Latest / Unbalanced with Cerys Davage / 58. A new era of racing (ft. Dom Shore)

Transcript

58. A new era of racing (ft. Dom Shore) · Unbalanced with Cerys Davage

• 0:10
  Hello everyone, welcome back to another episode of Unbalanced
• 0:14
  with Me, Kara Savage. How are we all?
• 0:17
  Today is a good day because not only is there another episode
• 0:20
  out on Unbalanced, but it's also an interview episode where we
• 0:24
  get to meet someone new and someone I've wanted to meet for
• 0:27
  a while because we've been chatting a lot online.
• 0:29
  Dom Hello. Hello, thank you very much for
• 0:32
  having me. Thank you for coming on to
• 0:35
  Unbalance today. I'm very much looking forward to
• 0:38
  getting to know you a bit. But first, give us a little
• 0:40
  introduction. Where are you from and what do
• 0:43
  you do? Hi, I'm Dom Shaw, I'm 33 from
• 0:46
  Midway and last year I raced with St Brit and this year I'll
• 0:50
  be there Ambassador while seeking sponsorship to go racing
• 0:54
  again in the years to come. And I'm really excited to get to
• 0:58
  know a bit about your racing journey, not only as someone
• 1:02
  who's recently been a converted F1 fan, but also just, you know,
• 1:08
  I think it's really important to highlight sports and
• 1:10
  disabilities and, you know, disabled sports, because I don't
• 1:13
  think we see enough of that unless you're in the industry.
• 1:16
  Do you agree? I do, yes.
• 1:18
  I need to see more of it, which is what we intend to do.
• 1:22
  As well Exactly. So can you give us a little
• 1:25
  summary of your health journey and your diagnosis?
• 1:30
  So from birth, I was born with spina bifida so my my spine was
• 1:36
  out at birth so it needed to be closed.
• 1:39
  It wasn't developed properly. I've got patchy feeling below
• 1:41
  the knee, I can't feel my feet at all and I can't move my feet
• 1:45
  or toes. They also realised that I had
• 1:48
  hydrocephalus. So hydrocephalus is a builder of
• 1:51
  spiral fluid on the brain that doesn't drain correctly and
• 1:55
  therefore I needed to be fitted with a shunt, which is a tube
• 1:59
  that goes inside your head that drains spiral through it from
• 2:03
  your brain down into your stomach.
• 2:05
  Wow, how old are you when you got that done?
• 2:09
  Originally six months and then I had it revised when I was 21
• 2:13
  years old. Oh, wow.
• 2:14
  OK, that's, that's a long stint. Yeah.
• 2:17
  So yeah, the first one lasted until I was 21 and it needed
• 2:21
  changing from AVP shunt to a programmable shunt.
• 2:25
  OK, can you explain that a bit because I'm a complete amateur
• 2:28
  when it comes to this. So AVP shunt is, you know, I was
• 2:33
  born in 91. So AVP shunt was a, an older
• 2:38
  technology shunt where they would set the pressure or set
• 2:44
  the flow, shall we say, of that shunt and that would be it.
• 2:49
  And then should you need a different, a different flow for
• 2:54
  whatever reason, they would need to re operate on you.
• 2:56
  And then when I was 21, I put in a programmable shunt and there's
• 3:00
  a little magnet just above here. And I, I say that it's like a
• 3:06
  bar scanner. If you need the flow changed,
• 3:09
  they scan you like a bar scanner like you would in a like you
• 3:13
  would in a supermarket. You know when in the little
• 3:15
  trolley things a male scanner and that's how they can change
• 3:22
  the flow in your shunt. So no need for any type of
• 3:27
  surgery. Wow, so they don't need to open
• 3:30
  you up and dig around, they can just do it from the outside?
• 3:34
  That's so cool. It is, yeah.
• 3:36
  Wow. Well, thank you for explaining
• 3:38
  that. So that actually sounds a lot
• 3:39
  less horrific than than it sounds at first.
