Saul Raisin might have been the next Lance Armstrong. We’ll, most likely, never know. His professional cycling career was cut short by a tragic accident while racing in France. His book titled Tour De Life, is well worth the read. Here’s a guy who goes from cycling at the speed of sound, to fighting for his life in the time it takes to say road rash.
Saul battled back to life from a massive brain injury. The experts said it could not be done. His doctors repeatedly told him to face the facts. He not only wouldn’t be riding again, he wouldn’t be walking either. His mental and physical therapy was insanely difficult and long. However, less than six months after his accident, he was back on his bike…
Riding.
The neurosurgeons are amazed. Here’s the BTL melody line to their findings. Here’s what they have discovered at the Shepherd Center and countless other brain trauma centers around the globe regarding brain damage. This is amazing to me. The greatest scientist’s in the world are at a loss to explain, scientifically, why patients with the identical injury do NOT respond identically to treatment. They’ve found that these three situations best predict why one recovers and another doesn’t. Don’t miss this. This is HUGE. Here it is…
Condition one.
LOVE. The more the patient loves his work and life prior to the injury the more likely the brains reboot. The more love the patient feels around him/her the more likely they are to weather the depression storm that always follows such a trauma. Sadly, 70% suffer the loss of their “loved one” during their recovery. Yup. A full 7 out of 10 spouses, girlfriends, boyfriends, lovers, and the like simply can’t take it. They choose to leave.
Condition two.
BIG DREAMS. The bigger the better. The scientists have found that nothing compels the brain to reroute those neural networks like a passionate big dream worth fighting for.
PHYSICAL FITNESS. The more fit that patient prior to the brain damage, the more likely the reboot. The therapeutic demands are such that those that aren’t already fit simply can’t sustain the effort. By far the most demanding is the mental work and, oddly, this mental load is the most tiring. Go figure.
Want to survive and thrive after your brain is damaged?
LOVE.
DREAM.
GET PHYSICAL.
Want to survive and thrive as you age?
Ditto.
Want to survive and thrive through whatever adversity life has in store?
Ditto.
Want to survive and thrive with a whole heart…
BUILT TO LEAD 
Sounds like good therapy for the HEART, as well.
Not just for the brain and the heart, but I think pretty much for any traumatic injury or illness. FYI, here’s the title of a great book I read recently about the brain’s ability to regain functions thought lost, and to adapt to injury: The Brain That Changes Itself, by Norman Doidge, M.D.
An amazing story and a well written article. Lance is also an incredible case, simply amazing.