.png)
Head Inside Mental Health
Todd Weatherly, Therapeutic Consultant and behavioral health expert hosts #Head-Inside Mental Health featuring conversations about mental health and substance use treatment with experts from across the country sharing their thoughts and insights on the world of behavioral health care.
Head Inside Mental Health
When Everything Changes: Finding Purpose Through Trauma
Trauma doesn't discriminate. Whether physical or psychological, it can disrupt lives and leave us feeling isolated in our suffering. But what if our darkest experiences could become a bridge to helping others?
Seantae Jackson never expected to become an advocate for trauma survivors. Then came the day her family's vehicle was struck head-on at a combined vehicle speed of 160 mph on a desolate Wyoming road. In seconds, everything changed - her husband trapped in burning wreckage, her teenage son flatlined three times in the ambulance, and every family member fighting for survival with catastrophic injuries.
From her hospital bed, Seantae made a decision that would transform her pain into purpose. Named after her husband's trauma ID bracelet, the Sandal Blue Foundation was born to ensure no accident survivor would face recovery alone. "Trauma makes us feel isolated," Shantae explains. "If the only thing we do is make people feel less alone, that's what we want to do."
Whether you've experienced trauma firsthand or support someone who has, this episode offers a roadmap for finding hope and connection when life transforms in an instant. As Seantae beautifully reminds us: "There is hope to be had, and it's worth having that hope, no matter what the ending of your movie is."
Hello folks, thanks for joining us on Head Inside Mental Health, featuring conversations about mental health and substance use treatment with experts, advocates and professionals from across the country sharing their thoughts and insights on the world of behavioral health care. Broadcasting on WPBM 1037, the voice of Asheville independent commercial-free radio, I'm Todd Weatherly, your host, therapeutic consultant and behavioral health expert. My special guest today is Shante Jackson. Shante is the co-founder and executive director of the Sandal Blue Foundation, a nonprofit supporting survivors of motor vehicle accidents and their families. After surviving a traumatic crash herself, shante turned her pain into purpose, advocating for healing, resilience and hope in the face of medical trauma. She now travels the country as a speaker, sharing powerful stories that bridge the gap between patient experiences and professional care. Her down-to-earth, honest perspective makes her a trusted voice in conversations about trauma recovery, mental health and the importance of compassionate support.
Speaker 1:Shantae, welcome to the show.
Speaker 2:Thank you, I'm thrilled to be here.
Speaker 1:Oh, I'm so glad that you are. You know, we got connected via the interwebs. We found each other and I'm glad that we did. You know a lot of the folks that we work with that are looking for mental health treatment or some kind of specific care.
Speaker 1:The universal is trauma. There's not one of them that doesn't share a trauma story. Sometimes it's familial events, sometimes that happen in life. Many of them there's a large percentage of those that revolve around something that happened to their body. Traumatic things can happen to the body in a lot of different ways, but when someone gets into an accident, I had somebody on the show not too long ago who used to be an avid biker, but they went down pretty hard and got injured pretty badly and now they don't bike anymore because the fear got hold of them.
Speaker 1:You know, I think that in mental health care it's like what is it that says you've got a condition that needs help? You know what is it? It's when it interrupts some portion of your life, and so I think that if you think about especially driving, just that's. We live in a country where getting around and being mobile is just not only a value, it's a commodity, it's a necessity, it's, it's all of these things, and if you're struggling with that, the ways in which that might impact your life, tell us, tell us, first of all, a little bit about your story, as much as you're willing to share about the, the incident that occurred for you and the journey that you took from there on. Just give us, give us a little bit about your story, if you would you bet.
Speaker 2:So I appreciate you pointing, pointing out that trauma can be physical and mental. Right, A lot of times the mental comes because of the physical impact that we've had and it's because we protect ourselves. We want to be okay and we want our loved ones to be okay. So, to walk you through what happened with our story we my husband and I we have five kids, which includes two sets of twins, so the twins- card there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we are. You know we're that. We're that big minivan packed full of people. And when our oldest twin started middle school, we really value education and we wanted our boys to do as good as they could and we said get a 4.0. You can do it. It's middle school, get a 4.0. We'll take you backpacking as your reward. And for them that's like the rite of passage to get to come backpacking with mom and dad is the thing to do.
Speaker 1:So it was their summer of their eighth grade year.
