what ifs and and any of that so.

423
00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:16,240
Yeah, nothing, nothing would 
have changed that. 

424
00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:18,640
I also think it's super 
interesting how your military 

425
00:22:18,640 --> 00:22:22,720
training kicked in and you are 
almost coaching everyone on how 

426
00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:24,440
to keep you warm and and 
everything. 

427
00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:26,000
Can you talk a little bit about 
that? 

428
00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:29,320
How much of that was pre 
programmed kind of in your 

429
00:22:29,320 --> 00:22:32,040
brain? 
Yeah, so when when you're in 

430
00:22:32,040 --> 00:22:34,600
like the Army or the military, 
you get trained in first aid 

431
00:22:34,600 --> 00:22:38,640
literally like like once a year.
And I think even going before I 

432
00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:41,320
joined, because I joined the 
military when I was 25, but when

433
00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:44,640
I was in school at Ohio State, I
worked at the rec center and I 

434
00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:47,880
had to do first aid training, 
CPR training there as well. 

435
00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:52,040
So I think just doing that over 
and over for extremely long time

436
00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:55,640
and then and again in the 
military, getting that training 

437
00:22:56,040 --> 00:22:59,360
once a year, you you kind of go 
through the processes. 

438
00:22:59,360 --> 00:23:03,440
It almost becomes like a muscle 
memory, like it's just OK, this 

439
00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:06,240
is what you do. 
And I think because of all 

440
00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:10,640
having all that, it kind of 
helped me out because again, 

441
00:23:10,640 --> 00:23:13,360
shock is like one of the major 
things that happens when 

442
00:23:13,360 --> 00:23:16,160
anything traumatic like that 
happens, you, you lose a crap 

443
00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:18,720
ton of blood and then you go 
unconscious and that can be 

444
00:23:18,720 --> 00:23:21,600
really bad for your heart and 
your mind and, and all of that. 

445
00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:25,120
So I knew I wanted to avoid 
shock. 

446
00:23:25,360 --> 00:23:30,160
And again, just the the way just
I've had that training, it's 

447
00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:32,440
just almost like a muscle memory
like, all right, this is what we

448
00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:36,040
need to do and so on. 
Yeah, almost like it. 

449
00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:38,240
It gives you the ability that 
even though you're the one in 

450
00:23:38,240 --> 00:23:42,560
the situation to look at what 
happened subjectively, you know,

451
00:23:42,560 --> 00:23:44,880
as you, as you're also telling, 
you know, the, the the 

452
00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:49,040
physicians to not tell your mom 
and dad the full story. 

453
00:23:49,040 --> 00:23:51,800
Normally you wouldn't think that
way. 

454
00:23:52,360 --> 00:23:55,280
Yeah, I basically, you know, 
knew they were going to be 

455
00:23:55,280 --> 00:23:58,680
driving about an hour and I just
didn't want them to flip out. 

456
00:23:58,680 --> 00:24:00,720
I knew they were already, you 
know, their mom and dad, they're

457
00:24:00,720 --> 00:24:03,760
already going to be worried 
getting that call at 3:00 in the

458
00:24:03,760 --> 00:24:05,080
morning. 
You know, this day, I don't like

459
00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:08,040
to think about that. 
You know, thinking about my 

460
00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:10,480
parents getting that call and 
then them having to go through 

461
00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:12,440
all that. 
It just doesn't sit right with 

462
00:24:12,440 --> 00:24:15,720
me. 
But yeah, I just didn't want 

463
00:24:15,720 --> 00:24:17,040
them. 
Well, I just want them to get 

464
00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:19,640
there and then we could worry 
about once they get there, them 

465
00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:22,880
getting the story and and the 
full rundown what had happened 

466
00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:25,800
to me and all of that. 
Yeah. 

467
00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:30,400
And so, so with that, maybe tell
us a little bit about the 

468
00:24:30,400 --> 00:24:34,240
prognosis of no calf muscles and
no Achilles tendons. 

469
00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:37,840
What were you told you would be 
able to do and not do? 

470
00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:40,560
Yeah. 
So with the, with the prognosis,

471
00:24:40,560 --> 00:24:44,640
you know, of missing calf 
muscles, my Achilles tendon, we 

472
00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:47,760
were trying to really at this 
point move forward, seeing if I 

473
00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:50,920
could even keep my leg because 
there was a lot of blood. 

474
00:24:51,360 --> 00:24:55,160
Blood, was it like arteries, 
veins, you know, all those kind 

475
00:24:55,160 --> 00:24:58,000
of got wiped out too, right? 
So it's like what is going to 

476
00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:01,080
come of this leg? 
And there was a whole huge, 

477
00:25:01,120 --> 00:25:04,040
there was a big open wound over 
my shin where you could see my 

478
00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:08,000
bone. 
And so anything in the hospital 

479
00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:10,640
like that, you want to get that 
covered up and closed because 

480
00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:12,960
you don't want to get, you know,
everyone knows of MRSA or those,

481
00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:16,400
those flesh eating diseases that
can happen very, very easily. 

482
00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:21,080
So really the first key was 
let's get this closed before I 

483
00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:24,280
catch any of those. 
So I had to have three major 

484
00:25:24,280 --> 00:25:28,680
surgeries beforehand. 
And I had one where it was 

485
00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:32,760
called a muscle flap where they 
took a piece of my latissimus 

486
00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:36,800
muscle on my side to try to 
cover up the shin before they 

487
00:25:36,800 --> 00:25:40,640
would eventually skin graft over
it and close it up. 

488
00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:42,680
But unfortunately that surgery 
didn't work. 

489
00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:47,080
And so last ditch effort, we put
some, we got some synthetic 

490
00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:50,640
material from a company called 
Poly Novo and they put that in 

491
00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:53,160
there. 
And by the grace of God, it, it,

492
00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:55,840
it worked and started taking to 
my leg right. 

493
00:25:55,840 --> 00:25:58,120
So we finally got that bone 
covered up. 

494
00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:01,960
So at this point, we knew 
keeping the leg was a 

495
00:26:01,960 --> 00:26:04,160
possibility. 
So now this is kind of where you

496
00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:06,240
get into like the options, 
right? 

497
00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:08,360
So it's all right. 
Now we have the possibility of 

498
00:26:08,360 --> 00:26:10,920
keeping the leg. 
So now I'm kind of forced into 

499
00:26:10,920 --> 00:26:14,840
suspicion in this into this 
position of do I keep my leg or 

500
00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:16,760
do I keep my leg? 
Do I keep it or not? 

501
00:26:16,760 --> 00:26:21,400
And so the day comes where 
there's like three or four 

502
00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:23,560
doctors in the room. 
One was like a physical therapy 

503
00:26:23,560 --> 00:26:25,480
doctor. 
There was a trauma surgeon, 

504
00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:28,640
there was a plastic surgeon, I 
think there was an orthopedic 

505
00:26:28,640 --> 00:26:30,960
surgeon. 
So a bunch of different surgeons

506
00:26:30,960 --> 00:26:33,680
were in the room with me, along 
with some of my family members 

507
00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:37,400
and some friends. 
And so we're sitting in there 

508
00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:39,800
and they're kind of the, the 
doctors are picking up my leg 

509
00:26:39,800 --> 00:26:42,480
kind of see what it can do and 
can't do. 

510
00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:45,920
And they're kind of just again, 
trying to just see what the 

511
00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:48,800
future of it's going to be. 
And I, I had a little bit of 

512
00:26:48,800 --> 00:26:52,480
movement in my, my toes and 
stuff still again, because I'm 

513
00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:55,040
missing all those casts, I can't
really move that ankle, but I 

514
00:26:55,040 --> 00:26:58,480
could for so whatever reason, I 
have full feeling on the bottom 

515
00:26:58,480 --> 00:27:01,040
of my foot and I can move my 
toes pretty good. 

516
00:27:01,040 --> 00:27:03,920
Like I can crunch down on my 
toes almost like hammer curls. 

517
00:27:03,920 --> 00:27:06,080
It doesn't do much, but it's 
something. 

