Jamie Gane on Learning How to Run Again

Have you ever thought about quitting something because it wasn't fair or the odds weren't in your favor? Maybe you just didn't have motivation. Yeah, not Jamie Gaine. He is an adaptive athlete and he's actually ranked top in the world for obstacle course racing and judo. Yeah, that's right. That's what he had to overcome.

Check out his story. 

Instagram or Facebook - 
Jamie Gane Adaptive Athlete

Transcript

0:01

Have you ever thought about quitting something because it wasn't fair or the odds weren't in your favor? Maybe you just didn't have motivation. Yeah, not Jamie Gaine. He is an adaptive athlete and he's actually ranked top in the world for obstacle course racing and judo. Yeah, that's right. That's what he had to overcome. Check out his story.

Jamie: 0:26

Hey, Jimmy, Jamie, what's going on, man? Hey, all good. How you doing? Oh, not bad. I have a couple questions in mind cause I read, I mean, I read a little bit about your bio, Uh, there's, there's no really, um, censoring here, so, yeah. But Cool. Sounds good. All right. So, uh, Jamie Gain, uh, lemme get this right. So you're an adaptive athlete and you're ranked top in the world for obstacle course racing and judo. Yeah, that's right. Cool. So on camera, I mean, I look like good looking dude. But, um, you're an adaptive athlete, so what does that mean? So it means that I have a disability. So while you can see kind of from the chest up mm-hmm. Um, I'm actually missing a leg, so the lower part of my leg. And then I also have a spinal cord injury, so I have no feeling in either of my legs, and then I have one of my legs that's, that's missing as well. And you're still ranked top in the world. Yeah, that's right. Awesome. Well, hey, can you give us like a little bit of a background and share kind of like your story on maybe like how you, how you first encountered the injury and how you, how you first almost dealt with that and kind of like, you know, the story afterwards. Sure. Yeah. So, um, I was about nine years old. I'll try and cut my story down as much as possible. No, take your time man. But, uh, yeah, I was about nine years old and kind of walking around in Disney World and then suddenly both of my feet collapsed under me. So I was in America with my folks and, uh, had to use a wheelchair for the rest of the trip. Went back to the UK and my doctor said, we've got no idea what's going on. So, Took me to loads of specialists and they said, oh, you've got this condition called plantar fasciitis. Right. I dunno if you've heard of, heard of that, but it's, yeah. Yeah. It's pretty common. Common, yeah. Especially like an athlete. It's a common foot thing. Exactly. So you might get it like, you know, your mid twenties, um, that's quite common then, but not at the age of nine. So they said, okay, in order to, to solve it, we'll, you know, give you a little bit of physio. If that doesn't work, you'll have injections. And then if that doesn't work, you'll go down the surgical route. So bearing in mind I was having to use a wheelchair all the time because both of my feet were just really uncomfortable, really severe plant fasciitis to the point they'd never seen anything like it before. And the duration of this, like when you're, when you're saying the duration is like, is this like been a couple months now since you've like seen the docs? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. So, You know, I, I, I went and did some physio. It didn't, it didn't make any difference. Had some injections, didn't make any difference. So then they went down the surgical route. Uh, so now we're talking about, you know, maybe like 18 months after this happens. You're still in wheelchair? Yeah, still in my wheelchair, yeah. Yeah. I, I could to a certain extent, like walk around the house a little bit, um, or sometimes it wouldn't be as, as flaring up and I might be able to walk. Around the shopping center and then be in pain for the rest of the day. But you know, in the majority of it, I was, I was in a wheelchair. And then I started having, having surgery and they started off doing kind of one foot that got a little bit better with my left foot and my right foot unfortunately just didn't get any better. Mm-hmm. And it then the, the theory is that it caused this other condition called complex regional pain syndrome, C R P S. And that's effectively an issue with the nerve pathways in your brain. Okay. And a bit of your body. So even though my body, um, physically there was nothing wrong with my body, my brain was still telling me that I was in pain and it just got from bad to. Awful. Really, really bad, you know? Uh, to the point where I couldn't get my feet wet. I couldn't wear shoes or socks, and I went from being able to walk a little bit to not being able to walk at all or put any pressure on my right foot. It kind of turned purple and it was a, it was a real challenge, you know, that, that felt like, I mean, anytime you're in pain like that, it's almost like a, you're, you're