This episode includes open conversations about suicidal thoughts, emotional abuse, and traumatic brain injury.
If you are struggling, please reach out for support.
In the UK, contact Samaritans on 116 123 or visit samaritans.org. You are not alone.
What happens when the thing that built your identity — your body, your sport, your fight — is suddenly gone?
This week, we meet Matt, whose story redefines what strength really means. Diagnosed with dyspraxia at six, he pushed through ridicule, coordination challenges, and school labels to build a name in MMA, K1, and boxing. He chased adrenaline, discipline, and control — until one brutal moment in the ring changed everything. A brain injury, white-matter damage on the scan, legs that stopped responding… and a silence that hit harder than any punch.
Then came the harder fight — the one inside his own head. We go deep into the quiet aftermath: the depression, the isolation, the emotional abuse and gaslighting that left him questioning reality itself. Matt opens up about losing touch with family, facing suicidal thoughts, and the night he finally reached breaking point.
But this story isn’t about collapse. It’s about what holds you when everything falls apart — a brother who refused to leave, a father who flew him to Spain to get him safe, and the power of therapy to bring life back into focus. Through EMDR, Matt learned to quiet the noise, ease the flashbacks, and rebuild from the inside out. Slowly, he began to find peace — and love — with Shannon, whose patience and belief helped him rediscover trust, purpose, and hope.
If you think resilience is about roaring comebacks and perfect endings, this conversation will show you another kind: slow courage, honest vulnerability, and tiny, defiant steps toward light. Matt’s journey reminds us that true strength isn’t in the fight — it’s in the recovery.
Stay with us to the end for an unfiltered reflection on masculinity, online hate, validation, and gratitude — and how healing can start with something as simple as laughter around the dinner table.
🎧 If this story moves you, follow, rate, and share the show. It could be the thing that helps someone else believe that healing is still possible.
🔹 Episode Highlights
🩹 Content Note
This episode includes open discussions about brain injury, emotional abuse, and suicidal thoughts.
If you are struggling, please reach out for help.
In the UK, contact Samaritans at 116 123 or visit samaritans.org.
You are not alone.
📢 Short Description (for apps / previews)
When a brain injury ended Matt’s fighting career, everything stopped — his body, his purpose, his identity.
This is the story of rebuilding from rock bottom: dyspraxia, gaslighting, PTSD, EMDR therapy, and finding love and safety again.
