Change a Constant Challenge
Transcriber: Van Nguyen
Reviewer: David DeRuwe
This afternoon, as the sun is setting
in Manly Beach, Australia,
I’d like to give you some
examples of change.
I’ve experienced
lots of change in my life,
and hopefully some
lessons that I’ve learned,
I can pass on to you to apply in your life
in this ever-changing environment.
OK, a little boy, big dreams,
wanted to be a professional athlete.
Life is pretty good,
I’m enjoying my running;
I’m enjoying playing football,
rugby league in this part of the world,
and to fast forward time,
I become a professional athlete,
getting paid to do what I love.
And life is pretty good;
I was in a very comfortable space.
On the 27th of June in 1988,
I got hit by an eight-ton truck.
So there’s a great example of change:
one minute I’m running around loving life,
and now I’m fighting for life.
So there’s my example of change.
And therefore, how do you adapt
and accept that massive change?
It does not just affect you;
it affects all that are in and around you.
OK, some lessons:
Father: “Son, I would give
you my legs if I could.”
Brother: “That’s going to be a marathon,
opposed to a sprint.”
Sister: “I love you.
I’m always going to be there for you.”
Family doctor: “John, don’t worry.
You will be bigger, you will be faster
and you will be stronger.”
Left the room.
So what did he do?
He planted a seed of hope
in a broken body, broken mind,
trying to come to terms with the fact
that I am lucky to be alive
getting hit by a truck,
I don’t have brain damage
and I’m now considered
an “incomplete paraplegic.”
Broken my back, damaged my spinal cord.
OK, massive example of change.
So some of the things
that take place in hospital:
Life is not ever going to be what it was.
This piece about learning to let go -
very easy to say; very hard to do.
This moving on piece -
all I really wanted to do
was to go back to where I was,
to stop the hands of time,
put it in reverse and go back.
Unfortunately, as we all know, we don’t
have the luxury of being able to do that.
So it took some time.
Surely I was depressed.
Surely I had anxiety.
Surely my world had collapsed,
but I started to build on that
with some dreams, in time,
that maybe I could do more with my life.
That was my objective,
lying in a spinal unit.
Fast forward time,
eight weeks out of intensive care,
moved into the general ward.
Three things:
When I moved to that ward,
there were three guys
who’d broken their necks,
couldn’t move or feel
from their neck down.
I come into my bed, into that new
environment and there’s another change.
And I realized really quickly
that I’m so lucky to be alive
and had use of my upper body.
Putting things into perspective.
I could move through physiotherapy,
hydrotherapy, occupational therapy,
trying to get you out
of this hospitalized situation.
What did I dream of?
Blue sky, green grass, fresh air.
Get me out of this hospital.
Eventually, after four months,
I managed to get back home
to be with my parents.
OK, another example of change:
coming back home, broken,
opposed to when I left a month
before my accident, flying.
So therefore, there
is change in transition.
Questions:
“What am I going to do with my life now?
Who would be interested in me?”
All these dark clouds were forming,
trying to get a sense of this new reality,
OK, and that’s when
I started to dream again.
I let go of the truck -
literally, it lightened the load -
and therefore, what did
this new opportunity look like?
Remember the doctor:
bigger, stronger, faster.
So I had to change a lot of things,
and I also had to let go
of a lot of things.
Let go football, let go of running,
start to embrace new opportunities.
So my first mountain to climb
was the Hawaiian Ironman,
and it’d be nice to stay in this space
for a little bit around -
from a hospital bed
to the Hawaiian Ironman,
arguably the toughest endurance event,
one-day event on the planet.
What does it consist of?
A swim of 3.8 kilometers,
2.4 miles, if you’re in the US;
then it’s a bike ride of 180 kilometers,
but again in the US,
it’s going to take 112 miles;
and then it’s a 42 kilometer marathon,
26.2 mile marathon -
a big day in the office.
So I had to change a lot of things
in order for me to want to be involved
in that particular event.
So I had to go to the US, Panama City,
to race to qualify to line up
as the only wheelchair athlete.
