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Ep 21: The Legionnaire - Liam Cullinane
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A day in the life of Liam Cullinane. An ex legionnaire who has been astounding doctors since 1993 when meningitis damaged his brain. At 23, in peak physique, his life was supposed to be over, but Liam had different plans.
Join us as we try to figure out what drives the legionnaire
#LiamCullinane
#MeningitisSurvivor
#BrainInjuryRecovery
#FrenchForeignLegion
#LegionnaireMindset
#SurvivalStory
#Resilience
#NeverGiveUp
#HumanWill
#AgainstTheOdds
#DocumentaryFilm
#Philosopheckery
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Transcript
Liam's Life Transformation Post-Meningitis
00:01:56
Speaker
Imagine if every step took your full concentration. If every word demanded your entire focus. In 1993, after meningitis damaged his cerebellum, that became Leem's reality.
00:02:09
Speaker
He wasn't expected to recover. What followed was not a miracle. It wasn't sudden. It wasn't dramatic. It was slow and deliberate. A relentless daily act of will.
00:02:20
Speaker
Step by step, word by word, minute by minute until this day. For this is not a sad story of the past and what was lost. This is a story still being written of defiance, strength, willpower and kindness.
00:02:36
Speaker
Because it's your man on the bike. It's Liam Cullinan. It's the Legionnaire.
00:02:55
Speaker
with his life and wisdom rise in my intellects as the sun rises over the world so my son of jason is kindness joy happiness and purity rise in my heart As this limited reading sun rises over the world, so may the sun of strength, power, force, dynamic energy and activity rise in my will.
00:03:32
Speaker
And as the ominous, redeemed living sun rises over the world, so meet the sun of health, vitality and vigor rise in my body. Amen, so be it for the kingdom of God and righteousness.
00:03:54
Speaker
Amen, so be it for the glory of God. Awesome my friends, there are so many things I won want to understand, but my intelligence is so limited.
00:04:10
Speaker
But you are all light, you could light the whole world. I know how generous you are. Please give me few less cuttings from your immense intelligence.
00:04:25
Speaker
Oh look at that funny creature down there, you two think that is me, you look so small puny, but I'm going to help you, I will, I'll give you all the help you need.
00:04:41
Speaker
I lost after the power, the power that soothes, heals and deteriorates all of humanity, the power that brings harmony in this week.
00:04:58
Speaker
O said Solomon, as the sun is the is my joy, O Lord, because he is and my sun, and his rays have lifted me up, and his light has swelled all darkness from my face.
00:05:16
Speaker
In him I have acquired eyes, and seek this holy day. Wise old red Indian. Please, please, maker of the sun and the stars, I send my voice on the wings of an eagle to the cross of life.
00:05:36
Speaker
Our father, the sun, greeted by you to give the life and warmth. Let me fly to the sun so that I may know you.
00:05:48
Speaker
Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. Thank you Lord for letting me be here today to gain a little more health, a little more love and little more wisdom.
00:06:07
Speaker
Amen, Mikhail Ivanov. I too want to surround myself with soft but the most beautiful colours.
00:06:17
Speaker
Red is the spirit of life. Splendid is Mars and it feeds the muscular system. The world has red light pouring in through the eyes as you kid life from go protest to the on the physical level.
00:06:38
Speaker
The sun goes deep down into the solar plexus for storage. and feeding the muscular system throughout the entire body and be aware of some of that red light shooting out on your back, your buckle, your shield your center or your solar plexus, your heart and your world out across the land across the entire globe and out across the solar system where it is received by the sun
00:07:15
Speaker
Orange is the spirit of holiness. This planet, is if you want to call it that, is the sun. And it is the circular system.
00:07:27
Speaker
Be aware of that orange light pouring in through the eyes. As the on the physical level, sun can give down into the solar plexus for storage.
00:07:43
Speaker
and feeding the circulatory system throughout entire body. and be aware of some of that orange light and be aware of turtle the black is your heart and your will out across across the entire globe and out across the solar system where it's received by the sun not just southern
00:08:23
Speaker
insignificant offering but as I'm not going to know the element of the fact that the sun is the source of everything.
00:08:47
Speaker
see song-easing It's a bit like marathon running. yeah The first guy who did the marathon died of a heart hi attack.
Exploring Sun Gazing and Light Sensitivity
00:09:00
Speaker
So that guy dropped dead when he delivered the news. Which was, he won the battle and he died.
00:09:12
Speaker
Yeah. So, if if anyone who's never... really done any form of physical activity, especially marathon running, if it gets out the way and immediately the marathon probably won't go too well.
00:09:37
Speaker
No, they're likely to to see an oncoming heart attack or something depending on their physical shape. So you're saying it's the same thing with sun gazing? Yeah, so sun gazing
00:09:51
Speaker
The start is very important. so So some people can do 10 seconds and build 10 seconds at a time.
00:10:03
Speaker
i was way too sensitive to do that.
00:10:10
Speaker
And yeah, I had to read quite a bit before I got to 10 seconds repeatedly. You had to read quite a bit? Repeat. Or repeat it quite a bit. So to what I had to do was see if I did the initial 10 seconds, the phone was, it wasn't right.
00:10:34
Speaker
And it turned out that It took longer from my body to that, and so I had to repeat the 10 seconds each several times, and then could move to 20 seconds.
00:10:51
Speaker
How long did that take before you went from 10 seconds to 20 seconds? How long were you doing that? Yeah, about seven times. About seven times? Yeah, on the same thing, 10 seconds, 20 seconds, seven times.
00:11:05
Speaker
And it it wasn't until I got to choose two minutes that I felt comfortable about jumping up 10 seconds at the time.
00:11:19
Speaker
And when I got there six minutes, I lost all sense, but not all, but I i lost my sensitivity to light. So by that I mean,
00:11:32
Speaker
for one ah When I took ill, there was a bit of damage to the eyes. no Not permanent, but yeah, for, yeah, say six months or oh, six months or so, I had double vision.
00:11:50
Speaker
And the double vision cleared by itself. But the sensitivity to light remains.
00:12:01
Speaker
Okay. So although it was the if it was a bright sunny day like now, I'd be wearing sunglasses. But then if I crossed the street and entered the shade, I couldn't walk with the sunglasses in the shade.
00:12:22
Speaker
Which meant that if I was crossing the road and halfway across the wind from Bright sun to shade, I'd be stuck halfway across the road with a crotch in his hands trying to take the sunglasses off. And I'd not get too perturbed by all the traffic waiting for this big clown to cross the road.
00:12:48
Speaker
yeah So I thought after six six minutes that noblize, there was no longer any sensitivity. to light and that was there so for how long since 93 yeah until when did you start this about seven years ago but about ten years ago or ten years ago so so it was there for like over 20 years yeah and this did is that was that why you went Sungaes and wasn't like okay I've got a problem with light no no no
00:13:23
Speaker
I was both told about the I felt that it makes sense. And stored there's this footage of the
00:13:40
Speaker
Yeah, there was a little documentary by David Sussow. Shows me think of things that I'm walking in the prom. Oh, yes, yes. I'm walking on the prom.
00:13:52
Speaker
And if you take notes of my eyes, I'm not looking ahead. I'm looking down. because of theen the I wasn't capable of looking into the distance. That's gone now, now you've got a problem with light.
00:14:12
Speaker
For me, you up looking down while walking is a problem, so that was a massive change. a The big thing in Alexander St. Nick, where where the head goes the body follows so if you're looking down you you're prone to going down naturally so someone who walks with an upright posture they will be looking your head not to the ground but then on top of that my my physical search situation when you look at the ground
00:14:49
Speaker
I lose it because get, it's almost like I get totally unfocused. A friend of my mother's who i we were all friendly with ourselves, like she was telling me one time, I remember that um when he was first learning to walk, learning to walk, it would have been first learning to walk, he um He was trying to go up the stairs in the house and he was adamant he was going up them stairs and he he wasn't able for he wasn't able to climb them. was too small, you know.
00:15:20
Speaker
And your woman was saying he was going black and blue in the head, like with determination to get up them steps, you know. um It just wasn't doable. Like, what are you doing? they says you know There's no point trying to do that. You're going to end up, you know.
00:15:33
Speaker
So I suppose there was that determination from an ah an early age, if you like, um yeah you've You've been a great practitioner of like um holistic methods of healing and what some people might see as as as different methods of healing. You've tried so many of them.
00:15:53
Speaker
ah Is it a case of like you're you're you're just throwing shit at the wall and seeing what sticks, seeing what works? Is it that you feel the kind of normal medical routes have limits that they can't You know, they they they can't achieve what what other holistic things are seem to be achieving. But you've tried so many dietary things. You've tried so many exercises. The the sun gays in now.
00:16:23
Speaker
What do you think really works for you? And have you finished trying? Is there more things that you're going to try, that you're going to keep trying? Oh yeah, to law there's always more. Yeah, yeah.
00:16:35
Speaker
who
00:16:38
Speaker
As humans today, we think we were we're so
Holistic Healing vs Traditional Medicine
00:16:42
Speaker
cool. i mean, we've got these mobile phones and all this technology. you think We think we're shitholes.
00:16:49
Speaker
and And a couple of thousand years, well, all going well, a couple of thousand years, and kids are looking at their history three books.
