Feb 9, 2026 11:36am

By Amelia Knight Pinkston

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84 min read

Ep. 96 | The Story No One Is Telling: What a Team USA Bobsledder’s Brain Injury Reveals About Depression and Mental Health

This episode started as a conversation about an elite sport — but it quickly became something much bigger.

Former Team USA bobsledder Will Person shares what happened years after repeated head trauma left him battling confusion, depression, memory loss, and suicidal thoughts — long after his athletic career ended.

His story highlights a critical gap in how we understand mental health: many people struggling with depression, personality changes, or cognitive decline may be living with untreated brain injury — without knowing it.

With the Winter Olympics underway, this conversation offers an important behind-the-scenes look at what high-impact sports demand of the brain — and why athletes are often taught to push through symptoms that appear “minor” at the time.

In veterinary medicine and other caregiving professions, mental health struggles are often framed as emotional or psychological problems alone.
This episode invites a deeper question: What happens when physical brain injury, chronic stress, inflammation, or nervous system overload are part of the picture — but never evaluated?

In this episode, we explore:

How repeated sub-concussive impacts can affect the brain years later
Why CTE and brain injuries are often misdiagnosed or overlooked
The hidden mental health toll of elite sports — and other head trauma that may be dismissed or forgotten
Why “rest and return to play” is often not enough for concussions
How hyperbaric oxygen therapy helped restore clarity, energy, and hope — and what this could mean for future brain-based mental health care

If you know someone who has experienced a concussion, head injury, or unexplained mental health changes — especially years later — please share this episode to help raise awareness.

Resources & ways to support Will’s work:

William’s GoFundMe is: https://gofund.me/93ff9c6e

To help open a CTE Recovery Center for athletes and military veterans

Links to William’s Social Media: @onemanwithachamber (LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok)

If you or someone you love is struggling with suicidal thoughts, help is available. In the U.S., call or text 988. Outside the U.S., visit findahelpline.com.

Disclaimer: The information provided in this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical, mental health, or professional advice. I am a certified health and life coach, not a licensed medical or mental health professional. Please consult with a healthcare provider before making any changes to your physical or mental health routines. If you are experiencing a crisis, seek help from a qualified professional or contact emergency services.

Transcript:

Intro: Welcome to the Life Boost with Amelia podcast where we're changing the narrative around what true health and success look like. They should give you energy, not drain it.

I'm your host, Dr. Amelia multi-passionate integrative health and life coach, entrepreneur, and recovered burnout veterinarian.

Together, we'll explore the science behind how your brain and body work, including the unconscious mind while also connecting with what your heart needs in order to stand up to the norm of feeling stuck on a hamster wheel-working hard yet feeling exhausted and not where you want to be- and instead live a life that makes you excited to get out of bed in the morning and in love with who you see when you look in the mirror.

The reality is if you do what everyone else is doing, you're not going to feel good.

Let's break the norm.

Content note:

Before we start a brief content note: this episode does include discussion of suicide and mental health. The focus is on healing and solutions, but please take care while listening and support resources are included in the show notes.

Introducing a Team USA Bobsledder

amelia: 1:14
Hi friend. I have a very special guest today.

William Person is a former nine year team, USA bobsled athlete whose career left him battling the devastating effects of CTE. At his lowest point, he could barely get off the floor, lost in confusion, depression, and a deteriorating brain.

Hope came when he discovered hyperbaric oxygen therapy, which restored clarity in his thinking, color to his vision, and purpose to his life.

Today William is on a mission to raise awareness of brain damage in sports, the importance of protecting and healing the brain. And he's on a mission to open a nonprofit CTE Recovery Center to help athletes and veterans heal at no cost to them.

Hello and welcome, will, thank you so much for being here.

Will Person: 2:01
Oh man. Thank you for having me.

Concussion Recovery and the Isolation of Brain Injury

amelia: 2:03
Yeah, we really connected at the perfect time because the past couple months I've been on my own journey recovering from a concussion that happened from a freak accident and, it was just such a more involved recovery process than I ever imagined in the past.

I had had a few concussions, but it was so simple, you know, I kind of took it easy for a couple days, my head hurt and then I was back to normal, and this time was just so different of, not really being able to walk past my driveway, having trouble thinking, not being able to use screens or even talking.

And that experience really gave me a whole new perspective of what athletes experience with concussions and just how isolating that experience can be.

And so when I heard about your story and your mission, I just knew I had to have you on the podcast because you are doing such important work raising awareness on a topic that really isn't getting enough attention.

I know I had never heard about anyone talking about this kind of thing, until now, so thank you.

Will Person: 3:23
Well, well they're doing, they're doing a great job of hiding it and covering it up. So, that's the scary part. That's the scary part.

CTE, Delayed Symptoms, and Why Athletes Suffer in Silence

amelia: 3:30
It really is. Yeah. I think it your just being so brave in sharing your story and your experience and I know with my experience, which was, you know, so small compared to what you went through, but in the middle of it, it was so hard because I wanted to be able to explain what I was experiencing, but I also couldn't.

And so I think that's the scary thing is so many people are just silently suffering from this and just don't necessarily have the ability or brain power to be speaking up like you are now. So I so appreciate that.

Will Person: 4:09
Well, the scariest part is you just stated what you did for your concussion the first time. Right? You kinda rested. You were actually on the path of the rest of us

amelia: 4:22
I know.

Concussion Care in Elite Sports: “That’s What We Were Instructed to Do”

Will Person: 4:23
because it, because that's what we did. That's what we were instructed to do.

Like my first World Cup crash, it was about two or three weeks before the opening ceremonies for the Salt Lake City Games and we were in St. Marie Switzerland. Worst crash I ever had, it was hands down.

I, matter of fact, the guy sitting behind me in a sled that day was knocked unconscious

amelia: 4:43
my gosh.

Will Person: 4:44
and we went. After everything was kind of said and done, they sent us back to the hotel and we were given our treatment plan.

Our treatment plan was like, I had vertigo really bad. Like I couldn't sit up in the bed without the room spinning for days.

And when I was walking down the hotel lobby it's like I was walking sideways, but it felt like I was playing around like I was looking for some sympathy or something. That's what it really felt like. I was like, this can't be real. Like I'm, this is me playing around.

But the truth was like for the next week or so I couldn't sit up at a bed without the room spinning.

So our treatment plan was to go back to that hotel room and me wanted the Vertigo guy to watch the guy who was knocked unconscious and make sure he doesn't go to

amelia: 5:25
Oh my

Will Person: 5:25
And his job was to watch the Vertigo guy and make sure I don't go to sleep.

So, you know, it's just a, that's kind of what they did to us back then. And still kind of to this day it's, they don't treat concussions very much.

Until you start doing something outta character and then they're like, wait a minute, this person's not.

If you're lucky, somebody will see it and help you kinda get some help. But back when I was racing, no.

amelia: 5:50
yeah.

A Lawsuit to Force Warnings: “It Is Non-Negotiable”

Will Person: 5:51
Yeah. And I, yeah, and actually until I, I filed a class action lawsuit to force them to warn the new generation. And I like, we're still fighting it right now. I told'em it's, it is non-negotiable is what I told the

amelia: 6:04
Yeah.

Will Person: 6:05
So you have to warn the, but we're still fighting over the wording.'cause like they want to use this blanket word concussion.

amelia: 6:11
Mm.

Will Person: 6:12
Like now that they'll put it in the, in your membership package, you can get a concussion.

But they don't really explain, like, I knew I had a concussion, but they didn't tell me like, in about 10 years, about seven years, you're gonna start having like, first of all, I had red flags for the first 10 years, but I just didn't recognize them. I was able to kinda rationalize them.

But they don't tell you that in about that 10 year mark, you're not gonna recognize people. Your friends, some of your family, you're gonna, for me, every day I have to look at a book when I wake up to figure out if it's Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or whatever.'cause I can't, I couldn't tell the days apart.

And then once I figure out the day, then I have to figure out what month we're in. I was stuck in a loop for a long time. I always thought it was either January or August. Same two months, every day.

So I had a routine every day, wake up. Well, actually the other part of that is, is I had to I learned to put a thermos of coffee on my nightstand or next to my bed.

amelia: 7:11
Mm-hmm.

Will Person: 7:12
or a bottle of Coca-Cola. Two things I never drink as an athlete. Now here I am living off of it.

And yeah, but they don't tell you all that. They just now they want to just use the word concussion. And I'm saying that's still not appropriate. You need to let the young people understand what they're getting into.

So if they choose, some athletes are gonna be athletes, they're gonna still want to do it, but at least they understand the risks, number one.

And then when the symptoms do kick in, because every athlete I spoke to and every athlete that they spoke to, we all have the same type of symptoms. So it's gonna get you, it's just you don't know what to do when it does get you.

So that's one of my other purposes.

Why Delayed CTE Symptoms Are So Scary

amelia: 7:51
Yeah, I think that's all just so important and also scary. The fact that it is so delayed before you're having those signs, and you're not really getting any warnings of signs to look for that may even happen, so you can be proactive.

So I think that's so important that you are speaking out about it so that people can be proactive instead of reactive.

“I Thought I’d Be Dead Before the Case Ended”

Will Person: 8:17
Yeah and I was very generous to the Olympic team. Like I didn't I didn't request anything for myself. Like I was struggling so bad. I thought I'd be dead before the case ended.

And so I told'em, I said, just take care of my guys. Number one, well actually that was number two and number one was just, warn that new generation before they get in that sled.

amelia: 8:34
Yeah.

Will Person: 8:35
For me, I thought I didn't think I would see the end of the case because at that time I was living on my floor and yeah, I took the mattress outta the bedroom, put it in the living room because it was the, it was the shortest distance between the kitchen and the bathroom.