in distress. I bet it felt lonely. Like, am I the only fucker dealing with this shit? Yeah, absolutely. And it was, and it was really confusing, you know, for myself. And I was still, you know, by this point I was maybe 12 years old by the time it really kind of got really bad. Um, and I'd go to school some days and I'd be in a wheelchair some days I'd be in crutches some days. Um, you know, people used to be really quite mean to me and sort of tipped me out of my wheelchair and I didn't have anybody else around me that was in a wheelchair that. So I didn't, I didn't know what was going on. You know, it was quite a kind of scary time. And then by the time I got to 16, they started doing more, more surgeries to try and solve it. Mm-hmm. At the age of 16, I was, I'd already had maybe about 25 operations to try and solve it. So, you know, every single Christmas holiday, summer holiday, every holiday was just recovering from surgery. And it was when I was 16, they said, you know, well, we're gonna do some more surgery and, and if that doesn't work, then we'll do more, et cetera. And if that doesn't work, then amputation. And that for me was like, whoa, amputation. Okay. Like, what's this thing? You know, hadn't really thought about it before. Mm-hmm. Uh, and that was when I decided the amputation was the right kind of thing for me. And that I, I just wanted it gone. And how old were you? 16. 16. That's a pretty big decision. But I mean, I, I feel like going through challenges like that, it grows you up pretty quick and you gotta just make like real life decisions then. Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. You know, but, but you know, because I was only 16, the doctors, they said, you don't really know what you're doing. Mm-hmm. You know, you don't have the maturity to make that decision. So we're gonna do this other surgery and, you know, the results of this surgery are pretty good, so we'll keep it a going so, It was a spinal surgery, and as I said, you know, it's a problem with the nerves. So they effectively sat me on the end of a surgical bed. Mm-hmm. They had me lifting up my arms, and then they went in underneath my, um, armpits and started snipping away at my spinal cord until I lost feeling in my legs. And the whole idea was that the nerves would then regrow in a way that actually was, you know, an appropriate way. And then I'd be able to walk again because the nerves wouldn't be the issue. Unfortunately, they cut a little bit too much, so I didn't have any feeling in either of my legs and the nerves just, just never grew back. So I went from, I. Being able to like hop on my good foot to just not really being able to do anything at all and, and kind of relearning how then to use my left leg and, and even to this day, you know, I, I still don't really have any feeling in, in either of my legs. So, holy shit. Yeah. Like, it was good fun. It was, uh, it was a real challenge. Like, you know, it was one of those things they say an inch a month is, is is what it's meant to be for, for nerves to regrow. Okay. But, So they didn't expect anything at the start, and then about two months later they just said, okay, you're discharged now. It would just heal on its own. I was like, okay, yeah, you're good now. And you kind of just trusted them. I'm like, all right, so I guess this is gonna come back eventually. Yeah. Cause you don't know what's going on in your body. Like we're not biologists. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. So it was, um, it was a pretty scary time, but it did make me still think I was still in loads of pain, even though I couldn't really feel it. I've still had this sort of like, burning sensation all the time, and that's when I started fighting for amputation. Okay. Really? So I started going from, from surgeon to surgeon, trying to find someone to amputate it, and I just kept getting rejected, left, right, and center people who were saying they wouldn't wanna touch it. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. You know it's the right thing to do. So, But I'm not willing to take that risk. So not practice. We're about like, suing the shit out of him and known in the hospital. Yeah, pretty much. Pretty much. So, uh, sort of six years after me fighting, so I was about 22 by this stage. Uh, eventually we found someone who was, I found someone who was willing to amputate it and, um, And it was then done. So had my first amputation in 2016, and then I had a few complications. So I had it done again in 2017. Mm-hmm. And then had it again in 2020. So three amputations later, one spinal cord injury later about 50 operations. I, I reckon I'm probably okay for operations for the rest of my life, hopefully. Yeah. I think you've done your fair share into the knife. Yeah. God. