“Surfing was always on my mind,” said the Cocoa Beach, Florida native. “I had a poster of Cory Lopez hanging up in my rehab room for inspiration. I never realized how much I loved surfing, until it was taken away from me.”
Thrilled to be joined by surfer, author, and motivational speaker Tyler Farnham. Originally from Cocoa Beach, Florida, Tyler has turned his lifelong passion for surfing into a way to inspire others. Reborn twice, after suffering a catastrophic skydiving accident over 10 years ago, Tyler managed to battle back from severe injuries, and then later, opioid addiction. Now living by the mantra of using outdoor adventure and nature as therapy, he shares his story of resilience with the hopes of uplifting people who may be struggling. Tyler's perseverance through extraordinary hardship can teach us the power of grit, community, and the healing force of Mother Nature.
🚑 On Easter Sunday 2009, at age 25, Tyler broke nearly every bone in his body during a skydiving accident. His road to recovery was long and painful.
💊 The heavy pain meds led Tyler down the path of opioid addiction, further complicating his recovery
📒 Journaling, community, and his love for the ocean aided Tyler's resilience and ability to get clean
🏄🏽♂️Tyler managed to get back to surfing form, reclaim work as a ocean guard and winning valor awards for his lifesaving work
🏄🏽♂️Tyler managed to get back to surfing form, reclaim work as a ocean guard and winning valor awards for his lifesaving work
🤙 Tyler advocates for surf therapy and speaks publicly to inspire people with stories of perseverance
🌊 "I'm a full advocate of just healing through Mother Nature, and I know that's why you and I have kept in touch...I think whether it be rock climbing or skiing or surfing, when you're just in tune with nature and you, you, you got, you get that mindset and that flow state and it's something that you become addicted to."
The full podcast shares a remarkable story of hope and the incredible power of the human spirit. Check out Tyler's website, books, and social media via the links provided to follow his journey.
References:
💻 Tyler's Website: www.tylerfarnham.com
📚 Tyler's Books: Reaching Cloud Nine
📱 Tyler's Instagram: @tylerfarnham
If you've enjoyed the show, please plesase drop a quick review or rating on Spotify or Apple. It helps reach more listeners. I thank you mucho! 💜
🟢 Spotify
🎵Apple Music
▶️ YouTube
📸Instagram
💧Substack Blog
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kush (00:04):
Hi friends.
Today, bringing you a story fromthe other side of the country.
And meeting a surfing athletewith roots in Florida.
But with the story, like noother.
A story of talent.
Adventure.
Followed by near death And drugaddiction.
But then resurrection To meetand exceed all expectations.
(00:29):
This is the ageless athletepodcast.
And I'm your host Kush canoedwall from San Francisco.
If you have enjoyed the show.
Great.
If you could follow us and leavea review.
On April 11th, 2009.
Tyler Farnham a budding youngsurfer and lifeguard.
Suffered a catastrophicskydiving accident.
(00:49):
He almost died, broke all bonesin his body and had his leg
nearly amputated.
In the months that followed, hereached an all time low with his
mouth wide shut casts all overhis body and needing assistance
to perform the most basicfunctions.
While recovering from thetrauma.
The pain post accident pushedTyler into the seductive
(01:12):
clutches of pain killingopioids.
For the second time around, healmost went down with little
hope of coming back.
However with steely resolve.
He battled back his demons.
Found healing in the ocean.
He loved.
And today he's surfing tall as acoach and motivation speaker.
Tyler's journey of broken bones,broken spirit.
(01:36):
Perseverance is sure to leaveyou inspired.
And believe.
Anything is possible.
So listen on for this.
hell and back story of thisageless Waterman.
Tyler, hi, how are you?
where you?
Tyler Farnham (01:51):
I'm in Cocoa Beach, Florida in the good old
USA.
Kush (01:54):
It's been several years since we surfed together in
Lombok in Indonesia.
Yes, really good memories ofthat place.
And funny enough, I actuallylived in a small town by cocoa
beach when I was in grad schoolin Florida.
In Melbourne.
Florida.
Right next to you.
And then I remember visitingCocoa beach a couple of times.
(02:16):
Lovely place.
Tyler would love to get a quickbio of yourself.
When I met you in Bali.
You were helping run the surfschool.
And not you're in cocoa beach.
Would love to hear a little bitabout, uh, how old are you where
you from?
What are you doing these days?
And then finally, what pulls youinto your extraordinary life as
(02:39):
a surfer and as a surfguard?
Tyler Farnham (02:42):
I am literally at the moment sitting in my house
where I was hometown, born andraised, Cocoa Beach, Florida.
So across the street I've gotthe beach where I learned to
surf when I was three.
And yeah, my life started outhere.
Had a pretty I'd say pictureperfect lifestyle with my sister
growing up with our two dogs andsurfing, going to school here.
(03:05):
And, yeah, so I'd say my midtwenties, that's when my life
started, I guess you could saybecoming interesting.
I started lifeguarding when Iwas 24, and as you know, I told
you about my accident.
So when I was 25 years old, Ihad my skydiving accident that
nearly took my life.
And that was the big catalyst ofchange for me because before
(03:28):
that I was going, okay, I'm alifeguard captain out on the
beach and life was goingextremely smooth.
Whereas at the same time I,yeah, I knew I was going to
probably go into fire school andbecome a firefighter.
And when I had my accident,that's when my whole attitude
changed and it was more of,okay, well, I want to live my
life to the absolute fullest.
(03:51):
And I loved my job as an oceanrescue lifeguard, but I had an
opportunity.
To go out and lifeguard out inAustralia.
And I took that opportunity whenI was 29 years old.
So I left my hometown when I was29, went to Australia, did a
season lifeguarding out there,and that went into a season
(04:11):
lifeguarding out in New Zealand.
And from there I went toIndonesia and I spent about nine
years out there, surf coaching,surf guiding, and that's where
we met in beautiful Lombok.
Cocoa Beach surfer, influencedby the movie Point Break at a
young age, started jumping outof planes at 18, riding dirt
bikes, skateboarding, surfing,and yeah, the accident slowed me
(04:33):
down and took away a couple ofmy hobbies, but to be honest
with you, I still say, even withpain in my legs right now, I
still say it's the best thingthat's ever happened to me
because it gave me the, lifethat I feel like just Went by in
the snap of the fingers all my30s basically I get in the ocean
still every single day at 40years old, I'm a huge advocate
(04:54):
of surfing therapy and oceantherapy, just in general, the
healing powers of being out thesalt water on our skin, I'm a
full advocate of just healingthrough Mother Nature, whether
it be rock climbing or skiing orsurfing, when you're just in
tune with nature and you got,you get that mindset and that
(05:17):
flow state and it's somethingthat you become addicted to.
And it's still something I,yeah, I'm, I'm always doing.
I'm still out in that oceanevery single day.
Yeti Stereo Microphone-11 (05:25):
I think the key word you used it's
therapy.
It's outdoor therapy served tous by the biggest creator of the
mall.
Modern nature.
And we are so lucky to have.
To be able to partake in it.
I want to take a step.
And just talk about how you gotinto surfing.
And then into skydiving.
(05:46):
Believe it or not.
I actually have battled out atcocoa beach.
It was a few years ago, I thinka couple of years.
Pre COVID.
I had got down to Florida for awedding.
May I have with my buddy, Chriswho's from Florida.
We rented a formboard from.
Long Johns iconic soul shop.
(06:08):
It for super-small.
Battled out and got a few.
And I can actually say that Ihave served in the sunshine
state.
On that note, a.
Wondering if you ever had theoccasion to surf with the most
famous surfer.
(06:28):
To have come out of Florida,maybe all.
The U S.
Tyler Farnham (06:34):
Mr.
Kelly Slater.
yep.
I've never actually surfed withMr.
Slater, but I've lifeguarded acouple of his events.
There's a Slater Invitationalthat happens here.
I don't know if it stillhappens, but before I left to go
to Australia, they had it.
And I remember I waslifeguarding that event and I
had him sign my lifeguard can.
we have a statue of him right indowntown.
(06:56):
There's a street.
Named after him Slater Way he'sgot an incredible story growing
up here reasons why he surfedfor me my dad actually taught me
when I was three I always thankhim for basically I say my mom
gave me birth and my dad gave methe gift of surfing because when
he taught me to surf that's whenI'd get to see people of all
(07:16):
ages when I'd surf coach In Baliand Lombok, I'd see them get bit
by that surfing bug and I'd seethem change and I was like that
happened to me when I was reallyyoung and there's been times
where I've taken that forgranted I think over the years
but I'd say over the past fiveyears I've just been back to a
three year old just gung ho Ihave to get in the ocean every
(07:36):
day if I don't get in the oceanI almost feel like a little bit
grumpy Skateboarding actuallytook over from surfing for quite
some time because it's funny Yousaid you surfed out here in
Florida and I say, okay, how arethe waves?