Speaker 2:They're getting ready to go to high school. They did fantastic and we were driving from Utah to Wyoming to go to a beautiful mountain range called the Wind River Mountain Range. Tiny two lane road and it's one of these roads that there's nothing there's there's, it's just sagebrushed really long street road, nothing around very little traffic, nothing and nobody.
Speaker 2:Yes, exactly Nothing and nobody. I mean even signs. They're like there's not even anything to read. Wow, and while we're driving on this two-lane road, a semi comes, you know, past us as normal, just going the other way as normal, and a car comes out to pass them. And when this car comes out to pass, we all besides this car know that there's not enough space for them to pass us. My husband slammed on the brakes so hard that he's fishtailing, trying to keep control of our vehicle, and the semi knew what was happening as well, that they even tried to get off the road as far as they could to leave them room because there was not enough time.
Speaker 1:And they were still going for it apparently.
Speaker 2:They were, and they were even speeding up to shoot the gap. Wow, and unfortunately there just wasn't enough time. We hit head-on. Um, our car just stopped. It was like hitting a brick wall at about 160 miles an hour and that impact, as you can imagine, is catastrophic. I mean, it's, it's just so much impact.
Speaker 2:We we were really lucky, we all had our seatbelts on, we had great airbags, but it didn't change that we hit insanely hard and fast. We were all unconscious and when I woke up I had no idea what was going on, where I was, any of those things, and I glanced over my shoulder and one of our boys was convulsing head to toe, blood covering him. His twin was looking at me in shock, talking gibberish, and I changed my gaze from them next to me where my husband was lifeless with his arms hanging over the airbag, and I knew we needed help and I didn't know how to get it. I didn't know where we were. I was able to find my phone and call 911, where a series of miraculous events occurred in order for us to get help in this place of nothing and nobody, and they were able to save us.
Speaker 2:Lots, lots and lots and lots of things had to go into play for that. Our son flatlined in the ambulance three times. All of us were life flighted, besides one of our boys. My husband was trapped in the vehicle where it actually started on fire twice. They had to use the jaws of life to get him out. He was lifeighted straight from the road because he was so critical. And we started this really long recovery journey of are we going to live and how are we going to live. And then what is that going to look like and how can we continue on with a new normal? Injuries spanned across the whole body between us, lots and lots and lots of broken bones. Our son suffered a broken back, severed optical nerve and a severe traumatic brain injury. So he was in a medical coma for nine days and then he had to relearn how to do everything. He was 14 at the time. He had to relearn how to go to the bathroom and drink and eat and talk and walk all of those things and, spoiler alert, he's doing amazing.
Speaker 2:Spoiler alert he's doing amazing and we're just really grateful to be able to, you know, advocate for other people that have experienced medical traumas and gone through something challenging like this, but everybody came through basically. Everybody in our vehicle did survive the driver of the other vehicle. They were able to save her initially and then, from there she did pass at the hospital a couple hours later, Wow.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I take it, she was young, probably inexperienced. Is that true?
Speaker 2:Actually no.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:That vehicle had five people. She was the grandma, Her daughter was in the passenger seat and her three grandkids were in the back seat. From what we've heard, they were on their way to a family reunion and didn't want to be late. We've heard from other people that they had passed their car as well.
Speaker 1:They just they were in a hurry, just trying to get there well, well, yeah, the cost of that, of course not really worth it, as we know. But you know, after this, I mean, I think a lot of us can share in some of these things. You know, I was hit by a car at 17 years of age on my bike, at 50 miles an hour. I walked out of the hospital the next day, go figure, at 17 years of age, on my bike, at 50 miles an hour. Oh my gosh. I walked out of the hospital the next day, go figure, wow. So I was bruised and scarred and everything else, but I walked out of the hospital and so I've seen that and you know, as a young kid even totaled a couple of cars because of going too fast.
Speaker 2:Yep.
