November 20, 2021 • 7 mins
Episode 1: Chapter 1 - William Cole - Recovery from a farm motorcycle accident which resulted in a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) - Introduction & life before the accident.
In the first episode, we meet William Cole, a 25 year old farmer from Bookaar in Western Victoria. William had a farm motorcycle accident in 2017 which resulted in a traumatic brain injury. In this first chapter of the episode, we welcome you to the podcast, meet William and hear a little about his life before the accident.
Transcript and show notes are available for each episode on the podcast website: storiesofrecovery.buzzsprout.com
Shownotes:
- 5:00 - The article in the Weekly Times where I first heard about William's story (note: The Weekly Times online is now a paid subscriber views publication, so without an active subscription you may not be able to read this article).
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Robbie - Host (00:00):
Welcome to Stories of Recovery.
(00:28):
My name is Robbie Frawley and onthis podcast, I interview people
who have experienced andrecovered from brain-related
conditions, such as stroke,concussion, chronic pain, and
traumatic brain injury.
We discuss their story andhighlight the things which have
been most beneficial and mostimportant in their recovery.
(00:48):
This might be specifictreatments or medical
professionals that were mostcrucial.
It could be books, knowledge, oradvice, which they were given or
which they found along the way,or even particular habits,
attitudes, or practices thathelped them the most.
If you or someone you care aboutis struggling to recover from
one of these or another brainrelated condition, this podcast
(01:08):
was really made with you inmind.
I want you to know that othershave been where you are now and
that they have gotten better.
Hopefully in the interviews thatfollow you'll hear a thing or
two which resonate and whichhelp you to do just that.
So who am I?
Well, I'm a young man who grewup in country, Victoria
(01:30):
Australia, and I've had a numberof concussions growing up
playing sport.
After the last one, which wasover seven years ago now, I
developed something calledpost-concussion syndrome.
I'd never even heard of this,but it left me with ongoing
fatigue, headaches, nausea,vertigo, cognitive fog,
overwhelm, and sensitivity toimpact.
(01:52):
It had a really dramatic effecton my life.
And it took many years, mucheffort and great assistance from
others to fully recover from it.
And now that I am back to 100%and again, have some surplus
energy, I'd like to help you inany way I can to get you back to
good health.
My hope is that we can providesome light at the end of the
(02:13):
tunnel for you, and also giveyou some useful tips and tricks
that might help you along theway.
Now, one thing to remember isthat the brain is a really
marvellous thing, and you canget better.
Now I've left in as much of thecontext, detail and information
(02:36):
in these interviews as possible,which means they can be quite
long, just under one and a halfhours for this first one, but
they're split into key chaptersto make it easier to listen and
to help you to focus on what youneed to hear right now.
And remember that you can pauseand come back to the story in as
(02:58):
many small bites as you need.
Now without further ado, let'sjump into it.
In this first episode, I'mspeaking with William Cole, a 25
year old sheep farmer fromBookar in Western Victoria.
(03:21):
William had a farm motorcycleaccident in 2017 resulting in a
traumatic brain injury.
This conversation took place inDecember 2019 at his home on his
parents' sheep and cattleproperty within the beautiful
volcanic landscape north ofCamperdown.
William grew up here with hisparents and his brother riding
(03:41):
motorbikes, driving tractors,shearing sheep, and working with
his family on their farm.
He's a really wise young man, asyou'll hear and I learned a
great deal from thisconversation, things which
became critical to my ownrecovery.
Finally, this conversation tookplace on the lands of the
(04:05):
Eastern Maar people of southWestern Victoria.
And I would like to acknowledgethem as traditional owners of
this land.
I would also like to pay myrespects to their elders past
and present and Aboriginalelders of other communities who
may be listening to thisconversation.
I wish you courage and energy onyour own journey forward, and I
(04:26):
hope you enjoy this wide rangingconversation.
Will thank you so much forhaving me here, in your home and
(04:54):
in this beautiful part of theworld.
I'm really excited to just sitdown and have a chat with you.