518
00:27:06,840 --> 00:27:11,320
And, and so the physical therapy
doctor said it was like, OK, 

519
00:27:11,320 --> 00:27:14,080
he's like, well, you have a 
little bit, just a teeny tiny 

520
00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:16,160
amount of movement. 
And there he's like, I think you

521
00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:19,600
could, you could keep the leg. 
He's like, if you really wanted 

522
00:27:19,600 --> 00:27:23,640
to, he's like, but we're just 
unsure, you know, we don't know 

523
00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:26,680
how no one's ever really gone 
through this exact thing. 

524
00:27:26,680 --> 00:27:28,960
Everyone's different. 
And so we don't know if six 

525
00:27:28,960 --> 00:27:30,920
months from now it's going to be
worse or if it's going to be 

526
00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:33,280
better. 
And orthopaedic surgeons were 

527
00:27:33,280 --> 00:27:37,160
pretty much all saying the same 
thing, like, you know, And so 

528
00:27:37,160 --> 00:27:41,640
when we're in that room at this 
point, we, they all kind of know

529
00:27:41,640 --> 00:27:43,920
that I had ran a like a couple 
marathons. 

530
00:27:44,120 --> 00:27:48,120
And I always chuckle because 
they were like speaking to me as

531
00:27:48,120 --> 00:27:50,440
if I was like a true runner at 
that time. 

532
00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:53,840
Like I still didn't, you know, 
I, I think we all eventually 

533
00:27:53,840 --> 00:27:56,560
come to the point that maybe 
like we're runners by this 

534
00:27:56,560 --> 00:27:58,040
point. 
I didn't think of it myself that

535
00:27:58,040 --> 00:27:59,520
way. 
I was just someone that was very

536
00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:02,840
challenge oriented. 
I had run a couple marathons. 

537
00:28:03,200 --> 00:28:06,400
I hated running. 
And so they were telling me 

538
00:28:06,400 --> 00:28:10,520
like, hey, if you keep your leg,
you're never going to be running

539
00:28:10,520 --> 00:28:14,800
marathons again. 
And so I wasn't challenge 

540
00:28:14,800 --> 00:28:16,680
oriented at this time. 
I was very naive. 

541
00:28:16,680 --> 00:28:18,480
I'm like, OK, I have a bunch of 
doctors here. 

542
00:28:18,640 --> 00:28:20,720
They know what's going on. 
They've seen it all. 

543
00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:22,800
They're telling me I'm never 
running marathons again. 

544
00:28:22,800 --> 00:28:26,800
So OK, that's probably true. 
But in my mind I was like, well,

545
00:28:26,800 --> 00:28:29,120
and then I even said it. 
I was like, well, heck, I was 

546
00:28:29,120 --> 00:28:32,120
like, I've ran 4 marathons. 
Some people have never even ran 

547
00:28:32,120 --> 00:28:33,720
one. 
I was like, I don't need to run 

548
00:28:33,720 --> 00:28:36,480
it anymore. 
I don't even like running right?

549
00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:38,240
Like, OK, So what? 
So what? 

550
00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:40,920
I oh darn, I don't have to run 
no more. 

551
00:28:40,920 --> 00:28:44,880
OK, cool. 
Like I was like, OK, and so then

552
00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:47,040
they kind of just like looking 
at me with the head sideways, 

553
00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:49,520
like the puppy and they where 
they weren't quite getting it. 

554
00:28:49,520 --> 00:28:52,480
And I was like, but I was like, 
OK, so they listen, I'm 

555
00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:55,000
listening to them. 
They're like, but you know, you 

556
00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:56,920
can get a prosthetic if you 
amputate. 

557
00:28:57,000 --> 00:28:59,840
And you know, there's plenty of 
people in the military and, and 

558
00:28:59,840 --> 00:29:03,640
Paris sports and you know, you 
can get right back to being very

559
00:29:03,640 --> 00:29:06,520
active. 
We know you're active and so you

560
00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:10,200
can get back to running and be 
an active person. 

561
00:29:10,880 --> 00:29:14,040
And I was like, you know, again,
like at this point, I had 

562
00:29:14,040 --> 00:29:16,720
already like been on social 
media, I was already starting to

563
00:29:16,720 --> 00:29:21,160
follow military members, 
athletes with prosthetics 'cause

564
00:29:21,160 --> 00:29:24,840
I was thinking that's where my 
future was going originally was 

565
00:29:24,840 --> 00:29:27,600
I was going to be losing my leg.
And so I wanted to immediately 

566
00:29:27,600 --> 00:29:30,480
start picking up inspiration and
motivation from these people. 

567
00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:32,480
So I was like, so they're 
telling me this and I'm like, 

568
00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:36,520
sure, you know, if I get a 
prosthetic, I probably will. 

569
00:29:36,520 --> 00:29:38,920
I'll probably get a blade and 
I'll probably be right back and 

570
00:29:38,920 --> 00:29:40,280
probably I'll be like one of 
them. 

571
00:29:40,280 --> 00:29:43,520
I'll be kicking butt with it. 
And so we're really at this 

572
00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:45,200
point, we weren't sure if I was 
keeping it or not. 

573
00:29:45,200 --> 00:29:46,720
So they, we had all of that 
talk. 

574
00:29:46,720 --> 00:29:49,680
And so Breen, pretty much, you 
know, I had one long night. 

575
00:29:49,680 --> 00:29:53,440
I did a lot of praying on it. 
I spoke with, you know, my 

576
00:29:53,440 --> 00:29:57,240
friends, my family members and 
really ultimately decision was 

577
00:29:57,240 --> 00:29:59,560
always going to be up to me. 
And so that's what they all kept

578
00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:01,280
saying, like the decision's up 
to you. 

579
00:30:01,320 --> 00:30:03,800
And I'm like, well, yes, 
obviously. 

580
00:30:04,600 --> 00:30:07,840
But you know, I had to really 
think about it. 

581
00:30:07,840 --> 00:30:12,440
And I, after a couple of days 
went by, I, I just spoke to them

582
00:30:12,440 --> 00:30:15,560
and I was saying like, look, 
let's let's just keep the leg. 

583
00:30:16,120 --> 00:30:20,320
Because if I amputate it now, 
I'd be wondering my whole life, 

584
00:30:20,320 --> 00:30:22,000
what if I would have just kept 
it? 

585
00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:24,520
I'm like, if, if I keep my leg 
and I don't like it, I can 

586
00:30:24,520 --> 00:30:26,200
always amputate it in the 
future. 

587
00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:29,240
That that's to this day still 
still an option. 

588
00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:32,640
But you know, I just kept 
thinking about that. 

589
00:30:32,640 --> 00:30:34,760
You know, if I would just 
amputate immediately, I'd be 

590
00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:37,560
wondering my whole life I would 
have never had given my my leg a

591
00:30:37,560 --> 00:30:39,800
chance. 
You know, I and I didn't want 

592
00:30:39,800 --> 00:30:41,480
that to sit out my heart the 
rest of my life. 

593
00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:43,200
So. 
What? 

594
00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:46,680
What was it that made them give 
you the choice so early on? 

595
00:30:46,680 --> 00:30:51,240
Would there have been any health
perks to not try to see what 

596
00:30:51,240 --> 00:30:53,640
happens with the leg? 
Or why was that choice given to 

597
00:30:53,640 --> 00:30:56,000
you so early on before really 
trying to see what's going to 

598
00:30:56,000 --> 00:30:59,560
happen with the leg? 
I think it was them just coming 

599
00:30:59,560 --> 00:31:04,320
to their whatever conclusions or
whatever they had seen in 

600
00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:07,800
general. 
I think ultimately it was they 

601
00:31:07,800 --> 00:31:10,680
honestly thought I was going to 
be a much active. 

602
00:31:11,040 --> 00:31:14,320
They knew for me to be a happy 
person, I'd have to be an active

603
00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:17,200
person, right? 
So whether that was with my job 

604
00:31:17,240 --> 00:31:20,600
or physically, you know, running
or working out and stuff. 

605
00:31:21,080 --> 00:31:24,800
So I think that they honestly 
thought that having that that 

606
00:31:24,800 --> 00:31:29,640
prosthetic was going to give me 
that happier way of life or, 

607
00:31:29,640 --> 00:31:32,480
and, or they thought, OK, 
probably to back their minds, 

608
00:31:32,480 --> 00:31:35,440
even if I kept it, I'd probably 
be needing to amputate it and 

609
00:31:35,440 --> 00:31:38,000
stuff like that. 
They never now listen, they, 

610
00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:40,680
they never once said like, Hey, 
you need to amputate again. 