00:17:03
Speaker
We have come across as See the ancient Egyptians, all those ancient sublight engines, we don't know much really. No, no, we don't know as much as we think we do, we yeah. yeah What is that ball made of, Liam, that you're lying, putting your whole weight on there? It's a hockey ball. It's a hockey ball? Yeah. Okay, that's not a that's not a soft ball.
00:17:33
Speaker
that's That's almost like a stone ball. I like that you're an laughing. I don't think I'd be laughing if I was lying on it like that. I really don't think so. And what does this do?
00:17:46
Speaker
It loosens the glutes. Is that sore?
00:17:52
Speaker
No, it's... Well, that's sore. starts yeah the su sweat would be pumping out of my armpits. It was that intense. Yeah, mean, literally pumping.
00:18:05
Speaker
And if you... Graduates up in level 10-10, the pin level right now was three two or three out of ten, that was two kills.
00:18:20
Speaker
So it was a big drag walking around with these big knee supports. If they were repairing anything like a bike or fixing a roof on a shed or anything, he'd be, you know, he'd be, unless it was perfect, it was no good, you know?
00:18:39
Speaker
And if it wasn't perfect, he'd probably smash it up and start all over again. you know So there was always that kind of aspect to him. um I suppose the the search for, I wouldn't say the search for perfection, but you know close to it, like um even in the artwork, he was good artist, you know artwork that he did.
00:18:58
Speaker
um the artwork that he did was always, you know, if it wasn't his liking, he'd dump it, you know? And people are saying, you mad? What'd he act like?
00:19:09
Speaker
He spent three days doing that piece of work and then just in the bin, you know? So there's kind of, there is definitely that kind of aspect to his character, I'd say, where he um he won't accept, he's not willing to accept unless it's the best.
00:19:27
Speaker
When you first got your diagnosis, And it was something like, it's not looking good. It's not looking like you're going to be walking or talking again.
00:19:38
Speaker
Did you ever say, ah well, I guess it's time to just sit down and watch TV for the rest of my life. Or because something inside you, when the doctor said, ah you're probably not going to walk and talk again much, something inside you said, yeah, I am.
00:19:53
Speaker
Yeah, I am. did you did you Did you never believe them? Did you never see that for yourself? when I was prepared for but disrepresented so so it just a whole night walking lack of sleep all that yeah I and
00:20:25
Speaker
ah All night I've been thinking when get to our destination we're gonna let us have a few hours keep and when we got to our destination which was the grounds of an obstacle of course
00:20:53
Speaker
the
00:20:56
Speaker
The guys, the senior colleagues, they automatically started getting ready, stripping off, preparing for it.
00:21:06
Speaker
<unk>
00:21:08
Speaker
These guys are freaking haters! But we did south course, like the obstacle course, and actually found it easier than normal.
00:21:26
Speaker
This was after that massive long march. Yeah. And I don't know, but it was it was like to the the body and brain and world were so bulks that the pain receptors just weren't giving the message to the brain.
00:21:47
Speaker
no so they fell reallyly youve really lack after truth And wis of minders I I saw it all over but again.
00:21:58
Speaker
So it was then it came to me. think it was 1918, 19. It was then that it came to me
00:22:10
Speaker
it was ten that zone the me thousand for the mind to go, the body follows and the that was a big lesson to learn as a young man and it served me all my um my life.
00:22:28
Speaker
We were hanging around the hospital and this doctor says in the eye he's got meningitis and again I was 20 something stupid and had no I didn't know what he was talking about i was like what the fuck was that like um So yeah, I mean, over a period of time, it kind of dawned upon us. And then i suppose when he got moved out of that hospital, he was moved to another one because he had problems with his kidneys. Because when he was in that apartment, he'd been lying motionless for so long that um your kidneys pass. They don't, they can't remember what they call it like, but
00:23:02
Speaker
you need to be moving all the time for your kidneys to be working properly. If you rely motionless for a couple of days ah at a stretch, your your your kidneys start to block up. So it needs dialysis. It needed dialysis. So they've shipped him off to that hospital. And that's when the nurses and the doctor saying, this lad's in a coma, you know?
00:23:19
Speaker
And it kind of dawned on me and then. i was like, oh Jesus, you know, this is not too good at all. the third actors
00:23:28
Speaker
I hope the kinematical culture will change but I was never actually told by doctor wal what was up with me.
00:23:40
Speaker
Okay. Thinking back then, so this was 93, I remember i remember
00:23:51
Speaker
Uh, Doctor, dude, coming round on his wardrobe and followed by a flock of white coats. And this guy, he was a, they called him consultant.
00:24:06
Speaker
Okay. So kind of, sit see your doctor and he was asking me questions but he wouldn't actually you look at me. He looked at the register and this he asked him the question and the register would ask me, or no, no, he wouldn't repeat the question.
00:24:29
Speaker
The register would look at me and I'd speak at the site of member in the wheelchair lights across, looking at the consultant and thinking, man, you are so, so lucky.
00:24:48
Speaker
Six months ago, you'd be flying that window. I know some people who don't know you, they're often visitors to the town and they might think you're drunk because of the disability issues that you have. um How often does it crop up in your mind? It's like,
00:25:08
Speaker
Oh, if you met me a few years ago, you would not think this or you know...
00:25:14
Speaker
Yeah, I generally... I let those kind of situations wash weeds. Yeah.
00:25:27
Speaker
because if you don't, they can eat at you. But you know, some people, they reckon they're all peace and love.
00:25:42
Speaker
And they love to let them be known that they're a peaceful person. Yeah. and And I'm all for peace.
00:25:54
Speaker
but I'm definitely, definitely not a peaceful person. Okay. If bush comes to shove, and just really hits the fan, and you'll see I'm not a peaceful person. Prepared for war always, so. Yeah, it's just, you know, just...
00:26:15
Speaker
and if you're born naturally. Yeah. so you So what I'm getting from you is that there's a there's an inner fight in you. You feel a burning inside, there's an inner fight that's just always there.
00:26:28
Speaker
Undying. Never quitting. Doesn't even know quit.
00:26:34
Speaker
Yeah, a long story, but the consultant had told Harry that they were getting rid of me and sending me to an offering home.
French Foreign Legion's Impact on Resilience
00:26:45
Speaker
And when Harry asked why, he was all because your brother is never going to get better. And when Harry told me that, my ability to speak was very poor at the time.
00:27:01
Speaker
And I just went all in front of chastle. But my thinking was... I'm a fucking legioner, we don't do that shit. and that was And did the legion instill that mindset in you then?
00:27:14
Speaker
Yeah. So the legion instilled that mindset? Yeah, maybe I picked that up from ancestry. Ancestry? Well, the parents, grandparents. So Dinya, where did it come from? Which side of your family do you think?
00:27:32
Speaker
I say both, but move so thequat was like more the More so the Scottish. If you look up Jake Turin, 1936. Yeah.
00:27:44
Speaker
nineteen thirty six yeah That was the boxing name of my Scottish grandfather. Yeah. And won know the British... British champion. Yeah. thank you I think his weight was Walter Waite.
00:28:03
Speaker
And he was a bit of old boy. Yeah, there's some stories about him. Yeah. Not all in the ring. her Fucking the Foreign Legion, Jesus. Are you sure about that? like I guess, you know.
00:28:15
Speaker
He... um After... We moved from Edinburgh to Galway. You know, we had the set up in Edinburgh was nice. It was great, lovely place to live and grow up and everything, you know. So to leave that behind, I think, was a jolt more for him than it was for me. Would have been a jolt for everybody like, but um early 80s. So it would have been, yeah, the late 70s.
00:28:41
Speaker
and where things were fairly down in all fairness, you know, we were kind of in Ireland, we were in a bit of a bleak situation back then. I suppose sometime throughout that period, he must have decided, as you know, I'm getting out of here.
00:28:55
Speaker
And i how am I going to get out of here? Well, that was maybe a ticket out, you know, there's no doubt for sure that he likes a challenge, you know. So maybe he saw that as like,
00:29:07
Speaker
a kind of togetherness of things, his ticket out at the same time, a challenge, seeing the world and, you know. Surprised, I, what I was, ah you'd say that, you know, you'd have to say, was I proud? I'd say it was probably the most thing, you know, i was like, Jesus, he's really gone for it, well done, you know, um because, you know, ah presumably there's not many of them that would hack it and get that far down the line where you get accepted into their kind of,
00:29:31
Speaker
Okay, so the the Legion instilled that mindset in you that we don't give up, we don't quit, we get better. How did the Legion instill that in you?
00:29:43
Speaker
The hardest thing in basic training is roughly four months. So when you join up, they conjure in a kind of like isolation from the rest of the regiment, it's the headquarters the regiment, in the band near, near Marseille.
00:30:08
Speaker
And yeah, I was lucky, was there only for Joseph and the Bois in the week. the to your medical, physical, all that kind of stuff.
00:30:23
Speaker
And there's a security screening. So, yeah, I i don't know the exact details.
00:30:35
Speaker
oh I'm um fairly fairly fairly sure that they automatically screen your name with Interpol.
00:30:48
Speaker
So any drowsy characters who want to buy into Paul, if they start up the legion, the legion would hand them over. And I was just out of school, so there wasn't much of a background story for them to check. Okay, yeah, yeah. So I got straight through to basic training in about a week.