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I mean, what's, what is your, you know, you must have a lot of trust in the, in the doctors. Either that or they had a lot of communication with you, like just going in that many times. Um, yeah, and just getting the results. What was, what was that like? Like did they, did they talk to you a lot? Um, Yeah, somewhat. I mean, it's, it's always, every, every surgery I've had almost has been with a different person. Yeah. So actually it's a lot of people kind of wiping their hands of it, I feel and saying like, okay, I've done what I think I can do now this person might be able to do a better job. But there was a lot of trust put in doctors. You know, doctors doing an incredible job. Um, they really do. And, and, um, on the face of it, there were lots of things that, that hopefully would've worked, but unfortunately they just, they just didn't. So it was pretty, pretty challenging to constantly be talking to secretaries and getting an appointments and, and really trying to, to put across my case that, you know, I needed to see someone urgently cuz I was kind of like waiting for my life to, to, to happen really. It's a form of desperation there. It's like, Hey, this is, this is my livelihood at stake and this is, you know, how, how I'm able to sleep maybe, and yes, kind of guys are in the way. I'm, I'm on a waiting list. Yeah. So pretty much after that, so after your last surgery, you know, how does, how does rehab go and. How does, how does your mindset, because I feel like you would be a poster child for like a mindset shift. Like, cuz there's probably some sort of desperation when you're going in and like, oh shit, this is happening to me and now you're on this side and I am a fucking elite athlete and rank in the world. Like there, there's gotta be growth there. What, what was that like through rehab? Rehab was, um, was pretty interesting, you know, because when, when I was a kid, you know, 10, 12, I was really, really overweight. You know, you're talking about like 16 stone. I was just not very mobile whatsoever. And then when I looked at amputation, I realized how fit. That I had to be, you know, I had to hold up my own strength. Just being an amputee and moving you, you use about 30% more energy than everybody else. Mm-hmm. So, you know, you think about like a half marathon, how a, how knackering it is for able-bodied people. If you add another 30% on that's, What it's like to be an amputee and run it. So 16 tone is like 225 pounds. And so most of the, most of are like American, so like, right. Yeah. There's a couple different like ways of weight that like, you know, I have to do some quick math. I'm like, all right, Google, let me, oh shit. All right. So you were 2 25 pounds. You, so sorry. You were 16 in stone and you were 12 years old. Yeah. Okay. So that was pretty, that was pretty big. And, and I mean, I'm, I'm still the same height as I was when I was 12, but you know, I was How tall be? Uh, five,

11:54

six.

Jamie: 11:55

Okay. You're not exactly powering over anybody. No, nobody at all. So, yeah, I mean, I was a, I was a chunky boy, that's for sure. And, um, you know, and, and then when I found amputation as a potential route, I then kind of found fitness really. So I started looking at getting really strong. I started getting into power lifting. And I couldn't really do much cardio, you know, I couldn't swim, couldn't cycle, let alone run. So it was just purely just trying to bulk up and mm-hmm. And, uh, that'd be, and do a lot of power lifting. Well, that kinda sense. Sorry, say again? It kind of makes sense. I mean, that's where I would go too. I mean, but I was gonna get into fitness. I'm like, all right, well, you know, my, my feet, my feet are gone. So, I don't know. I'm a bench. Yeah. Literally, literally I was benching like every day. I loved it. Uh, so when I had my, my, my rehab, you know, I was in hospital for two months at a special rehab place, and this center is used to having people who have an amputation due to diabetes or maybe an accident or perhaps a little bit older. So of course, I turned up with a physio as just like young, active. Body builder, and they were like, w we don't know what to do with you. You know, because they said, oh, let's, let's do all these, you know, strength exercises. And I was like, is this a strength exercise? It's not even a warmup, you know? Yeah. Um, and they talk about like doing tricep dips on, on steps, and I was like, no, give me the parallel bars. I'll do the, I know, right. So, yeah, it was, um, yeah, it was pretty, it was pretty interesting, you know, and I, I left that. The, the two months there really was just for my stump, my leg to heal mostly. Um, cuz I kind of left there and I still, cause I had a big infection. I wasn't able to walk when I left there. Um, and I didn't get fitted for a prosthetic leg then Really? For sort of another year. Okay. Um, and that was, you know, the journey from kind of walking to, to running just, it seemed like forever and it seemed like a, like literally a minute at the same time. You know, I went from, from kind of walking and then when my prosthetic leg then didn't fit, Uhhuh was then like, oh, okay. Maybe I'll look at getting a running