611
00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:43,760
They were leaving everything 
kind of all options up to me. 

612
00:31:44,080 --> 00:31:46,800
But in my mind, it kind of felt 
like that's kind of what 

613
00:31:46,920 --> 00:31:49,400
everybody was thinking. 
And I've even spoke to family 

614
00:31:49,400 --> 00:31:52,520
members and friends and to stay 
and they're like, I would have 

615
00:31:52,520 --> 00:31:55,000
just amputated it, you know, 
they're like, but you know, 

616
00:31:55,000 --> 00:31:58,200
we're not you. 
And they're just still to this 

617
00:31:58,200 --> 00:32:01,520
day simply amazed by me and 
inspired by me that I kept it 

618
00:32:01,520 --> 00:32:05,080
and I was able to do the things 
that I've been able to do. 

619
00:32:05,320 --> 00:32:07,880
But I think honestly, it's just,
I don't know if they, they 

620
00:32:07,880 --> 00:32:10,960
probably never met someone quite
like me, you know. 

621
00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:15,080
So that's why I enjoyed speaking
with surgeons to this day is 

622
00:32:15,080 --> 00:32:18,520
because I think the majority of 
of their patients, you know, 

623
00:32:18,520 --> 00:32:21,880
they come and see and I don't I,
you know, I'm not trying to pat 

624
00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:24,840
myself too much on the back, but
like I'm a, I'm a true go getter

625
00:32:24,840 --> 00:32:29,120
and they probably have people 
that do minimum and maybe don't 

626
00:32:29,120 --> 00:32:32,960
have as good of outcomes. 
So I think it's maybe their jobs

627
00:32:32,960 --> 00:32:35,680
too, not to give too many people
too much hope. 

628
00:32:36,320 --> 00:32:37,960
And so I think that's ultimately
it. 

629
00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:46,040
All right, so now from our 
sponsor, Tifosi Optics. 

630
00:32:46,080 --> 00:32:49,960
Tifosi, the brand name is the 
Italian word for superfan, and 

631
00:32:49,960 --> 00:32:51,920
that's who they make the eyewear
for. 

632
00:32:51,920 --> 00:32:54,200
Their slogan is live your 
passion. 

633
00:32:54,480 --> 00:32:57,680
They have a ton of different 
glasses on their website, which 

634
00:32:57,680 --> 00:33:01,760
are anything from polarized 
sunglasses to bike riding 

635
00:33:01,760 --> 00:33:04,400
sunglasses, really cool designs.
They are crafted from 

636
00:33:04,400 --> 00:33:07,800
shatterproof polycarbonate, 
which means that the lenses are 

637
00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:10,440
also reducing glare and they're 
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638
00:33:10,720 --> 00:33:14,400
They have hydrophilic rubber 
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639
00:33:14,400 --> 00:33:18,040
more you sweat, so the glasses 
will stay secure even during 

640
00:33:18,040 --> 00:33:19,880
those intense activities that 
you do. 

641
00:33:20,240 --> 00:33:23,360
They have a glide technology 
that allows the frame to slide 

642
00:33:23,360 --> 00:33:26,040
on comfortably and provide an 
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643
00:33:26,040 --> 00:33:29,280
integrated hinge to ensure that 
these sunglasses slide on easily

644
00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:33,200
without pulling your hair. 
Anyway, we have the website for 

645
00:33:33,200 --> 00:33:35,120
you. 
We will link it in our show 

646
00:33:35,120 --> 00:33:37,840
notes. 
It's basically tifosioptics.com.

647
00:33:38,080 --> 00:33:43,120
Our discount code is MRP 20 for 
20% off and we will put that 

648
00:33:43,120 --> 00:33:48,080
into our show notes. 
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649
00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:49,200
20. 
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650
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651
00:33:54,560 --> 00:33:57,800
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652
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656
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That's RUNUR dot run and use 

666
00:34:36,639 --> 00:34:42,440
code RUNUR under score MRP 2420%
off. 

667
00:34:45,040 --> 00:34:49,480
So you're talking about a muscle
flap not working and other 

668
00:34:49,480 --> 00:34:50,920
things than working a little 
bit. 

669
00:34:50,920 --> 00:34:53,840
What kind of time frame are we 
talking about that you were in 

670
00:34:53,840 --> 00:34:56,960
the hospital for all of us? 
So I was in the hospital, so 

671
00:34:56,960 --> 00:35:01,000
Metro Health, which is a trauma 
hospital in Cleveland, one of 

672
00:35:01,000 --> 00:35:03,120
the best. 
I'm blessed to have been taken 

673
00:35:03,120 --> 00:35:06,000
there. 
I was there for six weeks. 

674
00:35:06,520 --> 00:35:10,000
So the worst cabin fever in the 
world, you know, not being able 

675
00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:14,160
to really get out of my bed. 
And again, being an active 

676
00:35:14,160 --> 00:35:16,560
person, that took a toll on my 
mind. 

677
00:35:16,560 --> 00:35:19,080
And, and so I was in there for 
six weeks. 

678
00:35:19,280 --> 00:35:22,440
And so then eventually, you 
know, insurance caught up was 

679
00:35:22,440 --> 00:35:26,120
like we need to get them moved 
because and whatever the 

680
00:35:26,120 --> 00:35:29,640
paperwork was saying, I guess it
I was doing doing good at least,

681
00:35:29,720 --> 00:35:34,800
you know, because I needed moved
on to a rehabilitation place. 

682
00:35:34,800 --> 00:35:38,200
So after there they moved me to 
like a nursing home, right. 

683
00:35:38,200 --> 00:35:41,280
I had my slew of nursing homes 
that I could go to and what I 

684
00:35:41,280 --> 00:35:43,920
mean, it's like a nursing home 
slash rehabilitation places. 

685
00:35:43,920 --> 00:35:47,040
So not quite a like it wasn't 
they weren't like they couldn't 

686
00:35:47,040 --> 00:35:50,160
Take Me Home yet and by couldn't
stay in the hospital yet. 

687
00:35:50,160 --> 00:35:54,400
So I needed like a middle ground
and so I had plenty of them. 

688
00:35:54,480 --> 00:35:59,080
I wanted to be near my hometown,
not in Columbus quite yet. 

689
00:35:59,280 --> 00:36:01,600
Again, that's where I was 
working at, but up near Akron, 

690
00:36:01,640 --> 00:36:03,480
that's where I'm I was born and 
raised. 

691
00:36:03,480 --> 00:36:04,800
I have lots of friends still 
there. 

692
00:36:05,000 --> 00:36:06,600
So I was like, let's get me in 
Akron somewhere. 

693
00:36:06,600 --> 00:36:08,000
So it's a little bit South of 
Cleveland. 

694
00:36:08,560 --> 00:36:13,400
And so I picked a nursing home 
and my dad used to work there a 

695
00:36:13,400 --> 00:36:16,600
long time ago. 
So we kind of knew it was where 

696
00:36:16,600 --> 00:36:19,840
it was at in location to 
everybody else that could come 

697
00:36:19,840 --> 00:36:22,920
visit me. 
And yeah, so the majority, I was

698
00:36:22,920 --> 00:36:25,720
there for four weeks. 
Now the majority of the patients

699
00:36:25,720 --> 00:36:30,000
there, you know, are probably 
70s up because it's a true 

700
00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:33,960
nursing home. 
But I was able to, I was there 

701
00:36:33,960 --> 00:36:36,480
for four weeks. 
And, you know, that was a great 

702
00:36:36,480 --> 00:36:38,720
experience. 
But I did a lot, I did physical 

703
00:36:38,720 --> 00:36:41,880
therapy and occupational therapy
every day when I was there. 

704
00:36:42,160 --> 00:36:45,440
And then I still needed, I still
needed one more major surgery. 