00:31:11
Speaker
so Some guys have been there for over a month. So anyway, at the base of training, the hardest thing I found was the singing. so singing in French, and
00:31:28
Speaker
to be singing lessons, and for me, I don't know what bloody time in the evening, be doing these singing lessons and is not walking and when they're walking get up that hill so we go up on the hill come back some more singing, still wonder I get back up the hill!
00:31:58
Speaker
And so, stuff is crazy, singing, stuff like that. And the songs were pour largely about the ah culture, the tradition, about death.
00:32:13
Speaker
And it's... is
00:32:17
Speaker
I don't think the religion specifically aim to brainwash people through singing a body the culture, the tradition it definitely does have a huge effect mentally so once you punch you get your regimen and you are a legioner you have a very
00:32:51
Speaker
very definite a feeling of... the new legion and then... Everybody else? The half side world. The real world.
00:33:03
Speaker
Okay, so everybody else are civilians? Yeah. And... I think it was the second time I was on leave.
00:33:16
Speaker
It's under me. In the real world. They're all fricking crazy! In the legions there was no of religion.
00:33:29
Speaker
well Well, there is a chaplain but basically there's no religion so there was no oh you're Muslim and you're Catholic and none of that.
00:33:45
Speaker
So two guys from the Rock of the Barons are probably, know, I'd say I'd be a boss probably over the years, well over the sun, well over the sun.
00:33:59
Speaker
And I never, I never would even thought to inquire, are you Catholic? Or are you processing justice and security? Once you were legionnaire that was it, that was your identity. and yeah young I'm not going to say I'm sure, but I imagine it's similar in other military units as well.
00:34:26
Speaker
Your background is not irrelevant, but bothers fairly irrelevant. It's definitely secondary, I'd say. yeah like so when youre So you take on the identity of a legionnaire.
00:34:39
Speaker
And in that identity, in singing them songs and going up the hill and everything you go through together, in that identity, you get a lot of that strength. Is that is that yeah what you're telling me? So the identity of being a legionnaire, it's like, I'm not allowed to quit.
00:34:54
Speaker
I'll have to run up the fucking hill if I don't get this song right. like it's like So it's part of your identity as being a legionnaire, this non-quit, this... And once you're legionnaire, you're never not a legionnaire. Is that it?
00:35:05
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, no no, no, no, it's cool. I can see how there'll be a lot of strength in that. I definitely can. How often do you meet up with your old Legionnaire buddies now?
00:35:18
Speaker
Roughly warms once a year. Once a year. The biggest celebration you do in the Legion is Cameroon.
00:35:30
Speaker
Cameroon is a celebration of A unit of, I forget how many, but say 30, a lot of guys, 30 legionaries were doing a gold building escort in Mexico way back in the day 18, I think it was 1861 somewhere or anywhere.
00:36:00
Speaker
And next thing they were surrounded by 2000 Mexican bandits. Plus, give us the goals.
00:36:12
Speaker
Three bombs, said the Legion boys. And so it was a fight. All the Legioners were killed except for two.
00:36:25
Speaker
And the two who survived the And the Odyssey, the Legion blood has run out of ammunition and the Sula just charged the 2,000 Pegasus-Berders.
00:36:42
Speaker
And the Mexicans just let them go back and get the news through the crowd of what has happened.
00:36:52
Speaker
So the leader of the Legion Union, Captain Danju, He had a wooden hand and that bat hand is it's like a relic for the legion.
00:37:07
Speaker
So that hand is in the the museum, in the headquarters, regiment.
00:37:16
Speaker
So you get together every year and celebrate the hand? yes Yeah, when we meet ourselves, no mention of the hands.
00:37:28
Speaker
Yeah, just catch up with the lads, have have a meal. ah Most of your Legion buddies, I can't imagine many of them ah have had as much of a fight continuing as you yourself.
00:37:46
Speaker
You know, like you seem to be... In this kind of persistent battle with your injury, you know what I mean? you like and like You're in incredible shape for a man of your age.
00:37:58
Speaker
Are your legion buddies in that kind of shape?
00:38:04
Speaker
Somewhere in the top shape. Some matter. but But the one one thing learnt in theeion was va and the thing, you never judge a book by the cover.
00:38:22
Speaker
So some guys, they don't look anything special, but they're incredible. So even even though they might not look the best of health, you could be pleasantly surprised. I get you.
00:38:47
Speaker
You know, this determination you have, this this this indomitable little spirit you have, ah does that come from the constant challenges that you have?
00:39:00
Speaker
You know, is it constantly tested? Your speech, your walking, it takes so much concentration, so much kind of effort, at least to get to where you are are now.
00:39:14
Speaker
Do you think that kind of a...
00:39:18
Speaker
What am I trying to say here? Do you think that persistent battle has just made you stronger and stronger?
00:39:27
Speaker
To an extent. But well then when you bunch see things getting bigger bigger varoom valro bathroom and and it just becomes almost like second nature.
00:39:41
Speaker
So for example, this position I'm in now,
00:39:49
Speaker
could have offered me 20 grand to take this position for hospital split second and I wouldn't have been able to do it.
00:40:03
Speaker
And it was only after working on the glues, so the ball started here. six months really intense and once that even though I found that I could gradually move the ball up the glutes And now I can have the wall at the side.
00:40:28
Speaker
Puerra Grigman, the guy who told me about the hockey ball, he stuck his elbow in the air. And that was really intense.
00:40:39
Speaker
And after after four years of actually moving the wall up, I managed to put the hockey ball inside and I can hold this position on fairly comfortably.
00:40:56
Speaker
like There's a saying, we might never know a Churchill if there was no World War II. Whatever you think of Churchill, you get the idea. But you get the idea. you know We might never know what we're capable of until we're put in a spot where it's necessary.
00:41:13
Speaker
And like you've been in a spot where you need this strong mentality every day. You know what I mean? So is is this is it the battle that's made the man?
00:41:32
Speaker
I think that time I was in the coma, something happens in dawn the world but it were it was like a tiny chunk of light opened in the brain and over the years that chunk of light is getting bigger and bigger and bigger so the awareness is increasing and And the more it increases, the more I think about the world, myself, and such stuff I you think and ponder.
00:42:11
Speaker
I would have considered bunch of crazy or total BS only a few years ago. Such stuff like... ah
00:42:26
Speaker
As humans, our our rubb our body is is actually a farm of bacteria.
00:42:39
Speaker
And maybe one of the bacteria in our farm is the job observing the farm around us and saying, we did a pretty good job.
00:42:58
Speaker
OK, getcha.
Positive Thinking and Self-Talk for Health
00:42:59
Speaker
And then you hear crazy stuff ah about bacteria in gut, how they actually control a large amount of what's happening.
00:43:13
Speaker
When I first heard about that kind stuff, I was thinking, yeah, that can't be true. But then I thought,
00:43:25
Speaker
Yeah, well, what I do is shitty food. So I remember as a kid, he'd say Christmas when you're eating loads of chocolate, loads of... loads of no good stuff.
00:43:40
Speaker
You'd actually be looking forward to when you get back to what you'd normally be eating.
00:43:53
Speaker
And then... man Mentally, I
00:44:01
Speaker
i yeah don't effortfully give sad times. sight just call it daydreaming. So I might be um might be thinking of the killer squad to my body and telling them to out and have some fun and kill.
00:44:26
Speaker
nose The killer squad, the killer bacteria that are going to eat the bad stuff. <unk> together that That sounds all fairly lucid, Chris, but it is scientifically verifiable.
00:44:39
Speaker
And there are disarm cell intelligence. And once again, it sounds crazy, but when you look into it,
00:44:53
Speaker
just Just one simple cell is incredibly intelligent. So have you heard of that thing they call DNA?
00:45:06
Speaker
Yeah. The strand of DNA in one single cell is, I heard someone say, six foot long in one cell.
00:45:18
Speaker
And you've got a lot of cells. so to mom So my thing is that we've got all the cells, they're super cool, super smart, super intelligent, but they're and they're not streetwise.
00:45:35
Speaker
No. And because they're so intelligent, it's almost like Big Brother in reverse.
00:45:47
Speaker
They're tuned into what's being said in the brain. And, okay, there's, yeah, when you go to the, the details there, there's the subconscious mind, the conscious mind, and so on and so on. And were we're only aware so many things that they are actually happening in your mind.
00:46:10
Speaker
But you yourselves are aware of all of it.
00:46:20
Speaker
So if you wake up in the morning or after you snooze, whenever, when you wake up, with bush if you're feeling in like great, if you start saying, oh, feel like shit.
00:46:34
Speaker
What happens? The sounds are, feel like shit. Okay, bells. Feel like shit. And you feel like shit. Or if you sell your salts hey if you tell positive, it won't.
00:46:50
Speaker
something positive ah it once guarantee an improvement of others, for a very good chance that it will improve how you're feeling.
00:47:07
Speaker
So this is really going, is your, ah you're the the the where the mind goes, the body follows. So you're like, ah we can actually talk, talking to ourselves is talking to our body almost.
00:47:20
Speaker
Yeah. what I mean? So you wake up feeling shit, you're like, no I don't, I feel i feel actually okay, I feel pretty good today. I'm gonna have a good day today. And that actually brings about that day almost. There was a lad called Bob Proctor.