Speaker 1:My son's done the same thing. We have very close friends who you know a driver came on, was doing over in excess of 100 miles an hour and rear-ended and killed this family, our close friend's father, and so there's two boys out there who are you know they had to. He survived to get to the hospital but he was, you know, he was an active guy, he was a strong guy, but he was on. They took him off machines. So you've got two sons who are very young. They're having to make that decision for their dad. And you know whether you're involved in the accident or you're a person who's witnessed to the accident or you're suffering, as a family member, the consequences of this thing that's happened to your family member, like that trauma has. It works its way and not just into one person but into the family system. Right.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So I mean, that's the, that's the story that you share in terms of the incident, and it sounds like there's some miraculous recovery story that's in there as well. Yeah, but tell me, you know, after the accident happens and you go through all the stuff that you've got to go through medically even your son who had to learn how to walk and talk again, right, Um, after that lives, this memory, lives in your mind and event and, uh, I think that when people are interrupted in their lives by their trauma, it's because of because their mind is turned, that that that fight or flight mechanism is turned on you know, it.
Speaker 1:it receives stimuli. It's like, hey, it's probably not safe and and and maybe it is and maybe it isn't. Their evaluator is a little off because they've got a traumatic experience that's hijacking them Right. Did you have that experience? Did you feel hijacked for a long?
Speaker 2:time.
Speaker 1:Like tell me about that at the after recovery, the recovery, after the recovery.
Speaker 2:Right, absolutely. You know, and, and I think a lot of people can also relate to you know when you say after the recovery. A lot of times the recovery is a continual thing and a forever thing, especially if we're talking about mental, um, physically, my family members, like my husband, had to relearn how to walk as well, but his was because of his bones, um, and his recovery will be forever. He's going to continue to work on, uh, regaining function and things like that. But as far as when we're able to get past, uh, some of the really acute physical things that are happening, that that fight or flight response, oh my gosh. Yes, of course we experienced that, and as you're talking about where it's like this family unit, it affects everybody, whether you were in it or around it. Something that I always think of is it's kind of like we didn't know what the end of that movie was going to look like, and that's why it feels traumatic, because you don't know what the end of the movie is going to look like, and it's this every moment of a thing of are they going to die? I mean, in the end, that's that was our biggest concern. And if they do survive, what is that going to look like and that's where my mind would always go. It would go back to especially the events that I told you initially when I first woke up, some of those images.
Speaker 2:I'm a very visual person. I'm a visual learner. I taught art for 10 years. I mean, I'm visual and so because of some of the things I saw and that that's the biggest thing for me and I know it's different for other people, but for me it was because of the things I saw something in my normal life would trigger my brain and it would just go right back there and I would see those things and I'd be in a very normal situation and seeing those things and replaying those things and just like you're talking about you, just you get stuck, it just it just whirls around and it gets stuck and I would fight it. I'd be like I do not. Why would I want to see this again? That that was horrible.
Speaker 1:We stopped playing this real.
Speaker 2:Exactly. We don't need this on repeat. Let's pause this. And I would fight it and fight it and fight it and fight it. And for those of you listening that don't know this, the fighting it keeps it there. It it really really kept it there, harder and harder and it came stronger and stronger and stronger. And I had to, you know, work through a lot of understanding how trauma works and how our brains work, to understand to kind of flow with it, which feels counterintuitive, but, as I, would flow with it, like all right, we're going to, we're going to, we're going to watch it, we're going to sit here and watch it.
Speaker 1:And we were watching this movie again.
Speaker 2:Exactly, and let it pass. And you know, for for our son that um wasn't life-flighted, his name's Cameron and for him his is all audio. He listened to his dad come in and out of shock, um, and in and out of consciousness, and um it was, it was all audio. And so for him, and um it was, it was all audio, and so for him that movie that's playing, it's a soundtrack, and for him it's just in and out. In and out, same thing. Fought it, fought it, fought it. Because why do you want to? You don't want to hear your dad while he's dying, like that's not something that's pleasant.
Speaker 1:I can't wait to never feel this way again, right exactly.
Speaker 2:Exactly, um, anyway. So, yes, absolutely, that is something that has occurred for us. All of us, um, including the people that weren't in the vehicle. Like I mentioned, we had three other kids. They were not there and they are the ones that got the phone call, and they were 11, and an 11 year old and two eight year olds at the time. I mean eight, oh, I just can't imagine being eight, getting a phone call that half your family might not make it, and it was unexpected, you know. So, yes, it's a very real thing and, and we continue to work through it every day, that's something that I did not expect. I thought, ah, give it a year, ah, I give it two years. That's not the case. Time doesn't make my brain respond different. I just learn how to work with it better.
