My name’s Jason Kennison 39 years old currently living in Perth I am a  diesel mechanic by trade and I’ve overcome or dealt with probably up to 14 procedures some broken bones metal pin screws and some challenges in my life and sort of set up a plan to take on Mount Everest.

When I was 22 I was driving to work, young all good. I had a girlfriend everything at the time life was good and then I was waiting to merge onto a highway and I remember thinking that’s close and a Road train sideswiped the vehicle that I was in it wasn’t sort of a head-on collision. It was just like a side swipe where the trailers clipped aside of the vehicle I was in and yeah the next thing I woke up in hospital with glass getting picked out of my hair out of my back.

I’m getting told that I had to go into surgery because I’d broken my femur.  I was in a car accident it’s out of that accident ended up with broken femur in two spots my shoulder was dislocated and all the ligaments in my shoulder were broken. I had a mock to the head so I ended up with a brain hemorrhage, various bruises scars, sore back neck all the the things that come with the vehicle accident. I guess I didn’t want to accept that there was anything permanently wrong, physically wrong, mentally wrong and so I dealt with that probably in a default mode which was to kind of ignore a lot of the signs and just push through physically just work on the gym.

I was  just trying to build that strength back up and walk and I found myself looking back. It’s easy to look back in reflection in hindsight I guess as older you get the wiser you get but looking back I was ticking boxes just to get back to work and to try and seem normal. I guess for other people not not for me. I knew that I probably wasn’t 100 inside but I was probably more worried about what people were thinking me at the time so I’ve just ticking boxes to to get back to work and try and get back to what I thought would be a normal life so I was younger and probably a little bit Bolder.

And just push through like I said I was in denial, refused to accept that that would limit me in a way. I was very cautious about what what people would think of me. I used to race a bit of motocross when I was younger. I felt like I was pretty confident and I enjoyed doing a lot of outdoor things and then what I found after that sort of the truck crash and then I crashed the bike just training for a race did my collarbone and that kind of affected work and looking back like I said to look back each injury seemed to chip a little bit away at my confidence. It chipped away at my self-esteem, bit by bit, where I started to become really really sort of cautious about what people would think of me.

 

I was kicking a forty three years ago three or four years ago and I couldn’t kick 50 meters as a 16 year old as an 18 year old couldn’t kick 50 meters. I’m trying to kick 50 meter tops at like 37 I think it was a 36. I felt a twinge in my back and and I didn’t think too much of it until sort of become very painful. I couldn’t do up my um couldn’t stop my shoes it was hard to get ready for for work, get dressed and all those sorts of things.

 

I saw a specialist or a surgeon had  some MRIs done and found that there was a bit of ligament which had pulled in between the disc and the nerve. It wasn’t so much a bulging disc but a bit of ligament from previous trauma related back to previous accidents. I had an epidural that took the edge off it didn’t quite last very long and so went in for a procedure called laminectomy. Where they were gonna pull  the ligament out to create some space but then also could potentially grind that disc back just to make sure that there’s going to be some clearance today.

Issues later on what I found is when you have these surgeries when you wake up from anesthesia they’ll ask that the nurses will ask you to go to the toilet and that’s kind of like a I think a sign to that you’re okay to get outpatient go go back home.

 

But I fell over and then there’s some confusion as to why potentially it was from anesthesia or lightheaded and I understand that and something wasn’t right and I could feel it but then I fell back down again. I think it took a few days for then and some strange looks to think something’s not right and I couldn’t feel my my right leg um I could wig with my left toes but I couldn’t stand uh and yeah that’s when I sort of got back into bed and everyone kind of disappeared out of that room and I couldn’t walk.

Processing it alone I guess in the hospital for three days I think I was before I went home and then came back again but yeah it was a tough time. I said I applied for three days not knowing what my future looked like at that point in time I’m not knowing what the damage was and all I knew was deliberating condition only managed  by painkillers but I kind of went into a my default physical building mode. And that was almost just to go to the gym and just to block out most things mentally and just prepare physically going to the treadmill I just wanted to get an extra step every day whether I started off on one and go to go three to go to four I was sort of just so focused. And it was it was slower a lot slower more frustrating it was lonely.

 

 
It was tiring and it was very very draining, progress wasn’t happening as quickly as I would have liked if at all and I guess I kept comparing it to previous injuries where you can you can sort of take things but the pain will stop or the pain will stop you and you sort of can
go back and push through that but with the nerve damage it just had no I had no power I had no strength I felt like I had no progression and it was becoming a real a real kind of dark burden that I started to carry internally.
 
 
 
I didn’t deal with it mentally as as well as I could have thought as well as I should have or as well as I probably needed to those because that took a large chip out of me and I started to worry about back injuries and and I guess that point in my life with with futures.
 
