Back On Track

On today’s episode is the brilliant sports journalist and author Ian Ridley. In February of 2019 Ian’s wife, Vikki Orvice, who was also a brilliant and renowned journalist, sadly died of cancer at the age of just 56. 

After experiencing the unbearable feelings that grief can bring with it, Ian decided to write a book called The Breath of Sadness: On Love Grief and Cricket, which explains his own grieving process and how the varying emotions changed over time. 

For Ian, deciding to watch a summer of county cricket helped him through the darkest moments, and he encourages others that are suffering after the loss of a loved one to find their own activity that might be able to provide some respite from the sadness. 

I really admire Ian’s bravery in coming on the podcast to talk all about all of this, in the hope that it might be able to help others. 

I hope you enjoy the episode and don't forget to hit follow/subscribe! 

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Buy Ian's book, The Breath of Sadness: On Love Grief and Cricket: https://www.floodlitdreams.com/product/the-breath-of-sadness-on-love-grief-and-cricket/ 

Follow Ian on Twitter: https://twitter.com/IanRidley1 

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On today’s episode is best selling author and addict in recovery Jordan Barnes. It became apparent from a young age that Jordan was susceptible to addiction, first beginning with alcohol and then eventually moving onto heroin during college.

After trying the powerful and destructive drug Jordan soon found himself using daily and living on the streets of Portland having to shoplift to sustain himself. 

After waking up next to his friend who had tragically overdosed and passed away, Jordan knew he had to try and change his life. What followed were a number of tough years as he returned home to Hawaii and checked himself into a treatment centre for an intense two-year programme of recovery.

I’m really pleased to say that since then, Jordan has never looked back and has even become a best selling author with his debut memoir book, One Hit Away, which details his full journey of addiction and recovery. 

I hope you enjoy the episode and don't forget to hit follow/subscribe! 

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Buy Jordan's book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/One-Hit-Away-Memoir-Recovery-ebook/dp/B085M78JWT 

Follow Jordan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jordan_p_barnes/ 

Follow Jordan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Jordan_P_Barnes 

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On today’s episode is former Britain’s Most Wanted Man, Paul Walmsley. Paul tragically lost his father at the age of just 15, and his life began to spiral out of control as he became involved in selling drugs. 

Things continued to get more serious as Paul got older, even resulting in an international operation that caught the eye of the authorities. As a result, Paul went on the run across Europe for five years, but eventually handed himself in to police and was handed a ten year sentence for his part in a £3.5m conspiracy to import drugs into the UK.

I’m really pleased to say that since then Paul has renounced his criminal past and has drastically turned his life around. He now gives back to the community working in various youth crime intervention projects, as well as being a qualified life coach and counsellor and working as a research fellow for the University of Liverpool. 

I hope you enjoy the episode and don't forget to follow/subscribe! 

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Buy Paul's book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Just-Ordinary-Decent-Criminal-Walmsley/dp/1973476932 

Follow Paul on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PaulWalmsley23 

Head to Paul's website: https://county-lines.co.uk/ 

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On today’s episode is a good friend of mine called Lucy, who sadly began suffering with anorexia at the age of just 15. 

What followed were a number of torturous years as Lucy battled with the condition, even reaching a weight as low as 34kgs.

I’m really pleased to say that Lucy finally managed to get the help she needed and is now living a much happier life which isn’t dictated by the condition. 

Lucy has now decided to share her story in the hope that it might be able to help others. Everyone’s experience of eating disorders can be different, but if you feel you need support in relation to any of the topics mentioned in the podcast, I’ve listed some support groups and helplines below. 

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Support groups and helplines (phone numbers can be found by clicking the links): 

Beat Eating Disorders: https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/support-services 

Samaritans: https://www.samaritans.org/ 

Mind: https://www.mind.org.uk/need-urgent-help/using-this-tool 

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For information on anorexia symptoms, you can visit the NHS website: https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/anorexia/symptoms/ 

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Follow Lucy on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lucyloves_xo/ 

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On today’s episode is Josephine Bridges, who was diagnosed with terminal bone cancer at the age of just 17.

Miraculously, after exploring different treatment options Josephine managed to overcome the cancer, but still had to endure bone recovery surgeries on her leg every two years.

After 11 years of being in and out of hospital with these surgeries, Josephine finally decided to opt for the amputation. What followed was a gruelling period trying to adjust both physically and mentally to life as an amputee as Josephine struggled with phantom pain and mental illness. 

As a result of her struggles, Josephine decided to start the charity Positive Bones, which aims to empower people with limb difference to live a life without limits. 

I hope you enjoy the episode and don't forget to follow/subscribe! 