Speaker 1:Now, so you know, we go some years right after this event. Yeah, and you, this movie keeps playing for you. The audio reel, the, the, the video reel, whichever it is, the experience of it still lives on. Yeah, and so I you know, the sandal blue foundation is what was born out of this. Yes, this, yes, I'm assuming correct me if I'm wrong that this is part of the way that you've chosen to embrace it I love that you know that intuitively well, and it's like if I'm gonna have to play this movie yeah I want other people to benefit from what this is, and maybe they've gone through it and they need help.
Speaker 1:Maybe they're a person who needs to be careful with their driving. You know, I want the world to understand what this means and how is like? How has that journey been for you? Like, when did it? When did you decide to start speaking about it and helping others and and create a foundation? And then how has that been for you?
Speaker 2:It's been so beautiful. It's been so beautiful, I think you know you talk about how, you know the people that you work with and everything. There's some form of a trauma and often we think trauma is just every few people you know, whatever. But I think everybody can relate to trauma in some form and for me, I would never choose it. You know we talk about if you could go back. You know I would never choose it. However, because it happened, I'm so grateful. My life looks completely different. I mean completely different.
Speaker 1:How so.
Speaker 2:What do you mean by that? You know it comes down to the little things and the big things. I, because of my physical injuries, I can't even like sleep in the same way that I did before. You know, I was a side sleeper. I can't do that anymore. I've got to be a back sleeper and that sounds like a little thing, but it's not, you know like I'm reminded of, this constantly right, you know Right.
Speaker 2:Yes, and it's just I, I can't get away from it, I guess as part of what I'm saying. And then, in the big ways, my occupation's different. Uh, my husband and I were both out of work for a year, my husband almost two and a half. The things that we do with our time is different. I mean everything, everything is different. But it's amazing, and this path that you're asking about it came pretty quickly.
Speaker 2:My husband and I were both in separate hospital rooms and we had a moment it was like day two. We both had a moment separately that we were like we got to help other people. We got, we got to do, I got to do something like we're going to do something to help other people that have been through this. And at that time my husband he had both of his legs, uh, totally wrapped. He'd had tons of surgeries, he had a broken arm, so it was all wrapped up and all he could see was his name band on his wrist and at that time his name was not his name, it was a trauma name. So they give you like a John Doe name when you're in something that extreme, and his name, his trauma name, was Sandal Blue, and so he's laying in his hospital bed.
Speaker 1:Isn't that amazing. He's laying in his hospital bed.
Speaker 2:Isn't that amazing. He's laying in his hospital bed, going we got to do something. We got to do something to help other people, and he looks down and he goes. I don't know what we're going to do, but we're going to call it Sandal Blue.
Speaker 1:That's great. What a great naming story. That's fantastic.
Speaker 2:And down the road. You know, it was probably.
Speaker 2:Maybe six months later we're driving hours to go to an appointment because we live in a small town We've got to drive quite a ways to go and get to a doctor's appointment. And I mentioned, hey, I had this thought when we were in the hospital, like I really would like to help other people. And he looks at me and he's like I had the same thought. And I pull out a notebook and we just start writing down all the ideas Like what does this mean? What kind of help could we give, what kind of help did we need and have we needed and do we need? And you know, you hear about car accidents every day, every day, catastrophic, fatal car accidents every day. But when you're the one in it, you feel like you're the only person that's been through it.
Speaker 2:And I think trauma does that to us. Trauma makes us feel isolated and we were like I don't know what it is, but we don't want people to feel alone anymore, like if that's the only thing we do, that's what we want to do. And from there, just, oh, it just blossomed into this beautiful journey of connecting with other people that have been through really hard things and it's a beautiful, beautiful place to be in. Like you said, it is part of our healing. It's a huge part of our healing. People talk about turning trauma into purpose, and this is, this has been ours, and then it branched.
Speaker 2:You know, we, we were doing a lot of speaking and advocating about safe driving, and I secretly have wanted to be a, an inspirational speaker since I was about 13, but I've never told anybody. And as we were speaking more and more, I was like, oh, I wonder if my dream could come true, like this would be amazing. And then people started asking me to speak more and more and I'm like I think I think this, I think I could do this. I I think I can uh create a way for me to connect with people and for them to not feel alone. If it's one person each time that just feels, uh, like what a great thing to do here on earth. And so that's kind of been our journey and our path since.
Speaker 1:So the other piece that I think is important. Here you're speaking to people, you're educating people, you're bringing the story of your trauma so that people don't feel alone. And there's a saying in recovery circles that you know community is the intervention, connection is the intervention.
