In 2017, I was travelling solo in Peru when I was in a motor vehicle accident. I was a passenger with 15 other travellers after a trip to Lares Hot Springs. I was asleep when the brakes apparently stopped working and, in a panic, the Peruvian driver decided to jump out, leaving us to crash into a bulldozer parked on the side of the road. I went head first into the seat in front of me and was knocked out. I was seen unconscious lying on top of the flattened seat in front of me. I sustained a neck sprain, a gashed knee, and bruising on my face and legs. It later became apparent that my short memory and energy levels were in a terrible state.

As the next few days passed, people started noticing that I was repeating myself and even though they were informing me of this I couldn’t remember them telling me! After 3 weeks I finally became aware that I was experiencing post-concussion symptoms and wasn’t improving. I was in no state to continue travelling so I decided to cut my journey short and go back to NZ to recover, and have some Contact Care treatments. Little did I know my healing journey would be a long and difficult process of 2 years which tested my patience and sanity many times over. I was frustrated after the first week! At times I wondered if I would ever recover and be able to work again or be stuck in a never-ending nightmare.

During my recovery, I experienced a wide range of symptoms and felt like I really lost purpose when I still wasn't able to return to work after 12 months. Concussion can be experienced in a huge range of ways and is unique to every client. Some of my most memorable symptoms are listed here.

• Short-term memory loss

• Body weakness and suddenly losing strength during simple tasks

• Low energy and falling asleep very easily, including mid-conversation

• Anxiety and social overwhelm

• Panic attacks

• De-sensitisation and feeling numb with no emotions

• Feeling misaligned with many moments of whacky changes in my body

• Depressed and lost

• Emotional instability and rising to anger easily

I was having a panic attack while I was a passenger in a car, and I thought we were going to crash into anything and everything. I was saying things like “Watch out for that!”, “Don’t hit that!” and I had all sorts of jerky reactions. I was being oversensitive and felt unsafe in the car. I had a Contact Care session and the panic attacks stopped immediately.

For a few months, I couldn’t drive long distances. After a Contact Care session, I regained the focus and energy to drive long distances again. I tested this by driving down to Taupo from Whangarei (about 5-6 hours) with ease. I was over the moon that I could drive again!

I remember a powerful Contact Care session where I went from foggy-headed and feeling awful to having amazing clarity and cognitive function in the space of minutes. Not only that, but I was also suddenly able to work a whole day seeing clients with no issues for the first time in months! I couldn’t believe that I went from feeling so useless to useful in such a short space of time. At this moment I realised that I had hope and I might be able to feel ‘normal’ again.

I was often feeling overwhelmed and anxious with social gatherings, in a way I had never experienced before. I had an anxiety attack on my birthday which prevented me from leaving my own house. I was fortunate to have a practitioner visit me at my home, and they found a Flinchlock in my ribs. When released, I remember feeling my body go into a state of relaxation, my thinking became clear again and I felt a sense of happiness come over me. That was followed by excitement as I was able to get out and enjoy my birthday.

At the time of writing this, it has been 5 years since the accident. Today, I’m physically and mentally able to do everything I could do prior and have been this way since about 2 years post accident. I recently had a full spine x-ray and found that my spine was looking great - in fact, it was much better than the average person in terms of alignment and held no signs of degeneration. I think this has been a testament to the effectiveness of Contact Care, to release and reverse the effects of the accident.

Do I think I’m completely over it? I’m not sure. At times I feel tired and wonder if my memory is as good as it used to be. All I know is that if I hadn’t had Contact Care, I doubt I’d be in the position I’m in today. I believe Contact Care was the difference that made all the difference to me being able to get back to working full-time again as a practitioner and life coach.