705
00:36:45,440 --> 00:36:49,240
I still had that wound in my 
over my shin that was slowly but

706
00:36:49,240 --> 00:36:54,000
surely healing up. 
And I had daily, you know, skin 

707
00:36:54,000 --> 00:36:57,840
washes and they had to re 
bandage me every day as I had a 

708
00:36:57,840 --> 00:37:00,440
huge skin graft going on where 
my leg kind of looked like a 

709
00:37:00,440 --> 00:37:03,560
Gucci bag from the skin graft 
that they took from the side of 

710
00:37:03,560 --> 00:37:05,480
my legs. 
So that needed lotion every day.

711
00:37:05,480 --> 00:37:08,640
So I still needed like daily 
care from nurses that I couldn't

712
00:37:08,640 --> 00:37:11,480
get at home. 
So I needed to be somewhere. 

713
00:37:11,480 --> 00:37:13,080
And so that was like the middle 
ground. 

714
00:37:13,120 --> 00:37:17,520
I was there for four weeks and 
then after I was, I moved out of

715
00:37:17,520 --> 00:37:24,360
there, I still had one more 
major surgery to go and I didn't

716
00:37:24,360 --> 00:37:26,480
want to go back to Columbus 
because it was two hours from 

717
00:37:26,480 --> 00:37:28,440
Cleveland. 
Well, 2 1/2 hours from Cleveland

718
00:37:28,440 --> 00:37:31,200
and I was still seeing my 
surgeon weekly at this point up 

719
00:37:31,200 --> 00:37:32,640
in Cleveland. 
I had to go to Cleveland once a 

720
00:37:32,640 --> 00:37:35,040
week to see him make sure 
everything's going good so I 

721
00:37:35,040 --> 00:37:39,160
could keep an eye on my leg and 
keep me progressing. 

722
00:37:39,520 --> 00:37:42,200
And so I was like, all right, 
where do we go? 

723
00:37:42,240 --> 00:37:44,720
Well, I had friends, luckily 
that I'm blessed enough that 

724
00:37:44,880 --> 00:37:47,640
they let me live in their one of
their extra living room. 

725
00:37:47,640 --> 00:37:49,840
So they had like a huge day room
and a living room. 

726
00:37:49,840 --> 00:37:52,120
And most of the time they live 
they're in a day room. 

727
00:37:52,120 --> 00:37:53,880
So the living room was kind of 
open. 

728
00:37:53,880 --> 00:37:57,520
So they moved the bed in there 
for me and I was able to stay 

729
00:37:57,520 --> 00:38:00,880
with them And I had my two 
goddaughters there, which was 

730
00:38:00,880 --> 00:38:03,000
just a joy. 
At the time, they were like four

731
00:38:03,000 --> 00:38:05,080
and six years old. 
So it was just like awesome 

732
00:38:05,080 --> 00:38:08,000
having Uncle Jared there. 
And so, you know, just full, 

733
00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:11,920
full of good energy and to keep 
my mind off everything. 

734
00:38:11,920 --> 00:38:13,640
And so, you know, it was awesome
being there. 

735
00:38:13,640 --> 00:38:19,440
I was there for like 8 weeks. 
So yeah, six weeks in the in the

736
00:38:19,440 --> 00:38:23,200
major hospital, 4 weeks in the 
nursing home and then eight 

737
00:38:23,200 --> 00:38:25,240
weeks with my friends at at 
their house all. 

738
00:38:25,760 --> 00:38:28,240
Right. 
So we're talking 18 weeks, 

739
00:38:28,240 --> 00:38:31,720
that's 4 1/2 month into this. 
And when we're talking about you

740
00:38:31,720 --> 00:38:34,640
leaving one for the other and so
on, how are you moving? 

741
00:38:34,640 --> 00:38:36,040
Are you in a wheelchair at that 
point? 

742
00:38:36,040 --> 00:38:37,840
Are you in crutches or what's 
going on with the leg? 

743
00:38:38,680 --> 00:38:42,840
So it's slowly but surely when I
left the the hospital, the main 

744
00:38:42,840 --> 00:38:46,000
hospital, I still had to be 
transported in a like a 

745
00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:48,560
wheelchair. 
And so I was still in a 

746
00:38:48,560 --> 00:38:50,280
wheelchair up to the nursing 
home. 

747
00:38:50,560 --> 00:38:53,480
And then when I was in the 
nursing home is when I finally 

748
00:38:53,480 --> 00:38:55,240
was able to start using a 
Walker. 

749
00:38:55,320 --> 00:38:57,880
Once I got through enough 
physical therapy and stuff there

750
00:38:57,880 --> 00:39:00,240
up on my feet enough started 
using a Walker. 

751
00:39:00,240 --> 00:39:03,080
I never used crutches. 
I was a big fan of that. 

752
00:39:03,080 --> 00:39:07,520
Never felt good on my armpits. 
And with me needing to still put

753
00:39:07,520 --> 00:39:11,680
some weight bearing on my leg, 
the Walker was a better option 

754
00:39:11,680 --> 00:39:14,120
for me. 
And so when I was at the nursing

755
00:39:14,120 --> 00:39:18,280
home, I used a Walker or I was 
in the wheelchair most of the 

756
00:39:18,280 --> 00:39:20,600
time the nurses wanted me in 
that wheelchair. 

757
00:39:20,600 --> 00:39:23,080
They didn't, you know, they 
didn't want me falling over or 

758
00:39:23,080 --> 00:39:24,200
anything like that with the 
Walker. 

759
00:39:24,200 --> 00:39:26,520
So they'd always like be 
checking in on me, making sure I

760
00:39:26,520 --> 00:39:30,000
wasn't because I'm stubborn and 
I wanted to recover faster. 

761
00:39:30,000 --> 00:39:32,720
So I would try to get up on that
Walker as much as I could 

762
00:39:33,320 --> 00:39:37,600
without hurting myself. 
But when I got sent to my, when 

763
00:39:37,600 --> 00:39:41,200
I moved in with my friends at 
their place, at this point, I 

764
00:39:41,200 --> 00:39:44,080
was strictly using the Walker 
slowly but surely. 

765
00:39:44,720 --> 00:39:48,040
And so how I progressed so 
quickly was that, you know, they

766
00:39:48,040 --> 00:39:51,040
had an at home physical 
therapist come to see me there 

767
00:39:51,160 --> 00:39:53,920
once he gave me some exercises 
to do. 

768
00:39:55,080 --> 00:39:59,640
And I've always known that 
whenever you're given exercises 

769
00:39:59,640 --> 00:40:02,600
from physical therapist, that's 
like the minimum you need to be 

770
00:40:02,600 --> 00:40:04,480
doing if you want to recover 
faster. 

771
00:40:04,480 --> 00:40:07,600
You got to move more, you got to
do, you got to go over and 

772
00:40:07,600 --> 00:40:10,040
beyond without. 
Hurting yourself, you know, I 

773
00:40:10,040 --> 00:40:13,360
know my body. 
And so I knew there was a YMCA 

774
00:40:13,440 --> 00:40:16,920
super close to my friend's house
and I was like, I just need to 

775
00:40:16,920 --> 00:40:21,560
get that YMCA. 
And so at this point, I, I kind 

776
00:40:21,560 --> 00:40:24,680
of win myself off all the meds 
enough to where I actually, I 

777
00:40:24,680 --> 00:40:28,040
could be healthy driving sober, 
driving to the Y. 

778
00:40:28,600 --> 00:40:32,080
And so I started like two days 
later. 

779
00:40:32,120 --> 00:40:35,280
So it wasn't long. 
I, I got myself walked, I used 

780
00:40:35,280 --> 00:40:38,840
the Walker and it's like snow. 
It's like a like 10 inches deep 

781
00:40:38,840 --> 00:40:42,680
in, in Ohio at this point in the
middle of the winter time and 

782
00:40:42,840 --> 00:40:46,480
just got to my car, took my 
Walker with me and I got to the 

783
00:40:46,600 --> 00:40:49,760
Y and I used the Walker and I 
was used, you know, I was moving

784
00:40:49,760 --> 00:40:54,200
slowly, very slowly but surely, 
you know, but I got to the Y 

785
00:40:54,200 --> 00:40:57,200
every day and that's how I 
progressed so quickly was 

786
00:40:57,200 --> 00:41:01,160
getting to the Y and just doing 
different things and, and just 

787
00:41:01,160 --> 00:41:04,680
getting stronger each day. 
You know, I got there, I was 

788
00:41:04,680 --> 00:41:07,400
getting all sorts of crazy looks
because my leg was still like 

789
00:41:07,400 --> 00:41:10,000
bandaged up. 
So I'm still waiting on that 

790
00:41:10,000 --> 00:41:13,280
last surgery. 
But I always thought, you know, 

791
00:41:13,280 --> 00:41:16,760
hey, like my left leg's bad, but
I still haven't the right leg. 

