Ep0011 – “The TBI Coach” with Nathalie Kelly
I first met Nathalie when she spoke at Ignite Burlington – sort of a small-town version of TED talks. She balanced herself with 2 canes and approached the podium with trepidation. When she spoke, she moved me in so many ways. Her bravery permeated the room along with her loneliness and utter vulnerability. It takes great courage to stand in a room and be asked to speak when you don’t know if your brain will come along for the ride. Being in a world where you don’t know how to hold onto it (or if it will hold onto you…) I found hard to wrap my head around.
A fiercely independent woman before a sailing accident left her with a TBI, she asked on Facebook for someone to give her a ride to the hospital for a check-up. I offered and it resulted in a thought-provoking conversation that left me with a big question I hoped I would have a chance to ask her more about in-depth which is the result of this episode.
My burning question? Who are we when we are no longer the person before -Nathalie could no longer be a hypnotherapist, but she became so much more than that after her accident. Listen to the surprising answers when I ask her how a traumatic brain injury changed her.