So I can get around. If I need to crawl, I can get there.

amelia: 8:50
my gosh.

Will Person: 8:51
If I needed to get help, I can, I can cross to the front door if the paramedics need to come or something, but I just didn't, I didn't know how bad off I was really at that time. I kept thinking this was diabetes or something, you know? It was, yeah.

How Do You Even Get Into Bobsledding?

amelia: 9:04
So I, and I wanna dive into all of that even more, but I'd love to back up a little bit, to start at the beginning because you were on the USA team, the Olympic blob sledding team, and that is like how did you even get into bobsledding?

Like I grew up in Maine where there, there's snow and winter sports, but like I've never saw like an option to get into that. So when did that start?

Will Person: 9:33
Well, the truth is I got tricked. I got tricked just like everybody else who did this sport. We all got tricked one by one, tricked, doing, I was about, oh, it was probably 98. They were doing tryouts for the Salt Lake City Olympics coming around.

So I was the fastest American in the state at the time. I was training at Brigham Young University at the time, and so I was the fastest American. So my phone rang a couple times and they were asking me to come for this tryout.

And I remember watching this thing called wide World of Sports when I was a kid. And they usually showed this guy on skis. He's, he wipes out breaks like arms and legs. Then they showed a bobsled crash.

And I was like, I started thinking about, I was like man, that don't sound like fun.

But it was my last couple years of track and prior to that I was doing have you ever see a movie called Jerry McGuire? Okay.

I was doing movies like that. Like, I was making Cuba Gooding Jr. Look a professional athlete. So what they do, they put a football, I played five different characters in that movie. There's some pictures on my Instagram page if anybody wanna see it, but I played five different characters and what they did, they just put a uniform on me and told me to, oh sorry.

And they told me to run, and I just made it look like those were professional, professional athletes out there. there

From Track to Team USA Bobsled: The Tryout Story

amelia: 10:50
Okay, so you were running track and because you were so fast then they called you to be on the bobsled team.

Will Person: 11:00
Well they asked me to come for the tryout,

amelia: 11:02
Wow. Okay.

Will Person: 11:03
I was like, maybe it's in my last year of track or so, so I said, maybe I'll pick up a sponsor for my last year. If I go, it's a live, it's tv, maybe I'll, somebody will see me.

So I decided to go for the tryout. And what they did is we get, I get there. There's a stage and there's all these hot lights and cameras and NBC was actually there, so they had a treadmill and they took it, treadmills are normally like this.

And then they elevated, so it was on the steepest, and they had some bobsled handles taped on the treadmill. So I gotta hold these bars a certain way and it's hooked up to a computer.

So what they do is they punch in 10 miles an hour, and the faster I run on that thing, and the quicker it gets to 10 miles an hour and they time it.

So I watched the first 30 people go through this dry out, and I, none of us know what we're doing. We just, I'm just observing. And it was my turn.

So when I do it when I finished, the bobsled driver was there, his eyes were like this big. So I know I did really good or really bad and I didn't quite know which one.'cause I didn't know much about the sport.

So he puts his arm around me and remember, these lights and cameras are on me. He said, if I offer you$50,000 for the next three months, would you race on my team?

And at that time I owned, I wrote the first ever independent living transitional housing program for the state of Utah for youth.

amelia: 12:22
That's incredible.

Will Person: 12:23
so I was a business guy, so I gave him the business answer. I was like if it's a fair price sure, if not, we know we can renegotiate later.

But I'm thinking 50 grand for three months. I can't just, I'm counting that money right now. Just give it, pass it over.

So that was a Wednesday. I get to the track on Sunday for the first time. And as soon as I get off the truck, one of my collegiate teammates was there, Billy, he sees me getting off the truck. He says, man, I've been trying to call you. Been looking for you. But you can come race on our team.

So this Bobsled driver. He panics. He's Hey, hey, don't leave me, buddy. I'll get you more money.

amelia: 12:56
Wow.

Will Person: 12:56
Oh. So sorry. I had that thing going do not disturb. They don't, it is still disturbs.

amelia: 13:03
got a mind of their

Will Person: 13:04
And yeah. So anyway, so this guy he, so he's offering me more than 50 grand. I'm getting a bonus, but I quickly found out there was no money in the sport. He tricked me up

amelia: 13:12
Oh my gosh.

Will Person: 13:15
but one of the other bigger teams saw me up there and I raced like three days later in America's Cup, won a medal and it was America's cup medal. And so NBC ran that story.

And by that time, it was something different, fun. And, and I always wanted to, I didn't make the national team for track and field. That was always my dream. So I made it on the other side and the winner side.

It kinda got that monkey off of my back, that pressure. All these athletes, we all feel it, we train our whole life to, represent our country. And then some of us just don't get it. We don't get to make it.

amelia: 13:46
Sure.

Will Person: 13:47
And yeah.

Who Becomes a Bobsledder?

amelia: 13:48
Wow, that's so interesting. I didn't realize that's how they found the Bobsledders from like track really.

Will Person: 13:55
man, we come from everywhere. There's so many different there's baseball players, football players, there's plumbers. Anybody if you're strong and fast, if you can do it,

amelia: 14:07
sure.

Will Person: 14:08
They'll let you do it. They'll let you try.

amelia: 14:09
Okay. Wow. I am curious, like how do you feel right before starting? Like it just seems like that?

Will Person: 14:19
the bobsled.

amelia: 14:20
Are you terrified?

The Brutality of Bobsledding: “Inside That Sled Is Worse Than It Looks on TV”

Will Person: 14:23
Nah, you know what? Only time I was terrified was after my first crash. After that, for the next 10 times or 20 times I got in the bobsled.

You just, you a little bit paranoid. You're like, uhoh, is we gonna go over again? Is this violent?

It's not like on tv it looks rough, but inside that sled is worse than it looks on tv. Yeah. It's it is brutal.

amelia: 14:46
I can't even imagine.

Will Person: 14:48
It is brutal. Yeah. Sometimes it's not as bad. But yeah, I've had two really bad ones. The rest of them. Yeah, no big deal. You just get up, go back to the top of the mountain, go again.

amelia: 14:59
Wow.

Bobsled Crashes and “Going Again” After Concussion

Will Person: 15:00
Except one time I did that at Odenberg, we was wrestling World Cup then. And I went, we crashed. They took us back to the top. Less than an hour he crashed me again.

amelia: 15:10
Oh

Will Person: 15:10
And he was like, we gotta go one more time. Uhuh.

amelia: 15:14
Yeah.

Will Person: 15:15
I said, that's what we brought an alternate for. We need to invoke the Yeah. Yeah. And the alternate was, he was like, I don't wanna go either. I'm like, man.. Yeah. When you see people crashing, you don't want to get in that sled'cause you know you could be next.

Bobsledding Safety, Transparency, and Lack of Warnings

amelia: 15:28
yeah. And so it sounds like they, at the time, you were really not warned about the dangers of bobsledding. Is that true or did they give you any kind of heads up?

Will Person: 15:43
No, no warnings at all. No. And that's part of the transparency thing that I'm fighting for in court. I knew if I didn't bring it there, they wouldn't do it.

We watched these guys come out, same as they got us up there and had us going with people that, like the guy who recruited me, like the, what I, the part I left out is when I saw the sled that he was driving.

Let's see nascar, a guy named Jeff Bodine was building our sleds at the time. So our sleds looked like race cars. This guy's sled looked like a spaceship. It had a bubble on it.

And so no matter how fast I pushed him, the girls were beating us to the bottom of that hill because it was not aerodynamic. I might as well have been sitting up doing this and collecting all the wind going. We, yeah.

And so he did.

So what they don't tell you. And this is one of the problems, like I was trying to speak to the judge about it.

It's I can come to you. It's I can come to your, I don't know if you have siblings and you have brothers or cousins. And I can like, man, you guys look athletic, and I say, you should look me up.

And and they'll look me up and they'll see I'm the US four man national champion, a national team, a World Cup, America's Cup. I've done it all. And so they'd be like, oh he's real.

I say, you guys look like great athletes. So how about I train you and we can make a bid for the next Olympics. You can be my pushers. And they'd be like, a lot of people are like, yeah, great, let's do it.

But with that, I didn't tell'em is, I've never driven a sled before and I'm gonna take him down that mountain and I'm gonna concuss him every day until they quit. Or until I quit.

And that's nobody's there to tell you, dude, you should not get in a sled with that person. Or you cannot get in a sled with that person. Or no one takes a ride with this person until they're proven.

And so yeah, so we all came in the same way. No one warned us about it. They didn't tell us how to stay safe out there.

And and that's why I say every athlete I've spoken to and every athlete they've spoken to are all suffering from we got a few Parkinson's and

Parkinson’s, Suicide, and Depression in Athletes With Head Trauma

amelia: 17:34
Gosh. Yeah.

Will Person: 17:35
I know about, yeah, I know about maybe at least four suicides to know I think there's, I'm think sure there's more, because once I filed a case, there were so many people reaching out and saying, yeah, I attempted suicide too.

And I, and these guys, these were like, these were, these guys were built like superheroes. Like I couldn't imagine them. But going through what I went through, I know exactly why they did it or wanted to do it.

The Intensity of Bobsledding: Microtrauma, G Forces, and Repeated Impact

amelia: 17:57
Yeah. And just to put it into perspective, so I was reading how the, this sport really rattles the brain in four ways. I was just gonna read through those just to give those who listening a perspective of how intense bobsledding in is and why it's so understandable that so many are experiencing this.

So it was one rough snow and ice on the track is providing continuous microtraumas on the ride down.