Speaker 2:I love that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you know it sounds like that's part of what you're bringing to this. You know let's call it a channel of trauma, like there are people who experience this trauma or they're connected to it in some way and they're receiving your message. And you know part of that is not feeling alone. What is the other stuff that people, what are they getting from connection with you and hearing your story? How is it? You know, what are the stories about, how it's built resilience for others? Like, have you got some? I'm sure you've probably got a couple of cool stories. Tell us a cool story that somebody else experienced as a result of meeting you.
Speaker 2:Resilience is an interesting thing because I think often we assume that that it's an aftermath, that resilience is an aftermath and it can be, because I think a lot of times you go through something hard and then you show you're resilient and then you're like, oh, look like I can do hard things, look at that. But I do think it's important to remember that we can build our resiliency before a hard thing as well. In the medical world, a lot of times you know doctors and healthcare workers. They'll talk about people's baseline like where were they before? Are you back to that baseline? And if we're able to build that baseline before something really challenging comes, it does make a really big difference of how we respond afterwards as well, and I personally feel like both of those are really really important, the before and the after. As far as a cool story with resiliency, I'm like trying to pick one. Right, let's pick which resiliency story do I want to share? Okay, let's go with this.
Speaker 2:So our son that had a severe traumatic brain injury his name's Owen, and I want to share a little bit about Owen. Before the accident, owen is introverted. He's a musician, skateboarder. He is a deep, deep thinker. I mean when he was like two years old, I could tell he was processing everything. He just he is an old soul and a deep thinker and that's just. That's just Owen Always has been. He's one of those kids that remembers everything. Like we'd go to the park he was like five and we'd meet somebody there and go home and I'd be like Owen I don't remember that mom's name and he'd be like, oh, was it the mom in the red shirt or the blue shirt? Mommy, I think she had a red shirt. Oh, was her hair brown? But then at the bottom it was a little bit lighter. And, like you know, he goes through all the things. I'm like, yes, he's like, oh, her name was Jane, I Jane. I'm like, oh, thanks, but right, so Owen's just this kid that he remembers everything, he thinks deeply, he loves to work. He wanted to be the kid mowing the lawn way before it was safe for him to go. That's, that's Owen.
Speaker 2:And after he was off, being asleep from his medically induced coma, they were asking a lot of him. Right, he didn't. He doesn't remember any of this. He has a lot of amnesia because of his brain injury, but they're asking him to do things that are uncomfortable, like I want you to try to move your toe, I want you to try to talk. You know these things, that his brain, those parts of his brain, had been damaged and he's literally building new roads. Um, this, this path won't work, so I got to build a new way to do it, and it is really challenging to do that. Every single time they asked him, he did it.
Speaker 2:And about a year after the accident, we're getting ready to go to a follow-up appointment with his neurologist and every time we go to the appointments, they're telling him what he can't do because he still has have about two years for that brain to create new paths. And if, if, if, he got hit in the head again I mean there's all sorts of scenarios he wouldn't, it wouldn't, it wouldn't. Potentially he wouldn't make it, and so he had tons of restrictions. So he's now this 15 year old kid. We're walking into an appointment to hear all the things he can't do. He was. He was a competitive soccer player, he skateboarded, he wasn't allowed to do any of those things anymore, and we get ready to walk in and he said mom, I want to do something different today.
Speaker 2:I'm like okay, I said, I want to know what I can do.
Speaker 1:I'm like what do you mean?
Speaker 2:He's like we always sit here and talk about all the things I can't do. What?
Speaker 1:can I do? I want to know what.
Speaker 2:I can do I was like that's a fantastic idea.
Speaker 1:Let's do it.
Speaker 2:So this neurologist walks in, we start doing the normal chat and I said I just want to pause you and let you know that Owen's intention today is to make the longest list of the things that he can do. She cracks up. I'm like what is so funny?
Speaker 2:And she goes nobody has ever asked me that. Nobody has ever asked me what can I do. And I got out my notebook and I started writing down and it was a ridiculous list. It was like skit weaving, crocheting I mean, 15 year old boys don't necessarily love doing these things but we filled like a page and a half of things that he could do and we walked out and he goes. You know, mom, I know I can't change what happened, I know I can't change where my brain's at, but look at all of the things that I can do and I'm going to start doing these things.
