~ Field Notes ~

1 year on from a complete life reset

1 year on from a complete life reset

I’m lucky for many reasons: Not just because I’m surrounded by people who put their own lives on hold to limit the impact of my near-fatal fall, but also how things turned out for me since my life almost came to an abrupt end some 12 months ago.

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What 3 months in hospital taught me about isolation (by a former-Royal Marine and ocean rower)

What 3 months in hospital taught me about isolation (by a former-Royal Marine and ocean rower)

Late last year, I had a big fall whilst trying to climb the Matterhorn mountain – tumbling fifty metres which put me in coma for eight days and hospital for almost three months. After spending a week in a coma, I woke up with a traumatic brain injury. The Italian doctors had found three lesions (damage in the brain) which affected my short-term memory, speech and vision in one eye. At first I didn’t recognise my girlfriend, family or close friends whom had all flown to be with me throughout the coma. But as time went on, I started to become more like the person I was before – but some perspectives had changed.

It was undoubtedly the hardest period of my life, but these basic principles helped me to endure it and come out stronger.

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Nearly dying something you love

Nearly dying something you love

When I write this article, it doesn’t bring back terrible memories – they were wiped clean in the accident. But the pain comes from hearing your loved ones recounting when they were told that you’ll either die or spend the rest of your life with life-changing injuries or big personality changes; hit me harder than anything else I’ve dealt with in my entire life.

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