• 3:44
  So wow. OK, so you were born with spina
• 3:48
  bifida. What were what was that like
• 3:51
  growing up? You know, what were the main
• 3:52
  kind of hurdles that you might have faced?
• 3:57
  So from a young child, it was hard.
• 4:03
  Obviously you're, you are different, you know, even though
• 4:06
  you don't want to be, you are. And therefore I got bullied for
• 4:12
  quite a lot of my, my younger years.
• 4:15
  And that obviously then affects your confidence.
• 4:19
  Attendance wasn't great at school due to needing operations
• 4:25
  and, you know, things that needed to be amended and that
• 4:29
  went on through through teenage years as well.
• 4:31
  But I did it right for the, for the time that I spent in school,
• 4:34
  I got, you know, I think I got something like 52% offenders.
• 4:38
  So, you know, really poor, but I came out with good grades, but I
• 4:43
  was happy with that. The challenge is, you know,
• 4:46
  getting help that you're entitled to and pushing for that
• 4:51
  because of the there's so much demand as is is very challenging
• 4:57
  and it still is to this day, if not even more Now for for people
• 5:02
  this to the events. I was then in a wheelchair from
• 5:07
  about the age of seven. So using crutches, I still use
• 5:12
  scratches to this day, but also as well, it helps with a
• 5:16
  wheelchair, longer days, longer distances and age, you know, I'm
• 5:23
  not 21 anymore. You do use it quite a bit to
• 5:27
  just help you get around and you know, I've learned to accept
• 5:31
  that now. Why knacker yourself out for the
• 5:35
  sake of walking around Yes, it's healthy out.
• 5:38
  Yes, it's probably more beneficial in some ways, but
• 5:42
  it's not because then you're tired, you're knackered and then
• 5:45
  that bleeds into the next day and the next day and the day
• 5:48
  after that. So all been doom and gloom.
• 5:51
  You know, there's I'm someone who doesn't stop.
• 5:55
  Just because I'm disabled doesn't mean it's going to stop
• 5:57
  me from living my life. I'm that sort of person.
• 6:01
  Yeah, and that's. Been from a young age, you know,
• 6:03
  from yeah, from the age of seven, but that had to be in the
• 6:06
  go Kart. From the age of nine I was doing
• 6:09
  remote control car racing and I still do remote control car
• 6:12
  racing to this day, years and years on.
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  I've got friends over over 20 years now just from, from doing
• 6:21
  that. So that's good.
• 6:22
  And that's, you know, where part of my my racing buck came from.
• 6:30
  Thank you so much for sharing that.
• 6:32
  I mean, you know, growing up and, you know, being a child and
• 6:35
  wanting to fit in isn't always easy.
• 6:38
  And so when you've got that extra thing as well, like that's
• 6:41
  the last thing you want really. But yeah, it sounds like you
• 6:44
  have managed to turn it into something and not letting it
• 6:46
  stop you from, you know, wanting to live your life.
• 6:49
  And it sounds like, well, you know, you, you obviously were
• 6:52
  into racing from a young age. It sounds like you were you were
• 6:55
  able to turn a hobby into your career, which is so cool.
• 7:01
  Yeah, well, I'm not quite a full time racing driver yet.
• 7:04
  Not right now. But OK, well, hopefully one day.
• 7:07
  So you use the crutches, but you haven't always used crutches
• 7:12
  right from the beginning of when you first started to walk.
• 7:15
  How did you manage, you know, those early stages of learning
• 7:20
  to walk if you couldn't feel your feet?
• 7:22
  That's that really intrigues me. Yeah, so it took me even a long
• 7:27
  time to learn to crawl with the hydrocephalus.
• 7:30
  It can take a little bit of time to learn things I believe I want
• 7:34
  went onto a frame. So leaning onto a frame and then
• 7:38
  from that then going onto something called Canadian
• 7:42
  crutches. So if you think of hospital
• 7:45
  crutches, there's a little slit in the front, whereas Canadian
• 7:50
  crutches are circular because I have a tendency to pull forward.