00:47:35
Speaker
I think he's dead now. And he is one of these kind of guru guys, kind of a business guru head. and
00:47:48
Speaker
He had a very positive influence on a hell of a lot of people and one of the school schools. If I can remember...
00:48:02
Speaker
Yeah.
00:48:07
Speaker
I can because I think I can. I am programmed for success. I believe I am a winner. i can do anything.
00:48:18
Speaker
My belief system is limitless. I can, i can, i can. And sometimes when I'm doing something basic, say I'm hung down my shoe later and I keep getting it wrong, which happens up a hell lots of a lot of times. That's all in school.
00:48:42
Speaker
I still haven't mastered it, at least not fluidly.
00:48:48
Speaker
And there's times, yeah, you're not going through the whole course. If I just say, can, I can, I can, suddenly, the attempt does, doing up the shoelace sticks and get it done. You get it done, yeah, yeah.
00:49:08
Speaker
So the mind has to convince the body sometimes. And the verbalization of it, even the internal kind of verbalization of it helps a lot. Yeah. like
00:49:18
Speaker
towards There was a guy, can never remember his name, PhD professor Stanford. and he was explaining the science of how if you change your internal dialogue from the the first person to the second person, so instead of saying, I can, I can, I can, because you can't you can, you can, you can, the message to your brain illuminates.
00:49:52
Speaker
A lot of activity in the frontal cortex I, I, it's more, it's more beneficial to talk that way to yourself.
00:50:03
Speaker
Okay. It's, it's almost like, to to me, it feels almost like there's an external detail there looking down, saying to me, you can, you can, you can. Yeah, I get that.
00:50:29
Speaker
So you gotta be your own priest in a way. Yeah.
00:50:36
Speaker
One of the best things about being your own, whatever you want to call it, is sheep. It's sheep. There's no collection plate that goes around.
00:50:47
Speaker
I'm just gonna break up for a moment, do a few slides. I will chat to myself. Then we'll get to the cruise in a minute. No worries about that. And say, should the universe won't see.
00:51:01
Speaker
I am an all-there's last. I am the object to positive attention. I am appreciating your constituencies on behalf of my wellbeing and to thee.
00:51:14
Speaker
No matter where no matter where I'm going, no matter what I'm doing, and no matter who I'm taking to it, I will be conscious of what you do to do with me.
00:51:28
Speaker
Jack Cruz.
00:51:32
Speaker
was treating patients the way he was thought for many years and then he had his own health challenges and he
00:51:54
Speaker
basically figured out that there's more to the human body and what they tell you about the medical school.
00:52:13
Speaker
And he figured out that light had a huge impact on the functioning of the body physically, mentally, emotionally.
00:52:25
Speaker
And it's only three years back when I first became aware of him. Or when I first became aware of him. and what I learned from Jack Cruz told me, or it answered a hell of a lot of I had about the way sun gazing affecting me.
00:52:59
Speaker
Oh, me too, and the cough just, yeah.
00:53:43
Speaker
The first time I got to see him really as an adult was when he had come back from the Foreign Legion, you know, and and he was a spectacular looking man then, you know. And I remember his mum here. Mum was lovely, Nora. I just remember that Nora had these boys. I mean, that really would be the first time I kind of really knew about Liam before I knew Liam. that She was a lovely lady. She was a very warm, lovely personality.
00:54:07
Speaker
And, you know, so before I ever met him, I knew that there was this Liam and Reuben. The fact that he was in the Foreign Legion got through that, you know, that required an extraordinary mental a ability as well as physical ability. So I'd say that helped him then when he faced his challenges then, you know, after we got the meningitis, you know. yeah so Nobody else would have. but Nobody else. If he didn't have that, he wouldn't be alive still and walking.
00:54:31
Speaker
if he didn't have If he didn't have that extra resilience, strength, whatever it is, you know, I think there wouldn't be a chance that he would be alive. That's what, so I'd say he had to have it for it.
00:54:43
Speaker
That's what made him different, made him get better and walk and everything. Yeah, definitely. And he's part of the public of Galway now, so he's got, you know, a lot of people know him and they're always delighted to see him, you know. And I think the publicity he's got and that feature in the newspaper and all that, more people know about him now. And I remember years ago when his bike was stolen or something, there was a thing and people saw him the man with bike. You know, when he had quite the, you know, his first bike was the three weeks. And that's what he's been known. Yeah, he is. Yeah.
00:55:17
Speaker
He's definitely, you know, a big part of the fabric. He's very admired. He really is. He's very admired. And not just inside the family, but outside the family. Oh, absolutely. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've been looking, but I can't find anyone to say a bad word about them. Yeah, yeah.
00:55:37
Speaker
He's a regular. He's a fun Always making jokes or everything. yeah it's Always having, like, a a good vibe, you know? Yeah, he does have a good vibe. He's a nice guy. I like him. And his story as well, like the story that he has this is like is this is a completely challenging for for everything. in What he passed and but the the way he faced the the life is incredible for me.
00:56:01
Speaker
I think this is the most
00:56:05
Speaker
the most like challenging thing that you you can you can have in your life and it's still like facing like as ah as a fun thing you know I don't know i don't know if it was myself like I would be like this kind of a situation it would face like the same way you know
00:56:39
Speaker
No, I mean when I saw him the first time in Erskuer... I kind of didn't look. Is your man doing? kind of you know I didn't know him then, I only saw it and he was like... Which, the greek news that makes me... It's 20 euro kilo. And if you cross a big square in that temple.
00:57:02
Speaker
back But he was just... like this' where were not sitting sound I'm not I'm not giving up. And he's still like 20. The most positive person in the
00:57:56
Speaker
He's already famous. We
00:58:06
Speaker
see him every week, we see him every week. Rain or shine is here. You have organic fruit here. Organic veg, yeah. We grow the most with ourselves. This time of year we're buying it for bits, but for the rest of the year they're all growing ourselves and having our money.
00:58:30
Speaker
I'm always impressed at Liam's
00:58:57
Speaker
get up and go, nothing stops Liam despite being the wibbly wobbly man. You you know it's really, that's an amazing thing.
00:59:18
Speaker
time, well we've known Liam a good many years now and always impressed with his determination.
00:59:37
Speaker
Sorry.
00:59:56
Speaker
Sushi. How are you? Enjoying life. Reel for the sunshine, Reel. Yeah, I've all day in the sun, but apart from a cup of coffee. Where'd you go, the long walk?
01:00:15
Speaker
down down down at the beach and then we went for a long walk and then went for a cup of tea fall told the world um so call the gen we tell you coffee was time the time to Yeah, yeah. Was it windy like, is that why?
01:00:45
Speaker
Yeah, Kultruuuu! Kultru, yeah. Too bad though, these now. Don't worry.
01:00:52
Speaker
bo boy
01:00:57
Speaker
Do
01:01:02
Speaker
you know Liam from coming here? while now, yeah. One of our regulars. yeah How long have you been coming here, maybe? For the officers, how's it going here?
01:01:15
Speaker
I was a lot smaller when Liam started coming here. Really? Yeah. I'd say 10 years old, maybe Liam. I don't know now, Jesus. It's been too long.
01:01:26
Speaker
It's always in early as well. forgot how to cancel it. How would I describe Liam?
01:01:38
Speaker
how would i describe le Very kind, course. Very funny. and
01:01:47
Speaker
He's quick with the humor, of course. and I don't know. A good friend. An old friend. As I've not known him for a long time.
01:01:58
Speaker
I'd say, yeah, that's what I've got to say about him.
01:02:28
Speaker
He's so positive, positive thinking all the way. Great man. Great man. Yeah? i ah love lyn name you. nice. Yeah.
01:02:57
Speaker
In the summertime,
01:03:06
Speaker
get some fruits over a cot to a soul and then plunk on the warm grass, have a feast and then stretch on the railings under the sun.
01:04:02
Speaker
Yeah, we have very nice chats at the shop and stuff. And what yeah, he was just like talking about this... Basically how the sunlight feeds us more than food. together Well, from what I understood. But I'm just taking a picture to research that.
01:04:21
Speaker
um
01:04:41
Speaker
So, this is a lovely, genuine person, just with a huge heart, just really strong, i would say. That's Liam. He's always in a good mood, always has a bit of joy, sunshine to spread, so he's a wonderful person.
01:05:00
Speaker
Oh, Liam was my neighbour in Culloch. I knew Liam when he was in the Foreign Legion, when he was a young man. you knew him growing up? Yeah, I saw him yeah when he was in when he was joined the Foreign Legion back many years ago.
01:05:15
Speaker
It's 5 to 92. Yeah, yeah. Do you remember him coming home with all his muscles? I remember him coming home, running up and down our road, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He was always training. How would you describe him? Oh, he's an amazing guy. had great time for him meeting now. He's an inspirational guy, yeah. Thank you very much, yeah. He's just a strength of his resilience and his mindset. Excellent, Jack. Always in good form. Anytime I meet him, he's always a good human. When I was at the hospital in Glasgow,
01:05:52
Speaker
the hosts alone are bo I heard he was studying in Edinburgh and it would be a hell of a long trek to come through. Edinburgh was only 50 miles away, so that's an hour on the stream, but then they'd have to get two buses after the through the storm of getting in and all the rock and blah blah blah.