They were small, right?
Yeah.
they were small and actually,not to interject, but, Kelly
learned how to surf at Cocoabeach and obviously we know, and
(07:58):
then I saw you surf and you aresuch a good surfer.
So I think there's another likeproof point that one can learn
surfing with tiny waves as longas you supplement with things
such as skateboarding, right?
Yeah, for sure.
So skating was a way of goingand it was funny cause I had
groups of friends as we all doin high school.
(08:20):
And I had my group of buddiesthat surfed and I had my group
of buddies that skated, butespecially summertime, the waves
are extremely flat and we stillwanted to have fun.
And so we'd go, we'd have our,one of our moms would drive us
to say Melbourne or Coco andwe'd go out to the colleges out
there and we'd skate.
Yeah.
Where there are staircases andhandrails and so we got heavy
(08:42):
into skateboarding a few of usAnd I think for me it was like
between 12 and 16.
All I really did was skate Igave up surfing and I got pretty
good and so did one of my reallygood friends that kept skating
With me and then I stoppedskating when I was about 16
because I was getting hurt toomuch funny I didn't break any
bones, but Between sprains anddings in my shin and, spraining
(09:06):
my wrists.
then when I turned 18, that'swhen I jumped out of an airplane
for the first time.
that's similar to being threeyears old and surfing for the
first time and getting bit bythe bug.
This time around, it was jumpingout of a plane.
And I still remember on theride.
down.
I was talking to my instructor.
I was like, how do I do this onmy own?
I want to do this on my own.
So then I ended up taking theaccelerated free fall course
(09:29):
when I was still 18 when I tookit and yeah, I had about seven
years in the sport of skydiving.
I was not a, I can't even say Iwas a weekend warrior.
I was more of like once a monthI'd go down.
I'd maybe do two or three jumpsevery now and then I'd do it a
every couple of weeks, but.
I think I had under 200 jumps inseven years.
(09:50):
Although that wasn't enough forme.
It was just more of just goingand getting that nice thrill,
that buzz.
And, yeah.
Surfing was always number onefor me, but we're not really
getting that much swell here inFlorida.
We never really have.
It's got that reputation in thesurfing world.
So I was like, okay, what elsecan I do to get my buzz here?
sky diving was definitely, yeah,that was my go to for a while.
(10:13):
So yeah, surfing, skating,skydiving.
I tried my luck with riding dirtbikes, but I knew for me, I was
like what I wanted to do was thestuff that would have killed me.
It was like Brian Deeganwatching the, I can't remember
some of the names now, but theguys that were doing like the
double backflips and just goinghuge.
I thought that it looked so fun,but I was like, you got to pay
(10:34):
your dues.
In that kind of a sport now,it's if you don't grow up doing
it, paying those dues, it'syeah, it catches up to you when
you get a bit older, so Ifigured that probably wasn't a
good endeavor, so I never reallygot on the dirt bike train, it
was more just surfing and scoutdiving.
Kush (4) (10:50):
Falling on or crashing on concrete or asphalt.
It's just a little bit lessforgiving than doubling in
water.
That was some goodself-awareness.
And moving on to other thingsearlier, you hinted at this.
But you have had an extraordinary bat.
Overcoming a possibly.
(11:11):
Career ending, or maybe even alife ending accident, plus a
very serious drug addiction.
Would love to just run throughwhat happened, how did it
happen?
And then your journey back toresecting your former self and
exceeding it.
Would love to hear.
A little bit more about it.
Tyler Farnham (11:31):
Basically, 25 years old, I was a lifeguarding
captain, planned to join thefire department.
Life was going good.
I had a girlfriend that I was inlove with and I had planned a
skydive with my mom and skydiveSebastian the place where I'd
always go and do jumps and Yeah,it was April 11th 2009 Easter
(11:54):
Sunday And I did one jump beforemy mom went up to go and do a
jump with me.
My jump went great And when Iwent back up on the second load
of the day to do a jump, my momwas in the plane and her best
friend was there with her aswell.
They were both doing their firstever tandem skydives.
I jumped out of the plane.
(12:16):
I had a malfunction at a,Relatively low altitude.
So I went into an uncontrollablespin where I should have.
I always say I should have cutaway and use my reserve
parachute, although I failed todo I thought too much.
I broke a couple of rules.
I was not altitude aware and Ididn't use the rule of twos when
(12:39):
it comes to malfunctions.
And I definitely got a lot ofbacklash from that, from the
skydiving community, but I ownit.
I own up to it and yeah, theaccident was extremely severe.
My mom was actually on theground with me when the
helicopter landed to transportme.
So she had to see my mangledbody right in the field, but I
(13:02):
landed in the field.
I landed in the grass and not onthe paved runway.
which 100 percent saved my life,I caused an indentation, this is
wild, but yeah, an indentationin the earth from where I hit,
because I landed on my rightside, so even now, all the teeth
on my right side are gone, so Ilost 9 teeth, I shattered my
(13:23):
jaw, the condyle here, Ifractured my mandible,
fractured, dislocated my leftcondyle, I broke my upper and
lower arm, so My right arm, myhumerus, I shattered my right
femur, and my leg nearly wasamputated because I, it looked
(13:43):
like a puzzle piece, the x rayof my right femur, left femur
broken in half, fractured myskull.
So I was wrecked.
And yeah, from that point, soApril 11th, the accident, I was
in the hospital for about, Iwant to say 10 days to two weeks
before I was sent to a rehabcenter.
But in the rehab center, it was,I'd say it was worse than the
(14:04):
hospital.
Because I was confined to awheelchair, I had my mouth, at
that point I had to go in for asurgery, they wired my mouth
shut, so at my lowest,physically, and maybe even
mentally, my lowest was confinedto a wheelchair, with permanent
metal rods in my legs, my arm,my mouth wired shut, and I
(14:26):
needed assistance to use thebathroom, get in and out of bed.
And that was a, yeah, that was awild ride standing in rehab.
I went from one rehab to thenext once I was able to be a
little bit more weight bearingon my leg.
And, yeah, then I gottransferred home, but, so I
turned 26 years old when I wokeup from the coma.
(14:47):
the accident was April 11th, Iwas in a five day medical
induced coma, woke up, I was 26years old when I woke up.
April 16th.
And in 11 months, it was Marchof 2010.
That was when I got the doctorto sign off that I could go
skydiving again.
And it was also the same monthwhere I passed my
(15:08):
requalification because I was alifeguard captain at the time of
the accident.
And I wanted nothing more thanto get my job back, my life
back.
I was able to pass my run, passmy swim, got my job back, got
off light duty, and I also gotback out in the water and surfed
again, and I remember my firstwave, I cried.
(15:29):
I didn't really do much, but Istood up, I did a little turn,
and my buddies that were outthere with me, they were all
pretty emotional as well.
So in 11 months, it was a, yeah,like a complete turnaround,
okay, cool, I might have my lifeback.
And on the first day back, thisis one of the wildest things
that happened, in my opinion,was the first day back with my
(15:50):
feet in the sand, March 27th of2010, myself and, another
lifeguard captain, I was withJohnny, Johnny McCarthy.
Him and I responded to a surferthat had broken his neck
surfing.
And one of our lifeguards pulledhim in from the water.
Johnny and I arrived and weperformed CPR on this man.
And we brought him back and wesaved him.
(16:12):
he went to the hospital.
He was in the hospital for aboutnine days.
And they had to take him offlife support.
But his family thanked us.
I received lifeguard of the yearthat year, a valor award.
And I started working withsurfers for autism that same
summer.
So summer of 2010.
And between Surfers for Autismand having that life saving
(16:33):
rescue, those were two bigevents that happened that my
uncle was just like, maybe youshould start writing this down.
You should start writing downthese events that are happening
because they're pretty special.
And I had already startedjournaling when I was in rehab.
I started journaling about myprogress because I was given
some really good advice byanother extreme athlete, extreme
(16:53):
sports athlete, Karina Holicum.
We got in a real seriousaccident.
She's the one that told me tostart.
writing things down, followingthe progress of what I could do.