792
00:41:16,760 --> 00:41:20,080
I still have my other limbs. 
My whole upper body needs moved.

793
00:41:20,160 --> 00:41:22,920
And so I'm like, you can still 
move everything else. 

794
00:41:22,920 --> 00:41:24,520
So at a minimum, I was going 
over there. 

795
00:41:24,520 --> 00:41:27,280
I was like, I'm going to hit all
the machines just every day, 

796
00:41:27,680 --> 00:41:31,560
rotate them through, get my body
moving and slowly but surely, 

797
00:41:31,600 --> 00:41:36,040
like maybe I'll get myself on 
onto the bike or onto onto the 

798
00:41:36,040 --> 00:41:38,120
stair stepper or onto the 
treadmill. 

799
00:41:38,880 --> 00:41:42,400
And so I took myself there every
day without too much too big of 

800
00:41:42,400 --> 00:41:46,080
goals on my mind, except just to
get stronger each day and then 

801
00:41:46,080 --> 00:41:49,920
get there every day and show up.
And every day that I got there, 

802
00:41:49,920 --> 00:41:52,200
I just do a little bit more, a 
little bit more than the day 

803
00:41:52,200 --> 00:41:54,200
before where, you know, that 
shit, that saying that get 

804
00:41:54,200 --> 00:41:58,000
stronger each day. 
And so I started using the bike 

805
00:41:58,000 --> 00:42:00,640
one day. 
And then after that I was like, 

806
00:42:00,640 --> 00:42:03,360
Hey, let's get on that. 
Let's get on that treadmill. 

807
00:42:03,360 --> 00:42:06,080
Because again, I can, if I can 
use a Walker, I can use the 

808
00:42:06,080 --> 00:42:08,200
treadmill at least to hold 
myself up. 

809
00:42:08,240 --> 00:42:11,120
And so, you know, the first day 
on the treadmill was there like,

810
00:42:11,120 --> 00:42:13,000
Hey, let's, let's walk a quarter
mile. 

811
00:42:13,240 --> 00:42:16,360
And so that's all it was. 
And I got off and I'm very good 

812
00:42:16,360 --> 00:42:21,000
at kind of like not doing too 
much and just doing enough and 

813
00:42:21,000 --> 00:42:24,240
then getting off, you know, I 
knew I had worked out myself 

814
00:42:24,240 --> 00:42:25,880
enough. 
And so each day I just try to 

815
00:42:25,880 --> 00:42:27,960
get a little bit farther and a 
little bit farther on that 

816
00:42:27,960 --> 00:42:31,880
treadmill. 
So while you were doing that, 

817
00:42:32,440 --> 00:42:36,960
tell us a little bit about how 
or how your body works well 

818
00:42:37,160 --> 00:42:40,120
without having the calf muscle 
and Achilles tendon. 

819
00:42:41,040 --> 00:42:42,400
Yeah. 
So with my body not really 

820
00:42:42,400 --> 00:42:45,600
having those calf muscles or 
Achilles tendon, my ankle 

821
00:42:45,800 --> 00:42:48,520
doesn't have much room for 
movement in there. 

822
00:42:48,520 --> 00:42:51,760
I can, I can barely movement 
move it because that's kind of 

823
00:42:51,760 --> 00:42:53,680
what you need to, to move that 
ankle around. 

824
00:42:53,680 --> 00:42:57,480
So the ankle is pretty stiff 
because I can't move it that 

825
00:42:57,480 --> 00:42:59,320
much. 
But really, you know, I still 

826
00:42:59,320 --> 00:43:02,560
have quads, I still have 
hamstrings and, and everything 

827
00:43:02,560 --> 00:43:05,440
else that kind of you need to 
move to move your leg up and 

828
00:43:05,440 --> 00:43:09,480
down or forward or backwards. 
And so a lot of people are very 

829
00:43:09,480 --> 00:43:11,760
intrigued on, you know, how I'm 
still able to run and 

830
00:43:11,760 --> 00:43:14,360
everything. 
But really just because of that,

831
00:43:14,360 --> 00:43:16,720
you know, so those calf muscles 
that move your ankle and 

832
00:43:16,720 --> 00:43:19,640
everything really that helps 
propel you forward. 

833
00:43:19,640 --> 00:43:22,640
So it will help you jump, it'll 
help move you faster. 

834
00:43:22,640 --> 00:43:25,560
You can run faster with them, 
but you don't necessarily need 

835
00:43:25,560 --> 00:43:29,560
those to walk or to jog. 
As long as you can pick up that 

836
00:43:29,560 --> 00:43:31,880
leg and put it down, you can 
still move. 

837
00:43:31,880 --> 00:43:35,640
It's just in the meantime, you 
know, I knew that I had to work 

838
00:43:35,640 --> 00:43:38,400
out my hips. 
I know your hips are, are huge 

839
00:43:38,480 --> 00:43:40,320
and, and with running and 
everything else. 

840
00:43:40,320 --> 00:43:43,760
So I was doing kind of 
everything that I needed to to, 

841
00:43:44,400 --> 00:43:48,160
to re the rehab myself, all my, 
you know, all all those other 

842
00:43:48,160 --> 00:43:51,320
muscles in my leg, my hip 
muscles and all everything else 

843
00:43:51,320 --> 00:43:53,040
like that. 
I was making sure I was getting 

844
00:43:53,040 --> 00:43:55,440
done that I was going to need. 
Because people have told me 

845
00:43:55,440 --> 00:43:58,120
like, Hey, you're going to have 
hip issues in the future if you 

846
00:43:58,120 --> 00:44:01,480
try to walk or jog because 
you're one side is going to try 

847
00:44:01,480 --> 00:44:04,880
to make up for the other one. 
And you know, I get this. 

848
00:44:04,880 --> 00:44:06,160
I don't think they were blowing 
smoke. 

849
00:44:06,160 --> 00:44:07,960
Like, yeah, that, that makes a 
lot of sense. 

850
00:44:07,960 --> 00:44:09,840
I believe that. 
So hey, I'm going to try to 

851
00:44:09,840 --> 00:44:12,320
avoid that. 
So I'm just going to work out my

852
00:44:12,320 --> 00:44:14,800
hips every day. 
I'm going to make sure I do do 

853
00:44:14,800 --> 00:44:18,120
what I need to do to get all 
everything else functioning 

854
00:44:18,120 --> 00:44:22,880
properly in the right way to 
where now when I jog or 

855
00:44:22,880 --> 00:44:26,000
anything, I kind of call that 
that leg like almost like a 

856
00:44:26,000 --> 00:44:29,680
human prosthetic because I 
literally just, I'm picking it 

857
00:44:29,680 --> 00:44:33,040
up and putting it down. 
But I've just been able to jog 

858
00:44:33,040 --> 00:44:36,160
so much and, and everything like
that, that you can't really tell

859
00:44:36,440 --> 00:44:39,280
when you're watching me at this 
point. 

860
00:44:39,280 --> 00:44:42,080
But really, yeah, it's kind of 
it's, it's it's very surreal 

861
00:44:42,080 --> 00:44:44,560
because when I'm, when I'm 
running, I can't really feel 

862
00:44:44,560 --> 00:44:46,320
that leg. 
Luckily, I still have the 

863
00:44:46,320 --> 00:44:48,000
feeling on the bottom of my 
foot. 

864
00:44:48,240 --> 00:44:52,560
So I can feel my foot hitting 
the ground, but I can't feel a 

865
00:44:52,560 --> 00:44:55,680
lot of the, you know, pains or 
aches like in the middle of that

866
00:44:55,680 --> 00:44:57,080
leg. 
That's pretty much the only time

867
00:44:57,080 --> 00:44:58,640
that I feel free is when I'm 
moving. 