01:06:22
Speaker
I'm to go to the beach. ah you myha yeah ah butens yeah um My first trip away from Glasgow was down to Paisley, ah an aunt and uncle.
01:06:40
Speaker
The uncle was working with the two. I think the plant in Galway was close, but they still had one in Paisley, so he was over on the six-month school track.
01:06:55
Speaker
So Harry's picking me up at the hospital we drove down. One of his flatmates had bought an hospital for Romeo for 50 quid. Is it cheap out for Romeo?
01:07:09
Speaker
And again, cheap, it was a Fred and Ross pocket. Oh man, could this thing move? And again, I've been stuck stopp in the door months.
01:07:22
Speaker
and ah Harry is hot. He's a great driver, really fast but you feel safe. yeah you so His senses are so up here, he's flaking down.
01:07:39
Speaker
I feel like you get on, you're in the lift is going up too fast and your belly feels like the sword is below.
01:07:52
Speaker
I felt like this time and time again on the way down. what But all I wasing was saying was faster, faster, faster. I feel this phase after me.
01:08:05
Speaker
Stuck in the room for months. That was pure bliss. true bliss Yeah,
01:08:14
Speaker
What the danger, thrill? You'd live such a such a fucking thrilling life really, going to the Legion. Rugby is a buzz, it's just got danger. Didn't you decide to feck off and go up and knock on the door of the French foreign legion and say can you let us in please? And they did. So then you ended up in the high level elite parachute regiment.
01:08:36
Speaker
And then Then you went climbing the Himalayas or the foothills of the Himalayas. Then you were in Egypt and you were doing diving over there.
01:08:47
Speaker
Then you went to Scotland, to Fort William, and that's where you were training to become a commercial diver. I mean, danger and thrills are like all throughout that.
01:08:59
Speaker
So when you were in the hospital, even though you didn't believe the doctors when they said you weren't going to walk or talk again,
01:09:09
Speaker
What about the thrill, what about the buzz, did you think, where's the danger going to come from, how am I going to be thrilled, buzzed?
01:09:20
Speaker
I'll get to several, or no, several, two of the things you just mentioned, the thrill and, yeah, the 80s it's escaped to me.
Early Recovery Challenges and Family Support
01:09:34
Speaker
The food, the food. The food. And food. Yeah, when I you originally started five minutes ago talking about Harry coming from Ettriment, eventually was shipped on to Ettriment to them off the Brain Injuries Unit of Scotland.
01:09:53
Speaker
And that's the repetition. That's where Harry was sold. Yeah, i was going to North England. bob But, but... Because of what saint that bro I in to just hop on the bike five ten minutes he was so hard with me, so it was a great.
01:10:14
Speaker
But i here remember ok the first real escrowade out of hospital, where they stripped down to Basel. That was my first, half-or-nine trip away from hospital.
01:10:26
Speaker
And then in the Eddremburg, remember Harry brought me down to his flat. ah And we were, his flat was on the first floor.
01:10:38
Speaker
No lift. um It was incomprehensible to picture or even to fathom. They asked me to walk up the stairs like I couldn't even get up to the wheelchair.
01:10:52
Speaker
I'm sitting in the wheelchair. I've standing behind and just... jo pulling it up step by step. I was about to do this cucumber thinking, if let's go, I'm a big trouble.
01:11:10
Speaker
So that was a bit of a thrill in the song, worrying that he might let go. So Harry was pulling you back up the stairs one by one by one by one. Yeah. And you were actually enjoying that. The thought that he might drop you, just being in danger, just...
01:11:25
Speaker
Well, that's an easy feeling about Nash and Pyle Felt News. I felt that I was getting back to the rules of reality, of the real world war.
01:11:38
Speaker
Of sight glass actually occurred. and you the
01:11:46
Speaker
I remember those stairs where the steps going up to my in my my apartment in Edinburgh, you know, um lovely old place it was, lovely place. and um But to get him up there, Jesus Christ, and it was like pulling him up the stairs, you know, backwards.
01:12:02
Speaker
um I wouldn't try it now. And but back then, fortunately, he probably weighed a lot less than he does now. And I was probably a bit more,
01:12:14
Speaker
a bit more backbone to me, you know, so, um so yeah, and then I do recall that thing in Edinburgh, it's like, it's not like San Francisco's, but there are one or two downhill kind of things, and am I was messing with him then, all right, like, and then letting go of the wheelchair, and he was just like, you
01:12:34
Speaker
and just grabbing it before it was like too late for him. He was like down the end of the street, straight into bin or something into the back of a bus. But ah yeah, I suppose just to have a bit of crack, I suppose, you know. but the At this stage now, like when you're when you were in the hospital and you were going through all this stuff,
01:12:53
Speaker
Was there no element of, fuck this, I'm just going to curl up and fucking go to that nursing home and fuck the world, I'm done. Was there any element of that? Did you have to fight that feeling or was it just not present?
01:13:07
Speaker
It was never came Never came up. Yeah, the dreams I had, it was, have have you seen the film?
01:13:19
Speaker
body statues. No. Right. You need to see that, thousandt that film. You know how the people say, oh, exorcist, the film. Exorcist.
01:13:33
Speaker
How many people are saying that correct? Yeah, yeah, the exorcist, yeah. Yeah, the exorcist. Yeah, the people going about how scary that is. That, okay, it is scary, but you know it's make-believe.
01:13:47
Speaker
But the body statues, Fuck me man, it's the shit-fucking-real.
01:14:00
Speaker
That the bullshit with Covid of this......by supposedly taking over the world......it was......that was a Jameson version of the Body Snatchers.
01:14:14
Speaker
But the elite character in the Body Snatchers......at the end of the film... The entire human race has been...
01:14:26
Speaker
Snatched. Yeah. They've been overtaken by your virus. The way it would rock The virus would...
01:14:38
Speaker
get this airport, it came from outer space and the film shows the speckles of dust coming through the atmosphere and when a person would fall asleep the watchers would strike then and as they were sleeping carbon copy of them, like a clone, would go in minutes inside them and the sleeping person would never awaken.
01:15:12
Speaker
Their clone would, but the clone would become like a human. It looked like human, but it didn't have vocalization. And eventually the virus overtook the whole human race.
01:15:27
Speaker
And the virus could detect
01:15:33
Speaker
who was a colon and who was a human by reading the human thoughts. So they'll ask humans who that, as long as they didn't think in such a way, the virus wouldn't detect them. So this guy was functioning okay in the world of these humans that were overtaken by the virus.
01:16:02
Speaker
one slipped And in his mental health and the crowd of humans around him just thinking about everything in the street, just stopped, punches at the guy and...
01:16:20
Speaker
And that's when the film stopped. and in this room all the all these white girls who were trying to kill me they were like that
01:16:34
Speaker
So you had recently watched the Body Snatchers or it was still in your memory? Yeah, and in the room at the end the last part I remember of the room was outside the hospital and my oh my evening My mission was to get back into the hospital.
01:16:53
Speaker
And I was black naked, freezing cold. Got into the and I must have been in the hospital canteen. I was hiding under the table and there was all these elegant legs and high heels.
01:17:13
Speaker
black tight and white the white, the gold, the skirt. And over on the other side of room was a kebab.
01:17:29
Speaker
I drank kebab. And ah my penis was in the kebab. <unk> And I'm under the, under the table.
01:17:42
Speaker
I'm well-liked naked distance and blue is gone. Because it's in the kebab. Yeah. There was a film, I forget the name of it. For some reason, Alanis Marisakam's mind, maybe... Maybe they were using her ah vocals, or maybe she started in the... I can't remember, but there was an angel appeared to a human, and...
01:18:08
Speaker
He's sitting inside, no! You're a fucking angel! And he goes, what do you mean I'm not an angel? Look, I'm there! Nothing! I'm an angel!
01:18:20
Speaker
I remember that. This was all in your dream? Yeah. And looking up at the kebab and I'm thinking, how about I'm going to sneak over there and somehow get my penis out of the kebab?
01:18:35
Speaker
And the next thing,
01:18:38
Speaker
I'm in the room and Harry's telling me the good news of, yeah, you're going to be an awkward, someone get this thing called Mindy Jackness, which is extremely weird.
01:18:52
Speaker
And then on top of that, you're going to be a really, really, really awkward galoot, and you're going to get an extremely weird form, like weird form disease.
01:19:06
Speaker
And I'm listening and I've regularly heard any men in Shaka somewhere before. I don't know what that is, but I do know something you don't want to have in contact with.
01:19:22
Speaker
It's all good with Harry. He paints it very positively, makes And none of this, me below the old you for urine for the shit or anything like that.
01:19:36
Speaker
yeah He presented it with a, ah, I can have a spine on the wing. But like, it was a challenge. He looked and said, but came across and said, oh, you think you're a soft motherfucker?
01:19:52
Speaker
Let's see how you get after this one. See, it's going to grow. And he heads off. And I'm in the bed. OK.
01:20:06
Speaker
Not much happening. The big movement in Norwich town.
01:20:15
Speaker
I left up the sheet and she was blue and I was i convinced 100% there was going to be a slow hands configuration of 12 pinnaces.
01:20:32
Speaker
And after quite some time, I was propped up in pillows, so I had a... didn't have to raise my separation. I went out to the way to lift the sheets, not a few.