And I started journaling when Iwas in the hospital, and then
once those events occurred, likesurfer's I wrote them all down.
The following year, 2011, we hadHurricane Bonnie, and our
(17:14):
lifeguard association, we had somany rescues that year.
all those things justsnowballed, just these great,
big life events that occurred,and Yeah, and that's when my
mind started going towards, whatelse could I do in life besides
just Become a firefighter andyeah, an email fell into my
hands from the lifeguardingservice of Western Australia
(17:37):
detailing what it would take togo out and work with them for
the summer.
Tyler, sorry to, to interrupt,but, that is an incredible story
of having that accident and,surviving it just barely.
and then going through all themodalities of, of recovery,
right back to the point whereyou were able to get your, your,
(17:57):
yourself back in the water todoing the rescues.
The recovery story is, isincredible.
Any specific things that youwish to highlight, behaviors,
maybe habits, maybe tools that,were, were critical.
I think you mentionedjournaling.
I journal a little bit myselfand I find that to be quite
therapeutic.
(18:18):
Any things that, maybejournaling, maybe other things
that, you was talking about,which I think some of us who are
also dealing with maybe thingsthat are not as, as severe
could, learn from.
The couple things I didn'tmention when that accident
occurred was the girl I wasseeing, who I used her for my
motivation to get back for quitesome time during those 11
(18:39):
months, because at that time inmy life, I was still deeply in
love with her, and I wanted tobe able to surf with her again,
I wanted to be able to go andspend quality time with her, so
a woman, of course, was a bigpart of my motivation, and yeah,
the other thing I didn't mentioneither, which was a big part of
it, was the drugs I wasprescribed, the Oxycontin, So
now in the beginning, I alwayssay in the beginning, they
(19:01):
helped me tremendously to beable to push through the pain
because I'd want to ride mybike, I'd want to swim,
eventually I'd want to run, butwith those permanent metal rods,
it was painful.
So I used them as a crutch, butthen of course what happens is
you start out using them as acrutch and then you become
dependent.
So when I found that I'd becomedependent on them was around the
(19:23):
same time that the girl left me.
So something that I think all ofus human beings can deal with or
relate to, I should say, isheartbreak.
and I always say, this girl, herand I are great friends now,
great friends, but then to gothrough it during that time, I
was devastated, I was shattered,so I had a heartbreak to deal
with, and I had this opioidaddiction to deal with, and
(19:47):
journaling really was number onefor me, journaling and staying
focused on a passion, which forme, I say music, art, and
surfing.
If I put them in order, surfing,music, and art.
For sure, those are my threepassions that I make sure every
single day I would do.
I would draw, I would write, Iwould surf, and I would listen
(20:08):
to my music, and I would justpush through the hard days, and
eventually when I stopped takingthe medication, I basically had
to cut ties with A largepercentage of people that were
in my life because they were allpeople that were using the
medication too.
So all of a sudden, if I'm thekind of, I was the one that
could get the medication, right?
(20:28):
of course, I was the one peoplewere reaching out to.
but yeah, once I didn't have themedication anymore, I told the
doctor I didn't want to take it.
that's when all of a sudden, Ididn't really have to worry
about those people anymorebecause I wasn't accessed to the
drug.
So for me, it was cutting off.
Everybody in my life, for themost part, and then just one day
at a time, one foot in front ofthe other, along with the
(20:50):
journaling, and and that was theway I was able to heal.
kudos and, gratitude to thesehabits and, skills that you had
with art and the drawing that,helped you pull through.
I I think one falls back on someof these, Fundamentals that give
us joy and it's so nice when wehave those things and the, the
oxycontin, scourge is real.
(21:12):
I read that book, about theSacklers.
it's pretty devastating.
What's.
What's that done to much of thecountry as a small side story a
few months ago, I had a smalltrauma to my shoulder and, I
undertook this therapy.
It's called PRP, whatever.
And, I had this sort of anti,anti reaction instead of relief.
(21:35):
I had this, crazy, like painepisode.
To the point where I had to geta fentanyl patch.
fentanyl again is one of thosecrazy drugs.
And I was so paranoid, I waslike, on one side I was being
wracked by this, this mindnumbing pain, and on this other
side I was like, oh goodness, Idon't really want to get, this,
drug that's killing people.
Kush (2) (21:56):
But anyway, it was a patch.
It was not a pill.
So slow timed release.
Tyler Farnham (22:02):
That's quite something, and, journaling,
being able to get back to, your,pursuits and then having the
community around you.
And also the fact that you wereable to take some hard
decisions.
With, cutting off people perhapswho were part of your circle to
be able to wean yourself off,let's say, bad influences and
(22:24):
only let in positivity.
those are probably key to, yourrecovery.
going back to your story.
at this point, you've kickedoff, the drugs you are getting
some of your vitality back.
You're surfing again.
How close or how much time didit take you, Tyler, to get back
to, let's say, your former selfand to be able to surf again, to
(22:47):
lifeguard again?
And then how close to yourformer self do you think you are
today?
How much do you think theaccident and the addiction set
you back?
I got back to my former self in2012 because the same day that I
(23:07):
decided I was going to stoptaking any of the medication
that they're prescribing me thisand I'm, it's crazy.
Sometimes I say things.
I'm like, it actually happenedthis way when it's really hard
to believe, but the same daythat I decided to stop taking
the medication was the same dayI got that offer to go out to
Australia.
(23:27):
Yeah.
So that gave me a new goal or areason to strive and getting
myself in the peak physicalcondition that I could possibly
and mental condition that Icould possibly be in.
So I would say 2012 was a bigyear for me.
But then for me, I'd say, and Istill say this, I keep telling,
(23:50):
I told my dad this the otherday, I'm like, I'm in the best
shape of my life right nowbecause I have built these
habits over the years to whereif I don't do them, I don't feel
complete.
Like I was telling you earlier,as far as getting in the ocean
every single day, it has to bedone.
Journaling.
It has to be done.
Stretching.
It has to be done.
Meditating.
So I've built this stack ofhabits to where I can keep
(24:12):
telling myself as the days goby, I go, okay, I'm still.
Healthiest I've been in myentire life.
Now, am I as healthy as I waswhen I was 20?
no, I think back to that time,but I, regardless, I just tell
myself that as far as my formerself and where I'm at now, I
feel I've built the right habitsto still be able to keep
(24:36):
progressing for mentally andphysically, even at 40, Yeah,
Tyler, when we started this,chat, you said something
interesting that I want to getus back to you said that you
feel a sense of gratitude almostthat you went through these,
these life altering episodes,which is fascinating because
most people, they would notwant, accidents and addictions,
(24:57):
but here you are, you wentthrough hell and back you mind
unpacking that for us.
I still say it is that was thebest thing that's ever happened
to me in my life was thataccident because it would not
have happened.
Most likely I would have beenliving still and nothing wrong
with it, but in my home countyas a firefighter and I wouldn't
have had the adventures.
I never would have met you.
(25:18):
I never would have met 90percent of the people I call my
closest friend, I even have, Ihave children in Australia that
wouldn't have happened if Iwould have not had the accident,
I have a dog still in Indonesiawho I love very much.
He's eight years old.
And so it's almost like another,what is it's 11 years of another
life that I would not experienceif it weren't for that accident.
(25:39):
Whereas now I say it everysingle day, like I miss the
discomfort.
And I've got a couple ofbuddies.
We have a WhatsApp group when itcomes to it, I don't know if
you've heard of Dave Goggins,but that kind of a mindset.
It's okay, it's raining outside.
It's windy.
I still want to get thoseendorphins.
So I'm going to ride my bike inthat wind and that rain.
And my buddies that, I lived inChina for seven months with
(26:03):
this, one of my friends who I'mtalking about, him and I talked
Talk every day, and we love thediscomfort and the pain to a
certain extent because of allthe growth it's, So it's a
mindset where I'm going, okay,the accident was tremendous, it
was awful.
Whereas at the same time, therewas so much growth that came
from that.
I think that's why I starteddoing comedy because I wanted to
be uncomfortable, but I alsodidn't want to get hurt.
(26:26):
So I think that's one of thebest ways to be uncomfortable
and look for growth But not gethurt is get up on a stage and
try to make people laugh, so i'mliving by that whole thing now
It's okay want to push myself inthose discomforts so I can get
as much growth as I possibly canone seeks growth and one seeks
avenues to be able to, to pushourselves and, growth doesn't
(26:48):
really happen unless, one finds,challenges that, are not always
the most comfortable sometimes.
