Our chat today is with world champion para-surfer Sam Bloom, and her husband Cam. Born on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, Sam had everything she had always dreamed of. She’d travelled extensively, fulfilled her childhood dream of becoming a nurse and was a happily married mother of three young boys.
But without warning, the dream turned into a nightmare when on a 2013 family holiday in Thailand, Sam fell through a rotten balcony railing and crashed six metres onto the concrete below.
Lucky to be alive, she’d suffered devastating injuries, including severe damage to her spinal cord that left her paralysed from the chest down. Broken and hopeless, Sam reached her outer limits of physical and mental suffering. But with courage, determination and a little help from an unlikely feathered friend, she made her way back from the edge, scarred but undefeated. 'How' is the subject of this podcast episode.
6:00 Sam and Cam’s background, and how they met…
11:30 Talking the importance of travel in the like of the Blooms
16:00 That fateful trip to Thailand
18:30 Moving hospital to hospital… to hospital
19:40 Sam’s recollection of the incident
21:20 ‘Memories are so subjective’
25:00 When Sam realises the severity of the incident…
26:20 Cam is mopping up and trying to hold it together while Sam spends months in hospital
30:00 Sam arrives home… and its not how you think she would be
32:00 Enter penguin .. a fluffy magpie chick. Life changes
36:00 Cam and his accompanying photography. What he couldn’t photograph
38:20 How about the impact on the boys?
43:00 How the book started
52:00 Recruiting the actors for the movie version of the book
54:10 Doing time with their Hollywood counterparts… and shooting in their own home
59:15 Sam reconnects with her passion of surfing
1:02:00 SurfLakes Yeppoon … artificial surf facility in Queensland
1:05:00 Australian Championships- Surfing …and what’s next
External Links
https://sambloom.com.au
https://www.facebook.com/sambloomaustralia
https://www.instagram.com/samjbloom/
Contact Us
www.unforgiving60.com
Email us at debrief@unforgiving60.com
Instagram, Twitter: @Unforgiving60
THE RESILIENCE RETREAT INFORMATION
Be guests of the authors of The Resilience Shield between 27-30 October 2022 on Fitzroy Island off Cairns, North Queensland, Australia
Info and bookings here: https://resilienceshield.com/retreat/
Music
The Externals – available on Spotify
Mitchell Martin- – available on Spotify
S5E7 – MAJGEN Justin “Jake” Ellwood DSC AM CSC – On Running (an Army Division, the Queensland Reconstruction Authority….and in general!)
S5E6 – Dr. Luana Main – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of stress and (over)training
@RV31 - Reconciliation, Travel and Reflections on Guests
S5E5 – Rachel Vickery “Don’t Fix Broken – Create Awesome”
S5E4– Creativity Builds Resilience: Artists in Foxholes @fova.org.au
S5E3– Ian Prior: How Professional Athletes Stay In the Arena
S5E2– Dr Rob Barbour: SAS Doctor Out of Africa
S5E1B – Jaz Diab – Special Forces Nuclear Scientist, Nerd and Mum! Part B
S5E1A – Jaz Diab: Special Forces Nuclear Scientist, Nerd and Mum! Part A
@RV30 – The Season 5 Kick Off
Season 5- We are (ALL) back on the cans
Season 5 - And We're Back!
Special Episode- Vale Tim Robertson: Forever the Chronic Overachiever
@RV29 – Events and Reflections: The Year in Review
S4E21- Ben and Tim on the Golds Gym Podcast
S4E20 – Senator David Van – Politics and Conflict, at home and abroad
S4E19 – Brad McIlroy: Beyond the Bali Bombing
S4E18 – Associate Professor Justine Gatt: Providing a COMPAS to navigate wellbeing and resilience
S4E16 – David Knoff Redux: 537 Days of Winter in 65 minutes of podcast!
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