blade now because my prosthetic had got privately. Okay. And instead of having to buy another private leg, right. I was like, why don't I just buy a leg that I can run on and I can walk on, you know, get the most for my money. Mm-hmm. And that's, that's what I did. You know, I started doing obstacle races with a walking leg and crutches. And then a walking leg without crutches, and then a running blade that I could also walk on to. Then just running the whole thing and I kind of just fell in love, really fell in love with community and being active and all kind of like one thing led to the next. It's all kind of been a mad rush, really. I feel like that's an easy sell of getting into the community of, of like OCR and, and sports. Um, but I think you, you kind of skipped over like the blade. The blade, like walking to running, you know, really fast there. There has to be some sort of, almost, it seems like there would be almost like an imbalance in like the two legs. Um, do you, do you like have any, I don't know, like nagging, nagging things that come up, like when you, when you train, because one is prosthetic, right? Yeah. And then the other foot, what is that like? Um, Well, I still don't have feeling in either of my legs. Right? So, to be honest, walking with a prosthetic leg and walking without a prosthetic leg for me mm-hmm. Is not really that different because, um, when I, when I run, I have to look at the ground and fully understand where my feet are gonna go, because someone who's able-bodied, you know, their foot hits a rock and their knee will adjust, or their ankle will adjust, or the hip or something. You know, they'll be able to sense that they've touched a rock and then adjust. I can't do that. So I literally have to look at the ground and go, oh, there's a rock there. Either I, I have to stand on it and therefore I'm gonna move my knee in this direction or try to, to make sure I. It's, it's a real mental game running the fucker. I feel like such a bitch because like, you know, I'll go running sometimes and like sometimes my, like my foot will go numb and I start bitching about it and then here you are like you gotta account for that. Fuck. Yeah. It's pretty odd. How, what was research like, you know, going into the running blade? Like did you do your own or did like somebody recommend it to you? Um, I'm not gonna lie, I literally found a clinic that was close to me. Oh, yeah. Uh, so I'm, I'm really fortunate there's a really great clinic that's based in the same town as me. Okay. And I, I went privately to get a normal walking leg with them because it was convenient and. You know, all that sort of stuff. And then, and then I, as soon as I got my walking leg, I then started doing things like, you know, leg pressing in the gym. Mm-hmm. And I started posting videos on my social media, cuz I was sharing my whole, my whole journey through this. And I sh I showed the prosthetist and he was like, like, wow. You know, like leg pressing, like 150 kilos and you've had your leg like three weeks. What's going on? Yeah. You know. And, um, he showed the marketing team. And then the marketing team were like, oh, this guy, okay, cool, shit, we're gonna get a blade. And then they sponsored me. So I kind of was, was really fortunate that the company was able to support me and even now I still really supportive. Um, but I, and that also meant that I didn't really have much choice. It was just they make this blade. That's kind of what you get. Well, I mean, it's happy, it seems like it's working out. Yeah. I mean it's, it is e even after now, you know, with all the research I've done, the, the blade that I use mostly for my racing is, is the one I would choose. It is pretty amazing. And how did you get, how did you get into, you know, from going from power lifting? Two OCR racing. What was the, what was the switch there? It's like, oh shit, I could run, let's do the hardest fucking thing possible for legs. Pretty much. No, it's um, it was actually a friend of mine who said, oh, let's, let's do a tough murder. Okay. And that was it. We, we did a tough mud. I did my first Tough Mudder while I was in my wheelchair. Mm-hmm. And it took me about eight hours. I did my first, first kind of couple on my own. My friend encouraged me, but then unfortunately had an injury and couldn't do it. Um, so I just did it on my own. And then I just literally met all these amazing people. I got, uh, sort of coaxed in with all the headbands, the Tough Mudder, and, and I was like, oh, actually this Tough Mudder thing, it's really easy. Let's try some harder stuff and shit. And it all just progressed from there. So what do you think is your, your favorite experience in like in racing to date? Oh, that's a good question. Um, well, I'll give you some time to think because, um, I'll tell, I'll tell you mine and over here it's called um, Killington. So all you just do is call it killing. It's a Spartan race, so it's like the hardest. The hardest Spartan race in America. So I tried it, um, when