18:26
And then two, and this is just wild to me. They combine that with extreme G forces topping between four to six Gs, and for comparison intense rollercoasters reach that for a split second, but bobsledders experience it longer and over and over again.

amelia: 18:40
I truly cannot imagine what it's like going down on a bobsled.

“I Was Fighting for My Life”: Bobsledding vs Rollercoasters

Will Person: 18:44
We, yeah, it's, most people de describe it like this. Like I once took I took Cameron Diaz down. I had this thing I called Celebrity Bobsled Club. So during a Sundance Film Festival, I would sneak celebrities down the track.

And they all said this, everybody I've taken down says the same thing you like. Most time people get on rollercoasters, they be like, that was fun, but when you do bobsled, everybody say the same thing. It was like I was fighting for my life, and that's the difference between the two. Yeah.

amelia: 19:10
Wow.

G Forces, Fighter Pilots, and Global Brain Health Risks

Will Person: 19:10
And when I was racing, they said we were doing five Gs, but I remember when we took those fighter pilots down and when they got out the slit, they were shook up, they were rattled.

And I took six trips that day I remember. And they did one. And I didn't understand like, why are they so rattled? They're, they're the best of the best in the world at what they do.

But, oh, I don't know if I mentioned this, but an article came out in December. It was written by somebody from New York Times.

And every symptom that the bobsledders have, the pilots have the same thing now. the suicides, the depression, the Parkinson's, and so it is the, those G forces are not meant for the brain, not meant for the human

Delayed Symptoms: Depression, Brain Fog, and Not Making the Connection

amelia: 19:55
Yeah. Gosh. And that's another just such an important reason why it's so great that you're speaking out about it, because I'm sure that this is happening to so many more people than we realize and just because of the delay and signs like depression or brain fog that are so vague, I'm sure people haven't been making those connections until now.

So that's, yeah. That's wild.

Will Person: 20:22
Yeah. It is a global issue. It's going on all around the world. And it seems like myself and one other person is speaking up.

No, like the athletes I think I represent 643 athletes in court right now. And I think by the time we get done, it will be a lot more than that.'cause it started at 900.

amelia: 20:40
Oh my gosh.

Will Person: 20:41
So I, yeah. And it's just, and most people like me, like we are not connecting, like I, for so many years I thought I was becoming diabetic, which didn't make sense.

But that's what it feels like.'cause you can't get up. No energy. You can't get outta the bed.

And yeah, it took for the suicides to continue to happen and autopsies before we figured out okay, this thing has a name and now I know what it is.

What Is CTE? Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy and Repeated Head Injury

amelia: 21:05
Yeah. Yeah. And so for those listening, not familiar with CTE, that stands for Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. And it is, my understanding is as this progressive neurodegenerative disease that's caused by repeated head injuries, and it doesn't have to be a concussion, it can be sub concussion type repetition. Right.

Yeah. And it's not officially diagnosed until postmortem by looking at the brain.

And so that definitely adds to the challenge of being proactive here.

And so just the two other reasons why bobsledding is so severe.

I also read the extreme hairpin turns that slam the athlete's helmeted heads to the ice that G-Force is contributing. And then the crashes, like you mentioned, that cause severe concussions, all of which often go untreated. Yeah.

Concussions Going Untreated and “Shaking Baby Syndrome” Comparisons

Will Person: 22:04
Always go untreated. That was no such thing as a treatment for that when, not when I was competing.

And then, if you look at water early in the morning when it's still smooth, like on race day, that's what our ice looks like.

But if there's any ripples in that ice, any little bumps, like small ones. It's equivalent to shaking baby syndrome.. So you, it's like this, that's what your brain is doing. Yeah.

amelia: 22:29
that's wild.

G Force Turns, Breathing, and the Physical Brutality of the Track

Will Person: 22:30
And some of those turns with the G-Force are so intense. Like when, as you start to go through'em, like it's like a bank turn.

Like your body automatically snorts. Like it's nothing you can do to start it or stop it. It's the G-Force is gonna do it for

amelia: 22:44
Oh my gosh. Wild.

Will Person: 22:47
And if you have let's say you're sick or you have sinus issues and you're congested, you just better hold your breath before you and hope you don't pass out by the time you come outta that turn because your body's gonna be trying to snort.

But if you're trying to snort and you can't breathe, it's it's brutal. It's just,

amelia: 23:03
I can't even imagine.

“That Was the Extent of the Support”: Rest, Don’t Sleep, and Back to the Top

amelia: 23:03
I can't even imagine. Yeah. And so it sounds like even when you did have these crashes, you really were just told to rest, not sleep, and keep an eye on your other teammate and that was the extent of the support.

Will Person: 23:20
That was once and that was only one. The other ones, I went back to the top of that mountain and went again.

amelia: 23:25
Oh my gosh. Okay.

Will Person: 23:27
Yeah. On the other seven crashes we pretty much went again, except for the time when we did two crashes within an hour.

Then I was like that's, I was, I knew I was rattled at that point I was like, I'm not getting back in that sled today.

amelia: 23:40
So smart. Yeah.

When Symptoms Show Up Years Later: Red Flags and Misdiagnosis

amelia: 23:40
So smart. Yeah. And so then how long after the that Bob sledding and those events, was it before things started to change and you started to experience those symptoms.

It sounds like there were red flags, but you didn't see them at the time.

Will Person: 24:01
Yeah, what I saw was red flags. I rationalize them, and that's why this thing is so dangerous.

This thing can look like so many other things. And I believe there are so many misdiagnoses of it.

Like one of my first red flags we traveled a lot, like every seven days we're in a new country.

And so as we, as the travel slowed down sometime, I remember waking up and I didn't know where I was at.

I would panic a little bit and I'd jump up, turn those lights on, and I just kinda look at the pictures on the wall and it'll let me know where we are.

Like, I always tell people like the pictures in Europe it ain't like they, they're the pictures that you see in old creepy movies. Like, they're like, the eyes follow you. They,

amelia: 24:37
yeah.

Will Person: 24:38
so I know I'm in Europe when I see those. if I see white walls, brick walls, I'm at the Olympic Training Center and, or you can easily tell where you are.

I'm home or in a hotel or whatever.

But yeah, I, but I was rationalizing. I was like, you know what? Representing my country, I have such a great life. I'm traveling so much, I don't know where I'm at.

And, but that wasn't the truth. It was one of my first red flags.

amelia: 25:01
sure.

Not Recognizing People: Memory Changes and CTE Warning Signs

Will Person: 25:02
Yeah. And I think one of my other ones is this one was a bad one, but I'm put it out there.

I hadn't seen my friends in a while, so we went to a place to hang out and and my buddy was looking at this young lady and he was like, Hey, that's your girlfriend over there, your ex-girlfriend.

And I looked, I said, she's pretty, but I don't know her. And then she ran over and jumped in my arms and I caught her and I was like, oh, yeah.

I was not recognizing people that I knew.

And so once again, I rationalized this., I was young, we're athletes, we're strong, we were ripped to shreds like, ladies love me. Yeah. That's what that really

But I wasn't thinking clearly. And I just couldn't see, I couldn't see what was going on, but I wasn't recognizing familiar faces anymore.

Burnout, “No Pain No Gain,” and Ignoring the Body’s Red Flags

amelia: 25:44
Sure. It is amazing how our brains do just rationalize things.

And I think, we're in this world where we have this no pain, no gain mindset.

And I have a history of experiencing burnout. And in many ways it was similar. There were so many red flags leading up to that before I experienced burnout.

But I had just totally normalized it, including, weird signs like brain fog or abdominal pain. You just keep going until you're forced to stop.

And I think that alone is something that really needs to change. Is how can we be listening to our bodies and pausing and getting curious The moment something isn't right, but we're in this world where I feel like we're taught the opposite. Just ignore your body. Push through. Yeah.

Migraines, Vertigo, Light Sensitivity, and Living With Symptoms

Will Person: 26:37
Yeah. Yeah. And I really wasn't in much pain either, so that's one thing that allowed me to keep going is I wasn't in pain like I had these migraines, but you never knew when they were coming.

I had the vertigo that started to kick in after that first crash, but I never knew when it was gonna show up.

Even to this day, I, like this morning, I, I didn't know if I was going to be able to come on today'cause I woke up with that slight headache and usually when they start in the middle of the night, they usually gradually build to that migraine.

And that's why I'm really wearing a glass today.'cause I'm, my eyes are really sensitive to light

amelia: 27:09
Sure.

Will Person: 27:10
Yeah.

amelia: 27:10
I'm so glad you were able to come.

Will Person: 27:13
Yeah, me too. I definitely didn't want to, didn't want to cancel.

amelia: 27:15
Yeah. Ugh. And so you were experiencing some of these signs, but just, continuing to live your life, and when was that turning point when you really started to realize that something was wrong?

Memory Loss and Cognitive Changes Years Later

Will Person: 27:32
Well, I had some friends tell me and these friends don't know each other.

Three different people told me that I told them I, that I, as I was having migraines, that I told them that bobsled, I think bobsled did something to my brain.

And they all told me that years later after they saw me talking about it more, but I didn't remember telling them that.

I remember those migraines and some situations that would've caused me to say that, but I just don't remember.

Like it, this thing, it starts to wipe your memory and there's a lot of things that you, your short term memory, like my long term stuff, I can remember things when I'm two years old.

But trying to process new things and learn new things or even remembering people I just met, yesterday is very difficult.

amelia: 28:12
Sure. Yeah

Will Person: 28:14
but it took about 10 years before, before the first real red flag started to kick in. Like, like I knew I was in trouble, but I didn't know what it was still.