Speaker 1:What a great story.
Speaker 2:What a kid. I mean just what a kid. It still gives me chills thinking about it. And he lives to this day. You know, like that, what can I do?
Speaker 1:Well, I think that you know, from the standpoint of you know mental health recovery as well, it's know. The approach is the same. You know, you get people whose lives get interrupted for whatever reason and and what they? One of the questions that we ask is well, what do you want to do? What's your dream? You know, you know that just because you have this thing that you've got to deal with doesn't mean that you don't have dreams, or shouldn't have dreams, or can't fulfill them. And you get a very similar response when you start engaging with a person in that line of questioning.
Speaker 1:As the doctor, it's like, oh, nobody has ever asked me that. It's like I hadn't really thought of it that way, because we tend to look at things as the things that they've stopped us from doing or they've kept us from doing or they've cut off from us, as opposed to, you know, creating that new pathway around this blockage into something where we can find life again. Right, and it, you know, it sounds like your son kind of had that wisdom in him already, um, and brought it to the rest of the world. I really love hearing that story because I think that's the piece that advises people. That's the thing that families need to hear. It's like what can you do? And when you speak, how does your audience receive you? Do they come up to you? It's like I'm really, you know, I'm so happy that you told me this story because we had this and everything else. I never thought of it Like what is the feedback from your audience about your sharing of your story?
Speaker 2:I'll say those moments are my very favorite. The after when I get to connect one-on-one, it's the best, because I get to hear where they're coming from, like you say, and what actually resonated with them and what it was. It was like, oh, I needed to hear that thing. It's different. It's different for everybody, except that it's universal right.
Speaker 2:I feel like that's kind of how it is in this world, where people resonate with different things, but it's the same thing and I love that. You said the channel of trauma right. Like we're creating this community, that we're together through completely different things, and the feedback is, you know, it kind of depends on what I'm speaking to, because I have a few different keynotes and some are geared towards patient perspective. I'm talking to healthcare workers or emergency crews and for them the feedback is thank you for reminding me why I do what we do. And that's what you're talking about with.
Speaker 2:You know finding what you can do instead of what you can't do. It's finding your why. Again, it's kind of finding your purpose and your motivation that can propel you forward. You know, I think about, like, when we were in physical therapy if I didn't have a reason to try to get my range of motion back, why would I go through that pain, you know? So finding that connection of what's important to me is why we do what we do, and that tends to be the feedback of thank you for reminding me that. You know, the lives that I'm saving are people like you.
Speaker 1:There's a story that goes on after they've left my care, you know.
Speaker 2:Exactly and all so often whether it's your line of work, or emergency responders. You see them for a snapshot, you only see them for a snapshot and you're doing what you do because you care. And so then you wonder, you know, like, how are they doing? And so to get these, reminders.
Speaker 1:They only see you for a snapshot, you know, and then you're talking about a. You're talking about a workforce that's pretty high on the suicide alley list Yep Emergency workers and things like that. I think it's because they don't get to hear this story. All they see is the terrible thing.
Speaker 2:Exactly. You know yes, and and um. I don't want to go too far from your question, but we were able to go back a year after our accident and thank everybody that had responded to our call and it was the most incredible experience of my life. I don't want anybody to go through something like I did, but that experience is the single most incredible experience of my life. They thought we had died. When I called the hospital and said we're coming up on a year from an accident that you guys responded to, I'd love to come in person and personally. Thank you guys. She started crying on the phone and I was like hello and she goes. Oh, I remember you. We didn't think any of you made it and to be able to go back.
Speaker 2:I mean and there was a lot of people that responded to go back and thank them. Um has been life-changing for us, but for them and then you talk about how trauma affects other people. We had a lot of Good Samaritans that helped a lot at the scene, that did things that saved our lives.
Speaker 2:We are continuing to try to connect with them, but the ones that we have connected, with it has been very healing for them to get more than that snapshot, for them to see how we're doing today, and I mean some of them are family now.
Speaker 1:Right, well, I think you're restoring hope for people.
Speaker 2:I love that.
Speaker 1:And not, you know, not just people who see you. You know, see a family that's experienced this terrible event but also came through the other side. You see a family that's experienced this terrible event but also came through the other side. You're talking about the providers and the emergency folks and the caretakers and all those people who are involved. They, in their mind, live somewhere. I can imagine that I've only seen this person for this moment. They were in terrible shape when I saw them. I'm pretty convinced that they were never going to make it. And then the story that lives in my mind is that terrible things happen to people and then they die. Yep, but then you come back and you replace this narrative. It's like terrible things happen to people.