I first started O C R racing in 2021 and I DN FD on time, um, right for Killington, I started training. You know Matt Roberts right? Yep. I started training with Primal and a year later I went back to that same race and I had a clean race. It was one of my first clean races and I about cried after I finished it cuz it was just, it was tough. It was my favorite race. It was just like a, a journey of just over overcoming a lot of different things. That was my favorite race. Hopefully I give you time to think. Yeah, definitely. I think, I think my favorite race, you know, most recently anyway has, has been the European Championships. Mm-hmm. Um, it was the short course. Generally I prefer a little bit of a longer course, but it was a short course and. I, I don't really get nervous in braces anymore. You know, I've got my hundred headband for Tough Mudder. I turn up to a tough mud and I'm like, I don't feel the same jitters that I do, just cause I'm so used to it. Yeah. And. This race on the start line, you know, I was feeling a little bit nervous. I wasn't, I was like, am I ready? You know, like I'm in peak condition. Um, the year prior, my main competitor had won the first, you know, gold position and I've won silver. And then a year late, you know, this year I'd won gold and he won silver. So I was like, right, it's our next battle. Who's gonna, who's gonna win? You know? Um, it was also only a three K course and I was like, he's an arm amputee. I'm a leg amputee who's, you know, he's gonna be quicker. Um, you know, distance wise. So, and, and as soon as you know, we got that, off you go. We just went off like a rocket, you know, and that whole, I saw him run off in the distance and I was like, no, I'm not giving you this. No, I'm gonna, I'm gonna chase after you. And it was about, I dunno. Three or 400 meters in, I overtook him and he just couldn't, he just couldn't catch up. And I felt like I was gonna throw up the whole race, getting the ball, and like getting over a wall. And I was like, oh no, that wasn't a good choice. Yeah. But, but that feeling of like, Wow. Like I absolutely feel like I'm dead in a good way at the end of a race. And I've come through first, and I've come through first with like five minutes to spare. Um, you know, just that kind of feeling of pride. That was just the most amazing feeling. That's fucking amazing. He just fucking, he just went full send on it. Oh man. I looked at my, I looked at my stats afterwards and that first like half a mile was at a four minute, 22nd minute mile. Holy shit. Four 20 mile. I was like, no wonder I was hanging. I was absolutely. I. We were, we were going for it. And that was, that was great. You know, just because, you know, prior to that, I'd never really had competition uhhuh. Um, in terms of adaptive athletes, I'd only ever competed against able-bodied people. Right. So, of course there's always that bit of like, I'm never gonna win because I don't really, I don't have control of my legs. So when you compete against able-bodied people, like what's the point? Do I, do I really want to train to my optimal if there's no real competition? Mm-hmm. Whereas that was like, actually it's a real competition. It's real. Like I've really trained, um, and it was just a show of kind of what I felt like I could do. So I bet that's like a huge boost of confidence. Um, Just in general. Yeah. Not so much. I mean, yes, in the OCR world, but you know, just as a person too, it's like, you know, I have overcome so many obstacles in this way. How does, how do you think that helps you just in every other domain of life? You know, not just the sports world, but you know, just emotionally. Yeah. I think, I think it really boosts me, you know, I, I think there's still a part of me that. Can't believe it. You know that I, I came to work on the Monday and, and I, it's a new job for me. I only started three months ago and my colleagues were like, oh, how was your little competition? Yeah. Like, I won. Um, and they were like, what? You won the European championships? And I was that. Oh yeah, I guess I did. No, it doesn't, it doesn't quite hit home. Um, and it's only really yeah, sort of a month later that I'm really starting to feel the effects of it. And I find it really motivating and, and, you know, constantly thinking about it really helps, helps me slot everything else in place and makes it all worth it for the focus for the next one. Yeah, so you're kind of just using that as a slingshot for, you know, just more wins and it seems like you're just leaning into it. Exactly. Yeah. So it's not just, it's not just ocr. So you competed internationally in judo as well? Yes. Can you talk about that a little bit? Yeah, absolutely. So I started judo at a really, really young age, five, six, you know, uh, and I did it because my brother did it, and it was a way of controlled aggression towards my brother. Mm-hmm. He doesn't really like that much, and he, he quit. And I just keep kept going until, you know, until about the age of