At my day job in 2015 I ran head first into a brick wall. I know that my training as an Amateur Boxer allowed me to absorb some of the physical impact and emotional shock for taking such a blow to my head. I went to the ER. They did a CT scan. My skull wasn’t cracked. I never lost consciousness. I knew who the president of the USA was. The Doctors released me from the hospital.

At home I had all the mirrors in my bathroom and bedroom covered in newspaper. I couldn’t bear to look at my own face. Before the accident I was a competitive athlete. An amateur boxer. Active. Energetic. Motivated. Healthy. And able to manage my weight. Shortly after my head injury my health began to deteriorate. Headaches. Fatigue. Depression. Anxiety. Nausea. Bloating. Food intolerances. Weight gain. I mean constant unexplained weight gain. My diet hadn’t changed. I had returned to the gym. Yet every time I stepped on the scale my weight kept going up and up. I couldn’t fit into my clothes anymore. My work performance had dropped because I couldn’t focus and had headaches all the time. Eventually they fired me. It even got to the point where I was incapable of driving. My athletic career ended in a split second. If I couldn’t manage my weight then I couldn’t compete as a Boxer. I hated the way I looked. I hated the way that I felt. I became socially isolated. I was literally dysfunctional and I saw no end in sight. It was the lowest that I had ever felt in my life. And I have had some pretty rough times prior to this accident.

The conventional medicine system told me that I was fine. I saw a million doctors and specialists. All my labs came back normal. It was just stress they said. Everyone tried to jam pills down my throat. Pills for anxiety. Pills for depression. I refused to take pills. And I refused to accept that everything was fine. I knew my body and I knew that something was seriously off.

I continued to search and eventually I found answers to my ongoing health issues that developed post TBI. It took me years but I was determined and relentless to get my health and athletic identity back. I studied and got the credentials so I could heal myself and help others. The body is resilient. And the only person that can heal you, is yourself. But we all need some help and guidance along the way.