Before his injury, Joe was at the peak of his fitness, thriving in CrossFit, triathlons, and football. His life was fueled by adrenaline and challenge, which eventually led him to join the police force. Joe loved the excitement and rush of being a police officer—until it all changed. During a high-speed chase, Joe suffered a devastating knee injury that dislocated his knee, broke a bone, and caused severe ligament damage. What he thought would be a brief recovery turned into a three-year battle with ongoing nerve damage and the mental health issues that often follow such a life-altering physical trauma.
The hardest part for Joe wasn’t just the physical pain, but the loss of identity. “Being known as Joe the police officer to becoming Joe with the bad knee overnight became incredibly hard to deal with, and it’s still something I struggle with to this day,” he recalls. Exercise and the outdoors had always been Joe’s way of coping with life’s challenges, and now, with his ability to move taken away, he found himself at his lowest point. There were days when he couldn’t get out of bed, and teaching himself to walk again left him exhausted after just a few metres. He even wished at times that he didn’t have a leg, the pain becoming too much to bear.
It was in this dark period that Joe’s mum handed him Ed’s book, hoping it might help him process what had happened and provide some inspiration. The book resonated deeply with Joe, leading him to reach out to Millimetres 2 Mountains,, although he never expected a reply. Having not received support from his workplace, he assumed the same would happen here. But he was wrong.
M2M welcomed Joe with open arms, offering him the help and community he desperately needed. “M2M matched the values I hold important in my own life,” Joe explains. “I needed to find a group of people who could push and challenge me as much as I would them.” For the first time, Joe felt like he had a space where he could speak openly about his trauma, where he was not only heard but understood. The community at M2M, comprised of others who had also faced life-changing challenges, helped Joe process his own trauma in ways he hadn’t thought possible.
Looking ahead, Joe is excited to push himself further, aiming to achieve challenges he wouldn’t have even considered before his injury. “More than ever, I can see that giving up isn’t an option. I’m walking 100km in under 24 hours, and I’ve never felt stronger—mentally and physically.” He’s determined to say yes to new opportunities, realising that life is for living in the present and future, not for longing for the past. Thanks to M2M, Joe’s story is no longer defined by his injury, but by the strength and resilience he’s found in its aftermath.
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