When life is full of business meetings, celebrations, and long weeks that blur into long weekends, it’s easy to ignore the quiet signals your body sends. For Jason Hellyer, a real estate professional who prided himself on working hard and playing harder, those signals became impossible to ignore the night he experienced an ischemic stroke.
A Lifetime of Overwork and Overindulgence
For decades, Jason ran successful property and finance franchises across Queensland. He thrived on achievement, 90-hour weeks, long nights, and the social rituals of beer, smokes, and mateship. Like many Australians, he believed success meant constant motion.
“I lived a life of pleasure, worked hard, played hard,” he told me. “It was the Aussie way.”
Behind the scenes, his blood pressure regularly climbed above 210/110, but he brushed it off. “I felt normal,” he said. “No headaches, no warnings. That was just an ordinary day for me.”
The Night Everything Changed
After an evening out with his wife, Jason tried to get out of bed and couldn’t. His right arm went limp, his speech slurred, and his face drooped.
His wife, having watched her own mother experience a stroke two years earlier, recognised the signs immediately. Within ten minutes, she had him in the car and on the way to Sunshine Coast University Hospital.
Those minutes saved his life.
Doctors confirmed an ischemic stroke, caused by a blockage restricting blood flow to the brain. Jason’s business instincts kicked in: stay calm, accept the problem, and act. “Panicking wouldn’t help,” he said. “I just thought, what’s the best way to deal with this?”
Acceptance, Then Action
Many stroke survivors describe denial. Jason took a different path.
“I knew instantly everything had changed. I’d never drink again. Never smoke again. That decision was made within half an hour.”
That instant acceptance became the foundation of his recovery. He channelled the same focus once spent on business into his health, taking every recommendation seriously, and leaning on his wife’s calm guidance.
“Business teaches you: if there’s a problem, face it. Don’t pretend it’s not there.”
From Frustration to Progress
The first weeks were filled with frustration, facial droop, weakness on his right side, and slurred speech. A self-described “constant singer,” Jason struggled most with losing his voice.
“I couldn’t sing in the car or around the house. My wife always said, ‘If you’re singing, you’re happy.’ I felt like I’d lost part of my identity.”
Through steady physiotherapy, speech practice, and daily walks, strength and clarity returned. The droop faded. His words grew sharp again. The business owner who once ran at 100 mph was learning to slow down, and in doing so, he started to heal.
The Power of Lifestyle Change
The stroke stripped Jason’s life down to essentials. What remained became sacred: his family, health, and peace of mind.
He quit alcohol and cigarettes immediately, lost 24 kilograms, and developed a daily routine around movement and mindfulness.
His mornings now begin before sunrise, cycling, stretching, or walking instead of nursing a hangover. He describes his new clarity as “crystal-clear focus, every day.”
“I used to think I was sharp at work. But I was foggy. I didn’t know what clear felt like until I stopped drinking.”
“It’s probably the best thing that ever happened to me because it made me change.”
— Jason Hellyer
Discovering Purpose Beyond Work
After years in real estate, Jason now works in the lifestyle and retirement sector, helping others plan peaceful futures, an irony not lost on him.
He and his wife recently bought a small farm near Dubbo, where they’re renovating a 110-year-old cottage. Their goal: a slower, healthier life surrounded by nature.
“It’s about choosing lifestyle over labels. I don’t care what car I drive anymore. I care about mornings, quiet, and the people I love.”
Paddling the Murray and Reclaiming Self-Belief
Once Jason’s physical strength returned, he began testing his limits again, but this time for meaning, not ego.
He started cycling: 10 kilometres, then 25, then 50. Eventually, he completed a 700 km ride through the Pyrenees on the Camino de Santiago. The challenge reignited his belief in what was possible.
That led to an even bigger dream – paddling the entire length of the Murray River, Australia’s longest. Alone and self-sufficient, Jason joined a short list of only 500-odd people to complete the journey.
“It was my apology to my past self,” he said. “I wanted to prove I was capable and grateful to still be here.”
Family, Faith, and the Gift of Clarity
Jason’s six children were his anchor. The stroke made him see that being a father wasn’t just about providing; it was about presence.
“When it happened, I realised I’d have traded everything I owned just to have them in the room with me,” he said.
Today, he and his wife share early mornings, simple meals, and long conversations, things they used to rush past. “We used to chase what doesn’t matter,” he reflects. “Now, it’s peace over prestige.”
Jason’s Message to Stroke Survivors
When asked what advice he’d give someone newly diagnosed, Jason didn’t hesitate:
“Choose the right mindset. It’s easy to feel defeated, but recovery starts with small goals one at a time. Recognise when you’re slipping, talk yourself around, and remember why you’re doing it.”
For some, that might mean physiotherapy milestones. For others, simply walking an extra block. Each step matters.
Key Takeaways
- Acceptance beats denial: Facing reality early gives recovery momentum.
- Lifestyle matters: Quitting alcohol, losing weight, and staying active can reshape outcomes.
- Mindset drives healing: A problem-solving attitude turns fear into focus.
- Purpose sustains growth: Transformation lasts when it’s anchored in gratitude and family.
Resources Mentioned
- Get The Unexpected Way That a Stroke Became the Best Thing That Happened — Bill’s book on finding post-traumatic growth after stroke
- Join the Recovery After Stroke Patreon community for survivor support, Q&As, and coaching access
Sponsor Acknowledgment
Before we wrap up, a huge thank-you to Banksia Tech, proud distributors of the Hanson Rehab Glove by Syrebo, designed to help stroke survivors improve hand function at home, whether you’re early in recovery or years into it.
Final Thoughts
Jason Hellyer’s story isn’t about loss; it’s about rediscovery. His stroke forced a hard reset, stripping away noise until only what mattered remained.
Through discipline, humility, and purpose, he shows that overcoming ischemic stroke through lifestyle change isn’t just possible – it can open the door to a richer, calmer life.
This blog is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Please consult your doctor before making any changes to your health or recovery plan.
Jason Hellyer on Finding Strength and Clarity After an Ischemic Stroke
After an ischemic stroke, Jason Hellyer transformed his life — quitting alcohol, losing weight, and finding peace through change.
Highlights:
00:00 Jason Hellyer’s Lifestyle Before Stroke
06:21 The Impact of Stroke on Jason’s Life
13:47 Acceptance in an Instant
26:24 Losing My Voice, Losing Myself
35:37 A Reality Check That Redefined What Matters
45:21 Overcoming Ischemic Stroke
52:37 Choosing the Right Mindset: Small Steps, Big Recovery
56:18 Finding Strength, Joy, and a New Identity After Stroke
Transcript:
Jason Hellyer’s Lifestyle Before Stroke
Bill Gasiamis 0:00
Before we dive into today’s inspiring story, I just want to thank everyone who has taken a moment to make this show possible. To all our Patreon supporters, your contributions now cover some of the hosting costs after more than 10 years of doing this solo, and to helping me keep producing content for stroke survivors who need guidance and hope. To everyone tuning in on Spotify, YouTube, Apple podcasts, thank you for commenting, reviewing and sharing, and to those of you who picked up my book The Unexpected Way That A Stroke Became The Best Thing That Happened.