So it was 10 year point. And then at about the 15 to 16 year point, I was like, oh my God. Like,

amelia: 28:34
gosh.

Suicide, CTE, and Praying for Death: When It Got Dark

Will Person: 28:35
This is it. I was like, I was literally like, I started watching how, I knew my teammates were dying. I knew they were taking their life.

amelia: 28:41
Oh my gosh..

Will Person: 28:41
And when I started to understand why they were taking their life, then I was like, I wanted to go too. I, I was praying for death, but I was a counselor most of my life.

Like when I started the sport, I had already, I was 28 with a inpatient treatment facility,

amelia: 28:57
that's incredible.

A Background in Mental Health and Still Taking 20 Years to Get Help

Will Person: 28:58
And matter of fact, yeah, these, I think back now, like these, my clients weren't some of them, I wasn't even 10 years older than some of my clients. They would call me dad.

It was like, I'm dad to hundreds of people now. Like,

amelia: 29:08
My gosh.

Will Person: 29:10
I didn't understand that back then. But now I'm connecting the dots and oh my God, I did what? Yeah. It was pretty awesome. But mental health was my background.

Like my first place I worked after college was a place in Stockton, California. It was the first mental health facility west of the Mississippi River.

amelia: 29:25
Wow.

Will Person: 29:26
So I got a chance to cut my teeth, like watching the depression. What was that like? Like the schizophrenia. All the schizophrenias. The bipolars.

But we also had the criminally insane would come through there for court sometime. It had to be housed there.

And believe it or not, there were still people walking around back then who had lobotomies. I saw everything.

And so that, that was my background.

So the fact that it took me so long to figure this thing out, it's just, oh man, just baffles me man. I just like.

amelia: 29:57
Yeah,

Will Person: 29:58
20 years to get help. 20 years.

Physical and Mental Health Are Not Separate: Brain Injury and Depression

amelia: 30:01
It's so hard when it's. You. Seeing it in someone else, I feel like can be so much easier.

And I think that's so interesting that you had that mental health background and now here you are full circle really doing such important work to be an advocate and I feel like your work is such a great example of how physical and mental health are not separate. They are so interconnected and it's like when we are experiencing mental health issues, really getting curious about how, what physically could be contributing to those changes in our brain.

Will Person: 30:38
Oh yeah. Yeah. It was rough. And you said a mouthful, like you, like so many things you said today. It's like you're living it with us because like you cannot see it on yourself.

Noise Sensitivity, Getting Lost, and “My Death House”

Will Person: 30:38
I was like, I literally, I could see it on other people now I know exactly what I'm looking at now. But I could not see, like I bought a I bought a house during COVID and my girlfriend, we had a place in LA together and then I bought this place.

It was really gonna be my death house. Like I, I knew I was in trouble'cause I was I was getting lost in my neighborhood. Like I was like it was bad. I was living on the floor of my own place.

And so eventually I moved in with my girlfriend after I bought the other house in the Midwest.

But my girlfriend, she's from New York and they have a really loving family. That's the nice way I can put it. And they talk on the phone all day long and it's loud and it was just killing me.

And we were actually gonna break up and I said, I'm going back to my Lake. I'm going back to my place in the Midwest. I'm just, I need a break.

“Sled Head” and Realizing the Symptoms of CTE

Will Person: 30:38
So while I'm there, an article comes out, it's called Sled Head written by Matthew Futterman. Yeah.

And so that article, it talked about a lot of my teammates issues before they took their life and some of the other ones who were still struggling, like with Parkinson's and things like that.

And so I read the article and I got on my knees and I thank God that all the symptoms missed me.

And then I took that article and I sent it to my girlfriend and she circled some stuff.

And the first thing I saw was noise sensitivity. It was a whole reason that I was away from her in the first place.

And then I went around that list again. I looked down it and I looked up it, I checked almost every box except Parkinson's, and I was like, oh my God.

A Teammate’s Suicide and the Weight of Responsibility

Will Person: 30:38
And at the same time, it was about the same time one of my teammates Pablo he wanted to be a writer.

And so when I left Team USA, I moved to LA and I was optioning projects around town. And so he called me, he wanted help with some. Some script ideas he had.

So I give him some ideas and we bounce'em around and his stuff was so creative and different and I was like, wow, this is really creative writing.

And to be honest, I just figured this out. This happened before 2019, so I'm just realizing like the stuff he was writing was, his mind had already slipped, but I didn't know because the very last time he called me, he was speaking either gibberish or some other weird language

amelia: 32:58
Oh no.

Will Person: 32:59
and I couldn't, yeah, I couldn't understand him. And I was like, I just kept asking him to repeat it and he got so frustrated he hung up the phone

and when he hung up, like I told myself, every day, I told myself I gotta help this guy. I gotta do something to help him.

And the truth is, I didn't do anything.

And so eventually, I don't really remember how I found out. If I saw it on the news or somebody called me. But he went to his family's factory and he hung himself.

And and yeah, and I felt responsible for that because mental health is my background. This is what I do. I knew he needed help and here I am. I didn't do anything at all to help this guy.

And so I didn't forgive myself for a long time.

And when his autopsy came out, he was in stage four, and so I realized there was nothing I could do to help him.

Oxygen Mask First: When You’re Struggling Too

amelia: 33:46
Yeah, and it sounds like that was a time like we have to put our oxygen mask on first. And you also were in the middle of experiencing those same

Will Person: 33:56
yeah, I didn't know it at the time. I called myself helping him, or supposedly wanting to help him.

I was living on my own floor. I couldn't help him'cause I was gone too.

And the weird thing about it is my TV wasn't on, my radio wasn't on. I have no idea what I did in that place all day. I have, I, this is just a blank. I don't Yeah, I have no idea

amelia: 34:18
Wow.

Discovering Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for CTE Recovery

amelia: 34:18
Yeah. And so you are finally realizing that like sled head, is that resonating that you're having a lot of those signs and starting to see how severe that was and having so many big changes in your life

and what happened? When was the point where you discovered the hyperbaric oxygen therapy or when was that switch of starting to understand what you needed and getting the help that, that you needed to feel better?

Will Person: 34:53
I found hyperbaric around 20 22.

amelia: 34:58
Okay.

Doctors Won’t Treat Me: “They Never Check Your Brain”

Will Person: 34:59
Like I, I tried everything that like first of all, most doctors won't treat me.

The neurologist wouldn't wanna see me because what I was doing is every time I seen a doctor before, I was telling'em I was having these problems. They checked your blood. They never check your brain. It's always about the blood.

And so they weren't catching this stuff.

And so once I figured I knew what this was. Now, once I saw the list and I was, I like, there's no denying I know what this is.

I printed this stuff off, took it to my doctors and once my teammate got the CTE diagnosis we all know what this is now.

It matches right up with the NFL guys. It matches up with the hockey players. It's just,

amelia: 35:34
Gosh.

“The Only Sport You Can Probably Do for One Season and Get CTE”

Will Person: 35:35
and we, matter of fact, they said Pablo's brain damage was worse than any brain they've ever seen before.

So it's the only sport you can probably do for one season and get CTE

amelia: 35:45
Wow.

Will Person: 35:46
is what it's been told to me. I'm not sure if that's true, but it make, it does make sense

Should Bobsledding Even Be a Sport?

amelia: 35:51
Yeah. And I'm curious, like with that in mind and just knowing how severe it is for the brain, do you think that bobsledding should even be a sport. How do you feel about that?

Will Person: 36:04
I think bobsledding, like I never, my intention was never to destroy the sport.

I love what I did. If I could I take it back? If I could, I would take it all back. I would've never

amelia: 36:13
Mm

Will Person: 36:14
sat in a sled ever.

But I, I don't ever wanna destroy a sport.. Some athletes are gonna still do it regardless. Some people just, they just live on the edge like that.

But I think the people who run the office needs to be changed because in order to be a boxhead coach, you had to once being a bobsledder so you know what you're doing,

amelia: 36:31
Gosh. Yeah.

Coaches With CTE Making Decisions: “How Can Someone With CTE Be in Charge?”

Will Person: 36:32
Problem is if you were there, you were a slider, more than likely you have CTE already and you have those problems like everybody else.

And most of'em, we see it on'em. We know it.

amelia: 36:43
Wow.

Will Person: 36:44
And so it's like, how can someone with CTE be in charge of somebody's life?

amelia: 36:49
Yeah.

Will Person: 36:50
We don't make great decisions.

And so if you follow some of these guys' lives, the things that are going on, there's a lot of destruction in there. A lot of things that are, of course, we're such a small sport, we don't, you have to do something pretty drastic for the media to people.

He was LeBron James. It'll be all over the news, But but yeah, so people who are compromised should not be in charge of other people, especially when they were never qualified in the first place to tell me to get back in the sled. Or not get in the sled.

They need people there who's qualified, who can tell people no or yes.

amelia: 37:20
yeah.

Will Person: 37:21
And so until they fix those things, they probably need to clean that sport and shut it down and bring in somebody who can who's who's there for the athletes and make sure the athletes are okay.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Research and Prevention After Crashes

amelia: 37:30
Yeah. Yeah, man, that's such a good point of the coaches also having those cognitive changes likely and not being qualified to be making those decisions of just going back down again, it seems like just the work that you're doing now of raising awareness and helping to get therapy, hopefully that can even lead to research of are there ways of preventing that, that progression early?

What would it be like if they have a bad run and they have the hyperbaric oxygen therapy, then like then what is the long term outcome? Gosh

Will Person: 38:08
yeah. They have to do, they should do something.

But even right now with just warning the athletes, they're fighting me on that.

So just the culture up there is not good for athletes. I haven't been there in a long time but.