Speaker 2:And because I helped they lived.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean in that you know that's just got, that's got so much warmth and so much worth you know I think it can carry a person a long way. The connection is what is where the value is.
Speaker 2:You know so yeah, and you can feel the difference even as you're speaking it, like I can physically feel the difference.
Speaker 1:It's like letting light into a room, isn't it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, and, and, and I agree, um, I think we hold a lot of power that we forget about that. Those stories that we tell ourselves or the stories that we allow other people to hear or feel they really can make a big difference for, like you said, potentially carrying somebody a really long way because there is hope to be had. And I think that's always my message is, there is hope to be had. I had one doctor when Owen was still in his coma. He pulled me aside in the PICU and said I've never met a parent who wished they had hoped less, meaning he'd seen tons of kids die tons, but he'd never met a parent that was like, oh, I wish I didn't hope that they would live. There is hope to be had.
Speaker 2:And it's worth having that hope. There is hope to be had and it's worth having that hope, no matter what the ending of the movie is having that hope is going to help you move forward.
Speaker 1:It's not, it hopes not. Just a one note thing, right.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Right, well, and you know, with the little bit of time that we have left, I want to ask you this as well what is it that Sandal Blue Foundation does? Obviously, education, connection, community are things that are part of its purpose, but how do people connect? What is your mission, what are you trying to get out there and do? Tell us a little bit about the foundation, just a bit.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know our core is solution-focused. Yeah, you know our core is solution focused. We really like to help people find solutions and empower them that's it's huge. Or connecting them to other communities so that they know that they can get through. And we really like to help people find purpose again. It's something that you know. You talk about changes in your normal. A lot of times you lose your purpose when you go through something like this, whether it's a big medical trauma or something else, your purpose shifts. And so, helping people find that purpose again, connecting to other resources we do one-on-one hospital visits where we get to go bedside.
Speaker 2:I love it more than anything to get to connect with patients and caregivers and and just whatever you know have conversations about. Let's sit in this heart together. Let's just sit here quietly in the heart together. Or let's problem solve. Or let's talk about your transitions and how you're going to get home and what that's going to look like and provide resources for that. Or send my son a text. You know, let's have, excuse me, let's have the two patients that are both teenage boys. Let's have them talk to each other so that they know that it's not just a bunch of moms that care that there's also other teenagers that have been through hard things like this and creating that community with them. As far as finding us, we have a website and if, if anybody is looking for you know some hope or connection or purpose, they can find us there as well. As if, uh, organizations are looking for speakers that, like me, that are wanting to share a personal message and connect with people that way when's the the next time you speak?
Speaker 1:What's your next gig?
Speaker 2:Oh, I'm trying to think of you know this isn't my next one, but I've got a big, a big trauma conference with uh, uh, you know hundreds of nurses. I'm thrilled for that. I love being able to connect just with you know, again, connection. I keep saying connection, like that must be my, my word for 2025. And I can't think of anything better than to have connection.
Speaker 2:We're, however, many years past COVID as far as quarantine goes and it just feels good to connect again and and to form relationships with people to know that I got you. I go through the hard too. You can go through the hard. We can allow those flashbacks, we can flow with them. We can flow with them so they don't get stuck. Then they'll continue flowing down the river and we can move on with our life.
Speaker 1:We can sit in the hard to the other right.
Speaker 1:Exactly I like that statement can move on with our life. We can sit in the heart to the other right. Exactly that's a. I like that statement. Well, Shantae, it has been a pleasure to have you on the show. I look forward to maybe catching one of your speaking engagements or catch you at a conference somewhere along the way. We'll link, of course, Sandal Blue in the socials as we post our videos and put it out on the radio and everything else, but thank you so much for taking the time with me today. This has been Head Inside Mental Health with Shante Jackson, the Sandal Blue Foundation. Shante, thanks for joining us. Thank you.
Speaker 1:Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, I feel so lonely and lost in here. I need to find my way home. I feel so lonely and lost in here. I need to find my way home. I feel so lonely and lost in here. I need to find my way home.
Speaker 1:I feel so lonely and lost in here. Bye.