01:20:46
Speaker
And there was only one penis. That was your one? Yeah. It was all mine. And...
01:20:55
Speaker
It wasn't a dissuade that there was only one.
01:21:02
Speaker
It sounds like when were you like you were in a bit of ah a kind of fever dream, so from when the meningitis happened to you in the apartment until you kind of woke up in the bed and saw Harry, your consciousness was somewhere, but it was in some dream and all these like horror movies and stuff were coming back to you and were making up some kind of world that you were in. That sounds really fucking frightening.
01:21:28
Speaker
have with the trauma from the...
01:21:38
Speaker
So the brain injury was crushing... Men got died as basically a cross-gen injury from outside and I had a cross-gen injury from inside because I I was shaking so much.
01:22:00
Speaker
so ho over to shops law vote checking the crazy now with hyperventil I And, yeah, they just paralysed the lungs. I don't have to wash them, but they paralysed me and the lungs stopped working full, so they put me on the ventilator.
01:22:25
Speaker
loved what they do, stop wasting energy, trying to
01:22:31
Speaker
and worked on fighting the medical problem um and then there was something that went wrong sir in these's field of bosom i del says we should you tune the only so on the Great Southern General and we shipped through to the basketball family for diagnosis and yeah, I was happily sleep for all of this so I'm not sure how many times I went back and forth the lungs field, kidneys field, the heart nerves the kidneys field because there was a dramatic weight loss I think the name
01:23:21
Speaker
yeah i think the le me think the new
01:23:28
Speaker
Rabdo, I always say, yeah, rabdo something. I don't even remember his rap do what happening because the because perhaps he knows it.
01:23:40
Speaker
And so, but that you get that way from too much protein hitting the kidneys. So yeah, the body was just gobbling up on the muscle.
01:23:52
Speaker
And yeah, flattered the kidneys kidneys. So there was a lot of trauma to the body. And then with drugs to counteract the trauma, I was pretty confused. Yeah, man, you were going through you were going through some amount of stuff at the same time.
01:24:14
Speaker
So... it confusable ah was psychologist around......wrecking there was a state of euphoria......so could drop a pin in the room......and... I found freaking hilarious!
01:24:37
Speaker
But you still smile a lot, humour is a big part of your life. I remember yeah as time went by, I was vocalizing again, but vocalizing fully.
01:24:50
Speaker
and The best example I can think of of how poorly it was. When the came to the rooms or whatever, and toroom the waterbo
01:25:07
Speaker
And when she was leaving, she asked, will I to do or my myself move And she looked at her.
01:25:22
Speaker
I remember giggling at that thing and I'm really in the shoot. She thought I said the opposite of I said. So instead of hearing what I said no, she heard yes.
01:25:38
Speaker
And then physio At the
01:25:50
Speaker
yeah are forgot what you call them, they're cannabidiolves and I was supposed to throw them to visitors and they throw them back to me back and forth. yeah Yeah, seriously.
01:26:12
Speaker
But she, she has threw the wall to you. If I threw the wall, no. It will wipe your hands. But back then I'm lying in bed.
01:26:24
Speaker
I'm like the old wall. since i those her It will land there. And I'm hiding. I think I'm fully in the shit here.
01:26:37
Speaker
I'll land over the head. mumin la mean It must have been some come down from the like the physical kind of peaks that you were at. you know it's not it like a People get sick you know but and and they they lose their physique, but like they lose their physical abilities, but not many of them would have had the physical abilities that you had at the time to lose. It must have been a big...
01:27:07
Speaker
and I know you don't like you don't seem to concentrate on the loss or the negatives, but it must have been it must it must have been a big hit to to lose that much. like Like you were described earlier by one of the lads, you look like fucking James Bond back then, you know what I mean? In all your foreign legion gear and that.
01:27:24
Speaker
So, what they did not was it not in your head Jesus, it wasn't that long ago I was so strong and so big and so... Yeah, but I hope the lad referring to James Olin was talking to talking about John Connery. Back there, other than Sidney Farty Muhammad Ali, two black dudes.
01:27:52
Speaker
too black this by far the most beautiful man I've ever, okay, could be me, but to me they're the two most beautiful men And...
01:28:07
Speaker
um
01:28:10
Speaker
The next most beautiful, beautiful handsome man of Sean Connery. But Sean Connery is number one on the list as far as I'm concerned.
01:28:24
Speaker
He's a handsome sexiness. Okay. At lad. Can you imagine when there was young guy in his element, he could walk into a room, a room full of strange women, and all the women would almost unable to stand because their knees had turned to jelly.
01:28:47
Speaker
You're just trying to pick up the Scottish accent that he had. those have his yeah Speaking of Muhammad Ali, he's another man who who had an incredible physical prowess.
01:28:58
Speaker
I mean, everybody knows who he was, what he did. But that that that too, there was something very sad about that because he lost it That was the thing that he lost and he lost his speech, which was so, I mean, that is what he was famous for.
01:29:14
Speaker
um I watched an interview with Muhammad Ali and the guy was kind of asking him how does it feel when people feel sorry for you and how does it feel when you get sympathy and he said, he said very slowly but still rhyming, wasn nobody should feel sorry for me because I'm still Muhammad Ali.
Yoga, Positivity, and Continuous Improvement
01:30:26
Speaker
Dave Cunningham is my name. I know from around Galway but first got to know him when he started coming to my yoga classes. So I taught yoga full time for about 12 years in Galway and i used to teach the Connacht rugby team and my wife Lara and I had think five yoga studies at one stage. But I got to know Liam because he came to the classes ah in one in the place above above Little that time, I think it was Liam. And he used to come into the classes and he was kind of on his journey of recovery.
01:31:01
Speaker
and would come into the class and just be incredibly positive and just go for everything and then we just became friends used to chat after the class or you know he'd be going around town in the bike or need a lift somewhere throw the bike in the boot if need be but uh you know i've come across a lot of people down through the years i still teach yoga on sunday nights uh probably done it now for like 20 years at this point um so like i've seen a lot of people approach yoga and approach approach life in different ways. I'm in business, I started a place called The Porter Shed with some friends, a tech club in the city and that. was
01:31:40
Speaker
But the thing about Liam that um always inspires me is just the always keep improving all of the striving and effort that he does and the relentless positivity which is just infectious. Sometimes I'd be in the class and I'd see him there doing what can do We saw good improvements coming with the yoga, but it's just the relentless positivity and striving to go forward that I think is just inspiring for anyone. I've been fortunate to have lot of professional athletes and Galway Hurling teams and football teams and All-Ireland winners in the classes and that, but there were very that would give me as much joy to see as Liam. Incredible guy.
01:32:45
Speaker
Thank you.
01:34:07
Speaker
So I in the cheese shop and that's how I know He comes in for St. Olaj, it's always the same thing. And he's always lovely, he's always a great crack. He's good fun.
01:34:19
Speaker
And then the odd time as well, I'd turn to church and see him working out. And up where I live I see him cycling. So he's someone that I kind of have a rough idea, someone's mentioned before,
01:34:30
Speaker
the condition that he's in but to keep going the way he does I think is really impressive and I think he's really strong and to keep having fun the way he does is a really cool thing so yeah props to Luke
01:34:58
Speaker
have say that's pretty impressive, Liam. Thanks.
01:35:08
Speaker
In time, the the need will come to the base in time. Is that what you plan to do? Yeah. So be bent like totally in half? Yeah.
01:35:23
Speaker
So do... At first, so that really... And the you know the competitive divers, the the Olympics and the sports divers, to be jumping up the diving wars and guys going through the air and the knees right up at the race. I always thought that was super cool.
01:35:51
Speaker
it is. But it's only in the last few months that I found out how to gain that flexibility and this it takes time but it's shit easy.
01:36:08
Speaker
Really? I showed you the thing.
01:36:13
Speaker
Yeah, we saw it on YouTube. Yeah, I got a gymnast giving Yeah, giving not tutorial but tips like. Yeah. guy a First saw this guy talking about how to
01:36:34
Speaker
Bill Smith, he's the guy that first me made me aware of. You know that thing I was telling you about? When you go from press to you're in the position, this guy has a couple of hands on the floor or a couple of signs, he's pressing on them, tilts his head forward and at the same time his legs come up.
01:36:58
Speaker
Of course, <unk> I'm under a frigging gap in the canopy.
01:37:07
Speaker
And now your single face to you. No worries.
01:37:14
Speaker
And this is like, okay, I met you this morning, and we were at the beach. Then you went over, you did these similar exercises with the hockey ball. A few times throughout the day now, maybe three or four, you stopped to do the squats in different places.
01:37:29
Speaker
And now we're back doing the hockey ball exercises again. Are these necessary? Yeah. And what is it that happens if if you don't do these? shows If I don't do these, one, then these get through.
01:37:45
Speaker
Two, I become a danger to myself and others. no Not those having a stable gate. Okay.
01:37:56
Speaker
So these help you walk up and down the street and keep your balance and all that stuff. So if you don't do these, you don't really do much? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't do these because I want to be on Instagram and one up one day saying, look at me! woke up with a super body just like that!
01:38:18
Speaker
well ah Well, actually, i took a pill. It's a mixture of Zenbeck and some other magic ingredients.