Bill Gasiamis 0:32
You’re helping spread the message of post stroke growth now a big thank you also goes out to Banksia tech, proud distributors of the Hanson rehab glove right here by cerebo. This glove helps stroke survivors improve hand function at home, whether you’re early in recovery or years down the track, you’ll hear more about it later in this episode. All right, my guest today is Jason Hellyer, a Queensland real estate professional who built his life around work weekends and plenty of beers, until one night, everything changed.
Bill Gasiamis 1:04
Jason suffered an ischemic stroke that turned his entire world upside down. What followed was a total lifestyle transformation. He quit drinking and smoking overnight, lost 24 kilos and discovered a new sense of purpose. He’s living proof that sometimes the biggest setbacks can become the star of something better. Let’s jump in. Jason Hellyer. Welcome to the podcast.
Jason Hellyer 1:29
Thanks for having me, Bill.
Bill Gasiamis 1:31
G’day, mate.
Jason Hellyer 1:33
G’day.
Bill Gasiamis 1:34
I love it. Another Aussie. Tell me a little bit about what life was like before stroke.
Jason Hellyer 1:42
I lived a life of pleasure, worked hard, played hard. So I Yeah, it was worked in the property industry. So it was always a, you know, the grind Monday to Friday, and on weekends, it was play up time, so many a beer and a celebration had often and for decades. So it was a, not a smart way to live, but it’s how it was, and that was part of the, I suppose, the year we grew up in. It’s just how we did it. You know, it was just worked during the week of play out on the weekends. And I said I got a gold medal in that dude.
Bill Gasiamis 2:24
That’s not too bad. I mean, if you can get a gold medal, but always in peak performance sort of sports, you need to know when to get out.
Jason Hellyer 2:36
That’s right, yeah. And I didn’t know no first one there, last to leave, always.
Bill Gasiamis 2:41
So what was your role? What type of role did you play in the property industry?
Jason Hellyer 2:46
So, I owned real estate franchises, and I also had finance franchises, and I also worked. Once I sold those, I moved back into working for a large company based on the Sunshine Coast, and did that for quite some time. And I think that role, when the responsibility of business was taken away from me, I didn’t have to be so on hand. So to speak, it allowed me to sort of a bit more freedom and play up a little bit more so to speak.
Bill Gasiamis 3:20
So what’s behind that whole I’m going to run through two businesses and have all these branches and all this stuff, like, what’s behind it from a like, psychological perspective? So, yeah, I want to try and understand, like, how do you go from being just a regular kid at school to building a career? That means that you’re working probably 90 100 hours a week on multiple businesses and tracking all this stuff. What is the purpose and point of it?
Jason Hellyer 3:49
I think it was the Australian brainwashed way that we have, that we believe that you need to go out there and succeed and buy and have all these assets and to build this and to be successful in everything you do, and that’s where that was the driver, at the end of the day, to prove people that prove to people that I could I was capable of these things. And I think about it often that that question, what you’ve asked, you know, why did I go so hard? And it was, I was always a sort of an overachiever.
Jason Hellyer 4:14
I mean, coming through school, I was always that was a very handy sports person and did so at a pretty high level. Then that sort of moved on to my career. And so as always, once I sort of found out what direction I wanted to go in the property industry, it’s sort of a well, given salesperson was one stage, and I had to be better and go to the next stage, and I had to go into ownership. And then once I got the ownership of a franchise, how could I make that bigger? What can I go from there? And then it was into was into finance, and just kept building.
Jason Hellyer 4:45
And once you, once you’re in, it’s sort of, it’s all consuming, you know, just you sort of, when you’ve got employees to look after and, you know, and families and things like that. It’s just, there’s no way out, you know, do you found one, though?
Bill Gasiamis 4:59
Yeah, yeah. It found you. It did. Yes, yes. Do you have a moment where you go? What the hell am I doing?
Jason Hellyer 5:07
All the time, yeah, yeah, all the time, back then. But as I said, I was you’re so far in you can’t just step back, you know, not something you can just walk away from, because you’ve there’s so much responsibility buying for yourself, but for other people as well, you know their families and the people you’re paying, and everyone’s who’s invested in your business, or you know your career and what you’re doing, it’s a multiple domino effect of any decision you make.
Bill Gasiamis 5:37
So, how many years were you going hard, like a few decades, but how long before you got sick that? Were you doing that kind of work or that?
Jason Hellyer 5:48
Yeah, but listen, probably, there’s probably 10 to 15 years of business ownership, and then I got out of that, and we moved back into more of a, I suppose, an employee type role or work for a larger company, and that was about probably seven years of that.
Bill Gasiamis 6:06
Okay, so probably two decades, going real hard.
Jason Hellyer 6:10
Yes, yeah, definitely, and it was, yeah, we definitely two decades, maybe even A little bit longer, to be quite honest.
Overcoming Ischemic Stroke And It’s Impact on Jason’s Life
Bill Gasiamis 6:21
Yeah. And what about the day of the stroke? Like, what was that like? Was there any sense that there was something about to go wrong? Any previous warnings that, in hindsight, you go “Oh my god, that was probably.”
Jason Hellyer 6:36
I think it’s got a hereditary high blood pressure in the family. It was, you know, and it was something I hadn’t been treated for, but I was very I was a bit blase about tablets and things like that, and I sort of didn’t take it too seriously and to my different, of course, but it was something that’s been there. I mean, I’ve been in, I was in the doctors once it was a reading of over, like 210 over 110 sort of thing, you know. And he was to me, I felt normal. Didn’t feel there’s no headaches, no nothing.
Jason Hellyer 7:09
That was just an all day for me. And so that was always there. It was just, I think the night had happened. It was late, and the wife and I had been out for a few drinks, and we’d come home, and I was lucky enough that she’s pretty switched on with it all, and she noticed straight away what was going on. I tried to get up out of bed to go and go to the bathroom, and I couldn’t get up, couldn’t get a hold of the bed, and she looked at me instantly and just said, you’re having a stroke, Jason, and she had me in the car in 10 minutes, I already in the back of my mind.
Jason Hellyer 7:45
It’s quite weird at the back of my mind, I already always had a precautionary hit in the cupboard of aspirins, so if anything ever went wrong, would be so I sort of, I think deep down, I knew that they would catch up with me one day, I suppose. And I remember chewing on two aspirin straight away. She got me in the car and then down to Sunshine Coast hospital and straight in, yeah, and what kind of a stroke was it? Is it a I always have trouble pronouncing it ischemic. Pronounce it man, well done. Yeah, I practice that.
Bill Gasiamis 8:23
The only trouble with strokes is you don’t know what kind of stroke you’re having. So aspirin would have been a disaster. Because if you had, of course, yes, if you had a hemorrhagic stroke, that could have been terrible.
Jason Hellyer 8:38
That’s right, yeah. In hindsight, I had no idea.
Bill Gasiamis 8:41
Yeah, for a heart attack, I think they recommend, you know, chewing a couple of aspirins if you’re feeling chest pain and all that kind of stuff, yeah, thins the blood and helps her flow better. But for stroke, the best thing to do is nothing.
Jason Hellyer 8:54
Yeah, and all this education over now, afterwards, beforehand, I just decisions made back 20 years.
Bill Gasiamis 9:02
So were you a smoker and a drinker?
