From Paralysis to Bitcoin with Kale Hyder

 
 

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“When we made that drive home, we got home, we got in the driveway. And when we were in the driveway I was crying because it was a realisation that, at that point, I didn’t accomplish what I wanted to accomplish in those six weeks where I thought I was just going to walk out.”
— Kale Hyder

SHOW DESCRIPTION

Kale Hyder works in an investment bank. In this interview, we discuss how his life 7 years ago changed on a dime: a rare spinal inflammation led an aspiring high school basketball player to have to deal with becoming quadriplegic. We talk about the physical and mental rehabilitation, and how, with the help of others, he’s found direction, purpose and happiness.

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Think about what you’re going to be doing next week. Are you working or studying? Will you be engaging in hobbies? Do you have any household chores that need completing? What social plans do you have? We all plan for the future and accept it as a given, but that’s not always the case. For Kale Hyder, all of his future plans were wiped away overnight.

One week he was at high school, studying, playing basketball & planning for his future, the next, he was unable to move. Panic and disbelief led to a hospital visit and tests and a diagnosis: transverse myelitis. Spinal inflammation. And that was it, Kale was paralysed. Life changed. Forever.

Cases like Kyle’s are rare, and the causes aren’t properly understood, but it results in irreparable damage to nerves in the body’s communication highway. The damage Kale was left with was made worse by where the inflammation was in his body. Kale’s spinal cord swelled at the base of his neck, and he became a quadriplegic, he could no longer move any of his limbs.

In this fascinating discussion, we talk about the long process of treatment and rehabilitation, learning to redevelop basic skills, how the body adapts and reconfigures itself, and the need for mechanical aids to perform functions previously taken for granted. Kale also opens up about depression, frustration and resignation.

It’s a story about acceptance and finding new paths. It’s a story of realisation and insight. Happiness and fulfilment found in unexpected places. It is uplifting to hear such wisdom from someone who’s had to face the worst that life has to offer. It is a story that ends up with Bitcoin, but it is not a Bitcoin story.

TIMESTAMPS

00:01:56: Introductions
00:04:22: The symptoms
00:17:03: Diagnosis and treatment
00:27:56: Post-treatment therapy
00:43:06: Relearning motor functions
00:52:18: Going home and back to school
00:58:42: Dealing with pity and people's reactions
01:06:11: When the depression hits
01:19:17: Meeting Caroline, banishing insecurities, and studying neuroscience
01:30:40: Discovering Bitcoin, shitcoins and NFTs
01:40:06: Bitcoin principles, and nutrition
01:47:02: Looking to the future
01:50:29: Reflecting on the disability
01:54:20: Final comments

 

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SHOW NOTES

PodcastPeter McCormack