Happie Heads

Karl Moritz (Kajomo) is a trooper. In June of 2010 he was struck head on by a vehicle while cycling on a neighborhood road in Southeast Portland. As if this wasn't devastating enough, he was dragged 32 feet underneath the car. He was given a 90% chance of being in a vegetable state if he did indeed survive the accident. He spent over 30 days in a Coma and several months in the hospital. Miraculously, a year after his accident, he biked a Century (100 miles). He is incredible. To this day, he cycles Fixed Gear now for cognition and exercise benefits nearly every day and even rode his hand built Track bike to meet up with me. His story is more than inspiring, and the amount he has overcome can only be understood by listening to his story. I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as Kajomo and I did.

Joe has done a lot so far in his life. Here are a few examples. He is a certified Performance Enhancement Specialist and Corrective Exercise Specialist through the National Academy of Sports Medicine. He has also been trained at the CHEK institute (which is extremely difficult) as a Holistic Nutrition and Lifestyle Coach. He also cofounded Spartan Coaching, the first ever certification for obstacle race training. He also gave a TED talk at TEDxLugano in 2016. These are just examples, Joe has done so much more. His TBI came in his youth after a gust of wind tipped over a basketball hoop onto his head, giving him a nice, healthy TBI. We discuss nutrition, training, and simply how to treat your body better after a TBI. I dug this conversation, and I hope you do too.

His story starts at 7:34

Matthew Kampfe is the owner of Kampfe Independent Living Center in Gladstone, OR. This episode is thus more centered around his lifelong experience helping BI survivors. His parents started helping BI survivors in their home decades ago, and now it has grown into the incredible living center it is today. He has some greats tips not just for survivors but their family/support systems as well. Enjoy!

His story starts at 6:40

These two Functional Neurologists have changed the way I think about brain injury. I used to think that if you are symptom free, it means that you are good to go. They showed me how powerful compensation can be, but how devastating it can be when one's compensations fail. We talk about what conventional TBI therapy lacks, what it is good at, and how Functional Neurologists can work with traditional MD's and DO's. If you want to learn about an alternative treatment modality that could treat the root of your problems and not just make you an excellent compensator, listen to this conversation! Enjoy.

Don is a very accomplished man. He has nearly countless training in psychological training. Of course, all of the credentials in the world are useless if they are not applied. Donald has been practicing for decades now, and have been treating people with brain injury since the late nineties. He and his wife work together in Portland, and we discuss some of the commonalities between his clients that recover "completely" and those that do not. Enjoy!

In part two of this episode, Marih and I discuss some of the characteristics and qualities that Marih sees as common amongst survivors and other resilient people in her life. If the first episode were the stories of her injuries, this second part covers some of the actions Marih took after taking ownership of her injury. I loved this conversation, and I hope you do as well.

Story starts right away!

In this two-part episode, I talk to Marih Alyn-Claire. Much like episode 31 with Kendra, Marih's life is stamped full of MANY unique situations and injuries. These include unpredicted strokes, days of lost memory, and so much more. Her first TBI was during a car accident as a small child in the 1950's in Portland. We discuss what her injury taught her and how she used it to make herself stronger.

Her story starts at 9:28

Randy Samuelson is tough dude. He was raised in Ashland, OR (that is the southern part). His first encounter with brain injury involved playing college football at Oregon State University back in the good old days when a brain injury was something one just "walked off." He later suffered an injury while working in a log mill. I hope you enjoy out talk as much as I did!

His story starts at 6:40

Kendra is a woman of many trades. Honestly, it would be hard to sum up all of her capabilities. In addition to being a certified occupational therapist, she currently owns and runs a health clinic in which she can practice some of her other skills such as Bowenwork, Raiki, and Essential Oil Therapy. She may have the most engaging series of brain injuries I have ever heard, including suffering a neck injury after having a piece of asphalt thrown at her during riots in her Grand Rapids, Michigan. Enjoy!

Her story starts at 3:20

This is an action packed episode since we recorded outside near the Portland Airport. This means I had to do a bit more editing than normal, but we made it through it unscathed. Clayton lives about 50 miles south of Tillamook a small costal town here in Oregon. He has suffered several brain injuries over the years with the most severe and recent one being a car accident in which his vehicle was crushed by some timber that came untied from a nearby logging truck. His story is incredible.

Jeri is a retired lawyer who is from Creswell, OR, just outside of Eugene. Several years ago she was involved in a serious car accident not as the driver but as the passenger. She discusses accepting her accident, and the subsequent changes in her life and legal practice. Both of these individuals are full of wisdom and I hope you gain a lot as much from this conversation as I did.

Their stories start at 8:20