Jason Hellyer 9:04
I was one of those people who smoked when they drank. I wouldn’t smoke at all. Didn’t even think about it, but as soon as I had couple of beers, it was a it was on for young and old. Yeah, all the above, you know. And I love to, you know, I love to be here. I love the boys, and it was going out for and having a good time, and it was just, and I was a social I wasn’t a drinker at home. I was a social drinker.
Jason Hellyer 9:32
And that’s just how I was. It was all my life and but in hindsight, Bill, to be quite honest, it’s probably one of the best things that’s ever happened to me. That’s it changed my life. Changed my life dramatically and and only for the better.
Bill Gasiamis 9:50
Yeah, so I agree, because I wrote a book that was named The Unexpected Way The stroke Behind Became The Best Thing That Happened, right? Like, I totally get what you’re saying. Some people do not. Like hearing that they don’t like hearing I understand, yeah, stroke was the best thing that happened to us, because what they see is a different version of that, and they see recovered X amount of years down the track, to a certain extent, right? And they they are not physically like us, and they’re struggling with a lot, lots of other things, and they can’t, that’s right, comprehend that.
Bill Gasiamis 10:21
But what we’re saying is we’re not saying we recommend stroke. What we’re saying is that the growth that came after stroke is the part that was the really good thing about it. We wouldn’t recommend the stroke for anyone. It’s shit, totally shit, and it remains to be shit for many years. And I went through a really hard time for seven, eight years, and it started to get better and better and better, but in the acute phase, my God, like I wouldn’t wish it on anybody, let alone.
Jason Hellyer 10:49
Nah, yes. I certainly didn’t think that for the first six months. But looking back now, I can see that in my mind, it was a, it was a wake up call I needed, you know, yeah, better my life has become after it.
Bill Gasiamis 11:09
We’ll be back with more of Jason’s remarkable story in just a moment. But first, I want to take a second to thank the team at Banksia tech for supporting this episode. They’re the proud distributors of the Hanson rehab glove by cerebo, a soft, robotic glove designed to help stroke survivors improve hand movement and coordination from home, whether you’re early in recovery or years into it, the Hanson glove can help you retrain your hand through gentle, repetitive motion, and it’s being used by stroke survivors around the world to rebuild confidence and independence.
Bill Gasiamis 11:42
If you’d like to learn more, you’ll find the link in the show notes. All right, let’s get back to Jason, who’s about to share how a single mindset shift changed the way he lives every day. Yeah, I will ask in a little bit. I want to just to get my shot around your wife and her response like so she realized something’s wrong. You’ve smashed the couple of aspirins just because. And then how do you get to the hospital? Did you get an ambulance?
Jason Hellyer 12:08
Straight in the car, was lucky enough. We had a near new hospital at Sunshine goes to University Hospital just been probably about three or four years old that stage, and we were only about 15 minutes away. So she was straight in the car, and I was still able to get to the car and get in, straight down, straight into the emergency the lady behind the counter there see me. Instantly, I was straight in, and yeah, into the wards, and doctor see me, and what they did to me, I don’t know, a couple of things went on, and I’ll sort of in a bit of a eight days.
Bill Gasiamis 12:42
And so the fact that she said you’re having a stroke, did that register with you? Or were you just like it.
Jason Hellyer 12:48
Did it did register? Yeah. And I was sort of, I was surprisingly calm in my own mind. I didn’t panic at all. And I’ve been a bit like that during my life. It’s just sort of Right, right? You got a situation. What’s the best way we need to deal with this? And certainly me panicking, and I was probably about 110 kilo at the time, it’s not something my wife needs to deal with, and trying to get me into a car or out of a car and things like that. And just just sort of, I suppose, just did the best I could in that with what I was dealing with at the time. Yeah, what’s my mindset?
Bill Gasiamis 13:23
Yeah, that’s pretty cool. I mean, calm is good. That’s the best way to be because it also decreases the likelihood of you creating your own complications through stress and through anxiety and through all the things that we can do to ourselves so and then when they finally kind of tell you what’s happened, then how do you know it’s a weird one?
Overcoming Ischemic Stroke – Acceptance in an Instant
Jason Hellyer 13:47
I’ve thought about that beforehand. I mean, I’m very, always very quick to to what’s the word, I suppose it’s to accept what’s happened. You know, I’m not going to go into denial. I This has happened. Now. I need to sort out, how do I deal with this, and how do i What’s the best outcome I can make from this? And, you know, it’s always a thing about itself. I was thinking about like, we’ve got six children, and there’s 1000 other people I’m thinking of. I wasn’t thinking of myself. I was like, well, right? I’m just going to listen to everything I say.
Jason Hellyer 14:25
I’m going to do everything I’m told. And I knew my life was changed right at that minute. I knew instantly everything was changed. I knew I was never going to touch another beer again. I knew I was never going to touch another cigarette in that within half an hour of being waking up that decision was already made. So, yeah, I just accepted what it was, and then just had to go forward, for me.
Bill Gasiamis 14:50
It’s really interesting acceptance, right? I imagine when you came to that acceptance, you would have had the deficits already you did experience some pretty soon.
Jason Hellyer 15:00
What were they? Yeah, I was more so the Face drooping and slurred speech and of weakness in the right arm, and I noticed that instantly and also over there over the coming weeks. But I was very lucky that with a little bit of work, it sort of slowly started to come back, and then I’m still, well, you can still see a little Occasionally, you’ll see a little bit of my side here, or have a bit of a drop to it. But apart from that, on the day to day, you probably couldn’t tell if you’re looking at me, but I can tell sometimes when I’ll still get 100% I’ll get the occasional slur.
Jason Hellyer 15:46
I can feel it in me. I can feel it. And as I said, you might not know, but the wife picks it up straight away. Go to bed. You’re dribbling again. So yeah, on the day to day, I know, and it’s the back of my mind, it’s there, but I certainly, you know, as I said, I’ve accepted what it is, and I just will try and build the best life I can around it.
Bill Gasiamis 16:13
Yeah, you know, acceptance is a really, it’s a practice. I think it’s a practice everything way to overcome with it. But I think, you know, correct me if I’m wrong with you did the business, the businesses you were in, help with that, because in business, stuff goes wrong. Things happen, you know, really quickly, and you have to adjust and sort of shift focus. And you also can’t think of solving problems that haven’t occurred for you yet.
Bill Gasiamis 16:43
You just realize that I’ve got to solve each problem as it appears, because I’ll never take action on anything if I try and solve everything before, before it occurs. Do you think the business, business helped you understand like the best way to approach this particular life situation.
Jason Hellyer 17:04
I think that’s a great question, actually. And think about it now you probably were right. I mean, so many times dramatic events would arise and you just had to deal with them. So yeah, I tend to think you’re probably correct there without me knowing it at the time, I think that certainly could be the case.
Bill Gasiamis 17:24
Just defaulted to that business mindset of, okay, well, we’ve got a problem. Well, yes, do anything, but accept that we’ve got the problem, and now let’s find a way forward, and then let’s solve this. And then hopefully, yes, yes, don’t have another one, but if we do, we don’t know what that will look like, but we’ll put the same approach towards it?
Jason Hellyer 17:42
Yeah, I think you’re under percent correct. That’s exactly what, and that’s exactly the mentality.