nine. Mm-hmm. With my condition started. So, Naturally when I had my amputation, I was like, oh, let's start a new challenge. Let's do some judo. And I'd never seen an amputee do judo before. So I started doing a little bit of training. Mm-hmm. And then I turned up to the British championships and I turned up, obviously with my prosthetic leg and they said, we've never seen an amputee ju do judo before. We dunno what to do with you, but you can't use your prosthetic leg when you compete. So I had to take my leg off. Bearing in mind, judo is standing. So I then had to stand with other people and, and effectively try and push people over or try and, you know, use, use my moves. Um, so. To try and beat them. And at my first British championships, I came back with a silver medal. Holy shit. Which I was, uh, I was pretty happy with, you know, and I was competing against people without a physical disability. So you have able-bodied judo, uhhuh, you have, um, visually impaired judo Okay. For those with a vision impairment. And both of those roots can get to the Paralympics. Mm-hmm. And then outside of those two avenues, you have what used to be called special needs judo. Right. So that encompasses people who aren't visually impaired, but aren't, aren't, um, able-bodied. Right. So the majority of people who compete in that have autism, dyslexia, some other form of intellectual impairment. Mm-hmm. Um, they might have a hearing impairment, they might have down syndrome. All sorts of, all sorts of varies. Right. And it's, you are sort of put into categories based on your ability mm-hmm. Rather than your disability. So let's say for example, We were both in the same weight category and you were amazing at Judo, but I was awful at Judo. But we have exactly the same disability. We would be in a different group. Okay. Because you'd be amazing and I'd be awful. So we'd be in a different group. Uh, how that works. Not really sure, but you know, I'm sure they have a way of keeping it fair. The guy, the guy who got him his, his gold place was our first place was, um, was dyslexic. Okay. And that was his disability. So I'm also dyslexic. So the fact that you've got one guy with one leg with dyslexia against another guy who has dyslexia, and that's his disability competing against each other, uh, it, it wasn't particularly fair, but because I came back with a, a silver medal, they said, okay, you can go to the world Judo games and compete for, for Great Britain. Mm-hmm. And I. My first year I came back with a, with a third place with a bronze medal, and then the next year I came back with a silver medal. So kind of put me up there with number two in the world for, for judo, adaptive judo. That's fucking crazy pretty. So if you're looking at it from, from the outside, it's almost like everything that you, everything that was a challenge. You've kind of rose way the fuck beyond that. So, I mean, what message do you think that you're sending to, to other, to other athletes? And I'm not even gonna just place it in just adaptive, um, adaptive athletes, um, just athletes in general. Yeah, I think, I think the main thing for me is passion and just drive. And, you know, I, I got into studio because I just loved it and I wanted to get the best that I could be. And, and if that was 10th in the world, great. If that was first in the world, great. Um, but just having that passion and drive just kind of like kept going and, and as long as I was enjoying what I was doing, it didn't really matter kind of where I was going with that. Um, I just always try and be the best person that I can be and bring others along, along with me as well. You know, when I've, when I did my 75th Tough mother, I was like, okay, I'm a bit bored now. Let's, um, let's get some more people. So I, you know, found some people in wheelchairs and I pushed them uphill and ran with some visually impaired people just to get other people involved. And that then drove me to get better because I needed to be fit enough to push them up. Yeah. And pushed my fitness. You know, it, it, I, I'm a keen kind of believer that. If you put the effort in and you put the work in, not only to support yourself, but also to support those around you, then it pays off in all these kind of un unknown unknown ways. And it's, it's really, um, that, that's kind of my way of doing it anyway. Man. It sounds like you just bring the juice, I mean, just the passion that you have to do everything. Yeah. You just bring the juice with everything and then people see that. And then you just kind of like lead by doing and you inspire by doing. And I mean from the 30 minutes that I've spent with you so far, I mean, you're already like a, almost like a magnet for positive energy, right? People see that and people love that, and it's an attractive quality. So I could see why, you know that, you know that blade company would wanna market you and somebody like you. It's just like this is a good fucking fit. No thanks. No, I appreciate that. No problem. Um, so with, with