It also seems that you are ableto take your experiences now,
Tyler, and I think you havethis, this side hustle.
As a speaker and as an authorand you're able to share your
(27:09):
story with others.
so mind, sharing, a bit about,what do you talk about when you
speak publicly and, also tellus, where we can find you
either, talk live or, or, hearyou virtually and also read
about, some of the, I think someof the, I think you've written
some books and where could wefind those?
Yeah.
So I wrote early on, I wrote abook, reaching cloud nine and in
(27:34):
2020, I actually revised thatbook.
So there's a second edition ofreaching cloud nine and then a
second book of journals fromcloud nine, which is all about.
Mainly the recovery, theaddiction, and then the travels
mostly in Indonesia and thespeeches are exactly on that.
(27:54):
Everything we've beendiscussing, I, I gave a couple
of talks last year to, one toCross Hotels and another one to
OVOLO Hotels.
And they flew their GMs in from,from neighboring countries.
And I gave a leadershippresentation on overcoming
adversity.
And so now that's, I just spokeat a conference in Puerto Rico
(28:15):
for surf therapy.
And so all about the benefitslike we were talking about is
the healing powers of the ocean.
So now I am pursuing that.
I'm pursuing that more fulltime, whereas I'm still on the
beach, working 9 to 5,lifeguarding, which is great.
Although my dreams are prettybig and I do know that I will
(28:37):
accomplish them.
It's been a long journey, butit's been good and it will
continue to be good.
And I'm used to rejectrejection.
I'm used to the frustration.
I know it's all part of it.
Whereas at the same time, whenyou do get that opportunity, I
know how incredibly sweet it is.
So that's my, that gives methat.
that dying, that, that passionto keep moving forward.
(29:00):
Cause I know that it's going tohappen.
Whereas right now it's, yeah, asI said in the beginning, it's a
real struggle at this point intime, having all that time in
Asia and now being back in the US.
Reverse culture shock that Idon't know if it's ever going to
change while at the same time Iknow this is where I need to be
with family right now.
And also I think with thespeaking career I'm gonna have a
(29:22):
little bit more Luck here in theUS versus Indonesia because it's
pretty tricky out there to tryto make Big things happen,
whereas in the US, I feel likethere's a lot more opportunity
here for what I'm trying to do
Changing tracks a little bit and asking you a few
different types of maybe funquestions, Let's say in the last
few years, what new belief, orhabit, has most improved your
(29:45):
life?
yes to opportunities and doingthings where, you're going to
feel uncomfortable.
And when you start questioning,maybe I don't want to do this.
I'm a little scared or I'm alittle nervous.
No, just commit to it.
And again, that's where thegrowth is hiding.
So for me, that's.
100 percent what's changed in mylife over the past few years is
(30:08):
just saying yes to opportunitiesthat may seem a little bit scary
or daunting, but knowing thatit's the right decision to, to
move forward and to grow,Absolutely.
Yes.
the power of saying yes, thepower of, surrendering to, to
opportunity.
In the past, you overcameextraordinary odds.
(30:28):
And, you were able to push pastthose things.
What do you think you diddifferently that allowed you to
succeed?
Where, let's say, some of yourcontemporaries, who were falling
prey to, to drug addictions orother things, they were not able
to.
say for sure, working on myphysical and mental strength
(30:53):
every single day and.
Not using substances and notfalling victim to substances.
I got to a point where funnyenough in Lombok, it started
with, and it was, I think it wasa couple of years after I met
you out there, but a couple ofthe guests who ended up staying
for quite some time, the threeof us decided we're going to go
(31:14):
30 days with no sugar becausewe're all addicts on sugar.
I still love cookies.
I can smell them.
I think they're baking right nowin the kitchen and I still treat
myself every now and then, but.
Yeah, the sugar, the month withno sugar, I did that, but then I
did, okay, I couldn't rememberin my entire adult life when I
(31:34):
went more than a week without adrink, so I decided I'm going to
go a month without having adrink.
Kush (31:43):
Cookies.
Well, send some over here.
Tyler Farnham (31:47):
And then that turned to two months and three
months and then my buddy hiswife and I did this 75 day
challenge, which was somethingelse that when I did this
challenge, it was obviouslythere was no drinking in this
challenge and I've never had anissue with drinking, but I've
seen a lot of people, friends,family struggled with alcoholism
(32:09):
and So it's pushed me to go,okay, I look at that as
something that's going to slowme down and I don't want to get,
I don't want to slow down.
I want to speed up.
I want to keep moving towardsthe goals that I have.
So I'd say for me waking upearly.
And using my time extremelywisely has been how I've been
able to get myself to where Iwant to be.
(32:31):
not quite there yet, but at thesame time, those habits I found,
find to really help.
And especially with gettingolder, it's a hangover when I
was 20.
I think I just Cruise rightthrough it.
Whereas a hangover at 40.
I feel like I need to check intothe hospital for a couple days
it's not easy.
So for me with any sort ofsubstances stuff like that It
(32:51):
just doesn't really doesn'tcontribute to where I want to
go, you know, I've tried some ofthose fasts or, giving up
certain things.
And yes, the results have been,interesting.
it's obvious that you havebecome good at many things with
a lifetime of, hard work andpractice.
What is perhaps one thing thatyou are not good at and, you
(33:14):
wish you were?
I'm very well I was right awaywhen he said what am I not good
at that?
I'm not good in math at allThat's always hindered me from
pursuing Educate a highereducation when it comes to
college math has always been ahuge struggle for me But I think
with what I wish I could be alittle what I'm not great at but
(33:38):
I wish I could be better at Iguess When it comes to
management and authority to havethat, I've found some of the
best leaders that they'realmost, you're fearful of them
at times when you see themcoming and not in a way, not in
a way where you're going to gethurt, but in a way where you
want to make sure you're doingeverything exactly how you
should be doing.
And I've met some verysuccessful people, some
(33:59):
extremely successful CEOs thathave that mentality, and I wish
I could have that, whereas I'moften.
I just want to be very friendly.
I want to make sure everyone'scomfortable.
And so I'm trying to learn howto be that person.
Although at the same time, keepthe qualities that I have, that
make me a likable person, Sothat's what I'd really like to
(34:19):
continue to work.
makes sense.
Yes.
And some of those things, theydon't come naturally.
It takes, it takes a long time.
anecdotally, I, one of thepeople I admire, for being a
really polished public speakerIs Barack Obama but if you go
back and you look on YouTube andyou look at some of his speeches
before he became president, whenhe was younger, maybe in, in law
(34:40):
school or a young hotshotlawyer, and yes, two different
people.
it's obvious that he put thetime into, into his, public
elocution, last question here,if there could be a gigantic
billboard and you could printany message you want to say out
to others, what would that be?
honestly, it would probably bethe Nike slogan.
(35:02):
Just do it.
Cause it's, it is far as just, Ilove that slogan because there's
so many times where, like today,for example, I haven't done my
bike ride yet.
I'm going to do my bike ride assoon as we get off the phone and
I'm actually pumped up to do it.
because I haven't had, I know Idid one yesterday too, but
regardless, what I'm getting atis some days I might not want to
do it.
(35:22):
And I know everybody struggleswith that.
Oh, maybe one day you're tootired or whatever it is.
And it's no, you just do it.
Do the movements.
Maybe it's not going to be yourfastest, but just make it happen
and you're going to feel better.
So I'd say just.
Just do it on that billboard.
Steal them from the Nike slogan.
So I'd say just.
Just do it on that billboard.
(35:44):
Steal them from the Nike slogan.
it's it's funny.
I talked to another,overachieving athlete, and all
around, Rockstar yesterday andhe had the same, same message
out then I wish that you wereable to do, put that slogan out
there and maybe use likedifferent words because you
don't want the, the Nike lawyerscoming after you.
No, I don't have big enoughlawyers to fight the Nike board.
Kush (36:05):
Before we go, I think you mentioned, We can look you up,
look up the speeches you'vegiven and the books you've
written.
Any other places you want, topoint out where people can, can
get in touch with you or learnmore about the things you're
doing?
Yeah, for sure.
You could just go, my website istylerfarnham.
com and that gives a goodrundown of what I'm doing and
with the speaking and that's agreat way to reach out and
(36:26):
contact me as well.
Tyler Farnham (36:27):
Do you have an Instagram presence as well Yeah.
Oh yeah.
Yep.
Instagram, just be Tyler Farnhamis my handle there.
So yeah, Instagram and Facebookare the on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn's a big one too.
Tyler Farnham on LinkedIn andwhat I'm quite active on.