Bill Gasiamis 17:45
I had when you tried to get out of bed for the first time you’re you had right side weakness. So what was that like your experience?
Jason Hellyer 17:55
Yeah, it was, it was, well, frustrating is a word, I think, because you just, it is because you just, you just don’t when your body’s not working how you want it to work, or your speeches and etcetera. And I was one of those people that always sang in the car and around the house and around the yard and things like, and I couldn’t. And that was one of my, weirdly enough, that was one of my most devastating things to me, is I couldn’t be verbally, who I was, where it was like, always having a tune going on and thinking, I’m Harry Connick Jr. and just having a laugh.
Jason Hellyer 18:29
And I couldn’t do that, and that was wildly frustrating for me. Yeah, I worked on the right hand side weakness that was lucky enough to come back pretty quickly in the first few, sort of four weeks, I suppose.
Bill Gasiamis 18:47
You got heaps of extra neurons around talking and all that.
Jason Hellyer 18:50
Yeah, so I always had, I was always going to be practicing all the time.
Bill Gasiamis 18:54
So, were you an auctioneer?
Jason Hellyer 18:56
No, It’s funny enough. I’m a I’m great. In a crowd of three or four. I don’t know why these people want to listen to me. Nothing worthy of telling you, you know, so that’s been that mindset, but I think I’m getting a little bit better at that with the role I’m in now. I need to do a lot more of it, so it’s certainly something I’m working on what kind of role are you in now? I work for a major ASX, 200 listed company now in the retirement sector or the lifestyle sector for over 50s. Run the sales teams for those.
Jason Hellyer 19:34
So there’s no I haven’t got the stress of property in where you’re dealing with people’s listings and their emotions of homes and the responsibility of that and, and it’s all consuming 24/7 where this is their beautiful homes, they’re there in place. And it’s just talking to people in general. And, and I’m dealing with people in city over 55 bracket, so that excuse, that train going past. So it’s a very. Easy conversation for me. And there’s no it’s an easy role, and I’m well looked after, yeah, yeah, when the House saw themselves, I’m just there to facilitate.
Bill Gasiamis 20:11
Yeah. Okay, so you, you have got, like, a good carrying speaker’s voice, and, you know, just anything that comes out of your mouth will people will pay attention just because of the way that you construct the sentence. People from you. People want to hear from you, just because you have a different perspective, a different point of view. You don’t have to be special or important or anything like that. You just have to have a different point of view, just so that you can create conversation, right? And and I think like you, I think like me, perhaps you love the sound of your own voice.
Jason Hellyer 20:49
Well, you could be right. I’ve told that.
Bill Gasiamis 20:52
hat’s all right. I mean, that’s a good place, right? You go up there, yeah, just have a listen to what Jason’s got to say. You think about it for yourself. And then you just talk. And then you go, shit. Yeah. Did I say that? I really love that, that I said that.
Jason Hellyer 21:05
Well, that was I’m certainly famous for things coming out that shouldn’t So, yeah, but it was my wife who encouraged me to come on and talk to you and to have a chat and to share my story. So I appreciate you letting me do that and and certainly getting practice in talking to you here now, and my public speaking, in a way, in a sense, yeah.
Bill Gasiamis 21:24
Don’t worry about it. This is only going to hundreds of 1000s of people around the world.
Jason Hellyer 21:30
I can only see you at the moment, so I’m happy with that.
Bill Gasiamis 21:33
Thank you. Really interesting, isn’t it, right? So I’ve done a bit of public speaking. That’s one of the first things I did after I had my first two brain hemorrhages, and one of the challenges that I had was constructing a sentence, remembering and all that kind of stuff. And I did that as a volunteer for the Stroke Foundation, and I feel like instinctively, that helped me with my speech, my memory and my recovery in those areas. And the first time I got up to speak, you know, I was petrified, you know, shaking. I was trembling the whole bit, the whole works.
Bill Gasiamis 22:05
But every person in the room was a stroke survivor, so everyone had some kind of a deficit that was impacting them on delivering, you know, their their speech or their presentation, like we only had to speak for minutes, literally minutes. But then it gets better and better, because what you do is you start relating to the crowd from the perspective of, like, I’m here to share something, but I’m going to learn from you as well. So it’s an interactive conversation. It’s less about I’m telling you what to do, and you might think I’m an idiot, but like it’s more about let’s learn together.
Bill Gasiamis 22:43
We will talk and we will learn together. That’s kind of what I get out of it. Now, that being said, that led me to the podcast, and that led me to all the other things that I’ve done, as well as recently for the Royal Melbourne Hospital neurosciences gala bull, they asked me to speak so that I could be the guy who comes on just before the auction start to just squeeze, to squeeze as much money out of the people sitting in the audience as possible, right? No pressure, yeah, and I was, and I was cool, right? Not nervous or anything.
Bill Gasiamis 23:18
But I’ve been speaking now on stage for about 13 years, right? 10 – 13, years, I’m talking about about 12 years. And I was being asked the whole time, are you nervous? You’re okay. You know, other people who, of course, must have been would have been nervous if they had the same job to do or whatever.
Bill Gasiamis 23:38
I’m like, No, I’m all good. I don’t get nervous. But I got emotional because I started talking about my story, and then I finish a sentence, and I was like trying to get through it, and I got through it all, but I had to compose myself. It was I had eight minutes, and I reckon I had to compose myself about five times.
Jason Hellyer 24:00
All right. Wow, yeah, no.
Bill Gasiamis 24:04
they reckon they loved it. They reckon it was awesome. It was the best. They reckon it will, you know, it pulled at the heartstrings. And it doesn’t really matter, like it doesn’t really matter. I’m on the stage just sharing my story and trying to get them to kind of connect with me, and the tear, the tears and the emotion kind of did that more, even though I was trying to.
Jason Hellyer 24:28
Absolutely, would have yeah from the heart, no doubt.
Bill Gasiamis 24:32
Yeah, and I couldn’t control it. Anyhow, got through it and tried to actually not burst into tears between the walk from my table to the stage and from the stage back to my table, like far out, but that’s it, man, it doesn’t really matter. People don’t really judge it that much. They probably give you more credit for being up there and speaking. Then, yeah. Me then, because they probably think that they can’t do it either. Do you know?
Jason Hellyer 25:05
Yeah, we always create the worst scenarios in our own heads, don’t we, you know? Yeah, we think.
Bill Gasiamis 25:10
Are you a bit of a head case or.
Jason Hellyer 25:14
Depends on who you talk to, Bill, yeah, no, no, I’m pretty I’m pretty level. I’m pretty level headed.
Bill Gasiamis 25:23
It’s not that, it’s just in that moment, you just get a little bit in your head about it, and it gets too much.
Jason Hellyer 25:29
I think so, yeah, there’s something I’m working on. I was lucky enough I just My eldest daughter just graduated from university, and she’d worked for 11 years for a doctorate, and she got us a very proud dad moment. She was also asked to do the closing speech on behalf of all the students etc there. And I’ve watched her over the years get better and better at her public speaking, but she’s addressed this audience of all these academics and, you know, and proud parents and other students, etc.