everything that you've overcome, like if, if we bring this to like a present date, how do you think overcoming those challenges helps, like your daily strategies and, and getting, getting you focused on, on what you're working on? I think, I think I've always had to be focused. Mm-hmm. I've always had that focus and the reason that I had that focus is, without sounding a bit dramatic, but like, you know, when I was, had my chronic pain condition and, and was having to convince surgeons, et cetera, you know, life was pretty shit. I'm not gonna lie, you know, I hit that place and I was like, I don't, I'm not happy. I'm in loads of pain and rather than kind of wallowing in that really horrible place. I had that focus of, yeah, everything's horrible, but how am I gonna get out of that? Mm-hmm. So that meant that I just had to stay focused. And it was, you know, let's hit this. Let's, let's make a goal. Let's hit that goal. Okay, what's the next goal? What's the next goal? What's the next goal? And I think that kind of lesson and the experiences that I had through that, it's just what I use now, you know, I'm thinking about, right, what's my next weight goal? What's my next time goal? And when I hit that, Uh, maybe I need to celebrate a little bit more that I've hit that. Mm-hmm. You know, as soon as I won that European championships, I was like, right, how am I gonna do, do the world championships? How am I gonna do this? Yeah. Um, you know, because that's the way that my brain works, that I just feel like I need to have that constant. Something new, something fresh, something to work for. Right? Um, and that keeps me motivated in everyday life. That drive. So it keeps you going. But I mean, yeah, kinda like the same thing I've had to have, I've had to focus on, you know, backing down and taking time. It was one of my friends actually at work where like, you know, once you hit a success that is, That is the point of success. It's to actually stop and feel it, you know, just like, go onto the next thing really quick. Um, yeah. Cause I got in a habit because it's, I mean, it's tough because then you know, you're not as fulfilled. Um Mm. But I mean, you've had a lot of success, so that shit is probably coming fucking daily. It certainly feels like it this year. Well, I mean, I mean, it's, it's good for you, but I mean, so outside of, outside of the sports, you're also a motivational speaker. Yes. And you've had, you've had like a lot of cool venues. Can you, can you talk about fucking speaking at Buckingham and St. James Place? Yeah. What the fuck was that? Like? It's pretty cool. So, um, oh shit. I've quite a few speeches of Buckingham Palace now. Yeah. And, and it is, it's just brilliant. Cool. It's through this, originally it was through this award called the Duke of Burghs Award. So it's something we have in the UK and there's a few other countries to do it. And it's for young people to do all sorts of opportunities from volunteering to physical activity and um, you know, they have to have a skill and they do an expedition. Mm-hmm. So once they reach the, the gold level, the final level where they've been doing it for like, Five years or so, they then have their award presented to them at Buckingham Palace and members of the Royal Family kind of come and, and observe and, and give out presentations, et cetera. And as part of that, they have guest speakers. So, Because I did my Duke of Bergs while I was in a wheelchair and I was invited to do like a local speech. I was then kind of headhunted to do it at Buckingham Palace. And then they were like, oh, this guy's, this guy is quite a cool speaker. Back, back, and back and Oh, can you do this speech here? You know? So, um, that was sort of when I had my amputation and I wasn't yet back to full-time work. Right? Cause I was still having rehab, et cetera. And. And that was just great. You know, uh, I was invited to speak for the Queen at Buckingham Palace, and that was just, you know, getting that you get a formal. Kind of letter through the post saying Your Royal High, um, majesty Queen has invited you to present this at this time on this da da da. You have one guest, please bring ID in every form of formal qualification you have, you know, um, that, that's just amazing. You know, um, and, and, you know, St. James' Palace, I was invited to dinner and, you know, was sat on a table with Royal Family having dinner. Uh, just, it was just really surreal, you know, holy, holy crap. It just opened up some really cool opportunities for me. What do you think was the most unique experience about any of those? I think the, the, the unique experience was I. So I, when I, when I spoke for the Queen Uhhuh, there were a few, I do not class myself as a celebrity whatsoever. Right. I'm, you know, there were, yeah, that's for everybody else to say everybody else was a speaker, was a celebrity. Yeah. So you had like, you know, some of the actors from Harry Potter, some of the, um, like, you know, famous actors and artists and authors