August 20, 2024 • 9 mins
Universal Pictures presents the inspiring new documentary, The Mountain Within Me, which tells the story of Ed Jackson, a professional rugby player who suffered a nearly fatal spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed from the neck down. Faced with life-altering challenges, Ed finds hope and renewed purpose in helping others – and, despite being told by doctors that he would never walk again, Ed channels his determination to climb the formidable mountains of Snowdonia, the Alps and Himalayas.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Bubba Do Do Do Do Do.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Hey, y'all, it's Denise's podcast.
Speaker 3 (00:06):
Hey, Happy Tuesday. Today, I have a really emotional interview.
Well it turns out to be a happy interview, it
really does. His name is Ed Jackson and he was
a professional athlete. He's from the UK, but he suffered
a catastrophic, almost fatal spinal cord injury. Like I said,
he was a professional rugby player, and he himself said
(00:28):
his whole life identified by being a professional rugby player.
After the injury, it changed his world forever, but he's
grateful for it, so I want to encourage you. It
came out today internationally. He's from the UK, but you
can watch it now. It's the documentary called The Mountain
Within Me. It follows Ed's journey on his recovery and
(00:49):
also his mental and physical heights of climbing mountains. So
at the beginning I joke around by singing, Ain't no
mountain high enough? And that's because at the end of
the documentary that song is plane and it's a really
cool moment. You'll have to watch again. It's The Mountain
Within Me with Ed Jackson. Hi, how you doing.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
I'm very well. Thanks Denise, how are you.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
I am doing excellent. It's an honor to talk to you.
Thank you for taking some time with me today. And
can I just start out with aim no mountain? Hi enough?
Come on? You gave me goosebumps watching your movie, and
I guess we should start. The Mountain within Me is
the movie that's going to be released internationally on the twentieth.
(01:33):
I cannot wait for everyone to see it. But I
had a sneak peek. So why don't we start at
the beginning? Because you were a professional athlete, Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
I was fortunate enough to become a professional rugby player
out of school, which is my sort of dream of
the kids. That was my sport growing up, and I
was lucky enough to do that for ten years. So
obviously when the day came when everything changed, it was
a bit of a shock because I didn't just lose
my profession, I kind of lost my whole identity as well.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
I suppose your.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Entire life changed after you dove into a swimming pool.
Talk about what happened.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
There was a waterfall at one end of the swimming pool,
which sort of the stub the water. I couldn't see
how beat it was, and I just wasn't concentrating, so
I dived in where the water hit the waterfall hit
the water, and yeah, I hit my head really hard
on so hard on the ground that I broke my
neck pretty severely and it rendered me completely paralyzed on
the shoulders down. And yeah, I had to be resuscitated
(02:31):
three times. So really lucky to even be here, never
mind doing the things I'm doing. And I had a
seven hour operation and woke up in intensive care and
nothing had improved. And after a week I was actually
told that I wasn't going to walk against So you know,
scary times, scary times. But the film documents what happened
(02:51):
through that journey, but also up until where I am today,
which is, you know, with a charity, a life full
of purpose and climbing mountain unbelievably.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
So I'm very grateful.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
It's interesting you say you're grateful because you have gone
through so much. They thought you wouldn't walk again, but
you saw your toe move, and from seeing your toe
move to say I'm walking again, you decided to start
climbing mountains. Why did you take it to such extremes?
Speaker 2 (03:17):
I think it I mean to be honest. It happened
a bit by step by steps. At first it was
I want to stand, then I want to walk, and
then I was like, I need to do something symbolic
on the twelve month mark to I send a message
to try and inspire some other people, but also to
raise some money for the charoites that had supported me.
And so climbing Snowden was the thing that I wanted
(03:38):
to do, which is the highest mountain in Wales. I
didn't actually expect to get to the top. I thought that,
you know, at least if people saw me on my feet,
the message would be sent. But I did get to
the top, and I'm surrounded by so many people that
day who are going through their own struggles, and it
was at that point I knew my life was going
to look very different. I didn't know what it was
going to look like. I knew it'd be different time.
(04:00):
I'd felt sort of sent a purpose again since my accident,
and that's transpired into climbing higher and higher and taking
me to the Alps and then to the Himalayas, and
also running a charity that helps other.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
People do the same.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
During the documentary, your wife, who was a huge supporter
of you all along the way. She was your girlfriend
at the time when it happened, and then you two
got married. It shows a clip of your wedding which
is so beautiful. You documented everything just perfectly but mentally
in order to get to the place where you wanted
to help others. How did you do that? Was it
(04:36):
your wife supporting you? Was it because you had so
many people cheering you on?