Jason Hellyer 26:01
I was just blown away at how calm and and relative she was to everyone, you know. And it was just, I couldn’t believe it. I was so proud of her, and I just aspire to be able to do that sort of at that level, you know. And it was nothing to her. She was like “Oh, it’s just stepped it’s fine.” I couldn’t believe it. Yeah, it was amazing to watch.
Losing My Voice, Losing Myself
Bill Gasiamis 26:24
Now that’s good. So, you know, going I might not be able to do this anymore. Like, what do you think was happening there?
Jason Hellyer 26:32
Yeah, well, I felt like I’d lost part of who I was, especially with the just the singing around the house. It was such a big I didn’t even realize at the time, and how big a part of that, of me that was just in because my wife always knows he goes, if you’re singing, you’re happy, you know, she always says that to me all the time. And, and the fact that I couldn’t do that, and I couldn’t recall words, and, you know, little bits and pieces like that, yeah, I sort of felt like I’d lost part of my identity. Yeah, absolutely.
Bill Gasiamis 27:00
Was there any like, really difficult moments, really hard, dark moments? Did you get to that stage at all?
Jason Hellyer 27:07
Or, I think, I think how close I come. I came sorry to putting my family, what putting my family through? It was my it wasn’t about me. It was more about them, and what I was putting them through and and said, My, what I haven’t explained to you is my wife’s mother’s had a stroke about two years beforehand, and hers was from falling at work and hitting her head, and she’s in a chair now and has lost a lot of her of complete right side movement.
Jason Hellyer 27:41
So the scare that it would have given my wife would have been, I can’t even imagine. She hasn’t shown anything, and she’s been nothing but supportive, but I know internally she would have been terrified.
Bill Gasiamis 27:53
And you smoked, you drank, it didn’t pay attention to your high blood pressure, and you should have done better.
Jason Hellyer 28:00
Yeah, so self indulgent. It’s ridiculous, you know. And, you know, being a father and a husband is, I know now, is so much more than just providing a house or, you know, the monetary side of things. It’s so much more. And, you know, I was a foolish man, it’s as simple as that. Well, that’s how I feel now anyway.
Bill Gasiamis 28:21
Yeah, do you think it’s about also example, leading by example?
Jason Hellyer 28:25
Grab. Couldn’t absolutely 100% and that’s why my life has changed dramatically from what it was now.
Bill Gasiamis 28:33
Yeah, one of the things that I did was sort of like, create the center of my universe became the kids and the wife, and it was about, like, trying to get better for them. If I got better for them, then I got better. And if I got better for them, then I got better for my parents and my brother and my extended family and everyone was kind of involved in it, but it was them. Initially. I wanted to be a better dad. I wanted to, you know, create a good example.
Bill Gasiamis 29:05
I wanted to be as hard working on my recovery as I possibly can. So I went out of my way. And then, when I wrote my book, The the dedication of the book is, you know, to all the stroke survivors first, and then it’s also to my family. It was like, if nothing else, I hope I’ve set a good example.
Jason Hellyer 29:29
Yes, absolutely. And how did no doubt you have?
Bill Gasiamis 29:34
Yeah, I’m trying to every day. It’s about how to also, how do I kind of read, not drinking? Reading was working too many hours, just having no downtime, no past times, no you know, and the interactions that I had with people were just small, short stints, family and friends, we saw on the weekends, that kind of stuff. But there was really no substance. It’s to my daily life, other than how much jobs I could get and how many quotes I could do, how many clients I could get everyone, how much I could charge them.
Jason Hellyer 30:11
Yeah, true.
Bill Gasiamis 30:15
Was it did you? Are you the kind of person that needed somebody to give them a bit of a lift, some support? I know your wife definitely would have done that. But was there any doctors or any professionals that you came across that kind of said, let’s move forward?
Jason Hellyer 30:35
Actually had a few different doctors I spoke to, and to be quite honest, I had some I’d felt just didn’t even care, you know, and then I was, I was on the search to find one who actually, you know, wanted to listen to you and hear what you’re saying, instead of just, here’s a pill, take the pill. I just wanted someone to, you know, ask those questions that I didn’t think to ask myself. And eventually found one and been with him ever since, and even though I live a long way away now, we have catch ups on the via zoom, etc, like we are today.
Bill Gasiamis 31:07
Yeah, that’s very common people finding that they come across doctors who are really well, difficult to deal with and don’t understand the human side of the That’s right, recovery, and a very disconnected so you had that.
Jason Hellyer 31:24
Absolutely, I did, yeah, yeah. But once I sort of found the doctor I was happy to deal with, or that was, I made a point of letting him know that was my experience and that I would be I was looking for a long term relationship, so to speak, even if I might not be in this part of the country or in Queensland, I wanted to be ability, to be able to still talk to him and deal with him. And he certainly gave me that flexibility.
Bill Gasiamis 31:52
No problems at all. Yeah. How important is that? Like my surgeon, you would have thought initially, right, she’s opened up my head, taken out the faulty blood vessels, set me back up, sent me out into the world, and that the interaction should stop and end there. And you would kind of be okay with that. You would say, All right, well, that’s pretty normal. I don’t see that as an issue, but it’s so much cooler that since my brain surgery in 2014, 11 years later.
Bill Gasiamis 32:21
I get to be at a ball on her behalf and represent stroke survivors that they can’t other donors or the state government or the federal government. So good, yeah. So just it’s next level, right? It just feels like I’m giving back. It feels like I’m still involved. The journey hasn’t ended. You know, it’s not just no big deal. We opened your head up, we stitch you up. You go home and move on. Like there’s more that’s required. I feel like I need to do more with this experience than just cop it on the chin.
Jason Hellyer 32:58
Certainly motivating you to continue on and go bigger and better I’d imagine.
Bill Gasiamis 33:03
And I don’t really kind of understand, understand that part of the journey, but it’s really cool that I get to give back in that way. It’s something strangely, what’s the word like, makes all the things that I went through kind of, I don’t know, worth it worthwhile?
Jason Hellyer 33:23
Yeah, no, get it well, you’ve got purpose. Now, you know your purpose is, what you’re doing is to to bring not only your story, but all of our stories, to everyone who’s going through this terrible, terrible thing. But, I mean, I listened to so many of your podcasts when I was going through it and and that’s how my wife actually found your name was on my podcast list when she was telling me what I should do and go and tell your story, etc. And so, yeah, certainly helped me, and helped me understand what I was going through. I mean, I didn’t know anything of anything.
Jason Hellyer 33:53
And listening to yourself, I lucky enough I had, I never took holiday. So I had a I had like, 12 weeks plus of holidays up my sleeve. So I just took them. But be quite honest, Bill, I never went back. I just stopped completely. I was lucky enough, and I was a position I could do. So for a short period, I was never going to be forever, but I knew what for that next 12 months, I had to concentrate on me and fixing me, and with, like you said, By fixing me, I could then help everyone around me as well, sort of recover, because they’ve all been impacted in some way from what happened.
Bill Gasiamis 34:30
Yeah, 12 weeks of holidays in Australia, that’s three years of holiday.
Jason Hellyer 34:34
That’s right, that’s right. You haven’t gone on.
Bill Gasiamis 34:38
Yeah, how? No downtime, nothing. I mean, just public holiday, obviously, and the main days, Christmas, New Year’s that kind of stuff, yeah, but no getting away, no, nothing.