and, you know, there was a big picture of pretty much everybody that was there. Was you could look at them and go, I know exactly who that is and which film they've been in or whatever. Um, apart from me and everybody else gave fe speech, I felt like a lemon. You know, I was like, what am I doing? Um, but they, you know, they, they call shit. That's Hermione. Yeah. Literally. Literally. Um, and so we all did like a speech and I did the, the keynote speech. And I, I just remember the, the queen coming up to me and being like, it was very, it was very diplomatic. She was like, all of those other people, they spoke quite well, but then it got to yours and you were significantly better. I was like, okay. Wow. That, that was, that was pretty cool. That that's probably one of the, one of the highlights. Oh no. That would be like the biggest compliment. Holy smokes. Yeah. Yeah, I mean obviously she was trying to be really, really polite, you know? But, um, but yeah, it's just so, you know, and, and, and on that day as well, there were some of the, some other people, it was like a whole day celebration. Mm-hmm. And, um, there were some young people who were there and one of them couldn't find a toilet, so they just decided to go in. So the Queen's Garden, Buckingham Palace Garden is the largest. Outdoor garden in London, uh, or largest private garden, I think in London. And they just decided to go to the toilet behind a tree. And as I, so I noticed this, and as I looked up, I saw the queen looking out of her window, watching someone pee behind a tree in her garden. It's just like really surreal, you know, experiences that you don't, don't expect to have. That would be, that would be my luck. Oh man, I gotta take a whiz. Oh shit, there's the queen. Uh, do I wave or bow or what do I do here? Yeah, yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Oh, man. All right. So that, that, that's a really cool experience. Yeah. So what do you think, what, what do you, what is your message to, I guess, young athletes and young adults when you speak to them? Yeah, I think, I think the main thing is sort of like pers, perseverance is my big word. That that ability to not only persevere and, and just keep going with those targets and, and, and keep your goals going, but also to appreciate kind of where you are. So, And, and you said it earlier, you know, actually when you are, when you're on that podium, taking that moment to really appreciate where you, where you've come from. And I think as athletes, as humans, perhaps we don't do that enough. Um, so sort of the message of perseverance, targets and also appreciation. They're the big ones. Absolutely. Well, what do you, what are you working on now? Like, what's your next big goal? I've got the World Championships, oh, go hard in September. So I've got four races in, in one weekend. The short, long. A hundred meter and the team as well. So that's, that's my next one. So you're training for that? Yeah, exactly. I've got a few injuries I've gotta try and niggle away. Um, but, but that's the plan. I'd like four gold medals. That'd be nice. We'll see. We'll see. Well, how about this? When, when that happens, are you gonna stop and celebrate that? Or are you just gonna go climb Everest or something? Ooh, uh, am I celebrating it? I've only got, I've got the British Championships maybe three or four weeks after. Okay. So maybe at the end of the season. There you go. That's when I'll be, uh, celebrating, sort of end of November. So taking the time off. I'll celebrate until May when it starts again. Well, Jamie, um, I appreciate you having on, I have, um, are you coming on. So you're on Instagram, you're on Facebook, Jamie, gain adaptive athletes. Before you go, um, what do you think is one piece of advice you would give a young athlete adaptive or able-bodied athlete? One piece of advice. Oh, it's, it's hard cause there's so many, so many bits of advice, you know. Um, I think, I think the big thing is, is use the resources that you've got there. Every single person who is around you wants you to succeed. You know, whether that's your parents, whether that's your colleagues, your friends, your family, you know, every single person wants you to succeed. And there's a part of you probably that thinks I need to do this. I need to push myself. And yeah, you do. Actually reach out cause there's so much support and information out there and you know, check me out on Instagram or whatever media you want. I'm happy to help. If you're an adaptive athlete and you've got any questions, please you know, reach out. We're looking for more adaptive OCR athletes, so please, you know, just reach out, use the support around you and just keep going. Jamie Gain. I really appreciate you having all, man. This is probably one of my favorite, the favorite podcasts I do, man, you're so inspiring. Um, you know, the perseverance and ambition and the passion you have, it's, it's, uh, it's magnetic. Man. Thanks for having me. It's been, yeah, you're the man. Thanks a lot.