Chat Session 8 with Carl
Topic- DAD
Live 1pm Monday 19th JUNE 2023 https://rppfm.com.au/
Catch up and listen to our chat https://megaphone.link/LCRUI9020949670
Cathy (Carls mum), Carl and Rob (Carls dad)
One summer’s afternoon in 2016, twenty-year-old Carl was at home when he heard his name being yelled from the other side of the house by his mother. When he got closer, he saw his father outside on the ground suffering from a grand-mal seizure. The ambulance was called over to the house with a painstakingly long wait. He regained consciousness before the paramedics arrived. When they came, they advised that he have his medication dosage seen to. This wasn’t his first seizure. His dad acquired a brain injury when Carl was just a toddler, leaving him with cognitive impairment and a susceptibility to seizures.
As a child, Carl knew that his father was unlike the other dads in his life, it wasn’t until later that he realised the severity of his dad’s accident. Working on a roof one day, Carl’s dad fell through and severely damaged his brain. The prognosis was that he would remain in a coma indefinitely. It was the hard work, determination, and persistence of his mother and family & friends that reversed the prognosis and got him rehabilitated so that he would be able to walk, talk and eat all over again. Despite all this, he was still left with short term memory issues and depended on others to get by. Carl learnt from a young age that his dad needed to be taken extra care of. The family dynamics were often centred around his dad’s wellbeing. Carl had adapted to his circumstances by stepping up and becoming a carer for him. From a young age through to his passing this became completely normal for him.
In weeks following his seizure, Carl and his mother noticed changes in his behaviour that were a cause for concern. He started to become very forgetful and confused. After weeks of trying to understand the cause of these changes, the family doctor ordered that he get imaging done on his head. The scans revealed that he had malignant tumours growing inside his brain. He was then sent to the hospital and given the prognosis by the oncologist of a few weeks to a few months left to live.
One day when visiting his dad in hospital, Carl went for a walk nearby and stumbled into a bookstore. He had hoped to find a book that would guide him toward healing his dad’s illness. He came across a cookbook with a health focus that wouldn’t end up saving his dad but did eventually go on to ignite Carl’s underlying passion for food, and for life. He began devouring books about food and cooking, teaching himself how to make things like bread, butter, and cheese from scratch. Carl experimented with the recipes any spare moment he could between hospital visits. It was at this time where he developed an intellectual and material appreciation for food. Cooking and sharing his food with loved ones became a salve for Carl during this grievous period.
In the lead up to his father’s passing, Carl had learnt more about his dad than ever before. Friends and family would tell Carl all about him and what he was like before his accident. This was very special to Carl, as he often wondered what dad was like before his brain injury. It turns out that Carl and his dad were more alike than he knew. An avid reader with a passion for learning, his dad’s traits left their mark on Carl too.
Carl was fortunate enough to have a strong support system during the loss of his father. As a way of working through his grief, he found a passion for all things food and eventually spent a few years travelling overseas to learn more. When he came back home, he started a university degree in food. He is proud to have recently completed his undergraduate in Food Studies. It was his life and the loss of his dad that led him there.
For more information, help and support:
My hope is that when you’re looking at yourself in the
‘The Daily Mirror’
YOU SMILE
EMBRACE BEING YOU
AND FIND 10 MINUTES IN YOUR DAY TO NOURISH YOUR SOUL!
To get in touch with Cathy email smileinthedailymirror@gmail.com
'The Daily Mirror' acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the Traditional Custodians of the land and acknowledges and pays respect to their Elders, past and present.
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