As I mentioned, I read aboutyour story in the Weekly Times,
two weeks ago, after an articlein there and I was quite blown
(05:17):
away by your attitude and someof the things that you said, and
I just thought, wow, this is,the perfect thing that I think
people need to hear, really theperfect candidate.
So what a fantastic place tobegin on this podcasting
journey.
Thank you so much for your time.
(05:38):
Do you want to start off withjust telling us a little bit
about yourself?
You've obviously grown up herein the south west.
Do you want to tell me a littlebit about that.
William Cole - Guest (05:47):
No worries.
Thank you.
Well, thank you for coming out.
Um, you know, I was born out inthe south west of Victoria and
come from well in a place calledBookar, which is around all the
mountains around there.
I was born into a farming family, sheep, cattle and pastoral
(06:11):
property where we have beenfarming here for seven
generations.
So yeah, I've always sort ofgrown up to be an outdoorsy kid
playing a lot of sport and,going back I can recall going
for rides on the motorbike withmy grandfather, who's obviously
now passed on, but yeah just alot of vivid memories from
(06:32):
growing up around this area.
Home is, it's a very specialplace and very special to me in
the fact of being involved inthe agricultural industry.
I really do enjoy being able togo outside and have a full day
(06:53):
of work all week, all year ifyou really want that but there's
always something to do and it'sa lot of fun.
So yeah, growing up naturallyhaving those interests and
always playing around with myhands, trying to figure out how
that wheel would spin on themotorbike and stuff like that.
(07:14):
So a very curious mindset, beinga classic young south west kid
on the, on the land.
Robbie - Host (07:23):
And so then, let's go back just over two
years ago.
So back to, I guess, September,2017.
So just before your injury, doyou want to describe a typical
day in the life of Will Cole?
William Cole - Guest (07:38):
Yeah, sure.
Well I'd moved back here,because I did a couple of years
up in the city and moved backhome and I was working on the
Western Victorian livestockexchange, during the
construction process of that.
We were working from sun up tillsundown, not really
acknowledging fatigue or when totake a rest.
Robbie - Host (08:00):
And were you playing football locally as
well?
William Cole - Guest (08:02):
I was playing football.
I wouldn't have been playingfootball at the accident time,
but earlier that year I wasplaying back at Camperdown.
Robbie - Host (08:20):
That's the end of chapter one, stay online for
chapter two.
The accident and the initialtreatment.
Welcome to Stories of Recovery.
(00:28):
My name is Robbie Frawley and onthis podcast, I interview people
who have experienced andrecovered from brain-related
conditions, such as stroke,concussion, chronic pain, and
traumatic brain injury.
We discuss their story andhighlight the things which have
been most beneficial and mostimportant in their recovery.
(00:48):
This might be specifictreatments or medical
professionals that were mostcrucial.
It could be books, knowledge, oradvice, which they were given or
which they found along the way,or even particular habits,
attitudes, or practices thathelped them the most.
If you or someone you care aboutis struggling to recover from
one of these or another brainrelated condition, this podcast
(01:08):
was really made with you inmind.
I want you to know that othershave been where you are now and
that they have gotten better.
Hopefully in the interviews thatfollow you'll hear a thing or
two which resonate and whichhelp you to do just that.
So who am I?
Well, I'm a young man who grewup in country, Victoria
(01:30):
Australia, and I've had a numberof concussions growing up
playing sport.
After the last one, which wasover seven years ago now, I
developed something calledpost-concussion syndrome.
I'd never even heard of this,but it left me with ongoing
fatigue, headaches, nausea,vertigo, cognitive fog,
overwhelm, and sensitivity toimpact.
(01:52):
It had a really dramatic effecton my life.
And it took many years, mucheffort and great assistance from
others to fully recover from it.
And now that I am back to 100%and again, have some surplus
energy, I'd like to help you inany way I can to get you back to
good health.
My hope is that we can providesome light at the end of the
(02:13):
tunnel for you, and also giveyou some useful tips and tricks
that might help you along theway.