868
00:44:59,920 --> 00:45:01,280
Wow. 
I mean, that's pretty amazing 

869
00:45:01,280 --> 00:45:04,640
because when I met you, I didn't
I mean, it's something that we 

870
00:45:04,640 --> 00:45:06,560
don't even notice. 
If you don't know you, you don't

871
00:45:06,560 --> 00:45:08,080
walk different, you don't run 
different. 

872
00:45:08,080 --> 00:45:11,600
I've seen your videos and I'm, 
you know, I was curious. 

873
00:45:11,600 --> 00:45:13,880
I'm, I'm like, what's his story?
What's going on here? 

874
00:45:13,880 --> 00:45:16,440
Because it doesn't look like 
there is anything. 

875
00:45:16,440 --> 00:45:18,000
And then I learned about your 
story. 

876
00:45:18,000 --> 00:45:23,200
So, so the rehabilitation seems 
to have gone really amazing. 

877
00:45:23,200 --> 00:45:27,400
But to help people that are 
currently in situations that 

878
00:45:27,400 --> 00:45:29,040
they don't, didn't ever ask to 
be. 

879
00:45:29,040 --> 00:45:32,680
And tell us about some dark 
moments and how you were able to

880
00:45:32,680 --> 00:45:34,240
overcome them. 
Did you have any kind of 

881
00:45:34,240 --> 00:45:35,760
drawbacks? 
Obviously. 

882
00:45:36,800 --> 00:45:42,280
Yeah, so just over time, I've 
become really good at allowing 

883
00:45:42,280 --> 00:45:46,520
myself to feel like, you know, 
the bad feelings or negative 

884
00:45:46,520 --> 00:45:50,560
feelings, but I try not to I, I 
know not to stay, stay around in

885
00:45:50,560 --> 00:45:52,400
them. 
So I don't know if it's a gift 

886
00:45:52,400 --> 00:45:56,440
from above. 
I've I've did plenty of reading.

887
00:45:56,440 --> 00:46:00,360
You know, I'm AI love stoicism. 
I love just listen to people 

888
00:46:00,360 --> 00:46:03,080
with wisdom. 
And so I do take a lot of these 

889
00:46:03,080 --> 00:46:04,360
quotes. 
That's why I post a lot of 

890
00:46:04,360 --> 00:46:08,320
quotes and, you know, I, I kind 
of take them for their words. 

891
00:46:08,320 --> 00:46:11,320
If it's like, hey, like be 
uncomfortable being, you know, 

892
00:46:11,320 --> 00:46:13,720
be comfortable being 
uncomfortable or it's like you 

893
00:46:13,720 --> 00:46:18,000
can't focus on things you can't 
change, but things like that. 

894
00:46:18,000 --> 00:46:20,080
So I've kind of always been 
really good at putting those to 

895
00:46:20,080 --> 00:46:24,240
use, believing them and, and 
using them to my, to my favor. 

896
00:46:24,640 --> 00:46:29,160
But you know, when I would get 
in, you know, hard times, I 

897
00:46:29,160 --> 00:46:32,520
would kind of just quickly, just
like, all right, we felt that 

898
00:46:33,160 --> 00:46:35,160
again, but there's nothing you 
can do about it. 

899
00:46:35,160 --> 00:46:39,080
So let's move forward and let's 
focus on things you can change, 

900
00:46:39,080 --> 00:46:41,280
right? 
I mean, it's like every day with

901
00:46:41,280 --> 00:46:42,680
my leg. 
It's very daunting. 

902
00:46:42,680 --> 00:46:45,120
You know, it isn't all sunshines
and rainbows. 

903
00:46:45,120 --> 00:46:49,440
I am able to do all of this, but
I still like right now, I can 

904
00:46:49,440 --> 00:46:52,440
feel the bottom of my leg like 
twitching, you know, and they 

905
00:46:52,440 --> 00:46:56,720
tell me if it's annoying in any 
way, that's a form of pain, but 

906
00:46:56,720 --> 00:47:00,200
I know I can't change that. 
This leg's going to twitch like 

907
00:47:00,200 --> 00:47:01,960
24/7. 
I, I can't change it. 

908
00:47:01,960 --> 00:47:03,960
So why would I sit there and 
dwell on it, right? 

909
00:47:04,320 --> 00:47:07,760
So let's focus on the things I 
can change or work on. 

910
00:47:07,760 --> 00:47:11,440
And that's like my attitude and 
that's the, you know, my efforts

911
00:47:11,440 --> 00:47:15,320
and my energy. 
As I always say, you know, when 

912
00:47:15,320 --> 00:47:19,720
you, if you have to, you know, 
learning about the past and, and

913
00:47:19,720 --> 00:47:22,160
knowing the past is good, but 
you don't want to sit there and 

914
00:47:22,160 --> 00:47:24,920
dwell on it. 
You, you got to move forward and

915
00:47:24,920 --> 00:47:28,480
again, just focusing on the 
things you can change, but you 

916
00:47:28,480 --> 00:47:31,440
know, things like that are going
to happen and you just got to 

917
00:47:31,440 --> 00:47:34,240
keep on moving forward. 
Just like you know in a 

918
00:47:34,240 --> 00:47:38,160
marathon, you know things are 
going to come up, Aches, pains 

919
00:47:38,160 --> 00:47:40,720
and bad feelings, but to get to 
the finish line you got to 

920
00:47:40,720 --> 00:47:43,640
continue moving forward. 
I love this. 

921
00:47:43,680 --> 00:47:48,360
I love your perspective and you 
know, along with that, can you 

922
00:47:48,360 --> 00:47:51,240
talk about the running community
and how supportive they have 

923
00:47:51,240 --> 00:47:54,160
been inclusive? 
Because I know that early on 

924
00:47:54,160 --> 00:47:56,400
when you first had your 
accident, you didn't really 

925
00:47:56,400 --> 00:47:59,040
identify as a runner. 
But now Fast forward, you had an

926
00:47:59,040 --> 00:48:01,880
accident. 
You are different, but you 

927
00:48:01,880 --> 00:48:04,680
definitely, you know, define 
yourself as a runner now. 

928
00:48:05,240 --> 00:48:09,200
Yeah, Well, let's I'd say just 
in general, you know, every day 

929
00:48:09,200 --> 00:48:13,040
throughout my hospital stay, 
whether it was the six weeks in 

930
00:48:13,040 --> 00:48:16,560
the hospital, the four weeks in 
the in the nursing home, I had 

931
00:48:16,560 --> 00:48:20,400
visitors every day. 
So I was extremely blessed to 

932
00:48:20,400 --> 00:48:23,440
have people there for the most 
part. 

933
00:48:23,440 --> 00:48:27,240
I can be introverted, you know, 
you wouldn't guess that now, but

934
00:48:27,240 --> 00:48:30,400
so people would come and like, 
well, I don't know what to talk 

935
00:48:30,400 --> 00:48:31,920
about. 
And I always told people, you 

936
00:48:31,920 --> 00:48:35,280
know, I don't really, we don't 
have to have conversations as 

937
00:48:35,280 --> 00:48:38,960
long as you show up and we just 
sit there and watch TV or we sit

938
00:48:38,960 --> 00:48:42,160
there and just look out the, 
the, you know, the window. 

939
00:48:42,160 --> 00:48:44,480
And that just showing up for me 
is huge. 

940
00:48:44,840 --> 00:48:48,800
And so just having somebody 
there next to me the entire time

941
00:48:49,000 --> 00:48:51,120
was an absolutely blessing. 
Every day. 

942
00:48:51,120 --> 00:48:54,400
I mean, there's maybe only a 
handful of days that I didn't 

943
00:48:54,400 --> 00:48:58,200
have, but at least my, my dad 
was there or my mom was there as

944
00:48:58,200 --> 00:48:59,440
well. 
So I literally had somebody 

945
00:48:59,440 --> 00:49:02,280
there with me every day. 
And that's just phenomenal. 

946
00:49:02,280 --> 00:49:05,040
You know, I wasn't just sitting 
there by myself. 

947
00:49:05,040 --> 00:49:08,040
You know, I had somebody to 
watch TV with someone to, you 

948
00:49:08,040 --> 00:49:11,840
know, shoot the breeze with, 
but, and that was huge, right? 