Jason Hellyer 34:49
No, not really, no, not a lot of it. You know, it’s just how it was. It’s just how it is in that industry, you know, yeah, just crazy. You know, a lot of people don’t have a sort.
Bill Gasiamis 35:00
Like, I was gonna say your wife, like, surely, she’s going take a break. Let’s go somewhere. Let’s do something in that time, isn’t she?
Jason Hellyer 35:07
Well, casually, yeah. Well, I mean, she might have had a break, but I didn’t.
Bill Gasiamis 35:12
So she might have given that, had herself that opportunity to, you know, chill out a little bit somewhere for a couple of weeks. But you never did?
Jason Hellyer 35:21
Yeah, well, a little bit here and there, but nothing, nothing where I took major leave from or anything like that, but I certainly, I certainly did in the end, and it was also glad I had it up my sleeve, because certainly allowed a good peace of mind knowing you had income too during that period.
A Reality Check That Redefined What Matters
Bill Gasiamis 35:37
So yeah. So what did you do, like for downtime? When you did have some couple of days away from work or some downtime? How did you like to have fun, other than drinking and smoking.
Jason Hellyer 35:49
Which is always been about Mad fisherman. So I was a especially a beach fisherman. Grew up on the coast my whole life. So, you know, I surfed all my all my youth, and it’s the ocean’s been part of my life forever. So, you know, always a lot of time around the beach and around the lakes and around the river systems, etc. And, you know, it’s a place where I feel at home, whether it’s on a river and kayaking and all that sort of anything to do with the water I was involved in.
Bill Gasiamis 36:18
Yeah, that’s very cool. Did you do a life mortality check when you went through this? Did it trigger you in that way to think about things could end Absolutely?
Jason Hellyer 36:33
Yeah, it gives you a great the great reality comes with the fact that you know you’re not going to be here forever, and it certainly sets in place very quickly of what’s important. And it’s not how big your house is or what sort of car you drive, I can tell you now there’s no no importance to me whatsoever, it’s just all about, I remember lying on that bed, and I would have given when it first happened, older, given everything I owned just to have my children the room, it was, it’s a realism is something everyone needs to sort of go through. I think it’s a check that everyone needs at some stage.
Bill Gasiamis 37:18
What were the ages of the children. What’s the span?
Jason Hellyer 37:24
At that stage? It would have been 17 up to 26.
Bill Gasiamis 37:32
Okay, my god, you guys had a busy life. Well, sounds like you were at least good at one pastime. That’s right, yeah, yeah, good on you, man. So, so like nine years between the first one and the second one, and there was six children, you know, six children all up. Yeah, wow. You had to be just on all the time to deal with all of the stuff that happened in a family of six.
Jason Hellyer 38:04
Yeah, it’s probably why I drink.
Bill Gasiamis 38:07
Yeah. Super Woman. Is she working in that time, or is she, like, doing homework.
Jason Hellyer 38:16
Lucky enough that she could do a bit of a stay at home parenting, which was a blessing, yeah.
Bill Gasiamis 38:23
Yeah, far out. Man. What an out. What a like, you know, what an output that needs to sort of happen on a daily basis, you know, managing all those kids, get up, go to school, do your homework, sit down and eat, tidy up, you know, yes, I struggled with two kids, and you guys had six. I love it. Crazy. It is, I like it. So now, what’s life like now? So I know you’ve said there’s been a big difference, a big shift and a swing away from that kind of stuff. How do you go about your your day to day?
Jason Hellyer 39:01
Well, I have a very, very calm and peaceful life now. Well, the kids are flying the roost, so I don’t have any of those responsibilities. They’re often at university and working and doing all the bits and pieces. That’s the wife and I now. We’ve done a bit of travel, and we’ve, as I said before, we’ve just bought ourselves a little little farm up near Dubbo, and we’re renovating an old cottage up here now, and eventually we’ll get up here in the next few years.
Jason Hellyer 39:27
And this will be our little forever Nan and pop home looked at it was going to be we would choose a beautiful lifestyle over monetary items and Chasing career goals that mean nothing on a gravestone.
Bill Gasiamis 39:42
Yeah. Are you planning on having anything on the farm? Like, I know you have a farm, but are you going to grow anything raising it?
Jason Hellyer 39:50
No, I was up to the washi over miniature cows and all those things I see on Instagram. But yeah, in reality of it, I think it’ll be a. You chokes. We do. We don’t know yet. We’ll just see what happens. Just concentrate on getting the farmhouse up and running at the moment. And, you know, got chippies here as we speak, knocking things out. It’s 110 years old, so they’re finding new little things here and there all the time that we’ve been hidden. So, but it’s fun to do.
Bill Gasiamis 40:17
Yeah, for the people listening who are overseas, chippies are carpenters. We call, of course, in Australia, amongst others, of course, of course. Yes, that’s cool. So how about your health? Medication, all that kind.
Jason Hellyer 40:33
Of turned.
Bill Gasiamis 40:34
Radically. So how much weight did you lose?
Jason Hellyer 40:38
About 24 kilos. I’m down now. I think from I’m starting, I’m still on my work in progress. Still, I’ve done quite a few things and but I’m constantly working on, working on flexibility and everything at the moment. Whereas as we’re getting older, one of the worst things for as you get older is to get up and out of chairs and up and down off the ground and little things like that. So working. So it’s a forever work. I’m an ongoing artwork that’s got to always need fine tuning.
Bill Gasiamis 41:10
And are you tall?
Jason Hellyer 41:13
No, God no. Wish I was. My father was six foot four, and my mother was five foot two. And guess height I got mums? Yeah, so I come in around five eight.
Bill Gasiamis 41:23
It’s five eight roughly me so, but 110 kilos, that’s quite heavy for somebody, that’s fine.
Jason Hellyer 41:28
Yeah, I was rotund.
Bill Gasiamis 41:33
Rotund. Okay, yeah, that’s a big improvement, just the difference that that that makes on your physical like your body, being able to deal with all the physical side of it, that’s really good outcome, and working on your strength ongoing is really interesting that they say, Can I think like this studies about, Like the the muscles that you have on your body is directly correlated to the longevity of your life.
Jason Hellyer 42:08
Absolutely, yeah, I’m a big reader of all that sort of Dan Buettner stuff on the blue zones and longevity, and so I’ve done a lot of homework on that and, you know, and all that precautionary sort of exercise that we can do. So yeah, said every day is a little bit.
Bill Gasiamis 42:25
Like you go down that path. What you’re doing is you are improving your health, increasing your biological age, you know? So that’s exactly what we want to do, and that helps the brain. It helps the brain heal, recover, get better and better and better. And that’s exactly where you want to be heading. Also, absolutely, I was curious about, like, how stroke has changed you, not just physically, but also emotionally and and mentally.
Jason Hellyer 42:53
You know, I think the fact that I gave up the drinking was such a big part of my life on the day to day. I mean, I never considered myself to be an alcoholic. I was just someone who went for a beer. But in hindsight, I think I was, you know, and for, like, for the last three years now. I mean, I’ve been at a crystal clear mind every day, all day. I’ve had nothing. I’ve never had a hangover. I haven’t had this of so sharp now, and so my mind is so clear, and I’m so focused on everything I do with no deterrent or anything sabotaging it.