Now, one thing to remember isthat the brain is a really
marvellous thing, and you canget better.
Now I've left in as much of thecontext, detail and information
(02:36):
in these interviews as possible,which means they can be quite
long, just under one and a halfhours for this first one, but
they're split into key chaptersto make it easier to listen and
to help you to focus on what youneed to hear right now.
And remember that you can pauseand come back to the story in as
(02:58):
many small bites as you need.
Now without further ado, let'sjump into it.
In this first episode, I'mspeaking with William Cole, a 25
year old sheep farmer fromBookar in Western Victoria.
(03:21):
William had a farm motorcycleaccident in 2017 resulting in a
traumatic brain injury.
This conversation took place inDecember 2019 at his home on his
parents' sheep and cattleproperty within the beautiful
volcanic landscape north ofCamperdown.
William grew up here with hisparents and his brother riding
(03:41):
motorbikes, driving tractors,shearing sheep, and working with
his family on their farm.
He's a really wise young man, asyou'll hear and I learned a
great deal from thisconversation, things which
became critical to my ownrecovery.
Finally, this conversation tookplace on the lands of the
(04:05):
Eastern Maar people of southWestern Victoria.
And I would like to acknowledgethem as traditional owners of
this land.
I would also like to pay myrespects to their elders past
and present and Aboriginalelders of other communities who
may be listening to thisconversation.
I wish you courage and energy onyour own journey forward, and I
(04:26):
hope you enjoy this wide rangingconversation.
Will thank you so much forhaving me here, in your home and
(04:54):
in this beautiful part of theworld.
I'm really excited to just sitdown and have a chat with you.
As I mentioned, I read aboutyour story in the Weekly Times,
two weeks ago, after an articlein there and I was quite blown
(05:17):
away by your attitude and someof the things that you said, and
I just thought, wow, this is,the perfect thing that I think
people need to hear, really theperfect candidate.
So what a fantastic place tobegin on this podcasting
journey.
Thank you so much for your time.
(05:38):
Do you want to start off withjust telling us a little bit
about yourself?
You've obviously grown up herein the south west.
Do you want to tell me a littlebit about that.
William Cole - Guest (05:47):
No worries.
Thank you.
Well, thank you for coming out.
Um, you know, I was born out inthe south west of Victoria and
come from well in a place calledBookar, which is around all the
mountains around there.
I was born into a farming family, sheep, cattle and pastoral
(06:11):
property where we have beenfarming here for seven
generations.
So yeah, I've always sort ofgrown up to be an outdoorsy kid
playing a lot of sport and,going back I can recall going
for rides on the motorbike withmy grandfather, who's obviously
now passed on, but yeah just alot of vivid memories from
(06:32):
growing up around this area.
Home is, it's a very specialplace and very special to me in
the fact of being involved inthe agricultural industry.
I really do enjoy being able togo outside and have a full day
(06:53):
of work all week, all year ifyou really want that but there's
always something to do and it'sa lot of fun.
So yeah, growing up naturallyhaving those interests and
always playing around with myhands, trying to figure out how
that wheel would spin on themotorbike and stuff like that.
(07:14):
So a very curious mindset, beinga classic young south west kid
on the, on the land.
Robbie - Host (07:23):
And so then, let's go back just over two
years ago.
So back to, I guess, September,2017.
So just before your injury, doyou want to describe a typical
day in the life of Will Cole?
William Cole - Guest (07:38):
Yeah, sure.
Well I'd moved back here,because I did a couple of years
up in the city and moved backhome and I was working on the
Western Victorian livestockexchange, during the
construction process of that.
We were working from sun up tillsundown, not really
acknowledging fatigue or when totake a rest.
Robbie - Host (08:00):
And were you playing football locally as
well?
William Cole - Guest (08:02):
I was playing football.
I wouldn't have been playingfootball at the accident time,
but earlier that year I wasplaying back at Camperdown.
Robbie - Host (08:20):
That's the end of chapter one, stay online for
chapter two.
The accident and the initialtreatment.
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