Landon McGauley grew up in British Columbia. Like many of our other guests from BC, he spent his formative years in the outdoors exploring the mountains and at an early age fell in love with biking, riding around his neighborhood with a shovel to build dirt jumps. In 2011, at the age of 15, he was in a biking crash resulting in a T5 spinal cord injury and paraplegia. Landon and I initially connected for an interview in 2022 when he had fully adapted to life as a paraplegic. In the years after his accident, Landon found his way to adaptive mountain biking and was amongst a crew of hard charging pioneering riders. He was working as the High Fives athlete manager, and notably, in the planning stage for an ambitious mountain biking and rafting trip with his brother. As we were assembling that episode and before Landon had a chance to embark on his big adventure, he was in another biking accident. This time breaking his neck resulting in quadriplegia. Landon now has the very unique life experience of living as a non-disabled or able-bodied person, a paraplegic, and now a quadriplegic. He is a thoughtful, well-read individual, and and openly shared his wisdom in this conversation.

Guest info:

• @landonmcgauley

Additional Resources:

• www.highfivesfoundation.org
• https://mhanational.org/resources/suicide-prevention/
• https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/suicide-prevention.html

Contact us: 

• Instagram: @unexpectedjourneypod
• Email: [email protected] 
• Hosted and produced by Tim Brown
• Editing and sound design by Louis Arevalo
• Original theme music by Jesse LaFountaine
• Episode cover art by Lewis Falconer 
• Cover art and logo design by Anne Holt and Lewis Falconer