A riveting story of defying all odds, three miracles, and the power of love.

Danielle Kaplan is my guest, and we tell her story in three parts.

We begin by talking about her roots, a South African growing up in a life of privilege but living with the guilt of apartheid, and why she and her husband came to Canada.

The second part is when Danielle Kaplan's thrill-seeking husband, Steve Kaplan, crashes his motorcycle on a solo trip that has taken him from Toronto to a deserted road in the Yukon. Steve is thrown off his bike, breaks his spine, and damages his heart. Hungry Grizzly Bears are nearby. No one knows where he is, and he has zero chance of survival. What happens next is spellbinding and genuinely miraculous.

The third part is about how Steve survives the crash, but at the Vancouver General Hospital, his organs begin to shut down. Danielle credits the team there, EMCO, a miracle healthcare invention that took over his heart and lungs until he could get stronger and the healthcare workers who made it all happen. She also reminds us how fortunate we are to have universal health care.

And my three takeaways from Danielle Kaplan's sharing excerpts from her book I Married A Thrill-Seeker is how much anxiety thrill seekers create and leave in their wake for their family and friends to almost drown in when they chase their dreams. The second is how important it is to have love, a caregiver and an advocate on your side when you fight back from death's door. And finally, how remarkable Danielle Kaplan is.

To provide further context, I invite Amy Deacon, Founder and CEO of Toronto Wellness Counselling, back to Chatter that Matters to talk about how opposites attract, and why some people are addicted to risking all that matters for the chase of a thrill.

To purchase I Married A Thrill Seeker: https://www.amazon.ca/Married-Thrill-Seeker-cautious-husbands-risk-taking/dp/1738670201.