I'd say Instagram and LinkedInfor sure.
(36:49):
we will be sure to put those,links out in the show notes so
people can, can go find you.
It's been, it's been a greatconversation, Tyler.
Thank you for coming on and,sharing your, story.
Same to you, bro.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Talk to you soon.
Yeti Stereo Microphone-8 (37:10):
That's the amazing story of Tyler.
Find him.
A surfer and lifeguard whopersevered through a
catastrophic accident andaddiction to find healing and
purpose in the ocean.
His journey demonstrates theresilience of the human spirit
and the power of overcomingadversity.
I hope God has experience.
(37:32):
Has inspired you.
To keep fighting.
And given you hope.
To achieve your dreams.
To connect for the checkout, thewebsite.
His book.
And his social media for moredetails on his speaking and
advocacy around self-therapy.
This concludes today's episodeof the Eastland Alibaba.
The podcast.
(37:53):
I'm a grateful host Kush.
If you enjoyed the show andTyler's uplifting message,
please follow us.
I shared with others who mayfind inspiration.
And leave us a review.
That helps new listenersdiscover the podcast talk soon.
And until next time, stayageless
Hi friends.
Today, bringing you a story fromthe other side of the country.
And meeting a surfing athletewith roots in Florida.
But with the story, like noother.
A story of talent.
Adventure.
Followed by near death And drugaddiction.
But then resurrection To meetand exceed all expectations.
(00:29):
This is the ageless athletepodcast.
And I'm your host Kush canoedwall from San Francisco.
If you have enjoyed the show.
Great.
If you could follow us and leavea review.
On April 11th, 2009.
Tyler Farnham a budding youngsurfer and lifeguard.
Suffered a catastrophicskydiving accident.
(00:49):
He almost died, broke all bonesin his body and had his leg
nearly amputated.
In the months that followed, hereached an all time low with his
mouth wide shut casts all overhis body and needing assistance
to perform the most basicfunctions.
While recovering from thetrauma.
The pain post accident pushedTyler into the seductive
(01:12):
clutches of pain killingopioids.
For the second time around, healmost went down with little
hope of coming back.
However with steely resolve.
He battled back his demons.
Found healing in the ocean.
He loved.
And today he's surfing tall as acoach and motivation speaker.
Tyler's journey of broken bones,broken spirit.
(01:36):
Perseverance is sure to leaveyou inspired.
And believe.
Anything is possible.
So listen on for this.
hell and back story of thisageless Waterman.
Tyler, hi, how are you?
where you?
Tyler Farnham (01:51):
I'm in Cocoa Beach, Florida in the good old
USA.
Kush (01:54):
It's been several years since we surfed together in
Lombok in Indonesia.
Yes, really good memories ofthat place.
And funny enough, I actuallylived in a small town by cocoa
beach when I was in grad schoolin Florida.
In Melbourne.
Florida.
Right next to you.
And then I remember visitingCocoa beach a couple of times.
(02:16):
Lovely place.
Tyler would love to get a quickbio of yourself.
When I met you in Bali.
You were helping run the surfschool.
And not you're in cocoa beach.
Would love to hear a little bitabout, uh, how old are you where
you from?
What are you doing these days?
And then finally, what pulls youinto your extraordinary life as
(02:39):
a surfer and as a surfguard?
Tyler Farnham (02:42):
I am literally at the moment sitting in my house
where I was hometown, born andraised, Cocoa Beach, Florida.
So across the street I've gotthe beach where I learned to
surf when I was three.
And yeah, my life started outhere.
Had a pretty I'd say pictureperfect lifestyle with my sister
growing up with our two dogs andsurfing, going to school here.
(03:05):
And, yeah, so I'd say my midtwenties, that's when my life
started, I guess you could saybecoming interesting.
I started lifeguarding when Iwas 24, and as you know, I told
you about my accident.
So when I was 25 years old, Ihad my skydiving accident that
nearly took my life.
And that was the big catalyst ofchange for me because before
(03:28):
that I was going, okay, I'm alifeguard captain out on the
beach and life was goingextremely smooth.
Whereas at the same time I,yeah, I knew I was going to
probably go into fire school andbecome a firefighter.
And when I had my accident,that's when my whole attitude
changed and it was more of,okay, well, I want to live my
life to the absolute fullest.
(03:51):
And I loved my job as an oceanrescue lifeguard, but I had an
opportunity.
To go out and lifeguard out inAustralia.
And I took that opportunity whenI was 29 years old.
So I left my hometown when I was29, went to Australia, did a
season lifeguarding out there,and that went into a season
(04:11):
lifeguarding out in New Zealand.
And from there I went toIndonesia and I spent about nine
years out there, surf coaching,surf guiding, and that's where
we met in beautiful Lombok.
Cocoa Beach surfer, influencedby the movie Point Break at a
young age, started jumping outof planes at 18, riding dirt
bikes, skateboarding, surfing,and yeah, the accident slowed me
(04:33):
down and took away a couple ofmy hobbies, but to be honest
with you, I still say, even withpain in my legs right now, I
still say it's the best thingthat's ever happened to me
because it gave me the, lifethat I feel like just Went by in
the snap of the fingers all my30s basically I get in the ocean
still every single day at 40years old, I'm a huge advocate
(04:54):
of surfing therapy and oceantherapy, just in general, the
healing powers of being out thesalt water on our skin, I'm a
full advocate of just healingthrough Mother Nature, whether
it be rock climbing or skiing orsurfing, when you're just in
tune with nature and you got,you get that mindset and that
(05:17):
flow state and it's somethingthat you become addicted to.
And it's still something I,yeah, I'm, I'm always doing.
I'm still out in that oceanevery single day.
Yeti Stereo Microphone-11 (05:25):
I think the key word you used it's
therapy.
It's outdoor therapy served tous by the biggest creator of the
mall.
Modern nature.
And we are so lucky to have.
To be able to partake in it.
I want to take a step.
And just talk about how you gotinto surfing.
And then into skydiving.
(05:46):
Believe it or not.
I actually have battled out atcocoa beach.
It was a few years ago, I thinka couple of years.
Pre COVID.
I had got down to Florida for awedding.
May I have with my buddy, Chriswho's from Florida.
We rented a formboard from.
Long Johns iconic soul shop.
(06:08):
It for super-small.
Battled out and got a few.
And I can actually say that Ihave served in the sunshine
state.
On that note, a.
Wondering if you ever had theoccasion to surf with the most
famous surfer.
(06:28):
To have come out of Florida,maybe all.
The U S.
Tyler Farnham (06:34):
Mr.
Kelly Slater.
yep.
I've never actually surfed withMr.
Slater, but I've lifeguarded acouple of his events.
There's a Slater Invitationalthat happens here.
I don't know if it stillhappens, but before I left to go
to Australia, they had it.
And I remember I waslifeguarding that event and I
had him sign my lifeguard can.
we have a statue of him right indowntown.
(06:56):
There's a street.
Named after him Slater Way he'sgot an incredible story growing
up here reasons why he surfedfor me my dad actually taught me
when I was three I always thankhim for basically I say my mom
gave me birth and my dad gave methe gift of surfing because when
he taught me to surf that's whenI'd get to see people of all
(07:16):
ages when I'd surf coach In Baliand Lombok, I'd see them get bit
by that surfing bug and I'd seethem change and I was like that
happened to me when I was reallyyoung and there's been times
where I've taken that forgranted I think over the years
but I'd say over the past fiveyears I've just been back to a
three year old just gung ho Ihave to get in the ocean every
(07:36):
day if I don't get in the oceanI almost feel like a little bit
grumpy Skateboarding actuallytook over from surfing for quite
some time because it's funny Yousaid you surfed out here in
Florida and I say, okay, how arethe waves?
They were small, right?
Yeah.
they were small and actually,not to interject, but, Kelly
learned how to surf at Cocoabeach and obviously we know, and
(07:58):
then I saw you surf and you aresuch a good surfer.
So I think there's another likeproof point that one can learn
surfing with tiny waves as longas you supplement with things
such as skateboarding, right?
Yeah, for sure.
So skating was a way of goingand it was funny cause I had
groups of friends as we all doin high school.
(08:20):
And I had my group of buddiesthat surfed and I had my group
of buddies that skated, butespecially summertime, the waves
are extremely flat and we stillwanted to have fun.
And so we'd go, we'd have our,one of our moms would drive us
to say Melbourne or Coco andwe'd go out to the colleges out
there and we'd skate.
Yeah.