01:38:31
Speaker
With the way the advertisers for Zenbeck go on, You swear it was 1000% beneficial with zero side effects.
01:38:44
Speaker
It's also garbage. Yeah, I don't know much about a Zempeg now. Oh, it's really bad. Is it? There's a lot people taking it now. You can see why people take a Zempeg, they're really overweight.
01:39:00
Speaker
pause
01:39:04
Speaker
The way I see it, anything you seek in a artificial pile, gears towards the weight loss, it's not so addressing the root cause, just covering things up.
01:39:18
Speaker
And then there's things first that are free, like sleep, yeah getting up to the family, catching your ass outdoors, stop wasting your life watching on TV and looking at all this blue light screen garbage.
01:39:38
Speaker
and trying to become aware that just like me you're a stick as shit and no jack shit. we We think we know a lot, we know both Italy. Yeah, yeah. The famous man once said, I'm smart because I know I know nothing.
01:39:56
Speaker
Yeah, and once again actually forgot who said that? ah ah Socrates. Socrates, you're right. hu no How far back is he? A couple couple of thousand years? Two and a half, three thousand years ago. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He was wise to it then, I guess. but earth As far as I remember, he was...
01:40:18
Speaker
something like 60, 70 years old when he stopped himself. Well, always I always say stopped himself, he didn't have much of a choice. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:40:29
Speaker
I'm not sure what age he was actually, I don't know that. I don't know that what age he was when he died. Yeah, I think he think was elderly. Yeah, I think we have a bit of a misconception when we talk about ah lifespan back back in the olden years. I mean, with infant mortality. That's exactly what I will come to mention. So even when I was young, all the all these great artists, how many of them died when they were 30?
01:41:03
Speaker
It's a bit like saying I've only got half a finger with which to count those deaths under 30 years of age amongst the the so well-known people in history. its history they're all We're fairly getting, well, no, no, but most of them are or beyond 50. Yeah. Yeah, if you made it through the infusage, you were what we now call a tough motherfucker.
01:41:35
Speaker
But, to me, you've talked about heat a few times during the day, but I don't think we've got it on camera. Body heat and body temperature is very important to you.
01:41:45
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. So yes it's changing over the years. So when I took fallerness for cold was zero. yeah Yeah, get cold even on a beautiful sunny day.
01:42:06
Speaker
I wouldn't wear shirts, firstly because it would take me about three days to do one button. But then if ah if someone didn't do a button for me, drafts would get in.
01:42:22
Speaker
So when one even now, if start dribbling, the coordination just goes to shit. Okay, so so a lot of these exercises that you do throughout the day is just kind of keep the muscles warm, them keep them flexible, keep them moving.
01:42:39
Speaker
as Yeah, obviously to maintain flexibility and all that, but the main reason is I want to walk up the street without this frightening, the ladies are happen. I walk me up the street, a mother goes past.
01:42:59
Speaker
and it it in her left arm hand is the right hand of her shoulder and the right arm is all like this and the kids being dragged off the street the kids are busy looking back at me thinking what the fuck is that and I've never seen one of those before that Yeah, you see the look of complete mystification the trail. It's hilarious.
01:43:26
Speaker
Kids don't hide that kind of stuff like we do. Yeah, it hasn't happened in the world but obviously you prefer the situation not to rise. Okay, so yeah so ideally you want to walk up the street and nobody realize there's something wrong with you. Yeah, so things like I phrased that wrong, there's nothing wrong with it, nobody realizes you're dealing with it. Yeah, yeah I used to be concerned towards... What's the word?
01:43:57
Speaker
Well the word for brain damage, someone's badly brain damage, vegetable, human vegetable. Oh God, nobody's calling it out. Oh yeah, back in the day when I was offered to call, people thought I'd become a human vegetable. Was that the prognosis kind of thing? And they were going switch off the machine. Fucking hell.
01:44:18
Speaker
Yeah, by my aunt in... She's now living in Back sorry. Back then she was living in Toronto. She's now in Vancouver.
01:44:32
Speaker
She's packed her bags to come back for the funeral. That's how close it was. Your auntie? Yeah. She packed her bags to come back for the funeral? Yeah. well Well, that was a...
01:44:46
Speaker
you're You're pretty much a miracle that you're here at all, aren't you? Never mind doing what you do. Yeah, extremely lucky. Only recently, that time, she messaged me about that on WhatsApp.
01:44:58
Speaker
And she said, the pack in my case, she had car inside the case. And then she wrote the notes down under the mattress saying that you be case, suitcase instead of car.
01:45:12
Speaker
And I wrote back, yeah, I would have loved to have seen you rolling up for check and and your... yeah room Now the motor slinking up the whole terminal building with your exhaust fumes.
01:45:31
Speaker
The Scottish the family, they were all a bit bananas. Well, good crack good cracking. Yeah, pretty crack. And aunt Jeannie, she's actually mother's aunt, but Jeannie was only I think five years older than my mother or so.
01:45:52
Speaker
They hung not together through all their lives. And a I remember that before the showgirl went to see Jeannie in Glasgow with Harry.
01:46:05
Speaker
And I was laughing so much. My my guts were in pain afterwards leaving the house. My guts, my, what do they call them? My, my, They were in pain. They felt like me doing a section of sit-ups.
01:46:25
Speaker
I get you. That's a nice pain though from laughing, that gut pain. Yeah, and the word dog was finished to use inside the bananas was batty.
01:46:36
Speaker
Batty? yeah Scottish word, read Scottish word. You've gone batty.
01:46:45
Speaker
Tell us about your motherly.
01:46:48
Speaker
Have you ever seen... Let me think of her name...
01:46:56
Speaker
The actress who starred in film... Of the World War II movie... The place, Merkle... Oh man... Lauren Beckel... Oh yeah?
01:47:15
Speaker
She was on the late show... I had the whole audience eating out of her. She had them wrapped her arms her pinky and I was... That's my mother.
01:47:27
Speaker
She looked that much like your mum? No, it's not Luke's pinky. My mum was an intellectual, a bit of a slumber, but her charisma. So yeah I remember back when and when I was a teenager,
01:47:43
Speaker
As in Bray Hill, some strangers come to the house. I can't remember what they do what they were doing. Maybe they were to help us with us or something like that. I'm not sure, but Mother of Might is in them.
01:48:00
Speaker
Capacines all have jazz. of They felt like they were the string strings in their beloved dance. She had that effect on people. okay And they were asking me about strength, in strength, early on.
01:48:21
Speaker
move I was in ancestry is where the largely comes around and you were asking what side is the family and they say yeah both but both but mostly Scottish.
01:48:33
Speaker
And definitely got quite a bit of that from my mother. Son, son, son! And what age were you when she passed? just twenty yeah
01:48:48
Speaker
Just over two weeks before i was 21 and on that day she was with me 50 so he was fairly close. I was her eldest child as well. Yeah, yeah.
01:49:00
Speaker
So you were already in the Legion? Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I... think single is largely through Harry who was bedding the regiment to let them know the situation and I was allowed to go back to Edinburgh to visit her on her death page she was in the hostiles and when I was single back to her That's the first time i've said, I love you, Mum.
01:49:32
Speaker
And that's the last time I had a proper cry. the The cry was oh extremely painful. All the muscles in my face, for all those muscles were in pain.
01:49:48
Speaker
Yeah, just from being so contorted. Yeah. So, yeah, the nurse had got to crying like that again. was only a few years ago during the pandemic. Her ah best friend, Rudy, died.
01:50:06
Speaker
And when I got news, I got a similar facial sensation of pain, but the eyes could feel them. and
01:50:22
Speaker
To feel them welling up and nothing would come. The last time you died, you cried was when you were 20. Yeah, so that was, yeah, 88. And
01:50:36
Speaker
and you say you got a lot of strength from your mom. And a couple of people I've talked to even today have mentioned your mom and how much how lovely she was and all. Yeah? Yeah, up in the up in the the cafe there with your cousin and his his wife. All right. His wife mentioned her.
01:50:51
Speaker
um Do you think something calcified in you after her death? Oh yeah. Something hardened? Yeah, I... I think I mentioned to you before... the... what was the... kind of... some kind of ah magic ball or magic martial ball along those lines of the jungle.
01:51:15
Speaker
And... think I need to do something like that to get in touch with emotions. Yeah, after the feeling, kind of closed things off.
01:51:27
Speaker
And you closed them off when you were 20, 21? Yeah. So I tend to not to get overly involved emotionally.
01:51:37
Speaker
And have you have ah have you had ah ah like ah a partner, a woman? that That's a soror one now. Yeah, I know. I'm hoping that you're in pain already so you won't mind talking because that ball is sitting under your butt.
01:51:51
Speaker
Everything was done and he was meant to ah come back down to me in Edinburgh, stay there a couple of nights with me, I think. And then he was heading to, I didn't know it, but he was heading to Amsterdam where he had a sweetheart waiting for him, you know?
01:52:08
Speaker
Yeah. And... um I can't remember if it was Amsterdam because he was going out there on a job or he found a job or because he was going to meet this, his lady. um I can't remember her name. She was an Australian woman.
01:52:22
Speaker
I met her subsequently to that. But anyway, God love her. She was waiting for him ah over there. And I was waiting for him in bloody well Edinburgh like, and there no sign of him, you know.