949
00:49:11,840 --> 00:49:16,360
So I, I think support's awesome.
I, I got online every day, you 

950
00:49:16,360 --> 00:49:19,960
know, online could be good. 
And I had tons of people reach 

951
00:49:19,960 --> 00:49:23,440
out to me. 
I mean, tons of people that I 

952
00:49:23,440 --> 00:49:27,720
hadn't seen or spoke to in years
that reached out to me and you 

953
00:49:27,720 --> 00:49:30,960
know, that just means the 
absolute world to me was knowing

954
00:49:30,960 --> 00:49:33,480
that. 
And so I just knew that I had so

955
00:49:33,480 --> 00:49:36,280
many people that had my back, 
even when I didn't think about 

956
00:49:36,280 --> 00:49:38,640
it. 
You know that, you know, to this

957
00:49:38,640 --> 00:49:40,440
day, I save a lot. 
I've saved a lot of those 

958
00:49:40,440 --> 00:49:42,440
messages. 
I've seen what people post when 

959
00:49:42,440 --> 00:49:45,120
you see the memories on 
Facebook, I saw what people had 

960
00:49:45,120 --> 00:49:47,880
wrote to me. 
And it's just like, it's the the

961
00:49:47,880 --> 00:49:50,480
daily, you know, humbled and, 
and reminder of that, like 

962
00:49:50,480 --> 00:49:53,640
people are are with me behind me
and got my back, even when I 

963
00:49:53,640 --> 00:49:56,440
don't think so. 
And so that was awesome. 

964
00:49:57,280 --> 00:49:59,520
And then moving forward, you 
know, into getting into this 

965
00:49:59,520 --> 00:50:03,000
running community thing, it's 
it's the same way. 

966
00:50:03,000 --> 00:50:06,640
It's, you know, a lot of these 
running groups, you know, we all

967
00:50:06,640 --> 00:50:08,800
kind of are just show up every 
day. 

968
00:50:08,800 --> 00:50:12,440
And whether it's one person or 
if it's twenty people there, you

969
00:50:12,440 --> 00:50:15,960
know, there's usually somebody 
always there and it's someone to

970
00:50:15,960 --> 00:50:17,640
talk to. 
Even if you don't know, even if 

971
00:50:17,640 --> 00:50:20,680
you don't talk to them, you just
run with them, you know, share 

972
00:50:20,680 --> 00:50:22,720
some miles with them. 
That's, that's huge. 

973
00:50:22,720 --> 00:50:24,760
And I think that's the the 
greatest part of the running 

974
00:50:24,760 --> 00:50:28,520
community is there's usually 
someone's there that shows up. 

975
00:50:29,360 --> 00:50:32,480
And I also like to think in 
general, everybody's got a story

976
00:50:32,480 --> 00:50:34,920
of some sort. 
That's why I like sharing mine 

977
00:50:34,920 --> 00:50:37,800
because it kind of brings out 
other people to share their 

978
00:50:37,800 --> 00:50:39,800
stories. 
And I think that that only helps

979
00:50:39,800 --> 00:50:43,000
you therapeutically, mentally 
and physically to kind of share 

980
00:50:43,000 --> 00:50:45,920
your stories. 
And once you you start sharing 

981
00:50:45,920 --> 00:50:48,600
stories, you it kind of brings 
the world in. 

982
00:50:48,800 --> 00:50:52,600
It's like, OK, we're all just, 
you know, we all learned the 

983
00:50:52,600 --> 00:50:55,280
similar lessons and just in 
different ways. 

984
00:50:55,720 --> 00:50:58,800
And we all are going in through 
this crazy little thing called 

985
00:50:58,800 --> 00:51:00,760
life. 
And it's, you know, it's not 

986
00:51:00,760 --> 00:51:02,960
easy. 
Life's not fair, life's not 

987
00:51:02,960 --> 00:51:05,880
easy. 
And you know it, it does take a 

988
00:51:05,880 --> 00:51:09,160
community and, and we all are 
just trying to do our best with 

989
00:51:09,160 --> 00:51:11,280
what we have. 
And I think, you know, the more 

990
00:51:11,280 --> 00:51:14,480
people that show up and the more
that you can relate with people,

991
00:51:15,160 --> 00:51:17,000
the better that you're going to 
be in this. 

992
00:51:17,120 --> 00:51:18,800
Again, the running community is 
awesome. 

993
00:51:18,800 --> 00:51:21,440
I mean, just over time and time,
it's just the more people I 

994
00:51:21,440 --> 00:51:24,800
meet, the more people that you 
know, you become friends with. 

995
00:51:24,800 --> 00:51:26,640
And there's a spread all out 
now. 

996
00:51:26,640 --> 00:51:30,280
So now with me trying to run 
like the 50 states or run the 

997
00:51:30,280 --> 00:51:33,320
world majors. 
I, I'm, I'm starting to get know

998
00:51:33,320 --> 00:51:37,040
more people all across, all 
across the, the world and the 

999
00:51:37,040 --> 00:51:39,960
States and it just makes it that
much better. 

1000
00:51:39,960 --> 00:51:43,160
You know, now every, every city 
I go to, or not every city, but 

1001
00:51:43,160 --> 00:51:45,440
every state or something, for 
the most part, I know somebody. 

1002
00:51:45,480 --> 00:51:49,600
And so now I try to go hang out 
with them or at least try to, 

1003
00:51:50,240 --> 00:51:52,840
you know, if I can't stay with 
them or something, you know, or 

1004
00:51:52,840 --> 00:51:58,520
have a a coffee or lunch. 
But it's been a true just, it's 

1005
00:51:58,520 --> 00:52:02,400
just a a cycle of like you 
giving some and it returned it 

1006
00:52:02,400 --> 00:52:06,640
to you, you know, a full like 
cycle of good karma, I swear. 

1007
00:52:07,280 --> 00:52:10,800
I love this, I love your story 
and I appreciate you sharing it 

1008
00:52:10,800 --> 00:52:13,680
with us. 
And do you have any marathons 

1009
00:52:13,680 --> 00:52:18,560
coming up this year? 
Yeah, so I have San Diego that's

1010
00:52:18,560 --> 00:52:23,400
coming up in two weeks from now.
I'm running ground malls, which 

1011
00:52:23,400 --> 00:52:25,840
is at the end of June. 
And then in July I'm running 

1012
00:52:25,840 --> 00:52:28,000
Jack and Jill's out in the state
of Washington. 

1013
00:52:28,000 --> 00:52:30,280
It's all downhill, so that 
should be fun. 

1014
00:52:30,280 --> 00:52:34,280
I'm running with a buddy for his
first marathon, so we'll see how

1015
00:52:34,280 --> 00:52:37,320
how that goes. 
And then August, I'm kind of 

1016
00:52:37,680 --> 00:52:40,920
taking off ish. 
It's my birthday in there 

1017
00:52:40,920 --> 00:52:45,040
somewhere, but I, I usually do 
something so I, I don't know 

1018
00:52:45,040 --> 00:52:49,280
what I'm gonna do yet. 
There's a, a 24 hour like a, a 

1019
00:52:49,280 --> 00:52:51,360
last, but it's called the last 
Buckeye standing. 

1020
00:52:51,360 --> 00:52:56,080
I might do that where you run a 
4 hour, not 4 hour, a 4.187 loop

1021
00:52:56,080 --> 00:52:58,400
every hour. 
I'd like to see how far I can go

1022
00:52:58,400 --> 00:53:01,040
there. 
But then moving forward, the 

1023
00:53:01,040 --> 00:53:05,880
fall is extremely busy. 
I got the Marine Corps Marathon,

1024
00:53:05,880 --> 00:53:10,400
I have Chicago, I have New York 
City, NY City's gonna finish off

1025
00:53:10,400 --> 00:53:14,080
my world majors. 
And then I signed up for the JFK

1026
00:53:14,080 --> 00:53:17,320
50 Miller. 
So that'll be my farthest run. 

1027
00:53:17,760 --> 00:53:20,320
So I'm looking forward to that. 
And then I'm running Kiawah 

1028
00:53:20,320 --> 00:53:24,200
Island in in December, so quite 
a few. 

