Landon McGauley | The Unexpected Journey
Episode Description
Landon McGauley grew up in British Columbia. Like many of our other guests from BC, he spent his formative years in the outdoors exploring the mountains and at an early age fell in love with biking, riding around his neighborhood with a shovel to build dirt jumps. In 2011, at the age of 15, he was in a biking crash resulting in a T5 spinal cord injury and paraplegia. Landon and I initially connected for an interview in 2022 when he had fully adapted to life as a paraplegic. In the years after his accident, Landon found his way to adaptive mountain biking and was amongst a crew of hard charging pioneering riders. He was working as the High Fives athlete manager, and notably, in the planning stage for an ambitious mountain biking and rafting trip with his brother. As we were assembling that episode and before Landon had a chance to embark on his big adventure, he was in another biking accident. This time breaking his neck resulting in quadriplegia. Landon now has the very unique life experience of living as a non-disabled or able-bodied person, a paraplegic, and now a quadriplegic. He is a thoughtful, well-read individual, and and openly shared his wisdom in this conversation.
Guest info:
- @landonmcgauley
Additional Resources:
- www.highfivesfoundation.org
- https://mhanational.org/resources/suicide-prevention/
- https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/suicide-prevention.html
Contact us:
- Instagram: @unexpectedjourneypod
- Email: tim@unexpectedjourneypod.com
- Hosted and produced by Tim Brown
- Editing and sound design by Louis Arevalo
- Original theme music by Jesse LaFountaine
- Episode cover art by Lewis Falconer
- Cover art and logo design by Anne Holt and Lewis Falconer
The Unexpected Journey
Summiting and skiing an 11,000 foot volcano, completing a DIY adaptive sport decathlon in one day, harnessing a passion for art to help spinal cord injury survivors adapt and bond, flying in a wing suit as a double amputee, giving birth to and mothering twin girls as a quadriplegic…these are just a few of the powerful stories you will hear on The Unexpected Journey. Adaptive athlete and quadriplegic, Tim Brown, talks with other disabled folks to learn how they challenge preconceived beliefs, push boundaries, and get after it – ultimately leading to a life fulfilled. The Unexpected Journey gives you the experience of listening to two friends sitting at a kitchen table, around a campfire, or on a boat, letting you eavesdrop on an intimate conversation about their shared experience, their passions, and the challenging, rewarding and exhilarating elements of their life. The episode plays like an audio memoir of the guest with the host providing clarity and narrating the biographical details so vou can enjoy and appreciate the real and raw moments of the conversation. You’ll hear a sonic backdrop of original music to add emotional richness and additional sound design to bring into the moment with the guest as they describe their most formative and powerful experiences. The host, Tim Brown, is quadriplegic from a ski accident that resulted in a spinal cord injury 11 vears ago. He prefers to listen before speaking and shares his own experience along with the guest. Our mission is to elevate, educate, and empower our disabled and able-bodied listeners on the disabled experience through creative and powerful storytelling. Our vision is to be a leader in the creation and distribution of empowering disability-centric storytelling and to provide an accessible platform for participants in the disabled experience to share their stories with the world. The Unexpected Journey is a podcast about adaptive athletes, adventurers, and creators. Each episode features an individual with a disability sharing their powerful story of learning how to challenge preconceived beliefs, push boundaries, and get after it – ultimately leading to a life fulfilled. Listen to guests like Anna Sons talk about being the first paraplegic woman to summit and ski Mount Hood, Greg Durso share his love for adaptive sports and completing an adaptive decathlon, and Channing Cash on her childhood and Laos and becoming a Team USA ocean paddle racer. Hosted and produced by Tim Brown, a surfer, sailor, and skier who is quadriplegic from a skiing accident 10 years ago.Our goal is to Educate. Elevate. Encourage.