All I can do, all I can do is go by what's happening in court.

If they're fighting me on warning athletes, something's wrong with this picture.

I never came in and said, gimme a million dollars or gimme this, or I want that. No, I, whatever the class get is what I get.

And it mainly was about finding help for us. It wasn't about, give us all 15 million. No, I never asked for any of that.

We just want help and we want transparency and we just have to, make sure we take care of our youth now. So nobody's child should have to go through what we're going through.

The Lawsuit: Transparency, Support, and an Uphill Battle

amelia: 38:49
Yeah. Yeah. And so I'd love to dive into that lawsuit a little bit because it's wild to me what you're asking for Sounds so reasonable.

And yet it sounds like your experience in the process with the lawyers is an uphill battle and you're really not receiving a lot of support.

So can you explain a little, like what are your hopes with it, and then what has this experience been like with the lawyers who initially seem like they're going to be really supportive and then they're not so helpful?

“My Lawyers and Their Lawyers Together”: Evaluation Without Treatment

Will Person: 39:21
Yeah, man they, in the beginning, they sold me.

They told me they were there to help us get the help we needed.

And I was really a offhand kind of client. If they asked me questions, I sent it over.'cause most of the time I was really cloudy. I was super, super cloudy. I, and yeah, but I was like

it was like overnight. All of a sudden, this offer came through. An offer's still on the table right now.

And the, my last three court hearings is literally just myself versus my lawyers and their lawyers, my lawyer and their lawyer together. Now they're one.

So if you look at the court record, the last three court hearings, it's me, this guy with CTE who couldn't talk two years ago, I could barely talk. I could barely have conversations with people.

And here I am representing my class in front of the judge now.

And the last three court hearings, the things I requested worked in my favor. But I need lawyers. Like I'm by myself.

Like I am unqualified to be leading this class against some of the best lawyers in the country. And that's what the Olympic team hired, and here I am.

It's'cause the offer is really this, they only want to evaluate us, no treatment.

And I asked the judge, I said, your honor would you take your child to a doctor who won't treat'em? Then what's the point of going?

No they're expect, they're just watching us die pretty much that, they want to document the dying.

I'm not quite sure what their agenda is, but it won't benefit anybody. It's just there's no benefit to doing it.

So I'm the only one who can sign off on it. And they've tried every trick they can to get me to leave.

They tried to add more plaintiffs to out vote me. They've they tried to send, they sent the offer to the judge against my wishes.

They've done everything they told me they were gonna do. They did it.

But I'm still there standing and I, my guys are sick, man. We're all struggling and so we gotta figure out what this is.

We know what this is. We gotta figure out a way to help

Advocacy and Being a Voice When Others Can’t

amelia: 41:08
Yeah. Yeah, that is, it is so inspiring that you are such a strong advocate, because you really are a voice for so many other people who really can't find the words or means to be speaking up.

And so it's incredible that you were doing this, putting in the good fight on your own.

And it sounds like what you really are wanting is for them to be more transparent in the beginning of warning about the risks of this sport and then to help with diagnosing and treating afterwards, is that Yeah.

And yet pretty much their only counter is we can help with the diagnosis. Is that right?

Will Person: 41:59
No, no diagnosis. Just evaluation.

amelia: 42:02
gosh.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for CTE: How It Helps and Who It Works For

Will Person: 42:03
Just evaluation.

And some of the guys, like some of us we, some of'em do need money because of not being able to work.

Like me I was a counselor. Now I can't work in that field.

Like when I worked in youth corrections, if there was a riot, I'm the one that went in.

Now I process really slow. I can't, yeah. I had to find words sometime.

And if I go say about 30 days without using the hyperbaric oxygen machines, like I get clouded again. I go backwards.

So some people get permanent relief and I'm just not one of them.

But also I took hundreds and hundreds of Bob sled rides.

I'm probably the worst case scenario for anybody if I can get up off their ground now.

I think that hyperbaric should be working for pretty much everybody. It should to some form.

amelia: 42:53
That's incredible. Yeah.

What Was Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Like the First Time?

amelia: 42:53
And so tell me a little bit about that experience. Like how did you learn about hyperbaric oxygen therapy and what was your first treatment like?

Will Person: 43:07
Are you a football fan

amelia: 43:09
I watch it.

Will Person: 43:11
you watch it? Do you know who Joe Namath is?

amelia: 43:13
I don't.

Will Person: 43:14
Okay. Boo. I'm give you that thumbs down. No,

amelia: 43:17
I'm sorry, haha.

“You Really Have No Hope”: Finding HBOT Through Joe Namath

Will Person: 43:17
No, he was he was one of the no he was one of the first flamboyant quarterbacks from like the sixties and seventies, and then he switched over to doing movies.

He had a couple good movies out or something when I was a kid. And he had some videos out.

And in the videos he said he reversed his CTE symptoms by using hyperbaric oxygen.

Now, meanwhile, if you go and research CTE like I was doing. It's gruesome.

You just seeing this guy hurt her or he hurt this person, or he killed somebody, or he killed himself. That's what you read with that population.

And so you really have no hope. There's nothing, especially doctors won't treat you, doctors won't see you. It's just, it's been, it's just a nightmare.

And and so when he said it worked for him, I was interested I didn't think it was gonna work, but I said let me at least try it.

So there was a place in orange County, California. They allowed me to come down and try it for free.

“One Little Stinking Hour”: Immediate Changes After HBOT

Will Person: 43:17
So yeah, I go in there and I'm in the thing for one little stinking hour. I always say one little stinking hour.

And my life changed when I came out.

If you see my glasses were slightly tinted'cause I'm sensitive to lights. But when I came out I put them glasses on about 10 times and.

And the salesman came over, he's what's wrong? I was like, I don't know. I don't think I need my glasses.

And he was like, oh, you one of those. And I was like okay. You gonna try to sell me this machine? That's what this is.

amelia: 44:40
Sure.

Will Person: 44:41
But he was right. Some people get immediate relief and some people need about like two sessions a day for 30 days to get the same relief that I get.

amelia: 44:49
Sure.

Will Person: 44:51
And yeah. So I came at that thing and I was, it was like I was walking around in 3D everything was so vivid and pretty and I'm not quite sure, but I might not have been seeing colors. I, I'm just not sure.

But I just know everything was extra bright and vivid and sky was so blue and it was the same sky that was there when I came in that building.

But for some reason, like it just everything.

And it removed my cloudiness for six days.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for CTE: Rapid Relief and Hope

amelia: 45:15
Wow.

Will Person: 45:17
Yeah. And then they let me come back the next week. Removed my cloudness for nine days and I was like, okay, this thing is real. And eventually I got one. Yeah.

amelia: 45:29
Wow, and, it's so true. I was reading, about CTE and hyperbaric oxygen therapy and it does seem like that's, it is quite grave when you're reading about CTE and there really isn't that much talk about that there option and I see that there has been research and there's so many case studies and anecdotally so many stories of it making such a dramatic shift.

It's incredible that something so non-invasive within an hour could cause that dramatic of a shift for you.

And then it's wild that's not being talked about more, but it sounded like there's this hesitation of not having as many, randomized controlled trials. And that can be frustrating in the medical field.

I think sometimes there's so much skepticism about new things, and of course it's important to be keeping in mind safety and being thoughtful about therapies.

And yet, when you look at the risks of not being treated and the path that leads people down and the fact that even trying one therapy could provide so much relief, it does seem shocking that it's not being talked about more.

“I’m a Walking Testament”: HBOT Skepticism vs Real-World Results

Will Person: 46:50
Yeah, I, when I first started reading up on it it's I was looking at the results of it and then I was looking at the conspiracy parts of it. Like people's oh, this thing doesn't work. It was so many people saying that type of thing. Oh, it's not been proven.

amelia: 47:03
Yeah.

Will Person: 47:04
The truth is, man I'm walking testament to this thing. I don't get paid by any hyperbaric oxygen chamber company. I'm not endorsed by any, I'm not promoting them and I'm not selling them.

I like to get a deal one day where I can get some of those things so I can, it'll make my cost cheaper when I open up my facility.

But but no, I, it's just I tell people all the time, all of my social medias now is called One Man With a Chamber, and it's called that because he had like, when, first of all, he didn't, Joe Namath didn't tell us what his symptoms were, right? He didn't tell us how it helped him. He just said he reversed his symptoms.

So I was looking high and low trying to figure out what they were. And it is not written anywhere.

And so my TikTok channel was just helping people navigate hyperbaric oxygen and living with CTE, there's a way to live with this thing.

At least from my experience now that I, found hyperbaric.

Living With CTE: Tips for Daily Function and Memory Support

Will Person: 47:04
Like I, there's a lot of things I put in place along the way, to help me.

Learning how to keep your keys in the same place, put your wallet in the same place,

amelia: 48:02
Sure.

Will Person: 48:03
And I tell you, it's so brutal. If I left my toothbrush, if somebody came and took my toothbrush and put it in the medicine cabinet

amelia: 48:09
Mm-hmm.

Will Person: 48:11
I'm gonna, I'm gonna leave the house before I realize that I didn't brush my teeth that day.

amelia: 48:15
Sure.

Will Person: 48:16
So if it's outta sight, it's it doesn't exist, it's one of those things. Yeah.

How to Keep Going When It’s Hard: Suicide, Survival, and “One More Day”

amelia: 48:21
That's so valuable that you're able to share all those tips to help others, and I'm curious what really helped you to continue to move forward during those times when things were feeling so challenging and before you really found hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

Do you have tips for someone else who may be in the middle of something challenging, physically or mentally that helped to keep going?

Will Person: 48:52
I'm not a hero. I wanna say that out front.