Where there are staircases andhandrails and so we got heavy
(08:42):
into skateboarding a few of usAnd I think for me it was like
between 12 and 16.
All I really did was skate Igave up surfing and I got pretty
good and so did one of my reallygood friends that kept skating
With me and then I stoppedskating when I was about 16
because I was getting hurt toomuch funny I didn't break any
bones, but Between sprains anddings in my shin and, spraining
(09:06):
my wrists.
then when I turned 18, that'swhen I jumped out of an airplane
for the first time.
that's similar to being threeyears old and surfing for the
first time and getting bit bythe bug.
This time around, it was jumpingout of a plane.
And I still remember on theride.
down.
I was talking to my instructor.
I was like, how do I do this onmy own?
I want to do this on my own.
So then I ended up taking theaccelerated free fall course
(09:29):
when I was still 18 when I tookit and yeah, I had about seven
years in the sport of skydiving.
I was not a, I can't even say Iwas a weekend warrior.
I was more of like once a monthI'd go down.
I'd maybe do two or three jumpsevery now and then I'd do it a
every couple of weeks, but.
I think I had under 200 jumps inseven years.
(09:50):
Although that wasn't enough forme.
It was just more of just goingand getting that nice thrill,
that buzz.
And, yeah.
Surfing was always number onefor me, but we're not really
getting that much swell here inFlorida.
We never really have.
It's got that reputation in thesurfing world.
So I was like, okay, what elsecan I do to get my buzz here?
sky diving was definitely, yeah,that was my go to for a while.
(10:13):
So yeah, surfing, skating,skydiving.
I tried my luck with riding dirtbikes, but I knew for me, I was
like what I wanted to do was thestuff that would have killed me.
It was like Brian Deeganwatching the, I can't remember
some of the names now, but theguys that were doing like the
double backflips and just goinghuge.
I thought that it looked so fun,but I was like, you got to pay
(10:34):
your dues.
In that kind of a sport now,it's if you don't grow up doing
it, paying those dues, it'syeah, it catches up to you when
you get a bit older, so Ifigured that probably wasn't a
good endeavor, so I never reallygot on the dirt bike train, it
was more just surfing and scoutdiving.
Kush (4) (10:50):
Falling on or crashing on concrete or asphalt.
It's just a little bit lessforgiving than doubling in
water.
That was some goodself-awareness.
And moving on to other thingsearlier, you hinted at this.
But you have had an extraordinary bat.
Overcoming a possibly.
(11:11):
Career ending, or maybe even alife ending accident, plus a
very serious drug addiction.
Would love to just run throughwhat happened, how did it
happen?
And then your journey back toresecting your former self and
exceeding it.
Would love to hear.
A little bit more about it.
Tyler Farnham (11:31):
Basically, 25 years old, I was a lifeguarding
captain, planned to join thefire department.
Life was going good.
I had a girlfriend that I was inlove with and I had planned a
skydive with my mom and skydiveSebastian the place where I'd
always go and do jumps and Yeah,it was April 11th 2009 Easter
(11:54):
Sunday And I did one jump beforemy mom went up to go and do a
jump with me.
My jump went great And when Iwent back up on the second load
of the day to do a jump, my momwas in the plane and her best
friend was there with her aswell.
They were both doing their firstever tandem skydives.
I jumped out of the plane.
(12:16):
I had a malfunction at a,Relatively low altitude.
So I went into an uncontrollablespin where I should have.
I always say I should have cutaway and use my reserve
parachute, although I failed todo I thought too much.
I broke a couple of rules.
I was not altitude aware and Ididn't use the rule of twos when
(12:39):
it comes to malfunctions.
And I definitely got a lot ofbacklash from that, from the
skydiving community, but I ownit.
I own up to it and yeah, theaccident was extremely severe.
My mom was actually on theground with me when the
helicopter landed to transportme.
So she had to see my mangledbody right in the field, but I
(13:02):
landed in the field.
I landed in the grass and not onthe paved runway.
which 100 percent saved my life,I caused an indentation, this is
wild, but yeah, an indentationin the earth from where I hit,
because I landed on my rightside, so even now, all the teeth
on my right side are gone, so Ilost 9 teeth, I shattered my
(13:23):
jaw, the condyle here, Ifractured my mandible,
fractured, dislocated my leftcondyle, I broke my upper and
lower arm, so My right arm, myhumerus, I shattered my right
femur, and my leg nearly wasamputated because I, it looked
(13:43):
like a puzzle piece, the x rayof my right femur, left femur
broken in half, fractured myskull.
So I was wrecked.
And yeah, from that point, soApril 11th, the accident, I was
in the hospital for about, Iwant to say 10 days to two weeks
before I was sent to a rehabcenter.
But in the rehab center, it was,I'd say it was worse than the
(14:04):
hospital.
Because I was confined to awheelchair, I had my mouth, at
that point I had to go in for asurgery, they wired my mouth
shut, so at my lowest,physically, and maybe even
mentally, my lowest was confinedto a wheelchair, with permanent
metal rods in my legs, my arm,my mouth wired shut, and I
(14:26):
needed assistance to use thebathroom, get in and out of bed.
And that was a, yeah, that was awild ride standing in rehab.
I went from one rehab to thenext once I was able to be a
little bit more weight bearingon my leg.
And, yeah, then I gottransferred home, but, so I
turned 26 years old when I wokeup from the coma.
(14:47):
the accident was April 11th, Iwas in a five day medical
induced coma, woke up, I was 26years old when I woke up.
April 16th.
And in 11 months, it was Marchof 2010.
That was when I got the doctorto sign off that I could go
skydiving again.
And it was also the same monthwhere I passed my
(15:08):
requalification because I was alifeguard captain at the time of
the accident.
And I wanted nothing more thanto get my job back, my life
back.
I was able to pass my run, passmy swim, got my job back, got
off light duty, and I also gotback out in the water and surfed
again, and I remember my firstwave, I cried.
(15:29):
I didn't really do much, but Istood up, I did a little turn,
and my buddies that were outthere with me, they were all
pretty emotional as well.
So in 11 months, it was a, yeah,like a complete turnaround,
okay, cool, I might have my lifeback.
And on the first day back, thisis one of the wildest things
that happened, in my opinion,was the first day back with my
(15:50):
feet in the sand, March 27th of2010, myself and, another
lifeguard captain, I was withJohnny, Johnny McCarthy.
Him and I responded to a surferthat had broken his neck
surfing.
And one of our lifeguards pulledhim in from the water.
Johnny and I arrived and weperformed CPR on this man.
And we brought him back and wesaved him.
(16:12):
he went to the hospital.
He was in the hospital for aboutnine days.
And they had to take him offlife support.
But his family thanked us.
I received lifeguard of the yearthat year, a valor award.
And I started working withsurfers for autism that same
summer.
So summer of 2010.
And between Surfers for Autismand having that life saving
(16:33):
rescue, those were two bigevents that happened that my
uncle was just like, maybe youshould start writing this down.
You should start writing downthese events that are happening
because they're pretty special.
And I had already startedjournaling when I was in rehab.
I started journaling about myprogress because I was given
some really good advice byanother extreme athlete, extreme
(16:53):
sports athlete, Karina Holicum.
We got in a real seriousaccident.
She's the one that told me tostart.
writing things down, followingthe progress of what I could do.
And I started journaling when Iwas in the hospital, and then
once those events occurred, likesurfer's I wrote them all down.
The following year, 2011, we hadHurricane Bonnie, and our
(17:14):
lifeguard association, we had somany rescues that year.
all those things justsnowballed, just these great,
big life events that occurred,and Yeah, and that's when my
mind started going towards, whatelse could I do in life besides
just Become a firefighter andyeah, an email fell into my
hands from the lifeguardingservice of Western Australia
(17:37):
detailing what it would take togo out and work with them for
the summer.
Tyler, sorry to, to interrupt,but, that is an incredible story
of having that accident and,surviving it just barely.
and then going through all themodalities of, of recovery,
right back to the point whereyou were able to get your, your,
(17:57):
yourself back in the water todoing the rescues.
The recovery story is, isincredible.
Any specific things that youwish to highlight, behaviors,
maybe habits, maybe tools that,were, were critical.
I think you mentionedjournaling.
I journal a little bit myselfand I find that to be quite
therapeutic.
(18:18):
Any things that, maybejournaling, maybe other things
that, you was talking about,which I think some of us who are
also dealing with maybe thingsthat are not as, as severe
could, learn from.