• 7:55
  So the Canadian crutches with the circle round mean that I
• 7:59
  don't. And it stopped me from falling
• 8:02
  through the crutches and I have tested it and it that don't work
• 8:06
  because I've used hospital crutches and I fall through
• 8:08
  them. And also got specially made
• 8:15
  shoes with callipers because I can't wear everyday shoes and
• 8:20
  where I can't move my feet at all, I need to that support
• 8:24
  around the ankle to keep my foot straight.
• 8:27
  Well, now I know a little bit more about that, So that's
• 8:30
  really interesting. And so now you said, you know,
• 8:33
  you said you're comfortable using a wheelchair.
• 8:35
  Obviously it's there to help you.
• 8:37
  It gives you independence. Was there a part of you that
• 8:40
  kind of resented it at the beginning?
• 8:42
  Because I definitely had that. And I'm still working on my
• 8:46
  relationship with my wheelchair. And I'm sure it'll evolve and
• 8:49
  develop as I, well, grow to be more more dependent on it.
• 8:52
  But yeah, has it always been a straightforward ride for you?
• 8:56
  But I'm literally a ride. Have a good one.
• 9:03
  So it did take me a while, you know, even into my 20s, my late
• 9:09
  20s, really, I would use my crutches as much as I could just
• 9:13
  because it felt more normal. Other people are standing up.
• 9:17
  So sorry, should I? But as I've got sort of later
• 9:22
  20s, early 30s, I don't care what people think anymore.
• 9:27
  And I used to, I really used to care.
• 9:30
  And now I've got, you know, good group of friends that aren't
• 9:34
  going to go anywhere. And even if they wanted to, they
• 9:36
  couldn't, you know, family support as well.
• 9:41
  You know, if they don't like it, whatever.
• 9:45
  I don't care exactly. I just think.
• 9:47
  That's good. That is the best mindset to
• 9:49
  have, isn't it? It is because it's painful, you
• 9:54
  know, being on your crutches for a long amount of time, walking
• 9:57
  around left, right and centre all day potentially.
• 10:02
  Why do it? You're only going to be in pain
• 10:04
  the next day and you're going to be tired because you've walked
• 10:06
  all day the following day. Whereas you can be in your
• 10:10
  wheelchair and wheel around everywhere.
• 10:14
  You know, probably even quicker than other people are walking
• 10:17
  and not be tired and not be stressed and not be sweating
• 10:23
  because of the, the amount of energy it takes to walk on
• 10:26
  Canadian crutches and not be able to feel your legs.
• 10:30
  And you know, it does take extra effort.
• 10:33
  Even if we don't feel it, it does it does it take then you'll
• 10:37
  feel better for the next day to go and do something else.
• 10:41
  And that's, that's sort of where I'm at now.
• 10:43
  I used to use crutches more at work as well.
• 10:45
  And a couple of things happened, a couple of couple of fools.
• 10:51
  And I thought. No.
• 10:54
  I thought, do you know what? I'm better off in the wheelchair
• 10:57
  and you know, if I want the photocopier, I've got two hands,
• 11:01
  not just one. What people don't realise is
• 11:05
  those crutches aren't just helping us walk, they're helping
• 11:08
  us balance. So just because you're doing
• 11:13
  something doesn't mean you can then just automatically balance
• 11:17
  that. You've got one hand to put
• 11:19
  something in the photocopy or the other hand got to keep you
• 11:21
  up so you've only got 1. Whereas if you're in the
• 11:23
  wheelchair, as long as you don't lean back to it, you're
• 11:26
  relatively balanced and then you've got, you've got both your
• 11:30
  hands, you can get there quickly, you can get back
• 11:32
  quicker. It's a low brainer.
• 11:34
  It's not a case of people should think, well, they're doing that
• 11:37
  or maybe I should. Maybe that's not right for them.
