Introduction

Ask yourself this, what if your health was no longer a luxury but now a necessity? What would you change in order to make it your number one priority?

For me, I had always been a healthy guy, but once I was diagnosed with cancer what I knew about health was so minute and so completely off from where I needed it to be that I needed to make big changes.

It was truly frightening what we are taught is healthy, most of what I was taught growing up is the total opposite, I believe, of what real health is. Since that day, I have set out to create the healthiest version of me that I can.

Sometimes I struggle to comprehend what has happened in my life, while other times I look back and think, so what? It happened, I dealt with it how I knew best at the time with the tools I had and I’m still here standing today.

When I first started writing this book it was for me to help deal with what was going on, just to get it all out of my head, I never intended it to turn into what it is today. It was because of the inspiring, amazing and passionate people I have met over recent years who showed me the power of sharing my story.

So here it is, the story of my life so far.

Welcoming Party

I slowly opened my eyes, everything seemed blurry as my eyes were trying to focus. Looking around I could see I had been put in my own room, it was your typical white walled room with notices stuck up all over the place, a T.V in the corner, a mini fridge and a bathroom.

To my right I could see mum and dad, I was still really drowsy so nothing looked clear but I knew it was them. It was like looking through fog.

The room was moving, looking around it felt like I was on a revolving platform, clearly my body was still filled with drugs from the surgery. Once my eyes cleared a little more, I could tell Mum was crying, I could also hear her better now so yes, she was definitely crying. There was bad news coming my way, I knew it.

A few seconds later everything was becoming clearer. The sky was blue, it looked like a perfect day outside, especially for the middle of winter in Melbourne. I was pretty comfortable in the bed, although that may have been because I was waking up from an operation. Either way, I immediately started thinking about what was coming next.

Hit the Ground Running

When I was competing I was able to drown out everything around me so I was totally focused on what I needed to do, I definitely did not do that this time.

My eyes were focused on the wall in front of me to keep me centred but I could still hear everything around me, way too much talking and yelling from coaches and gymnasts for me to focus properly.

First front salto, I jumped up, grabbed my knees, spun around in a ball and landed back on my feet, second, done, third, I was feeling a little wobbly before I landed so I opened up my body making sure my legs were stable enough to land but as my feet landed on the trampoline I arched my back, my shoulder blades hit my calves and I heard a snap. I crumbled to the ground and screamed in agony.

‘Are you ok??’

‘What happened?’

I vaguely remember hearing words to those effects as my body lay crumbled on the trampoline. Everyone came running over to see what happened (about twenty people in the gym at the time).

Becoming Super Human: Phase 1

After everything I have been through, it never occurred to me that it may actually be difficult to publish my book. By that I mean difficult within myself.

You see, there was a part of me that didn’t feel ready to share my story on this scale just yet, mainly because I felt like a fraud. I still struggled with energy levels, not every day I might add, I couldn’t get through a decent workout without feeling tired way too quickly and my mind wasn’t always in the right place, I was still having days where my mind went places I wish it didn’t.

That had to stop in order for me to move forward with the book and ultimately my life. It was time to make some big changes to get myself on track and moving towards being Super Human. I asked myself a few questions that needed definite answers before I was able to feel comfortable in completing this book.

Who do I need to become to complete this book?

What do I need to give up/ add to my life in order to complete this book?

How do I create a Super Human version of myself?

Becoming Super Human: Phase 2

There are thousands of diseases in today’s society, (I’ve seen reports that say over 12,000 but couldn’t get an exact number or reference so I’ll just stick with thousands) something has gone horribly wrong somewhere.

It’s time we as individuals had a really hard look at ourselves and started taking responsibility for our own health. Who is responsible for your health? Think really hard about that question because most people have no idea and that really scares me. It’s not your Mum, Dad, partner, best friend, osteopath, chiropractor or even your GP. It’s you! It will always be you. You are in charge, it’s time to take responsibility and act like it. Don’t just blindly accept advice, test it, investigate it and question everything.

We can’t expect to rely on others when it comes to our own health. Having a team of health professionals around you is extremely helpful and I strongly suggest that everyone does, but that doesn’t give you the right to use them as a scape goat.