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Yeah, I mean it was massively my support networks. Like
she was a huge source of the inspiration for me
to keep going and to push I was getting better
for her and for my family as much as it
was for me. And I also to take that one
ever for granted, I've been in the spinal unit for
four months and I've seen people have no visits in
that time, which sort of blue made me away. I
(05:02):
think we take our family for granted, and we take
our friends for granted, but not everyone has those people.
So I'm very lucky to have them in my life,
not just in the sort of emotional support sense, but
also in a practical sense because my wife's also got
a background in sport, and she could watch the videos
understand what they were doing and when they had to
go and see the other patients to carry on doing
(05:24):
rehab with me. So I don't really know what I'd do.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
We've done without her, to be honest, I love.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
That also, you talked about that during the documentary. I
was a caretaker for my mom. She unfortunately passed in December,
and she had several strokes and unfortunately she was never
able to walk again. But it is difficult to be
a caretaker. So I'm glad you focused a bit on
your wife as well and her journey with you, because
(05:50):
you have such a beautiful story and such a beautiful
I mean true passionate love that you have for one another.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Yeah, I'm sorry to hear that about your mum, but
you're exactly right. You know, the caretakers go through it
as much as the individual because they love that person,
and you almost feel helpless. And actually, my wife has
now become.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
A life coach.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
To help support the caretakers and the partners. You know
of people who are going through trauma because often they
don't feel like they're in a position where they can
put their hand up and go on struggling too, because
they're like, well, it's not about me, but actually, the
best way to support an individual is to support their
support network, you know, and that we do a lot.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Of that through the charity as well.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
It's not just the individuals, it's their friends and family
that we help.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
To, you know. And I just watching the documentary. I
can't encourage people enough to make sure you take a
moment sit and watch it because it starts out heartbreaking
to see what happens to you, but it's so inspiring
along the way to watch your journey and then to
see the love story that you have with your wife
and all the people that love you, and then you
(06:55):
turn around and you give this gift of loving others
through your charity. Tell me a little bit more about
your charity and how you select the people that you help.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
I realized after about three years, I got to a
point of where I was excited about my life again,
where I had fully accepted what happened to me and
my new found disability, and I then realized a lot
of that was to do with my support network and
also having found the mountains in the outdoors which were
covered incredibly healing.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
So I thought, well, if it can work for me,
this must be able to work for other people.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
So we set up millimeters from mounts five years ago,
and we help other young adults who have been through trauma,
physical or psychological trauma by taking them on adventures around
the world, making them realize they're more capable and they
thought they were. But then rather than just having a
light touch and then saying goodbye to them afterwards, we
enter them into a three year beneficiary program where we
(07:51):
found retraining life coaching therapy to really turn their life around.
And then I've found that if you really turn someone's
life around, they want to then go on and help
more people, so the ripple effects can be really big.
So I'm incredibly proud of what we're doing. I get
as much inspiration from our beneficiaries on a daily basis
as they get from me, I'm sure. So it's a
win win, definitely.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
It's beautiful and the start of the documentary, you're looking
at the mountain and you say, we're like a speck
of dust. That mountain has been here forever, but we
have a short time. So your message really is to
help others to be good and enjoy the life that
you have, no matter what it gives you.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Yeah, exactly. I mean that.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Perspective shift is so powerful when you have the facial
mortality and you realize it it will be over tomorrow.
You do realize how lucky we are to be here
at all, and you move that focus off the things
you haven't got and you start appreciating the things that
you have. So that's been a gift to me too,
and I hope people can take that away from the
film and start to embody that too.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
You and your wife are just truly amazing. You're like
angels on Earth and it's inspiring what you've been through.
How can we help the charity?
Speaker 2 (09:00):
I mean, that's very kind. You can go to the
chatter your website Millimeter Fountain dot org. We've run lots
of events and fundraising events as well. You know, any
support is massively appreciated. We're still relatively small and humble
in our beginning, so even the smallest donations do make
a big difference.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
And you can also follow him on Instagram. It's at
ed Jackson eight And I like underneath your name it
says a little bit wobbly, which you've said during your wedding.
I don't want to give everything away because I want
you to watch it, and you're probably going to tear
up a little bit. I have to tell you my
fake eyelashes. They almost fell off it. They almost fell off,
but at the end I was smiling ear to ear
(09:41):
and it was just such a beautiful story. So thank
you for sharing.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
It with us, and I appreciate that. And I'm sorry
about your eyelashes.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
Fake replace the all right, Well, thank you so much.