• 11:40
  Maybe they are better off walking rather than using the
• 11:43
  wheelchair because they're more able to and they're not as
• 11:46
  compromised. Or maybe they are more
• 11:48
  compromised and they need to be using it more.
• 11:51
  You know, everyone's got their own way.
• 11:54
  We've all got different severities, yeah, and goals and,
• 12:00
  you know, different things that we do.
• 12:02
  Exactly. Yeah.
• 12:04
  Everyone's different, you know, No, no two disabilities are the
• 12:07
  same or affect people in the same way.
• 12:09
  And I really like what you said about, you know, not caring
• 12:12
  about other people. And why would you struggle to
• 12:17
  try and walk all day just for the benefit of other people not
• 12:20
  seeing you in a wheelchair? Yeah, just for what they think.
• 12:23
  And they, they're probably not even thinking anything.
• 12:25
  They're probably not realising that you are struggling to walk
• 12:29
  and that you're doing this when you should be in a wheelchair.
• 12:32
  They're probably just thinking, oh, there he is, you know,
• 12:34
  whatever. I'm not thinking anything more,
• 12:36
  not seeing you actually struggle.
• 12:38
  But I guess, you know, being in a wheelchair doesn't hold you
• 12:42
  back. It doesn't hold anyone that
• 12:44
  you're with back because, you know, it means that you don't
• 12:48
  have to stop all the time and hold people back and, and just
• 12:52
  be really awkward and, yeah, be late to places because you can't
• 12:55
  keep up, you know? And on lights out, you're
• 12:57
  normally the taxi rack. Yeah, that'll be me.
• 13:03
  Yeah, that will be me, actually, Although I haven't actually gone
• 13:07
  on a night out in a wheelchair yet.
• 13:08
  And I'm actually really excited because I don't, I can kind of
• 13:12
  like take less care of myself if I'm in a wheelchair.
• 13:14
  I could just kind of let loose and other people can wheel me
• 13:16
  around. Yeah, I mean, again, it's only
• 13:21
  recently I've taken the butcher out the nights out rather than
• 13:25
  crashes because of accessibility and not wanting to not be able
• 13:30
  to go into somewhere. Yeah.
• 13:32
  Because of this, that and the other.
• 13:33
  And, you know, some security guards will be like, are you
• 13:37
  going to be all right? That's not Yeah.
• 13:40
  You should answer are you going to be all right?
• 13:42
  Yeah, exactly that, exactly that.
• 13:44
  But again, you know, going from bar to bar, it's a lot of
• 13:47
  effort. So being in the wheelchair makes
• 13:50
  it a lot less. You'll get people that fall over
• 13:54
  you and don't look, don't look far up, down, but you get used
• 13:59
  to it. Yeah.
• 14:00
  But usually, well, I find again, not on my out, but just in
• 14:04
  general, people do give you priority and notice you a bit
• 14:07
  more because you you've got an obvious mobility aid.
• 14:10
  Because without wheelchair, people can walk past me not
• 14:13
  knowing that if they did bump into me, I would probably fall
• 14:16
  over. But in a wheelchair they will
• 14:19
  give me the space to pass. You know, I think people are
• 14:21
  more considerate when they actually see the mobility aid.
• 14:25
  So it does come with a lot of pros.
• 14:28
  And you're you're more prone to be able to go to the front and
• 14:31
  not have to wait in the cold. Yeah, and people won't grumble
• 14:35
  at you because, you know, you're in a wheelchair.
• 14:37
  But if I did that without a wheelchair, they'll be like, why
• 14:39
  is that person escaping the queue?
• 14:40
  You know which I've had happened to me a few times.
• 14:46
  Just that car, what I think. Exactly it really it's it's
• 14:50
  taken a lot of. Time but.