 
You know Partners or whatever kids jobs retirement all those sorts of things were going through my mind and I and I went back and I continued to put up that defensive wall. Probably stronger than ever didn’t realize I was doing it until I saw I saw it for myself and I understood why I was reacting that way um why I’d get defensive why I was trying to be something I wasn’t when I realized that I’d become sort of this unintentional sort of fraudster so to speak.
 
I went into a pretty dark place thinking like what do I do? Who am I? I didn’t want these injuries to defy me. Reminding myself that I I had injuries I wasn’t injured. I kind of went to self sabotage to protect myself like I would say I’d almost do things deliberately like in relationships or whatever subconsciously without even knowing it to sort of protect myself from getting caught or protect myself from getting hurt again and I think these are all just responses that I’ve developed over all the injuries at a time that were unhealthy little things like I guess I always wanted to Surf but never never did and always had an excuse why I didn’t do it because my leg likes my back and I made up these it was easy it was comfortable.
 

But when you sort of say that and someone who thinks you know you’re better than that comes back the next day with a surfboard and says give it a go um that was kind of confronting but I know it couldn’t make excuses so yeah I’ve only got surf lessons and Surf and I remember the first time standing up and probably a bit teary bit emotional and that sort of clicked something in me that I had as a kid when I used to race motocrosses like who I used to be um it wasn’t that I’d become someone else it had become it is sort of that I was. Sheltering myself and being what I was.

So yeah uh that surfboard clicked something in and then there was a few more conversations after that again whereas where I realized I was conflicting my values with my actions and I needed to take ownership to be who I was I needed to st art owning my injuries. Start owning my my own sort of Destiny. I needed to sort of start accepting and coming up with plans okay my confidence is like it sucks what am I going to do about it okay my leg hurts yeah it sucks what am I going to do about it and I went through a list of individual things to really start to highlight areas to get me where I am now and that is on a journey. I guess on a path to accepting who I am and being myself and being authentic. I’ve always challenged myself I guess internally for overcoming these things ever sort of become like this symbol to me of overcoming those challenges and and getting that fulfillment.

 
 
I knew that I was pretty strong mentally. I knew that I was pretty strong physically in sort of those sorts of aspects with resilience and and those sort of determination I could push through barriers I could push through physically and mentally hasn’t always been healthy but it’s sort of I guess I’d recognize it as strength and then when I saw uh I guess I started watching the same documents on Mountaineers. I had all the characters all the traits of what I probably used to do when. It was when I had an East race Motocross and I used to play footy when I was growing up until it was chipped away from all these accidents in my own self like I’ve only got myself to blame. I guess the way I dealt with it at the time.
 
 
 
Mountaineers but with the Courage the confidence the The Logical thinking the the trust the resilience the mental and physical like strength that they had all those characteristics that I used to have are sort of artists I could see myself with or I use my strengths to get there.
 
So when I set up this girl it was originally it was to to be the person to be able to be able to attempt it to build myself up in all the areas that I felt that I that I that I needed to improve or when I was honest with myself those areas that I really needed to to address to be the person that I knew I could be or be my authentic self so it was about being being in a position to be able to to attack them out that’s where I wanted to be so I was kind of you know it’s cliche but it was a journey.
 
So I’ve been working closely with the Tracking Company setting up plans Milestones goals all along the way uh what to do where to be where to be kept what to be achieving  flying to New Zealand for mountaineering courses I’ve done I’ve sailing. rock climbing. becoming very familiar.
 
I set up  training in my backyard as a ladder crossings and for gym jamaring and roping and things like that. So I’ve been constantly practising technical side of things. There sometimes pain is is going to be there it’s got Scar Tissue I’ve had a lot of injuries but it’s not structural or muscular it’s it it’s it’s just it’s more Scar Tissue so I’m able to to work with that that obviously gives me a higher pain tolerance I think in a way training with the injuries has made it has made me a little bit probably stronger.
 
I feel fortunate enough that I can make these decisions to be able to go and go to the gym and go AB sailing and fly to New Zealand for training and go and attack like a a beast like a mountain like Mount Everest I feel really fortunate but there’s 20 800 in Australia.
 
So living with a spine injury now and one new every day and if somebody can get some support from them in in that three days where I was in tears uh that is probably more value than a lot of things at times just coming to the acceptance and understanding what’s going on I didn’t get that so I’m raising money for spinal cords injuries Australia to sort of help those people get the support that they need and obviously there’s a there’s a lot and there’s like I said there’s one every day  I guess a personal goal out of this for me is is that fulfillment just to put together all my experiences and just be the person that I know I can and act with integrity and live by my beliefs and values and have just be able to accept that I have had injuries but I’m still okay foreign.