Becoming Ronin by Jim Smith, Brian Oberther

January 31, 2026 #161 Surviving the Unthinkable - A Near Death Experience

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Episode Overview

In this episode of Becoming Ronin, we sit down with Adrian, a former paramedic whose life was forever altered during a hiking trip when he was struck by lightning. Against staggering odds, a series of extraordinary and near-impossible circumstances: aligned timing, location, rescue, and medical intervention, allowing him to survive an event that is almost certainly fatal.

Adrian walks us through the moments leading up to the strike, the chaos that followed, and the long road to recovery that began when he woke up in a hospital bed. But survival was only the beginning. During the time he was unconscious, Adrian describes experiencing a profound darkness, an awareness without form or time that felt like crossing into another dimension altogether. It was not fear, not peace, but something entirely unfamiliar that challenged his understanding of consciousness and life itself.

Drawing on his background in emergency medicine, Adrian reflects on compassion, humility, and the strange irony of becoming the patient rather than the provider. He speaks candidly about the physical and emotional aftermath, the role of family and medical teams in his recovery, and the internal battle that followed: whether to retreat from the experience or rise because of it.

This conversation explores resilience, the power of choice in the face of suffering, and how surviving the unthinkable reshaped Adrian's view of purpose, identity, and what it truly means to be alive.

Timestamps:

[00:00] Introduction to Adrian's Story

[01:46] Adrian's Background & Path to Paramedicine

[04:32] Compassion in Emergency Services

[07:06] A Call That Changed Everything

[14:40] Road to Becoming a Physician Assistant

[22:03] Road Trip Begins

[28:26] The Climb: Hiking Torrey's Peak

[35:23] The Decision to Call for Help

[39:49] The Lightning Strike

[40:13] Panic, Confusion, and Uncertainty

[43:18] Rescue: A Race Against Time