The couple things I didn'tmention when that accident
occurred was the girl I wasseeing, who I used her for my
motivation to get back for quitesome time during those 11
(18:39):
months, because at that time inmy life, I was still deeply in
love with her, and I wanted tobe able to surf with her again,
I wanted to be able to go andspend quality time with her, so
a woman, of course, was a bigpart of my motivation, and yeah,
the other thing I didn't mentioneither, which was a big part of
it, was the drugs I wasprescribed, the Oxycontin, So
now in the beginning, I alwayssay in the beginning, they
(19:01):
helped me tremendously to beable to push through the pain
because I'd want to ride mybike, I'd want to swim,
eventually I'd want to run, butwith those permanent metal rods,
it was painful.
So I used them as a crutch, butthen of course what happens is
you start out using them as acrutch and then you become
dependent.
So when I found that I'd becomedependent on them was around the
(19:23):
same time that the girl left me.
So something that I think all ofus human beings can deal with or
relate to, I should say, isheartbreak.
and I always say, this girl, herand I are great friends now,
great friends, but then to gothrough it during that time, I
was devastated, I was shattered,so I had a heartbreak to deal
with, and I had this opioidaddiction to deal with, and
(19:47):
journaling really was number onefor me, journaling and staying
focused on a passion, which forme, I say music, art, and
surfing.
If I put them in order, surfing,music, and art.
For sure, those are my threepassions that I make sure every
single day I would do.
I would draw, I would write, Iwould surf, and I would listen
(20:08):
to my music, and I would justpush through the hard days, and
eventually when I stopped takingthe medication, I basically had
to cut ties with A largepercentage of people that were
in my life because they were allpeople that were using the
medication too.
So all of a sudden, if I'm thekind of, I was the one that
could get the medication, right?
(20:28):
of course, I was the one peoplewere reaching out to.
but yeah, once I didn't have themedication anymore, I told the
doctor I didn't want to take it.
that's when all of a sudden, Ididn't really have to worry
about those people anymorebecause I wasn't accessed to the
drug.
So for me, it was cutting off.
Everybody in my life, for themost part, and then just one day
at a time, one foot in front ofthe other, along with the
(20:50):
journaling, and and that was theway I was able to heal.
kudos and, gratitude to thesehabits and, skills that you had
with art and the drawing that,helped you pull through.
I I think one falls back on someof these, Fundamentals that give
us joy and it's so nice when wehave those things and the, the
oxycontin, scourge is real.
(21:12):
I read that book, about theSacklers.
it's pretty devastating.
What's.
What's that done to much of thecountry as a small side story a
few months ago, I had a smalltrauma to my shoulder and, I
undertook this therapy.
It's called PRP, whatever.
And, I had this sort of anti,anti reaction instead of relief.
(21:35):
I had this, crazy, like painepisode.
To the point where I had to geta fentanyl patch.
fentanyl again is one of thosecrazy drugs.
And I was so paranoid, I waslike, on one side I was being
wracked by this, this mindnumbing pain, and on this other
side I was like, oh goodness, Idon't really want to get, this,
drug that's killing people.
Kush (2) (21:56):
But anyway, it was a patch.
It was not a pill.
So slow timed release.
Tyler Farnham (22:02):
That's quite something, and, journaling,
being able to get back to, your,pursuits and then having the
community around you.
And also the fact that you wereable to take some hard
decisions.
With, cutting off people perhapswho were part of your circle to
be able to wean yourself off,let's say, bad influences and
(22:24):
only let in positivity.
those are probably key to, yourrecovery.
going back to your story.
at this point, you've kickedoff, the drugs you are getting
some of your vitality back.
You're surfing again.
How close or how much time didit take you, Tyler, to get back
to, let's say, your former selfand to be able to surf again, to
(22:47):
lifeguard again?
And then how close to yourformer self do you think you are
today?
How much do you think theaccident and the addiction set
you back?
I got back to my former self in2012 because the same day that I
(23:07):
decided I was going to stoptaking any of the medication
that they're prescribing me thisand I'm, it's crazy.
Sometimes I say things.
I'm like, it actually happenedthis way when it's really hard
to believe, but the same daythat I decided to stop taking
the medication was the same dayI got that offer to go out to
Australia.
(23:27):
Yeah.
So that gave me a new goal or areason to strive and getting
myself in the peak physicalcondition that I could possibly
and mental condition that Icould possibly be in.
So I would say 2012 was a bigyear for me.
But then for me, I'd say, and Istill say this, I keep telling,
(23:50):
I told my dad this the otherday, I'm like, I'm in the best
shape of my life right nowbecause I have built these
habits over the years to whereif I don't do them, I don't feel
complete.
Like I was telling you earlier,as far as getting in the ocean
every single day, it has to bedone.
Journaling.
It has to be done.
Stretching.
It has to be done.
Meditating.
So I've built this stack ofhabits to where I can keep
(24:12):
telling myself as the days goby, I go, okay, I'm still.
Healthiest I've been in myentire life.
Now, am I as healthy as I waswhen I was 20?
no, I think back to that time,but I, regardless, I just tell
myself that as far as my formerself and where I'm at now, I
feel I've built the right habitsto still be able to keep
(24:36):
progressing for mentally andphysically, even at 40, Yeah,
Tyler, when we started this,chat, you said something
interesting that I want to getus back to you said that you
feel a sense of gratitude almostthat you went through these,
these life altering episodes,which is fascinating because
most people, they would notwant, accidents and addictions,
(24:57):
but here you are, you wentthrough hell and back you mind
unpacking that for us.
I still say it is that was thebest thing that's ever happened
to me in my life was thataccident because it would not
have happened.
Most likely I would have beenliving still and nothing wrong
with it, but in my home countyas a firefighter and I wouldn't
have had the adventures.
I never would have met you.
(25:18):
I never would have met 90percent of the people I call my
closest friend, I even have, Ihave children in Australia that
wouldn't have happened if Iwould have not had the accident,
I have a dog still in Indonesiawho I love very much.
He's eight years old.
And so it's almost like another,what is it's 11 years of another
life that I would not experienceif it weren't for that accident.
(25:39):
Whereas now I say it everysingle day, like I miss the
discomfort.
And I've got a couple ofbuddies.
We have a WhatsApp group when itcomes to it, I don't know if
you've heard of Dave Goggins,but that kind of a mindset.
It's okay, it's raining outside.
It's windy.
I still want to get thoseendorphins.
So I'm going to ride my bike inthat wind and that rain.
And my buddies that, I lived inChina for seven months with
(26:03):
this, one of my friends who I'mtalking about, him and I talked
Talk every day, and we love thediscomfort and the pain to a
certain extent because of allthe growth it's, So it's a
mindset where I'm going, okay,the accident was tremendous, it
was awful.
Whereas at the same time, therewas so much growth that came
from that.
I think that's why I starteddoing comedy because I wanted to
be uncomfortable, but I alsodidn't want to get hurt.
(26:26):
So I think that's one of thebest ways to be uncomfortable
and look for growth But not gethurt is get up on a stage and
try to make people laugh, so i'mliving by that whole thing now
It's okay want to push myself inthose discomforts so I can get
as much growth as I possibly canone seeks growth and one seeks
avenues to be able to, to pushourselves and, growth doesn't
(26:48):
really happen unless, one finds,challenges that, are not always
the most comfortable sometimes.
It also seems that you are ableto take your experiences now,
Tyler, and I think you havethis, this side hustle.
As a speaker and as an authorand you're able to share your
(27:09):
story with others.
so mind, sharing, a bit about,what do you talk about when you
speak publicly and, also tellus, where we can find you
either, talk live or, or, hearyou virtually and also read
about, some of the, I think someof the, I think you've written
some books and where could wefind those?
Yeah.
So I wrote early on, I wrote abook, reaching cloud nine and in
(27:34):
2020, I actually revised thatbook.
So there's a second edition ofreaching cloud nine and then a
second book of journals fromcloud nine, which is all about.
Mainly the recovery, theaddiction, and then the travels
mostly in Indonesia and thespeeches are exactly on that.
(27:54):
Everything we've beendiscussing, I, I gave a couple
of talks last year to, one toCross Hotels and another one to
OVOLO Hotels.
And they flew their GMs in from,from neighboring countries.
And I gave a leadershippresentation on overcoming
adversity.
And so now that's, I just spokeat a conference in Puerto Rico
(28:15):
for surf therapy.
And so all about the benefitslike we were talking about is
the healing powers of the ocean.
So now I am pursuing that.