So, naturally, lining up
for the Ironman is a big deal,
and there are a lot of athletes there
to take on that particular course:
the heat, the wind, the hills.
I wanted to see myself as being equal,
and therefore, the big challenge ahead
was to make sure I continually changed:
let go of this, embrace this.
Quickly go through the swim -
one hour seven,
get onto the hand cycle,
arms are screaming,
come back home …
I missed the bike cut-off by 40 minutes,
asked to continue,
finished in 14 hours, 52 minutes.
I go back the next year.
I do the swim in one five,
I miss the bike cut off
by 15 minutes due to a flat,
finished in 14 and 39.
I go back the next year and finally finish
in 12 hours and 21 minutes.
How do you go from a hospital bed
to the Hawaiian Ironman?
Well, you need to make lots of change,
and therefore, this whole evolution
on continually wanting to improve.
So after the Ironman,
there’s an opportunity
to swim the English Channel.
There’s a great example of change -
they are completely opposite.
Change, change, change.
Next, have the opportunity
to represent at an Olympic level,
Paralympic level, in wheelchair racing.
Change: new coach, new environment,
new objectives and opportunities.
Let’s now move forward
to having this opportunity
to continually dream and envision
what life might look like.
What is the best case scenario?
Is it possible in time to think
that I can get out of the chair?
Let me fast forward many years.
I finally had the opportunity
to take my first steps after 25 years.
Lots of change again needed to take place
in my internal dialogue
once I came to terms with the fact
that it is possible for me
to learn to take some steps -
not as they were, a new example of.
And I fell over many times,
but I kept on getting back up again,
til eventually realizing
that maybe I can cover 100 meters.
It took many attempts.
So the next question is,
“OK, what else is out there in relation
to technology, innovation and science?”
In terms of technology,
we now have carbon fiber leg brace
technology out of the US military,
which I was able to get access to.
Next change:
Do you have the courage to go back
to finish what you
had started 26 years later?
Let’s call that the triathlon
that I was training for
when I had my accident.
Well, the answer to that is yes.
I think we always have the courage
if we see the opportunity.
So I go, and I line up again.
Doing the swim, one kilometer,
I felt quite comfortable,
crawling out, putting on
my carbon fiber legs,
getting onto a conventional bike again,
riding 30 kilometers.
Now, the big challenge was to see whether
I could cover 10 kilometers walking,
both with leg braces,
both with carbon fiber poles
for extra support,
and that equals in the US about six miles.
So you can see from 25,
26 years in a wheelchair
to taking on six miles is a very big leap.
So I realized that if I put
one foot in front of the other,
that would ultimately allow me
to get closer to a finish line.
Yes, lots of challenges; yes, lots of
stops; yes, lots of regrouping;
but ultimately to create that picture,
to cross the finish line
with my wife and my son,
with a collective group of others.
So hopefully, that’s given you
some example of the change,
and therefore, what
are the steps to change?
For me, I’d like to share a graph,
coming up shortly on your screen,
around the importance of the “five Ms”:
Having a “map” or a plan - critical.
Engaging in the right “mindset” -
equally critical.
Accessing a “mentor,” someone who has
more experience than knowledge than you.
Access your “motivation” to change.
And finally, your “momentum.”
Measure your progress over time.
These five steps have allowed me
to get out of a hospital bed,
take on the Hawaiian Ironman,
into the English Channel,
and to ultimately go back to finish
what I’d started: the Nepean triathlon.
So I want to share with you more change;
I’m stimulated by it.
This world is going
through a global change:
I got hit by a physical truck;
we’re going through a global pandemic.
Change is happening
right across the planet.
The question is, “Do you have the courage
to continue to take those steps forward?
Do you have the courage
to understand that change is a constant?”
Change is a constant.
I encourage you to keep on changing,
challenging yourself to the opportunities,
and to keep on moving forward.
I’d now like to go
for a bit of a swim in the water.
I appreciate your opportunity in the time.
I look forward to catching up soon.
Thanks again, guys.
(Music)
(Music ends)