Digging deep and giving back (or There and Back Again)

Have you ever wondered what someone must go through when they find themselves in certain luckless circumstances? Have you ever considered how you might be able to help?

This is a small story of my last 12-months and a humble request - please bear with me:

~12-months ago, in March 2024, I booked in to tackle the Kokoda Track with a good mate of mine. I've been planning this for years and I was absolutely pumped and started training. It was going well, I was building up hiking distances, adding weights – I was loving it.

However, life had a different surprise for me and in a very unfortunate turn of events I found myself waking up in hospital. In turns out that I’d fractured my skull, earned a nasty subdural haematoma and an acquired brain injury (ABI). My first week was a massive blur - endless tests with no answers, immense fatigue, pain and zero speech (oh - aside from Yes and Thankyou). It was quite touch and go - I didn’t realise at the time but I was a bee’s tiny appendage away from surgery/permanent disability or worse. A horrible time for my family, but somehow thanks to God, I did start to improve.

A week later, I was transferred to the Royal Talbot rehab clinic, a specialty facility in Melbourne focussed on the acute care and support needed for those unfortunate enough to acquire a brain injury. The team here were fantastic and helped me get to grips with everything and asses what my recovery would look like. I met many in the facility who had suffered worse injuries and whose symptoms and recovery journey were far longer and more difficult than mine. Some of their kindness and positivity has certainly rubbed off on me, so I am thankful for that.

The next 6 months of major recovery for me was less than ideal, but I’ve tackled everything with a resolute mindset and I’m still in my recovery journey but can’t complain, after all, there’s always someone in a worse position.

Now back to Kokoda. Given what happened, a much bigger hurdle to overcome, but slowly and surely, I got back to training and focussing on Kokoda and I’ll be tackling it in mid-to-late April 2025, to align with the ANZAC day service upon completion of the track. I thought to myself, how better to give back to society and those involved in my accident than to tie the two together!

As someone who dedicates my life to the expansion of scientific endeavour, I certainly appreciate the efforts which go into peeling away the immense intricacies of human health, but always more research is needed. Especially as the brain is an impressively complex organ, and whilst study has led to greater knowledge in this in this space, so much is still unknown. As such, all monies raised will be split between two great facilities: the Royal Talbot ABI Rehab Clinic in Kew and the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute for ABI focused research.

If you know anyone who’s had the displeasure of going through something like this - please donate.

If you would like to give back to society and contribute to critical medical research - please donate.

If you value mateship and the ANZAC spirit - please donate.

If you know me and have stuck with me through this - thankyou and please donate.

Thanks to my family for immense levels of love, care and patience.

Thanks to my mates for being there through the journey.

Thanks to RMH Neuro Dept , Royal Talbot and other medical professionals along the way.

If you or someone very close to you has been or is going through something like this – big love and hang in there.

If you’d like to reach out for a chat, always open for that.

Much love and be kind to each other.

Caine