I'm pursuing that more fulltime, whereas I'm still on the
beach, working 9 to 5,lifeguarding, which is great.
Although my dreams are prettybig and I do know that I will
(28:37):
accomplish them.
It's been a long journey, butit's been good and it will
continue to be good.
And I'm used to rejectrejection.
I'm used to the frustration.
I know it's all part of it.
Whereas at the same time, whenyou do get that opportunity, I
know how incredibly sweet it is.
So that's my, that gives methat.
that dying, that, that passionto keep moving forward.
(29:00):
Cause I know that it's going tohappen.
Whereas right now it's, yeah, asI said in the beginning, it's a
real struggle at this point intime, having all that time in
Asia and now being back in the US.
Reverse culture shock that Idon't know if it's ever going to
change while at the same time Iknow this is where I need to be
with family right now.
And also I think with thespeaking career I'm gonna have a
(29:22):
little bit more Luck here in theUS versus Indonesia because it's
pretty tricky out there to tryto make Big things happen,
whereas in the US, I feel likethere's a lot more opportunity
here for what I'm trying to do
Changing tracks a little bit and asking you a few
different types of maybe funquestions, Let's say in the last
few years, what new belief, orhabit, has most improved your
(29:45):
life?
yes to opportunities and doingthings where, you're going to
feel uncomfortable.
And when you start questioning,maybe I don't want to do this.
I'm a little scared or I'm alittle nervous.
No, just commit to it.
And again, that's where thegrowth is hiding.
So for me, that's.
100 percent what's changed in mylife over the past few years is
(30:08):
just saying yes to opportunitiesthat may seem a little bit scary
or daunting, but knowing thatit's the right decision to, to
move forward and to grow,Absolutely.
Yes.
the power of saying yes, thepower of, surrendering to, to
opportunity.
In the past, you overcameextraordinary odds.
(30:28):
And, you were able to push pastthose things.
What do you think you diddifferently that allowed you to
succeed?
Where, let's say, some of yourcontemporaries, who were falling
prey to, to drug addictions orother things, they were not able
to.
say for sure, working on myphysical and mental strength
(30:53):
every single day and.
Not using substances and notfalling victim to substances.
I got to a point where funnyenough in Lombok, it started
with, and it was, I think it wasa couple of years after I met
you out there, but a couple ofthe guests who ended up staying
for quite some time, the threeof us decided we're going to go
(31:14):
30 days with no sugar becausewe're all addicts on sugar.
I still love cookies.
I can smell them.
I think they're baking right nowin the kitchen and I still treat
myself every now and then, but.
Yeah, the sugar, the month withno sugar, I did that, but then I
did, okay, I couldn't rememberin my entire adult life when I
(31:34):
went more than a week without adrink, so I decided I'm going to
go a month without having adrink.
Kush (31:43):
Cookies.
Well, send some over here.
Tyler Farnham (31:47):
And then that turned to two months and three
months and then my buddy hiswife and I did this 75 day
challenge, which was somethingelse that when I did this
challenge, it was obviouslythere was no drinking in this
challenge and I've never had anissue with drinking, but I've
seen a lot of people, friends,family struggled with alcoholism
(32:09):
and So it's pushed me to go,okay, I look at that as
something that's going to slowme down and I don't want to get,
I don't want to slow down.
I want to speed up.
I want to keep moving towardsthe goals that I have.
So I'd say for me waking upearly.
And using my time extremelywisely has been how I've been
able to get myself to where Iwant to be.
(32:31):
not quite there yet, but at thesame time, those habits I found,
find to really help.
And especially with gettingolder, it's a hangover when I
was 20.
I think I just Cruise rightthrough it.
Whereas a hangover at 40.
I feel like I need to check intothe hospital for a couple days
it's not easy.
So for me with any sort ofsubstances stuff like that It
(32:51):
just doesn't really doesn'tcontribute to where I want to
go, you know, I've tried some ofthose fasts or, giving up
certain things.
And yes, the results have been,interesting.
it's obvious that you havebecome good at many things with
a lifetime of, hard work andpractice.
What is perhaps one thing thatyou are not good at and, you
(33:14):
wish you were?
I'm very well I was right awaywhen he said what am I not good
at that?
I'm not good in math at allThat's always hindered me from
pursuing Educate a highereducation when it comes to
college math has always been ahuge struggle for me But I think
with what I wish I could be alittle what I'm not great at but
(33:38):
I wish I could be better at Iguess When it comes to
management and authority to havethat, I've found some of the
best leaders that they'realmost, you're fearful of them
at times when you see themcoming and not in a way, not in
a way where you're going to gethurt, but in a way where you
want to make sure you're doingeverything exactly how you
should be doing.
And I've met some verysuccessful people, some
(33:59):
extremely successful CEOs thathave that mentality, and I wish
I could have that, whereas I'moften.
I just want to be very friendly.
I want to make sure everyone'scomfortable.
And so I'm trying to learn howto be that person.
Although at the same time, keepthe qualities that I have, that
make me a likable person, Sothat's what I'd really like to
(34:19):
continue to work.
makes sense.
Yes.
And some of those things, theydon't come naturally.
It takes, it takes a long time.
anecdotally, I, one of thepeople I admire, for being a
really polished public speakerIs Barack Obama but if you go
back and you look on YouTube andyou look at some of his speeches
before he became president, whenhe was younger, maybe in, in law
(34:40):
school or a young hotshotlawyer, and yes, two different
people.
it's obvious that he put thetime into, into his, public
elocution, last question here,if there could be a gigantic
billboard and you could printany message you want to say out
to others, what would that be?
honestly, it would probably bethe Nike slogan.
(35:02):
Just do it.
Cause it's, it is far as just, Ilove that slogan because there's
so many times where, like today,for example, I haven't done my
bike ride yet.
I'm going to do my bike ride assoon as we get off the phone and
I'm actually pumped up to do it.
because I haven't had, I know Idid one yesterday too, but
regardless, what I'm getting atis some days I might not want to
do it.
(35:22):
And I know everybody struggleswith that.
Oh, maybe one day you're tootired or whatever it is.
And it's no, you just do it.
Do the movements.
Maybe it's not going to be yourfastest, but just make it happen
and you're going to feel better.
So I'd say just.
Just do it on that billboard.
Steal them from the Nike slogan.
So I'd say just.
Just do it on that billboard.
(35:44):
Steal them from the Nike slogan.
it's it's funny.
I talked to another,overachieving athlete, and all
around, Rockstar yesterday andhe had the same, same message
out then I wish that you wereable to do, put that slogan out
there and maybe use likedifferent words because you
don't want the, the Nike lawyerscoming after you.
No, I don't have big enoughlawyers to fight the Nike board.
Kush (36:05):
Before we go, I think you mentioned, We can look you up,
look up the speeches you'vegiven and the books you've
written.
Any other places you want, topoint out where people can, can
get in touch with you or learnmore about the things you're
doing?
Yeah, for sure.
You could just go, my website istylerfarnham.
com and that gives a goodrundown of what I'm doing and
with the speaking and that's agreat way to reach out and
(36:26):
contact me as well.
Tyler Farnham (36:27):
Do you have an Instagram presence as well Yeah.
Oh yeah.
Yep.
Instagram, just be Tyler Farnhamis my handle there.
So yeah, Instagram and Facebookare the on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn's a big one too.
Tyler Farnham on LinkedIn andwhat I'm quite active on.
I'd say Instagram and LinkedInfor sure.
(36:49):
we will be sure to put those,links out in the show notes so
people can, can go find you.
It's been, it's been a greatconversation, Tyler.
Thank you for coming on and,sharing your, story.
Same to you, bro.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Talk to you soon.
Yeti Stereo Microphone-8 (37:10):
That's the amazing story of Tyler.
Find him.
A surfer and lifeguard whopersevered through a
catastrophic accident andaddiction to find healing and
purpose in the ocean.
His journey demonstrates theresilience of the human spirit
and the power of overcomingadversity.
I hope God has experience.
(37:32):
Has inspired you.
To keep fighting.
And given you hope.
To achieve your dreams.
To connect for the checkout, thewebsite.
His book.
And his social media for moredetails on his speaking and
advocacy around self-therapy.
This concludes today's episodeof the Eastland Alibaba.
The podcast.
(37:53):
I'm a grateful host Kush.
If you enjoyed the show andTyler's uplifting message,
please follow us.
I shared with others who mayfind inspiration.
And leave us a review.
That helps new listenersdiscover the podcast talk soon.
And until next time, stayageless
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