01:52:35
Speaker
like Like any man, met women here and there over the years. But it wasn't and until I was 20, 14, not long after I you left the legion, I met a girl and we be got so well.
01:52:54
Speaker
This was in Egypt. youtube ah We flew into London together and I headed back to Galway and she had her way.
01:53:12
Speaker
But yeah I thought, yeah, that's just bye-bye. End of story. But what she got the graphics. So I contacted the door and I was yeah i was saying that I'm doing my course in Midlake Wing course in Fort William.
01:53:30
Speaker
I'll see you after that.
01:53:34
Speaker
And only, yeah, I remember, but only a week or two before I wrote a quick, I was saying, yeah, I'll be over shortly.
01:53:47
Speaker
iroing yeah i'll be over shortly um She drove back giving instructions all together and she'd be here working, left at myself and blah blah bla blah.
01:54:01
Speaker
And of course, I never, I never showed. So, because you got sick? Yeah, she thought I stood there up and in the meantime she met someone else and we're still in contact.
01:54:20
Speaker
Yeah, she's really a close friend but yeah, that's it. So the closest she came was kind of that girl. Yeah. hu But she thought you stood her up, if but actually you got meningitis and got sick and were hospital and are still dealing with the consequences of that. and and Strange world. It's a very strange world. And I know I'm getting deep here now, but i I know there's women around this town that that fancy you and talk highly of you and all them, you know what I mean?
01:54:49
Speaker
but like you've just never you're not able to get close to them is that it? It's... yeah I don't know it just never happens ah yeah I find yeah I don't know if it's my imagination what but I find that when I get anywhere near close to a woman I feel a bit of punk or start acting
01:55:18
Speaker
ahing on me not No, acting not me. Okay. Even thinking not to me. And maybe I just don't like being in that mindset. Okay. Okay, I get Maybe there's a deep thing in the subconscious where they're saying, oh, love equals possible death. So, avoid that.
01:55:44
Speaker
Why do you say love equals death? Because are yeah a man or girl yeah I I didn't know I was actually in love. But then when I was doing the diving course, so the first time I found her, my legs turned to jelly, or my knees turned to jelly. I thought that only happened to women when they were crazy wealthy men. So I was what's happening?
01:56:12
Speaker
And yeah. That's the... you've never had that kind of feeling. You've been extremely close with other women but no one's web made my knees tremble like that.
01:56:27
Speaker
Like jelly. Yeah, yeah, I get you. I get you. Yeah, it happens and yeah, love definitely... love definitely changes you and...
01:56:39
Speaker
Yeah, you know all the all the the kind of love songs and love movies and kind of paint love like a good thing. It's not necessarily though, there's a lot of pain involved in love. It's true, lot of pain involved in love.
01:56:51
Speaker
I love John McCasher's song. bu boom different Burn, burn, burn. In the fire. Yeah, yeah, yeah. What was your mam's name then?
01:57:05
Speaker
Him? No, your man. What was her name? Mum? Oh, Nora. Nora. Yeah.
Childhood Memories and Family Dynamics
01:57:11
Speaker
Yeah.
01:57:16
Speaker
Can you remember any stories about her when you were young? Something you remember about the time together? pink moat.
01:57:33
Speaker
They have choose to put the to bed at night and go through that in the mini-mobile stuff. i
01:57:46
Speaker
And then asking if you were hungry.
01:57:53
Speaker
But back there,
01:57:56
Speaker
60, 70s, you were always pregnant. Yeah, that's what I remember about the 80s too. The month and the night, well, practically every day we come home from school.
01:58:12
Speaker
There'd be nothing edible. But mom would come on suddenly the dinner or so, I don't know if she was hiding it or if it was.
01:58:30
Speaker
But funny stories, o well tons of them just so can't think.
01:58:53
Speaker
Do you think that had a big effect on your psyche? Yeah. Yeah, it's just......I thought of my life, kind of......but I don't know where to call the police where there's bodies.
01:59:13
Speaker
But I'm kind of happy to keep it there. Yeah. Does it, that kind of calcifying of your emotions from from from that, is that kind of some of the some of the strength you have?
01:59:35
Speaker
Never really thought about that. Yeah. And I'm not trying to name it, I'm just trying to coax it out here. I don't know. I don't know, you know.
01:59:50
Speaker
and Everybody we've met today, we've got a few testimonials like in the word resilience, some man, just everything, he's so strong, always so joyful, always so happy. You don't, you seem to, I'm wondering and I'm just spitballing there, you can tell me I'm talking shit.
02:00:07
Speaker
I'm wondering if the worst thing that could ever happen to you, happened to you when you were 20. And ever since then, nothing can hurt you. No, it's not the worst.
02:00:18
Speaker
No. Not worse.
Reuben's Resilience and Role Model Influence
02:00:20
Speaker
Dreamed my mother's ass.
02:00:25
Speaker
So what do you call the dwarfs? Well death or death is gonna happen at some stage. ah say I'll say for Reuben there was worse. So if Reuben my youngest brother, so there's myself and Harry and Paddy, Paddy was I think it was 14, 15 when Noradice, Ruben was only up in nine.
02:00:53
Speaker
or smooth So still a lot of development to be had. And my dad, he was a Republican, so he was barely around.
02:01:06
Speaker
And Ruben, to a large, brought himself up. And Nelly next door, she's dead now. She was a bit older Europe, but not that much.
02:01:25
Speaker
And she helped Reuben a hell of a lot. And when you get to know Reuben and his brothers, you can see the difference between Reuben and his brothers.
02:01:41
Speaker
So, they're not known about this as well as school.
02:01:49
Speaker
And Papa the Civil land Engineer, Harry, he became the consome. Yeah, he enjoyed to move on to better things.
02:02:01
Speaker
And yeah, I got that degree. Degree in philosophy, French philosophy, well, and after degree, So three but brothers who had a mother for most of their life went on to third level education, completed it.
02:02:20
Speaker
Reuben by a country mill, and I'm talking ah big country mill, he was, or he is more intelligent than the three was...
02:02:34
Speaker
and
02:02:37
Speaker
Never went on to third level, zero interest, but his knowledge on and then see if I got troubled with something driving the wall.
02:02:50
Speaker
Just through them, man. Just flex the fingers and start to Yeah. And they in many ways Paddy and an intelligence where they can talk things that I can't come close to dealing with while I could do them but it takes well over 10 times longer.
02:03:18
Speaker
but very much like that and that. It's really hard to get information out of it. So i add anything emotional kind of looks at you.
02:03:31
Speaker
yeah what us what What are you on the ball? won When it comes to strength, I mean physical strength, you remember once Ruben plays football even though he's, I think he's 40, 46, somewhere around there still plays football. yeah Amongst the lads who are a good bit younger.
02:03:59
Speaker
Jeremy Burr went to watch a match he was in, we would watch him now and again and he's use in the back. going down the wing, jubbling with the ball and some young lad came splintering over with this kind of attitude, you know, off the wall door, the stilt parts of the wall and next thing the young lad is lying prostrate on the ground and Ruben is continuing on up the way too.
02:04:36
Speaker
Yeah, i've I've seen people bounce off him on the football field as well. He seems to be just like a concrete pillar on the football pitch all the time. yeah He does.
02:04:48
Speaker
Yeah, very strong guy. Very strong guy. And I don't just mean physically either. A very mentally strong guy, you
Epigenetics and Cultural Beliefs on Identity
02:04:54
Speaker
know. As I said, I always put that down to having to use a role model. You know, I really do.
02:05:00
Speaker
But maybe there's more to that too. Maybe it does come through the the genetics as well, you know. that there is you know Of course, epigenetics too, like but you know, epigenetics is a
02:05:14
Speaker
is the environment also shapes yeah which genes will actually which chain will actually come to the fore. A good way of looking at epigenetics, get us from the crews, and it's incredibly simple, but humanity doesn't acknowledge it at all.
02:05:37
Speaker
Actually, even if you say to people, huh? So, a plant, a tree, a tree growing in the wild, what's it called?
02:05:49
Speaker
Sunlight, soil, water, air, it's all stuff from outside. None of it from inside. Inside would be sort of like your genetics, huh?
02:06:07
Speaker
Outside would be your epigenetics. But then with humans, when you mind you try and address that, there's the environment that has an effect on you more so than your internal organism.
02:06:25
Speaker
It doesn't register with people. yeah I think there's a cultural upbringing and conditioning that even goes far. to see what many is brainwashing that they think is all about them is about the food they eat, the supplements, the drugs, all the external medical interventions.
02:06:49
Speaker
I'm just going over here to do some squats.
02:07:01
Speaker
The sun is shining bright Like a colorful aurora It paints the world in hues of orange and white and more I'm gonna start packing my bags I'm leaving all worries behind Let's go, need to get my
02:07:23
Speaker
The breeze is playing soft Through the palm trees laughing Seement whispered secrets of each land The sound of the waves laughing on the beaches like a pleasant melody Soothe my heart's troubles Windows down with the wind in my hair I feel so free Oh, it's the smell summer My summer trip Take me
02:08:24
Speaker
I'm going to go hidden cove where the dolphins rove. I watched them dance in the ocean's cove. I built a sand.
02:08:54
Speaker
feel so free. Oh, it's the smell of summer. My summer trip.