It's been great talking.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
To you, Ed.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Thank you so much for the support.
Bubba Do Do Do Do Do.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Hey, y'all, it's Denise's podcast.
Speaker 3 (00:06):
Hey, Happy Tuesday. Today, I have a really emotional interview.
Well it turns out to be a happy interview, it
really does. His name is Ed Jackson and he was
a professional athlete. He's from the UK, but he suffered
a catastrophic, almost fatal spinal cord injury. Like I said,
he was a professional rugby player, and he himself said
(00:28):
his whole life identified by being a professional rugby player.
After the injury, it changed his world forever, but he's
grateful for it, so I want to encourage you. It
came out today internationally. He's from the UK, but you
can watch it now. It's the documentary called The Mountain
Within Me. It follows Ed's journey on his recovery and
(00:49):
also his mental and physical heights of climbing mountains. So
at the beginning I joke around by singing, Ain't no
mountain high enough? And that's because at the end of
the documentary that song is plane and it's a really
cool moment. You'll have to watch again. It's The Mountain
Within Me with Ed Jackson. Hi, how you doing.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
I'm very well. Thanks Denise, how are you.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
I am doing excellent. It's an honor to talk to you.
Thank you for taking some time with me today. And
can I just start out with aim no mountain? Hi enough?
Come on? You gave me goosebumps watching your movie, and
I guess we should start. The Mountain within Me is
the movie that's going to be released internationally on the twentieth.
(01:33):
I cannot wait for everyone to see it. But I
had a sneak peek. So why don't we start at
the beginning? Because you were a professional athlete, Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
I was fortunate enough to become a professional rugby player
out of school, which is my sort of dream of
the kids. That was my sport growing up, and I
was lucky enough to do that for ten years. So
obviously when the day came when everything changed, it was
a bit of a shock because I didn't just lose
my profession, I kind of lost my whole identity as well.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
I suppose your.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Entire life changed after you dove into a swimming pool.
Talk about what happened.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
There was a waterfall at one end of the swimming pool,
which sort of the stub the water. I couldn't see
how beat it was, and I just wasn't concentrating, so
I dived in where the water hit the waterfall hit
the water, and yeah, I hit my head really hard
on so hard on the ground that I broke my
neck pretty severely and it rendered me completely paralyzed on
the shoulders down. And yeah, I had to be resuscitated
(02:31):
three times. So really lucky to even be here, never
mind doing the things I'm doing. And I had a
seven hour operation and woke up in intensive care and
nothing had improved. And after a week I was actually
told that I wasn't going to walk against So you know,
scary times, scary times. But the film documents what happened
(02:51):
through that journey, but also up until where I am today,
which is, you know, with a charity, a life full
of purpose and climbing mountain unbelievably.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
So I'm very grateful.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
It's interesting you say you're grateful because you have gone
through so much. They thought you wouldn't walk again, but
you saw your toe move, and from seeing your toe
move to say I'm walking again, you decided to start
climbing mountains. Why did you take it to such extremes?
Speaker 2 (03:17):
I think it I mean to be honest. It happened
a bit by step by steps. At first it was
I want to stand, then I want to walk, and
then I was like, I need to do something symbolic
on the twelve month mark to I send a message
to try and inspire some other people, but also to
raise some money for the charoites that had supported me.
And so climbing Snowden was the thing that I wanted
(03:38):
to do, which is the highest mountain in Wales. I
didn't actually expect to get to the top. I thought that,
you know, at least if people saw me on my feet,
the message would be sent. But I did get to
the top, and I'm surrounded by so many people that
day who are going through their own struggles, and it
was at that point I knew my life was going
to look very different. I didn't know what it was
going to look like. I knew it'd be different time.
(04:00):
I'd felt sort of sent a purpose again since my accident,
and that's transpired into climbing higher and higher and taking
me to the Alps and then to the Himalayas, and
also running a charity that helps other.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
People do the same.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
During the documentary, your wife, who was a huge supporter
of you all along the way. She was your girlfriend
at the time when it happened, and then you two
got married. It shows a clip of your wedding which
is so beautiful. You documented everything just perfectly but mentally
in order to get to the place where you wanted
to help others. How did you do that? Was it
(04:36):
your wife supporting you? Was it because you had so
many people cheering you on?
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Yeah, I mean it was massively my support networks. Like
she was a huge source of the inspiration for me
to keep going and to push I was getting better
for her and for my family as much as it
was for me. And I also to take that one
ever for granted, I've been in the spinal unit for
four months and I've seen people have no visits in
that time, which sort of blue made me away. I
(05:02):
think we take our family for granted, and we take
our friends for granted, but not everyone has those people.