Even though I help a lot of people through my channel, I always tell them, when you get a chance, you thank Joe Namath because he started this thing. You think the guy who wrote the article, sled Head, they're the leaders of this thing.

I'm just, they saved my life and I'm just helping them pass the message on, but some, I'm sorry, I missed your question again. I'm sorry. That's part of my little thing there. I will forget things like

amelia: 49:16
That's okay.

Will Person: 49:16
It's the short stuff.

amelia: 49:17
I also do that too. Just wondering if there were things that helped you during that time that felt so hard?

If you have advice for anyone who is in the middle of something, physically or mentally that's feeling hard, how to keep going.

“If Today’s a Great Day, Tomorrow Will Be Too”: A Mindset to Stay Alive

Will Person: 49:34
One thing that I think that really helped save me is there was two things.

There was a young man when I was growing up on my street, like I was maybe 10, and he was in college. I remember he, I don't know what happened to his family. He took his life and I saw how it affected his family.

And the truth is before I got up off that ground, I was on that ground praying for death every day. That was my thing. I was like, God, please just don't, I can't do another day like this. Why am I still here? You know.

And so one thing that helped me is I taught hundreds of people this same thing and I and it, some people either you understand it or you don't understand it, but if I'm suicidal today, I'll tell myself, okay, if today's a great day to take my life, then tomorrow will be also be a great day.

So then I'll get to tomorrow and, okay, now it's Tuesday. Monday was a bad day. Now I'm at Tuesday, it's still a bad day.

And I tell myself again it's a good day to take my life today and Wednesday's gonna be a better day, so I'll get to Wednesday and I'll just keep moving that day.

And that's kind of the stuff. I was on autopilot and and I made a deal. Like I said, God, I can't take my life'cause it's gonna hurt my loved one I said, but if you come get me, it won't be as painful,

and at my lowest I hate saying this here'cause there's so many people who have cancer and don't want cancer. I was praying for pancreatic cancer'cause I knew somebody who got that stuff and it's quick and it takes'em out and I'm praying. Who prays for cancer?

That's how brutal this thing is. I was literally just, please just come. It's, it's my time. I don't, I can't I'm just here. What am I doing here?

And yeah, that was guys, I was no hero. Like I, I was going through the same thing everybody else was going through.

I just happened to get in that hyperbaric oxygen machine. I found that stupid thing.

Stopping HBOT and Crashing: “I Still Need It”

amelia: 51:19
Hmm.

Will Person: 51:20
And then I began to hate it after a while. I'll be honest, like I started out, I was gungho five times a week and I'm feeling good.

And Joe NamUs said it reverse his symptoms. So I'm thinking, okay, I'm feeling good. I might not need it anymore.

So I took a week, I took a I don't know, probably like a three week break from it. I just stopped using it.

And then one day I was back in that same spot I was in before I was lower than I've ever been.

And I didn't I didn't even realize what was going on. I was for three days just really emotional. Didn't want my girlfriend to see it. She didn't know.

And then and then eventually I came in the house and at that time I had a one bedroom place and my chamber was in the living room.

I tripped over it. I kicked it when I went by it and I was like, and then I remembered, oh yeah, like I'm doing a test to see if I still need this thing. I still need it. Get back in there.

And I was in there for two days, man. I was back to, balancing back out again.

Sleep Attacks, Yawning, and Not Feeling Safe to Drive

Will Person: 51:20
And man, that, that's just how simple it is. I go in there and when I first got, I was so weak. Like I, I couldn't stay awake.

I was setting like three alarms. Yeah.

I was just, anywhere I sat down, I was going to sleep and there was something going on with me too. Like I would yawn if I'm driving, I would get three yarns in when that third yard, if I'm not pulled over in a safe place, I'm going to sleep.

amelia: 52:42
Oh no.

Will Person: 52:44
whether it's behind that wheel or wherever I'm at that third yarn, it's a wrap. Yeah.

And it, it stopped all that stuff. Like I was I stopped driving for a while. I was afraid I didn't want to take anybody with me. if I have problems. Yeah. That's, that was a no-no.

amelia: 52:57
Yeah.

Getting Lost on a Half-Mile Walk: How Severe It Can Get

Will Person: 52:58
but I started walking everywhere and then I was getting lost. I was only walking on half a mile. Like it in the straight lines, like I had, it was it is insane I think back of my struggles and they just don't make sense

amelia: 53:09
Yeah.

Will Person: 53:10
To a sane mind, healthy mind

amelia: 53:12
Yeah.

Compassion, Curiosity, and Connection: Moving Through the Hard Seasons

amelia: 53:12
So that is so key and important that you did have that mindset of just one more day, like making it through the day because look at zooming out now and seeing like how hard that time was, it sounds

but I always talk about the three Life Boost C's that help to move forward when things are feeling hard and it's compassion, curiosity, and connection.

And it sounds like those really did help you like that compassion, even if you were having some compassion for yourself, but also for your family and wanting to just give yourself one more day.

And thank goodness that did eventually lead you to that curiosity of hearing something about that hyperbaric oxygen therapy and being able

Will Person: 53:59
Yeah.

amelia: 53:59
to try it and being able to get so much relief so quickly.

And then connection, helping to connect with others. Gosh. And helping everyone else to connect the dots who may not be understanding why they're experiencing those signs yet.

Loved Ones and Early Intervention: “Without the Loved Ones… You’re Toast”

Will Person: 54:16
Most of the athletes have no idea.

And just like I didn't, it was, I actually read the paper with all my peers who did the same thing I did and what they were going through, and I was going through the same things and I still couldn't connect those dots.

And a few of the athletes I spoke to, I shared that the the article with them, they read it. They all told me the same thing. I said, oh no, I'm good. It didn't get me.

Next thing you know, they're telling me these really bizarre stories and I'm thinking, oh my God, like you are gone.

And I told'em all the same thing. Hey, share That letter with your loved ones, see, this thing is a loved ones thing. Without the loved ones,

amelia: 54:53
Yeah

Will Person: 54:54
I hate to say it, but you're toast. You can't do this on your own because they can't even, we can't receive this message.

amelia: 55:00
sure.

Will Person: 55:01
It's the ones around you. Same as for me. It's the same stuff.

Misdiagnosis and Head Trauma: “It Looks Like So Many Other Things”

Will Person: 55:01
Matter of fact, lemme tell you, I got one for you. And I believe it's misdiagnosed so much.

Like I was watching Kanye West documentary, my girlfriend made me go see it. I didn't wanna go see it. I don't wanna go see it'cause I know where my state is in. I don't wanna promote anything around that stuff. Like he, he's struggling.

We go see this documentary. And I always told people for years mental health is my background. Like I, I always said, I don't think he's bipolar. I that's not bipolar material. What he's, what I see him doing, that's, it might be schizophrenic, but I don't think bipolar.

And so when I'm watching the documentary, he's behaving like CTE people.'cause you always hear it, people that killed themselves or killed somebody else, their loved ones always say the same thing.

They weren't acting like themselves. They were explosive. They were yelling, then they were calm, then they were sweet. And same stuff. He's watching, I'm watching Kanye go through this.

I was like, wow. That's bizarre. Oh. Did it again, didn't I?

I was like, man, that is so bizarre. See, I was like a rock star. I was, I'm working on my, I'm working on my little career. My extra career. Yeah.

Yeah, I was like he lines up with us and I was like with him, but he was a rapper. He doesn't, he wasn't no athlete.

And then I remember the song he had, it was, he was talking. No, it was one more thing he said the meds, he talked about these meds that he didn't want to take anymore. He didn't like'em. They make'em feel weird.

I remember when the doctors, they gave me a Zoloft and it made it, man, it made my suicidal self go up like 50.

amelia: 56:31
gosh.

A Car Accident, Concussion, and a “Clockwork” Pattern

Will Person: 56:32
And so I'm thinking, I said, okay. He sounds just like us.

And I remember a song he put out, he talked about before he got his first contract, he had a car accident.

And I'm sure he had a nasty concussion.'cause he said he broke his jaw. It was in the back of his mouth. So he had to having a concussion.

And so if he had a concussion, I guarantee you they treated him the same as they treated us nothing. They did nothing.

amelia: 56:54
Right.

Will Person: 56:55
So then actually I came home and I charted out on a board and I plotted out my first concussion and when my red flag showed up and then when my first thing,

and I literally predicted the year that he had his car accident.

And then I had my girlfriend look it up and she said it was 2002.

amelia: 57:12
Oh my

Will Person: 57:12
I had already plotted it on the board. It's like clockwork. Yeah, it's like clockwork, it just depends on how bad it is. I'm sure. If you if you probably, had your head opened up, had to have surgery, that's different. Yeah.

amelia: 57:27
Wow.

“Everybody Says They Do That Too”: Why CTE Can Be Easy to Hide

Will Person: 57:28
And so I believe he's misdiagnosed, but, and that's what this thing is. It looks like so many other things.

Oh, you said something earlier I was like, when I'm talking somebody and forget what I'm saying.

amelia: 57:40
Mm-hmm.

Will Person: 57:41
like most people say, oh, I do that too. Or you say, okay, I come in the room and like I forget what I go in there for. Everybody say I do that too.

So it's so easy to keep hiding this thing until, because you rationalize, okay, everybody's going through it.

But for me, when I said it and people said they do it too, I was like, no. I'm like, no. Do you also get vertigo when you get migraines? So I knew something wasn't right. I knew, but this thing is so progressive. And it's sneaky. It's so sneaky. Yeah.

Polarization, Compassion, and Checking In Instead of Reacting

amelia: 58:11
Yeah. I think that's so important to highlight that importance of other people commenting.