Bill Gasiamis 43:28
Wow.
Jason Hellyer 43:29
That it’s because better than ever, magic, so to speak.
Bill Gasiamis 43:37
So you just like you just had it. You were doing it for so long, you didn’t have a moment of extended period of time where you had a lot of clarity from.
Jason Hellyer 43:48
No alcohol, no, just get up and just grind and go again. And I’d a couple of beers on a Wednesday night, and that’d flow into a Thursday, then catch up on a Friday, then Saturday, down at the pub with the boys on the betting on the horses and Sunday recovery session, as I used to call them, going over couple of beers and a meal over the water. And they’re just week in, week out, week in, week out. Just yeah, it was for so long, it was normal, and I wasn’t alone. I mean, there was an army of us that used to do it, and they’re still doing it.
Jason Hellyer 44:25
I’ve actually influenced quite a few of my mates have actually given up the drink and everything now too. So sort of seen the changes I’ve made, and they’ve made the change themselves. But there’s plenty. There’s plenty of still playing the big game, so hopefully they don’t find out the hard way, like me.
Bill Gasiamis 44:40
Yeah, do you still get to hang out with them in the same environment? Environments and not drink? Sure? Yeah, I’m the first.
Jason Hellyer 44:45
One they ring because I drive everyone home. Yeah, if I’m up in the area, I don’t stay for hours or anything like you still just catching. Drop in, catch up, say, good day. And, you know, I head on back home and got on my I’m in bed by nine these days, you know. And the more the mornings are by my my beautiful place, it’s the early mornings are where I thrive. I love it. Yeah, so good.
Overcoming Ischemic Stroke
Bill Gasiamis 45:21
What strengths have you discovered in yourself that you didn’t know you had?
Jason Hellyer 45:26
IEP challenges some of you, which you’re aware and firstly, that was to lose the weight and to rebuild my strength, and then to get to here and there, and then set some tasks, like whether it was bike riding, at first it was like a 10 kilometer ride. Then it became a 25 kilometer ride. And then I thought, I could, I can do that lap twice, so it’ll be a 50 kilometer ride. And once I started to realize I could do that, I was thinking, I’m probably capable of more, a lot more than what I’m thinking I am.
Jason Hellyer 45:54
And when I was a young bloke, I loved endurance events, and certainly was it was capable in that regard, and could run all day, so to speak, you know. And I wasn’t. I couldn’t. My knees were shot from the weight I carried. But I could cycle. And I wasn’t a road cyclist or anything like that. I was basically board shorts instead of pluggers or thongs for those overseas listeners and well, flip flop, sorry, yeah. And a, you know, a surf t shirt, and I was off on the foot pass, and I was born. So, yeah, so our target then, so then we decided, let’s go and have a crack at that.
Jason Hellyer 46:36
We did that 700 kilometers through the Pyrenees and through Spain and all that over, in this case, was gone, and another option, not an option. And if you know Europe well, and I’m sure you realize that it’s not flat like Australia, it’s she’s up and down everywhere. It’s crazy, you know. And also to prove to my, you know, friends and my family and and in a way, to apologize to my past self for what I’d done to myself to now give myself the opportunity to do something amazing.
Jason Hellyer 47:10
And that’s when I decided to paddle the length of the Murray River, and Australia’s longest river and the third longest navigable, navigable river in the world, and set most sights on that dude.
Bill Gasiamis 47:21
Was that televised somewhere? Did people talk about that?
Jason Hellyer 47:26
I read about it. I read about it years ago as a young man, and I was always been, I’ve always been fascinated by Australia, the historic side of Australia, and the explorers. And it was always a great read for me. And the old river systems used to be highways, really. And there’s 1000 stories of people who’ve done it. And, you know, canoes, they used to make corrugated iron. And, you know, there’s a million stories out there like that. And it fascinated me, and that’s sort of what led to that.
Bill Gasiamis 47:55
Yeah, very cool. So do you think that part of the reason why?
Jason Hellyer 48:01
Well, the limiting mindset was that it was taking too long away from work and beer, simple as that, yeah, how do I take beer with me? That’s mental. It’s so messed up. It’s ridiculous, you know? It’s just but, I mean, I wasn’t even thinking about doing I said to myself, I’ll do that one day. I’ll do that one day. Then I’d look at myself in the mirror and go, you’re not doing anything. You’re fat bastard, you know, until you get your life sorted. But then one day just roll into another. It was just, it was just Groundhog Day, because continuously, and I said the wake up call I needed, was what happened.
Jason Hellyer 48:42
And then finally, as I said, when we got to the Camino, I realized I was capable of doing something as epic as that, you know, and there’s only, there’s an inland rivers register they have of Marathon journeys in the river systems here in Australia. And to date, there was 514 people had done it prior to myself. And to put it into context, as I tell people, is over 20,000 have climbed Everest.
Jason Hellyer 49:10
So there’s a small handful have done the trip on the in the modern era. I’m sure there’s plenty more that prior, but it was a challenge. I wanted to set myself alone, self sufficient. That was the scariest thing, I think, was actually being alone. And if something happened, I had no one to call on, and I wasn’t, you know, in some circumstances, of the hundreds of quarters from anyone.
Bill Gasiamis 49:34
Man, that is crazy. So you know, what’s interesting is that in the modern era, you know, we have these massive goals of, like, going further, longer, harder, whatever the indigenous people would have been up and down that river millions of times. And they always, surely they never thought, let me just see if I can just go, like, for 20 days straight, you know, without any support, help or anything.
Bill Gasiamis 49:57
It was always about practical. You shop the river. It was, I need to get somewhere. I need to, you know, deliver something. I need to go see another community. We’re gonna get food, whatever, you know, but we’ve got to do these, I don’t know, let’s go to the moon.
Jason Hellyer 50:14
Yeah, couldn’t go more, yeah, absolutely. They done it just to just get the family fed.
Bill Gasiamis 50:21
And I kind of get it. I kind of get those long endurance kind of events. I know that a lot of people get a lot out of them. Personally, it helps them break down barriers and overcome negative talk and all that kind of stuff. And I know that stroke survivors would benefit a lot from going. I’ve never walked more than a kilometer. I’m going to push myself to go two kilometers today, like I totally get that. But for everybody who’s listening and watching, what I’m trying to say is you don’t have to do a 5 day, 10 day, 12 day journey.
Bill Gasiamis 50:54
Just go around a block an extra time than you’ve been before. That’s enough. You the the feats of brilliance or effort or whatever, they just have to be something that helps you improve your personal best so that you can just see that there’s more to you than how you perceive yourself right now.
Jason Hellyer 51:14
That’s right, and getting all gone by one big choice, it was as I as I reached each goal, it allowed me to realize that maybe I could do a little bit more, you know, maybe I could do a little bit more of this and go a little bit harder. And I think it was more than just also just just to prove to myself that I can.
Bill Gasiamis 51:35
Okay. So that makes sense. Then, like, if you’ve done it in 1000 small steps, and then you’ve had goals that you beat every single time, then that makes life sense. I love that. That’s better than going, I’m going to wake up today and I think I’m going to go run 400 kilometers, and if I don’t, I’m a loser.