So I'm very lucky to have them in my life,
not just in the sort of emotional support sense, but
also in a practical sense because my wife's also got
a background in sport, and she could watch the videos
understand what they were doing and when they had to
go and see the other patients to carry on doing
(05:24):
rehab with me. So I don't really know what I'd do.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
We've done without her, to be honest, I love.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
That also, you talked about that during the documentary. I
was a caretaker for my mom. She unfortunately passed in December,
and she had several strokes and unfortunately she was never
able to walk again. But it is difficult to be
a caretaker. So I'm glad you focused a bit on
your wife as well and her journey with you, because
(05:50):
you have such a beautiful story and such a beautiful
I mean true passionate love that you have for one another.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Yeah, I'm sorry to hear that about your mum, but
you're exactly right. You know, the caretakers go through it
as much as the individual because they love that person,
and you almost feel helpless. And actually, my wife has
now become.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
A life coach.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
To help support the caretakers and the partners. You know
of people who are going through trauma because often they
don't feel like they're in a position where they can
put their hand up and go on struggling too, because
they're like, well, it's not about me, but actually, the
best way to support an individual is to support their
support network, you know, and that we do a lot.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Of that through the charity as well.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
It's not just the individuals, it's their friends and family
that we help.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
To, you know. And I just watching the documentary. I
can't encourage people enough to make sure you take a
moment sit and watch it because it starts out heartbreaking
to see what happens to you, but it's so inspiring
along the way to watch your journey and then to
see the love story that you have with your wife
and all the people that love you, and then you
(06:55):
turn around and you give this gift of loving others
through your charity. Tell me a little bit more about
your charity and how you select the people that you help.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
I realized after about three years, I got to a
point of where I was excited about my life again,
where I had fully accepted what happened to me and
my new found disability, and I then realized a lot
of that was to do with my support network and
also having found the mountains in the outdoors which were
covered incredibly healing.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
So I thought, well, if it can work for me,
this must be able to work for other people.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
So we set up millimeters from mounts five years ago,
and we help other young adults who have been through trauma,
physical or psychological trauma by taking them on adventures around
the world, making them realize they're more capable and they
thought they were. But then rather than just having a
light touch and then saying goodbye to them afterwards, we
enter them into a three year beneficiary program where we
(07:51):
found retraining life coaching therapy to really turn their life around.
And then I've found that if you really turn someone's
life around, they want to then go on and help
more people, so the ripple effects can be really big.
So I'm incredibly proud of what we're doing. I get
as much inspiration from our beneficiaries on a daily basis
as they get from me, I'm sure. So it's a
win win, definitely.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
It's beautiful and the start of the documentary, you're looking
at the mountain and you say, we're like a speck
of dust. That mountain has been here forever, but we
have a short time. So your message really is to
help others to be good and enjoy the life that
you have, no matter what it gives you.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Yeah, exactly. I mean that.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Perspective shift is so powerful when you have the facial
mortality and you realize it it will be over tomorrow.
You do realize how lucky we are to be here
at all, and you move that focus off the things
you haven't got and you start appreciating the things that
you have. So that's been a gift to me too,
and I hope people can take that away from the
film and start to embody that too.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
You and your wife are just truly amazing. You're like
angels on Earth and it's inspiring what you've been through.
How can we help the charity?
Speaker 2 (09:00):
I mean, that's very kind. You can go to the
chatter your website Millimeter Fountain dot org. We've run lots
of events and fundraising events as well. You know, any
support is massively appreciated. We're still relatively small and humble
in our beginning, so even the smallest donations do make
a big difference.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
And you can also follow him on Instagram. It's at
ed Jackson eight And I like underneath your name it
says a little bit wobbly, which you've said during your wedding.
I don't want to give everything away because I want
you to watch it, and you're probably going to tear
up a little bit. I have to tell you my
fake eyelashes. They almost fell off it. They almost fell off,
but at the end I was smiling ear to ear
(09:41):
and it was just such a beautiful story. So thank
you for sharing.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
It with us, and I appreciate that. And I'm sorry
about your eyelashes.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
Fake replace the all right, Well, thank you so much.
It's been great talking.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
To you, Ed.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Thank you so much for the support.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Ridiculous History
History is beautiful, brutal and, often, ridiculous. Join Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown as they dive into some of the weirdest stories from across the span of human civilization in Ridiculous History, a podcast by iHeartRadio.