And I think that just goes to, right now in our world, there is so much. Polarization and judgment and hate and reactivity.

But it's really tho there's always a reason behind that, right? Like those people are in an overwhelmed state, their nervous system is overwhelmed or their brain isn't working right.

And it's if we could meet that with compassion and curiosity and recognizing instead of just reacting to that, instead thinking that is someone who needs support or help or what is contributing to that is how we save lives.

Of checking in whether that is your family member or your colleague or a friend, when you are noticing that shift or like maybe they're not wanting to hang out as much, or maybe they're really irritable or more defensive, like getting curious instead of taking that personally. Is so important.

Isolation and Suicide Risk: “One of the Number One Things”

Will Person: 59:22
That one you said isolating and becoming a recluse, that is like one of the number one things.

amelia: 59:28
Yeah. Yeah.

Will Person: 59:29
And that's almost, you, almost kinda sentencing yourself when you do that.

Because I also notice, like I look at the, look for the patterns and stuff, and like most of the men who committed suicide, they were now separated from their wife, and so they were alone when this, yeah.

amelia: 59:47
Yeah.

Safety, Loved Ones, and When Things Escalate

Will Person: 59:48
That behavior. People start okay, he's acting weird. He's getting on my nerves. He's explosive. He's this, and they just, that lady's looking for safety and peace, probably peace.

And so they, they're protecting themselves. Whereas they should, because some of these people, when their mind slipped, they are also murdering their loved ones.

amelia: 1:00:06
Yeah.

Will Person: 1:00:06
So Yeah,

amelia: 1:00:08
Yeah, that is scary. And it's connected. I've come from veterinary medicine and we struggle with a high burnout and suicide rate in our profession and

Will Person: 1:00:20
I've heard that.

Nervous System Shutdown, Isolation, and Mental Health: A Compassionate Reframe

amelia: 1:00:20
Yeah. And that isolation or not wanting to be around people I've really learned is also the sign of our body is going into shutdown. Our nervous system is in shutdown because something physically, mentally, or emotionally is feeling overwhelming. And I think if we think about the way our society normally reacts to that it is oh, you're being lazy, or just push through, and it's meeting it with judgment versus I think that's really important that as a society, we really shift our perspective and start noticing that as a sign that someone is feeling so overwhelmed or dealing with something so hard and getting curious about like, how can this person be receiving help or what could be contributing so that people aren't left alone during the time when things are feeling most hard.

Safety First: When Someone Is Explosive or Violent

Will Person: 1:01:14
Yeah. Absolutely. But I would tell if you're in a relationship like that and that person is getting violent and explosive, you have to get your own safety first. You can get them help from somebody else's house. You can, but you have to protect yourself first.

CTE, Veterans, and Violence: Why We Can’t Ignore Head Trauma

Will Person: 1:01:14
Like I, I was watching like like I'm right now, like I'm trying to open up this I want to provide the service for free, so I wanna do not-for-profit. So one population that came up was our military guys. They're coming back with the same thing as CTE.

And like there was a mass shooting in New York about a month and a half ago, and a guy left a note saying he believe he said he had CTE. Now CTE really can't be diagnosed until death, right? So he shot these people up over there and and then he killed himself. And they checked his brain. He was right. He had CTE, it came out last week.

But I put a video out'cause my phone was going crazy that day. What do you think about this note? And, so I made a video for the social media and I just told people like, we see the athletes struggling and we've seen some of the destructive things that they've been doing. I said, but that's not the population that scares me.

I said, we live in the only country you can go to church and get shot. Go to the movies and get shot. Go to the concert and get shot. I told'em, I was like my concern are military guys.'cause they have the same condition

amelia: 1:02:30
Yeah.

Will Person: 1:02:30
and they're, now, they come, when they come back, they're, they've been trained to kill.

amelia: 1:02:36
Yeah.

Will Person: 1:02:37
And so for me, my brain was stuck in a loop. So every day I had to wake up. Like I explained how I had to figure out, the day and the year and the, but all day long, my, my mind is telling me, you've been here too long. You can't survive like this. It's time to go. It's suicide. Suicide. You hear it over and over, it's plenty. It's time to go. Suicide. Suicide.

And and when you're dealing with that, what if I'm on the other side with the military where they're telling them to kill. You're telling you to just kill. Okay, now you think, okay, who's the enemy? And now they trying to figure out who the enemy is.

Like that guy who went to shoot the NFL office, he never played NFL. He never made it past college. So I'm just saying this thing is so deadly.

“This Is Something We Cannot Afford To Not Treat”

Will Person: 1:02:37
And we, and so I put this video out about it and that was the day where the guy did the New York shooting.

The very next week, one of our veterans went into a place, I believe it was in Idaho, and he shot up the bar and he was hiding in the woods for a week. They found him about a week later, the following week, there was one of the military guys went on the base and he shot like four or five of his peers.

And then last Sunday, I believe it was the veteran went to a place, I believe it was in Minnesota. He burned part of the church and he started shooting at the other end. And so even after they even though once the threat of him being there was gone, they were still missing five or six people. They believe they had probably died in that fire and they were still looking for bodies.

So like I keep telling them, this is something we cannot afford to not treat. We have to and with it being so simple.

And matter of fact, all these veterans are saying the same, and their families are saying the same thing. They had mental health stuff and they went to get help and they were denied,

Getting Mental Health Wrong: Root Causes, Not Just Symptoms

amelia: 1:04:20
Yeah, we are getting it so wrong when it comes to mental health. And I think you're highlighting, when we look at the amount of violence that's happening right now, like we need to be getting to the root issue. And I think what you're sharing is such an important perspective. Yeah.

Head Injuries, Prison, and Misdiagnosis: “So Many More People”

Will Person: 1:04:39
yeah. And they also say they, I think it's 60% of people in prison had untreated head injuries. And so I believe it's a lot higher than that because if you are in a prison system. More than likely you've been fist fighting most of your life. And how many punches can you take?

I really believe this. What CT really is. I believe it's like you, you get these concussions or repetitive head things and it's not being treated. So eventually it's gonna all eventually going to turn to what it turns to. It's, yeah.

So I believe it's so many more people. I've met the housewife who's fallen and hit her head and she didn't know what was wrong with her until I started showing information to her.

amelia: 1:05:19
Hmm.

Will Person: 1:05:20
so it's, yeah. It's so many people, it's'cause once again, they don't treat head injuries in America. We don't treat'em.

Advocacy and Gaslighting in Healthcare: Keep Getting Curious

amelia: 1:05:26
It is wild. And I think that's important for anyone listening who may be experiencing any kind of cognitive changes. It is just a reminder to get so curious and continue to try to be an advocate for yourself and not let people dismiss your signs. Because as long as you're staying curious, hopefully you eventually are connecting with what you do need. I think there can be a lot of gaslighting in our current healthcare system, which is so sad, and.

Will Person: 1:05:57
Yeah. They will continue to check that blood. They will not check that brain very often.

A Nonprofit CTE Recovery Center: Free Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

amelia: 1:06:01
Yeah. And so let's talk about this nonprofit that you are wanting to start, because that is incredible and you have a GoFundMe right now. We need to be putting money towards this. And I think during a time right now in the world where there's a lot of negative things happening, this is such a great way to do something positive that's gonna have a really positive impact. So tell us about that.

Will Person: 1:06:28
Well, I just kinda want to offer the same service that picked me up off that floor and that brought me back. And that's given me the strength to stand in front of a judge where I never thought I'd talk in front of anybody ever again. You know?

It is, I just went off with the same treatment. It's very simple. You hop in the hyperbaric oxygen chamber. I was in there for one hour. I came out, it changed my life. But they got other, have other things like red light things and a few other things that I want to also implement in there.

But we also, we need doctors. I wanna make sure we have special doctors on board.'cause there's not many of'em that really focus on just this. And so it's very important that we do it.

And people like telling me, they like, Hey, you're gonna make a lot of money when you do this. I was like, no, I'm not. It is, you understand it's a free service. It's gonna be a free.

The Cost Barrier: Why Free Access Matters

Will Person: 1:06:28
Hyperactive oxygen for me. Once I went through my first two sessions and I know I needed this thing. I ran into a big problem. I had just bought a house in the Midwest. I didn't have$20,000 laying around, So my dad kept telling me, Hey, I'll pay for it. And I'm like, no, I'll eventually I'll move some money around and I'll, I'll get it. You, I said you just retired. No, you put your money away.

And time goes on. Next thing I know, I'm back in that dark place And so my girlfriend was calling my dad. I didn't know they were talking. And one day I wake up and there's a extra 20,000 in my account.

So I called dad. Now I knew it had to be him, and he is go get the machine. And the crazy part, it took two months to get there. So by the time they got there I was so far gone. Like I just, it was, I never, it was like I never had a treatment. I was back where I started. Yeah.

And that's the one thing, like some people get that permanent relief. I haven't crossed that threshold yet, but it's so simple. I just wanna offer the same thing. That helped me. Anything extra that we find along the way, that's gonna help,

amelia: 1:08:16
Amazing. Yeah. And so this is gonna be the center where athletes and veterans can go to receive free therapy. Is that right?

Will Person: 1:08:28
yeah, yeah. Because it's I, what I've learned, it's if to do it, let's say if you needed to do the 30 days worth of sessions here in, in LA, those, it'll cost you$200 per hour.

And if you have to do, 30 days worth, and that's two a day, that's 60 sessions. People are not gonna show up. They're not gonna come. And we're gonna, and we're gonna have the same problem we're having right now.