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Follow Positive Bones on social media! 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/positivebones/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/positivebones 

Website: https://www.positivebones.co.uk/ 

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On today’s episode is a good friend of mine called Max Anglin, who’s suffered on and off for years as a result of problems with drinking, gambling and mental illness. 

However, Max managed to channel his addictive personality into the world of business and actually runs two successful companies. 

Unfortunately, like many others, Max had to pause the running of both businesses when the pandemic hit and with too much time on his hands and a lack of purpose, he became depressed and turned to alcohol to numb the pain.

After going through 9 months of sheer hell, I’m really pleased to say that Max has managed to overcome his problems with alcohol and mental illness, and is now running 300km in 30 days to raise money for the mental health charity Young Minds. You can donate to Max's challenge here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/9dahd6-300km-in-30-days?utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet 

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Follow Max on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maxanglin/ 

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On today’s episode is Maxine Luckhurst, who battled for years with a cocaine addiction which even resulted in social services becoming involved and taking custody of her children.

After the trauma of having her children taken away, Maxine finally managed to beat her addiction and fought hard for a period of two years to regain full custody. 

Since then, Maxine has never looked back and is now working as a peer mentor helping other people who are suffering from addiction too. 

I hope you enjoy the episode and don't forget to follow/subscribe! 

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Follow Maxine on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maxinejade33/ 

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On today’s episode is Libby Clegg MBE, who’s a 2x Paralympic gold medallist and world record holder for both the T11 100 and 200m.

At the age of just nine years old, Libby was diagnosed with Stargardt disease which is a degenerative eye condition causing people to gradually lose their sight over time.

Despite this, Libby soon found her passion in the form of athletics, and has gone on to create an incredibly successful sprinting career, winning a whole host of gold and silver medals at Paralympic Games in Beijing, London and Rio.

However, after winning two golds and setting two world records at Rio, Libby actually had a mental breakdown as she struggled to find out who she was beyond athletics and the success she’d created.

I’m really pleased to say that Libby managed to work through that and now, she is fully focussed on the Tokyo Paralympic Games, and hopes to be standing on the podium yet again.

Aside from athletics Libby also competed last year in the hit TV show Dancing On Ice, where not only was she the first blind contestant to take part, but she also managed to reach the finals and come in third place.

I really enjoyed this interview with Libby and I hope you do too - she is a real inspiration. Make sure you hit follow/subscribe and remember that you can also catch all the podcast episodes on YouTube! 

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Follow Libby on social media! 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LibbyClegg 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/libby.clegg/ 

Follow me on social media! 

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Twitter: https://twitter.com/BackOnTrackPod 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/backontrackpodcast/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/backontrackpod

On today’s episode is co-founder of One Year No Beer Ruari Fairbairns, who set up the company to help people take a break from alcohol and see the benefits it can bring to your life.

But Ruari’s journey to setting up One Year No Beer wasn’t an easy one - he had quite bad ADHD as a child and struggled mentally, which even led to a number of suicide attempts by the age of just 13.

Ruari has also always been a motivated entrepreneur - by his early 20’s he’d already set up a number of companies, and was even close to appearing on The Apprentice, but his first real success came when he was working as an oil broker in London.

However, it was a job that involved a lot of drinking and entertaining, and this began to take a serious toll on the relationship with his wife. After doing 90 days alcohol free, Ruari was amazed at the benefits he felt, and left his job as an oil broker earning high six figures to start One Year No Beer and help other people reevaluate their relationship with alcohol too.

I hope you enjoy the episode and don't forget to hit follow/subscribe! 

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Visit the One Year No Beer website: https://www.oneyearnobeer.com/ 

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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/backontrackpodcast/ 

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On today’s episode is Jules Schroeder, who’s a serial entrepreneur, musician, podcast host and near death experience survivor. By Jules’ mid twenties she had already set up a number of profitable enterprises, the largest of which being a seven-figure publishing company.

However, Jules returned one day from a skiing trip to find that one of her business partners had been embezzling money from the company, and overnight she found herself in $200k debt through no fault of her own.

Not only that, but Jules also had an accident whilst wakeboarding soon after in which she almost died. Jules reports similar things to a lot of near death experience survivors, such as having a vision and experiencing feelings she’d never felt before whilst technically being unconscious. As a result, she found it difficult to adjust to normal life afterwards. 

However, it was these two key events in the form of the embezzlement and near death experience that caused Jules to reprioritise things in her life and change direction. 

Incredibly, since then she’s become an ambassador for education at the UN, joined Forbes under 30 and started her new successful brand Unconventional Life, which you’ll hear all about in the podcast.

I hope you enjoy the episode and don’t forget to hit follow/subscribe! 

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Find more information about Jules and all of her social media channels by visiting her website! 

https://www.julesschroeder.com/ 

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