Jason Hellyer 51:53
Yeah, no, I didn’t. Didn’t know a lot of training is probably a year and a half where the training went into it, and 1000 1000 small goals in that process as well. So I knew if I didn’t get from that one to that one, I wouldn’t be able to do this one. So yeah, it’s all, it’s a domino effect moving forward.
Bill Gasiamis 52:12
Yeah. So sounds like stroke has changed your life in a meaningful way, like proper.
Jason Hellyer 52:17
Absolutely, yeah, and I think it’s certainly your mindset has so much to do with it, you can either choose the defeated mindset, or you can do the best of what you’ve got. I mean, I know I’m very lucky compared to some, and I’m fully aware of that, but every day I remind myself, and it’s sort of what keeps me motivated.
Choosing the Right Mindset: Small Steps, Big Recovery
Bill Gasiamis 52:37
Yeah, if you could share one lesson from your journey with somebody who’s newly diagnosed? What would that be?
Jason Hellyer 52:46
Well, I think about basically just, I suppose what I just said is that choose the choose the right mindset. You know, you can’t, even though it’s, feels defeating and it’s easy to go down that path you really need to focus on those one those small goals, one at a time, and step by step, you’ll get there. But that mindset is so important to a to a faster recovery and the appreciation of still being here.
Jason Hellyer 53:16
I think that’s, it’s so important. I mean, that’s my mindset. Is the number one thing that’s got me through everything. Don’t get me wrong, it’s been bad sometimes too, but recognizing it, and I could tell when I’m heading down that path and I’ve could have a little chat to myself and talk myself around and not let yourself go down that way.
Bill Gasiamis 53:38
Did you feel the need to have conversations with counselors, psychologists, or anything like that in this time?
Jason Hellyer 53:44
No, I didn’t. I probably should have, but I didn’t know. And I read and read and educated myself listen to podcasts like your own and others on not only on stroke, but also on health and healing, and you know, the nutrition and just physics in general, the body and a million different things, you know. And I’ve always been an avid learner or a self educator, and it was that was certainly what helped me as well understand what had happened and understand what I had to do going forward.
Bill Gasiamis 54:20
Yeah, that’s just as helpful. I mean, it just getting stuck into the content that’s available for free online is just as good as being absolutely you know, counseling, for me is kind of that a little bit next level. It’s when I want to personalize my conversation what I’ve learned with somebody else, so that they can reflect back on me, and they can give me another and I feel like you don’t get anything out of watching or listening to YouTube videos or books or whatever, then a counselor could be perfect, right?
Bill Gasiamis 54:52
Just go there, have a quick one hour conversation, get some stuff off your chest, get some feedback, and then, you know, take that to the next session. And. And also implement whatever you learned during during the break between one session and the next. And it’s awesome. It’s a great way to go. So I like the way you go about things, like, I like how you catch yourself, you know, in a negative mindset or spiral, or whatever, and you can snap out of it. And I think that’s a skill, if we practice that more often, I think that helps.
Bill Gasiamis 55:24
One of the ways that I do that is I say like, is what I’m doing useful right now? Is that helpful to me in any way? Is arguing with my wife beneficial in any way? Like, what the hell are you doing? Okay, take a moment. Get the hell out of there. Change the scenery, go back, maybe apologize to my wife, to myself, to whomever. Can I do, do the work that I’ve got to do, to kind of go all right, I was there. I’m okay for being there.
Bill Gasiamis 55:51
I prefer not to be there, and this is how I’m going to stop myself staying there for a long time, because I’m still giving myself permission to go there. But I’m going to try and decrease the amount of time I stay there absolutely.
Jason Hellyer 56:05
Yeah, no, I hear you exactly, yeah. I just tried not to argue with my wife in general.
Finding Strength, Joy, and a New Identity After Stroke
Bill Gasiamis 56:18
I’ve got one last question, which just popped into my head right now, when you’re walking 700 riding 700 kilometers, yes, what are you doing on those rides? I know you’re pedaling and that, but what else are you doing? Because I imagine it’s not just no talking close, you know, like focus and just writing, like, what goes on?
Jason Hellyer 56:40
Well, it’s, I think, the beauty of the Camino de Santiago. It’s such an ancient pilgrimage. And it’s we riding through towns and past cathedrals are 1002 1000 years old, and the same as the towns that we’ve got, we’ve got such a lack of history here in Australia, not not our Aboriginal history, of course, but our white history that we can have. You just realize how young we are here as a this side, that side of our country. It’s incredible, and the it’s so different. And, you know, and you can the amount of pastries you can eat on 100 kilometer bike trip is phenomenal.
Jason Hellyer 57:24
So yeah, every little Yeah, and it’s not like it’s 100 kilometer stretches between towns. There’s a new little town every 30 or 40 kilometers. So it’s quite, it’s not, you know, we weren’t sleeping, we weren’t sleeping in the bush or anything like that. So there was luxury at the end of the day, and it was amazing things to go and see and sells the sites. And we weren’t, we weren’t rushing through it. So it was beautiful.
Bill Gasiamis 57:53
Yeah, okay, so it’s an experience. It’s not grueling, it’s not a endurance event or anything like that, go along and then see what’s going on and where you’re Yeah, you’re at something new. And the good thing about doing 700 kilometers, you don’t have to feel guilty about the pastries.
Jason Hellyer 58:13
No, that’s right. No, we certainly didn’t. No, no, I don’t think we lost any weight at all, but that’s okay. That’s what it was for us to for us a little reward for us for all the work we’ve done on, you know, repairing my health and and Sharon, my wife, being as beautifully supportive, supportive as she’s been.
Bill Gasiamis 58:33
Yeah, mate, it’s a real pleasure to meet you. Thank you so much for joining me on the podcast your story.
Jason Hellyer 58:40
You too, Bill. No worries. Thanks for having me.
Bill Gasiamis 58:42
That was Jason Hellyer sharing how a stroke became the turning point that reshaped his life, physically, mentally and emotionally. If you’ve been inspired by Jason’s story, remember, recovery isn’t about perfection, it’s about progress, lifestyle change, mindset and patience can make a world of difference. You can find Jason’s full episode and others like it on YouTube, Spotify and Apple podcasts. Just search Recovery After Stroke.
Bill Gasiamis 59:10
If you’d like to dive deeper into your own recovery journey, check out my book, The Unexpected Way That A Stroke Became The Best Thing That Happened, at recoveryafterstroke.com/book. And if you’d like to support this podcast and keep it going, consider heading over to patreon.com/recoveryafterstroke. And of course, a final thanks to Banksia Tech, proud distributors of the Hanson Rehab Glove by Cerebro for helping make this episode possible. Until next time, remember, be kind to yourself, celebrate the small wins and keep moving forward in your recovery journey.
Intro 59:45
Importantly, we present many podcasts designed to give you an insight and understanding into the experiences of other individuals. Opinions and treatment protocols discussed during any podcast are the individual’s own experience, and we do not necessarily share the same opinion. Nor do we recommend any treatment protocol discussed all content on this website and any linked blog, podcast or video material controlled this website or content is created and produced for informational purposes only and is largely based on the personal experience of Bill Gasiamis.
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