But if I can, pay for these machines through the GoFundMe, and look there's really not a debt on me and I don't have to charge. And that's what I want to do.

amelia: 1:09:03
that's incredible

Expanding the Mission: Athletes, Military, First Responders, Everyone

Will Person: 1:09:04
But it won't just, yeah, but I'm gonna start with the athletes and the athletes, military, then first responders,

amelia: 1:09:10
Amazing.

Will Person: 1:09:10
and then I want to open it. I don't wanna turn anyone away.

amelia: 1:09:13
That's incredible.

Will Person: 1:09:13
I don't want to. Yeah.

Research, Insurance, and Access: Making HBOT Mainstream

amelia: 1:09:15
Yeah. And I love how you're talking about having doctors there and I think we had talked about how there isn't necessarily enough research and it seems like this could be such an incredible opportunity to have a place where there could be some really great randomized controlled studies or, formal studies that are needed to have this become a more mainstream treatment option when it comes to head injuries. I think that would be

Will Person: 1:09:45
There's a company that reached out to me I think it's called treat now.org. And then what they do, they help military people get this type of treatment. They saw my story they've asked, they spoke to me about doing some things to help them with legislation so that we can get,'cause if we can get the insurance to start paying for hyperbaric, then a lot more people can get that treatment.

But insurance will only pay for 14 things that hyperbaric treats and mental health is not one of them,

amelia: 1:10:11
yeah.

Will Person: 1:10:11
also they, people, you have cancer, they send people with cancer through there and insurance won't pay for that either.

amelia: 1:10:17
Hmm.

Will Person: 1:10:18
but they'll prescribe you the pills all day, but,

Depression, Inflammation, and Brain Healing: The Possibilities

amelia: 1:10:22
Yeah. And it is interesting to think about if it is helpful in this aspect, could it be helpful for other people who are having depression, but for a different reason. I think all of that ultimately is the microglia or the cells in the brain are changing or there's inflammation in the brain and it seems like this is delivering that high oxygen, really supporting that cellular repair and functioning. So it's exciting to think about the possibilities if you can make it more accessible to the right people.

Will Person: 1:10:56
Yeah. Like I have a yeah. I wanna make it accessible to everybody who could use it. Long as it's not, there's, there, it's only a couple different things that people can have that would be dangerous for them to use at, and that's things that where the lungs already compromised. There's holes in the lung, COPD, things like that.

amelia: 1:11:13
Yep.

Will Person: 1:11:14
And there's one cancer medicine that if they're taking that, it'll make that more acidic. So you, if they're taking a certain So it's not many things that this thing doesn't like

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy and Stroke Recovery

Will Person: 1:11:14
like I told you I used to do the football stuff for some of the movies that's running on screen. And so I used to work with like Jamie Fox and I wound up producing product. I did product placement. He had a song called Blame It on the Alcohol. And patron's a friends of mine. So I connected him and put him in a video and all that stuff.

And so when he got sick, about two was about a year and a half, two years ago, he got really sick. He, I think he almost, he pretty much died on the set with a movie with Cameron Diaz.

amelia: 1:11:48
Oh my gosh.

Will Person: 1:11:49
And like they, the rumor was that he had a stroke. So I called up the camp and I said, guys, first of all, I don't wanna be responsible for any leaks, so if, don't tell me what's wrong with'em. But if Jamie had a stroke, I told him about the, what they say about the hyperbaric.

If you, and if you have a stroke and you're in a wheelchair and you go through hyperbaric therapy, more likely you'll just need a cane, or you might more likely you're gonna walk on your own again.

amelia: 1:12:15
Wow.

Will Person: 1:12:16
If you had a stroke and you use a cane and you go through the therapy, you're definitely gonna be walking again on your own.

So I definitely, I pass that information when I see it. This thing does, it does a lot. It's, it makes sense. It just makes sense now that I know what it is.

Closing Question: When Do You Feel Most Alive?

amelia: 1:12:31
Yeah. Gosh. Yeah. I am so grateful for your time and for the work that you are doing and this journey that you've been on, and I wanna be respectful of your time. So I just have a couple closing questions. So one thing I like to ask everyone is, when do you feel most alive?

Will Person: 1:12:57
Ooh, most alive.

amelia: 1:12:58
Yeah.

Will Person: 1:12:59
You know what, for me that's a really hard question because of the lower I came from, just being around my children and my grandchildren now is it's that type of thing.

And sometime I like I said on my TikTok channel, like I, I'm helping people with the figuring out how to live with this thing so they don't, self-destruct. And when I'm getting those messages back, oh my God, like it worked. Thank you. From the, it's coming from the families. Yeah. It's, yeah.

That's type of stuff. That's when, I guess I'm getting some goosebumps right now because

amelia: 1:13:28
yeah.

Will Person: 1:13:29
I've always been a counselor at heart. That's, like I said, I opened my first treatment facility when I was 28,

amelia: 1:13:34
Wow.

Will Person: 1:13:35
and yeah I'm a service kind of person I just love helping when I, so that, that'll be my answer.

amelia: 1:13:40
That's a beautiful answer.

Will Person: 1:13:42
You gonna make me, I'll ramble on with that

amelia: 1:13:44
I love it and family and making a difference and hearing that's, yeah. Those are the moments we live for, right? Yeah.

Will Person: 1:13:51
'cause the worst part of this thing is I realize now I never saw the beauty in anything for many years. Yeah. You just can't see the beauty in anything. Everything is blah.

amelia: 1:14:01
Yeah.

Will Person: 1:14:02
get that beautiful sandwich away from me. You know, like I don't eat that is gonna, yeah. You don't get to see the beauty in anything. It's horrible.

One More Day: Hope After Depression and CTE

amelia: 1:14:09
And I think your story is a great example of you were in that and now look at where you are and things can change even when things do feel hard. So just that one more day and.

Will Person: 1:14:24
yeah, one more day.

Where to Find Will Person: TikTok, GoFundMe, and Social Media

amelia: 1:14:25
And so I know you have a GoFundMe. I'm gonna leave a link to that in the show notes so that people can donate to that if that speaks to them. And you also are on everywhere on social media, it looks like Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube. Is that right? Yeah.

Will Person: 1:14:47
yeah. My. Yeah, what's the best way to find me is going be to TikTok, because that's where most people are finding me for help. Like the rest of my social media is just really just social media and I don't, yeah.

amelia: 1:15:00
Okay, Tiktok's the place to go.

Will Person: 1:15:01
Is a best, yeah.

amelia: 1:15:02
All right. Great.

Call for Legal Support: “Your Olympic Athletes Need Your Help”

amelia: 1:15:02
And for anyone who knows a really great lawyer, right? You are looking for support in this good fight

Will Person: 1:15:09
Your Olympic athletes need your help and badly. Yes, we really do.

amelia: 1:15:15
so I'll definitely leave all the ways to connect with Will in the show notes. And do you have anything else that you wanna share before, before we finish?

If Your Loved One Is Struggling After Head Trauma: Stay Close

Will Person: 1:15:27
Just if your loved ones are struggling, and they had a history of head injuries or car accident and the doctors can't find answers, your answer's probably over here with us,

amelia: 1:15:37
Yeah.

Will Person: 1:15:38
Yeah. And if you know your person has been having those struggles. And they're not acting like themselves. And you check in with'em. And if they tell you they're okay, and they're fine. Just don't take that as the truth. Stick close to'em.'Cause they don't when we're struggling, we don't know. We're struggling. We just, we don't know. I was on the floor. I didn't know how bad it was.

amelia: 1:15:59
Yeah.

Will Person: 1:15:59
Yeah,

amelia: 1:16:00
That is such an important message to end on. A reminder that sometimes we don't realize when we need help and for us to take care of one another.

GoFundMe, Dementia, and Alzheimer’s: “Miracles”

Will Person: 1:16:11
Yeah. And I just appreciate you and yeah. Anybody listening, please check out my GoFundMe. It's moving really slow right now. We, because we put it out before I started promoting it, so it's been sitting there. But now, is the time, like you, we are here to save lives. We're here to help lives and better lives.

And like I told you, I was in dementia and there's no doctor can tell me differently. So look at your loved ones your parents, and your grandparents. And the research comes out. This thing even helps dementia and Alzheimer's. I would say I know that already.'cause when I start talking about it, the people who make these things like, yeah, I thought you knew. No, I didn't know. Now I do'cause I'm here, so yeah. This thing is work is working. Miracles. Yeah.

amelia: 1:16:51
It really is. Yeah. Thank you for your time sharing this and for anyone who wants to support this, please help to share this so that others are aware of this. This is such a heartwarming place and productive place to be putting a little bit of money, so we'll try to get that jump started as well.

Will Person: 1:17:11
Yeah. I appreciate it. Thank you so much.

amelia: 1:17:12
Thanks so much for being here.

Amelia’s Outro: Winter Olympics, Bobsledding, and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

1:17:14
If you're listening to this podcast episode when it's first airing, then the Winter Olympics are currently happening, and I know after this conversation, it has given me a whole new appreciation for what the athletes are going through, especially when watching the bobsled team.

And since recording this episode. It was actually a few months ago that I recorded it with Will, i'm still on my own concussion recovery journey and I ended up trying hyperbaric oxygen therapy, because I wanted to see what it was like and I wanted to see if I would get any benefits.

So I will be following up. It's been a few months since I've shared a concussion update, so stay tuned for that. I'll share a little bit about what it was like to be in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber and also where I am right now because the concussion has certainly been hard at times, but it has also led me to some really incredible eye-opening discoveries about my body.

And it's just another example of how really hard things can also lead us down beautiful paths when we embrace compassion, curiosity, and connection.

Sending you so much love, positive vibes and energy.

Feb 9, 2026 11:36am

By Amelia Knight Pinkston

Under

84 min read