1029
00:53:24,640 --> 00:53:28,400
So it'll be a total of like 15 
marathons this year with a 

1030
00:53:28,400 --> 00:53:30,600
couple ultras sprinkled in 
there. 

1031
00:53:31,920 --> 00:53:36,760
But yeah, I always tell people I
like to stay curious, man. 

1032
00:53:36,760 --> 00:53:39,240
I just stay curious on, on now. 
Like, what? 

1033
00:53:39,320 --> 00:53:42,120
What I can do, what, what, what 
this leg can do. 

1034
00:53:42,120 --> 00:53:44,400
I always say, you know, what can
I get this leg to do now? 

1035
00:53:44,400 --> 00:53:47,560
How fast can I get it to go? 
How far can I get it to go? 

1036
00:53:47,560 --> 00:53:49,840
And, you know, there's a lot of 
successful people in the world 

1037
00:53:49,840 --> 00:53:53,680
that always say, you know, stay 
curious, push the limits. 

1038
00:53:53,680 --> 00:53:55,560
And I've really taken that to 
heart. 

1039
00:53:55,560 --> 00:53:58,440
And now I kind of just been 
spreading that word to people. 

1040
00:53:58,440 --> 00:54:00,480
It's just to always stay 
curious, you know, and always 

1041
00:54:00,480 --> 00:54:03,560
start now, you know, people are 
like, I don't want to sign up 

1042
00:54:03,560 --> 00:54:05,680
for 100 mile or I don't know if 
I can finish. 

1043
00:54:05,680 --> 00:54:08,320
Well, in my mind, I'm like, that
is the reason to start. 

1044
00:54:08,440 --> 00:54:11,000
That's the reason to do it 
because it's not about 

1045
00:54:11,000 --> 00:54:14,400
necessarily finishing that 100 
mile or if you get to like 51 

1046
00:54:14,400 --> 00:54:17,360
and you and you just stop. 
OK, well, that that's awesome. 

1047
00:54:17,360 --> 00:54:19,920
That's probably farther than 
you've gone before and you can 

1048
00:54:19,920 --> 00:54:22,880
find out, you know that OK, we 
can get back there. 

1049
00:54:22,880 --> 00:54:25,720
Let's see if we can go 52 miles.
You know, I know that sounds 

1050
00:54:25,720 --> 00:54:27,960
dumb, but that, that that's the 
way my mind works. 

1051
00:54:28,040 --> 00:54:30,680
Let's constantly just try to go 
farther and farther. 

1052
00:54:31,040 --> 00:54:33,040
And just because you don't 
finish doesn't mean it's a fail.

1053
00:54:33,040 --> 00:54:34,520
It's only a fail if you quit, 
right? 

1054
00:54:34,520 --> 00:54:38,160
So, you know, I'm in that state 
of mind now where it's just 

1055
00:54:38,160 --> 00:54:41,360
constantly pushing me and, and, 
and, and see how fast I can go 

1056
00:54:41,360 --> 00:54:43,040
too, right? 
Because they told me I was never

1057
00:54:43,040 --> 00:54:45,720
going to run marathons again. 
So just completing one was 

1058
00:54:45,720 --> 00:54:47,240
awesome. 
But then I was like, well, let's

1059
00:54:47,240 --> 00:54:51,120
see how many we can do. 
And now I can, I can, I can run 

1060
00:54:51,120 --> 00:54:54,480
a 325 marathon. 
And so it's just amazing to me 

1061
00:54:54,480 --> 00:54:57,800
that somebody like myself that's
kind of missing some vital parts

1062
00:54:57,800 --> 00:55:01,600
in my leg that was told that now
I'm running 325. 

1063
00:55:01,600 --> 00:55:03,520
So now it's like, can I run 
A320? 

1064
00:55:03,680 --> 00:55:06,400
Well, I don't know, but we're 
going to find out if I can, you 

1065
00:55:06,400 --> 00:55:08,320
know, and I'm just going to keep
going after it. 

1066
00:55:08,320 --> 00:55:10,680
And I feel like that's just the 
way, you know, people should be 

1067
00:55:10,680 --> 00:55:14,080
attacking life, not even just 
running, but about their careers

1068
00:55:14,680 --> 00:55:17,040
or relationships, but and 
everything. 

1069
00:55:18,000 --> 00:55:21,080
I love this and all this coming 
from a person that never called 

1070
00:55:21,080 --> 00:55:24,120
himself a runner. 
Jared, thank you so much for 

1071
00:55:24,120 --> 00:55:26,360
coming and speaking with us. 
We will link your Instagram 

1072
00:55:26,360 --> 00:55:29,760
profile in our show notes so 
that way people that are curious

1073
00:55:29,760 --> 00:55:32,360
about you are able to see you 
there. 

1074
00:55:32,720 --> 00:55:35,600
And yeah, thank you so much. 
We really appreciate it. 

1075
00:55:36,280 --> 00:55:38,240
Yeah, thank you so much for 
having me on. 

1076
00:55:38,240 --> 00:55:40,400
I really appreciate it. 
Again, it was it was, it was 

1077
00:55:40,400 --> 00:55:43,600
great getting to meet you at 
Boston and speaking to you. 

1078
00:55:43,600 --> 00:55:47,280
And then, yeah, I'm just so 
honored that you have me on and 

1079
00:55:47,280 --> 00:55:50,840
allowing me to share my story. 
It's just a true blessing in 

1080
00:55:50,840 --> 00:55:53,960
general, you know, that I can 
just able to do things like this

1081
00:55:53,960 --> 00:55:55,240
now, you know, who would have 
thought? 

1082
00:55:55,640 --> 00:55:59,920
You're such an inspiration, just
with everything you've done, 

1083
00:56:00,000 --> 00:56:03,720
it's it's truly amazing. 
And we wish you the best luck 

1084
00:56:03,720 --> 00:56:05,760
going forward. 
And you know, we know. 

1085
00:56:05,760 --> 00:56:07,360
You see, we'll see you out 
there. 

1086
00:56:08,400 --> 00:56:10,760
Yeah, thank you so much. 
I'm humbled and and honored. 

1087
00:56:14,200 --> 00:56:16,720
Thank you, Jarrett, for coming 
on to our podcast. 

1088
00:56:16,720 --> 00:56:20,960
It was very, very kind of you to
come on and Share your story and

1089
00:56:20,960 --> 00:56:24,400
super inspirational. 
Yeah, I think it's something 

1090
00:56:24,400 --> 00:56:28,040
that people can appreciate is 
just having the opportunities 

1091
00:56:28,040 --> 00:56:30,880
that they have and enjoying 
their life the way it is. 

1092
00:56:30,880 --> 00:56:34,560
And, you know, these stories, I 
think are really helpful to 

1093
00:56:34,560 --> 00:56:37,680
maintain that. 
Yes, keep it in perspective, 

1094
00:56:38,480 --> 00:56:40,000
deal with the cards you're 
dealt. 

1095
00:56:40,080 --> 00:56:42,760
And I guess with that, Ryan, 
we're not going to walk over and

1096
00:56:42,760 --> 00:56:47,320
start eating our five year 
anniversary cake for the 

1097
00:56:47,320 --> 00:56:49,800
podcast. 
Happy 4 years. 

1098
00:56:50,440 --> 00:56:53,560
Until next year. 
Have a good week running. 

1099
00:56:57,600 --> 00:57:00,120
Thanks for tuning in. 
For more information Ant 

1100
00:57:00,120 --> 00:57:02,040
Marathon Running News, please 
head to 

1101
00:57:02,040 --> 00:57:07,400
www.marathonrunningpodcast.com 
and we'll be back next week. 

1102
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Are you looking for the perfect 
apparel that mirrors your love 

1103
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for running? 
Look no further than Run Swag, 

1104
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the go to store by Runners 
forerunners. 

1105
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From witty Tees to hoodies that 
commemorate your marathon majors

1106
00:57:31,640 --> 00:57:35,120
to crops that get you motivated,
Run Swags got you covered. 

1107
00:57:35,440 --> 00:57:38,200
Discover the perfect blend of 
comfort and style. 

1108
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Visit www.runswag.com Run swag. 
There's something for every 

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runner.