• 14:51
  I am, yeah. I think I the most important
• 14:55
  thing is I know I'm not doing something morally wrong, you
• 14:59
  know, I know I'm, I'm doing this for my own benefit of people
• 15:03
  don't understand that that's completely not up to me to
• 15:07
  educate them. It's up to them to change their
• 15:09
  attitude and for me to just not care what other people think.
• 15:14
  We're going to move on to You're racing.
• 15:18
  Tell me a bit about that, how you got into it and yeah, how
• 15:21
  you finding it? So my dad, when I was younger, I
• 15:27
  used to race, He'd have his car in the garage, I'd help him on
• 15:32
  it. I got to pick the number for it
• 15:36
  and all this sort of thing and we'd go to Brands Hatch isn't
• 15:40
  too far away from me, so he'd race at Brands Hatch and a
• 15:43
  couple of other local circuits where I'd be able to watch him.
• 15:48
  So I kind of just wanted to be a racing driver for a map, but
• 15:51
  never thought it would be possible because of my
• 15:53
  disability. And so at the age of nine, he
• 15:56
  brought me a remote control car, which was a way, it's an
• 15:59
  affordable way to go racing. It was a way that I could
• 16:02
  actually access some form of racing that was safe.
• 16:06
  Like I say, I still do that now, not as as competitively as what
• 16:10
  I used to, but I still do it because I've done it for years.
• 16:14
  And like I say, we've got friend groups that we we stay in
• 16:18
  contact with them. I saw Team Brit on a feature on
• 16:24
  Formula One, followed them on social media ever since and went
• 16:29
  and had a trap day with them at Donnington Park.
• 16:33
  Yeah to try out their world leading hand controls from that
• 16:38
  track day. I think I paid for like 3 laps,
• 16:42
  came in and instantly just wanted to go out again.
• 16:45
  That was like, do you have any more availability?
• 16:48
  And they did luckily. So I paid for some more laps and
• 16:54
  was able to improve from the first time and everything like
• 16:57
  that. The instructor on day said, have
• 17:00
  you actually thought of becoming a racing driver?
• 17:02
  Because that's, that's going really well.
• 17:06
  And I didn't realise I would be that good.
• 17:08
  At the time the team didn't have availability so I I wasn't
• 17:11
  pursuing racing as such. And I woke up one day and I
• 17:15
  thought, if I don't go racing now, when will I go racing?
• 17:19
  Why wait? What am I waiting for?
• 17:21
  I emailed the team if there was availability and there was.
• 17:25
  So this is in the September. In the October I went and got my
• 17:28
  racing licence. In November I met the team.
• 17:34
  Yeah, it was. It was very, very quick.
• 17:38
  And then January I signed for them for the 2024 season and we
• 17:44
  won our class, we won the championship.
• 17:47
  So that was very rewarding but unexpected considering it was my
• 17:52
  first year of racing. That's crazy.
• 17:55
  But Team Brit are are a really good team.
• 17:57
  They help coach me and bring me up to speed very quickly.
• 18:01
  So I was very pleased with that. But yeah, I had great fun in in
• 18:05
  2024 and then hoping to to bring that into 2025 should I be able
• 18:11
  to find sponsorship for the year.
• 18:16
  OK, wow, that's like such a quick turn around.
• 18:20
  And I love that you managed to turn this around so quickly, you
• 18:24
  know, just from trying it out to it being like something that's,
• 18:28
  you know, prominent in your life.
• 18:31
  That's it. Yeah, it was, I could say, a
• 18:33
  very quick turn around. That's amazing.
• 18:34
  Well, you clearly are very talented and yeah, that's just
• 18:39
  absolutely incredible that you're doing something that
• 18:41
  you've always had an interest in, but adapted.
• 18:45
  So tell us about how the cars are adapted.
• 18:48
  You said it's with the hands, right?
• 18:50
  Yeah. So because I can't move my feet
• 18:55
  and I don't have full control of my legs, I don't use my my legs
• 18:59
  to drive. So I use their hand controls.
• 19:03
  The way their hand controls work is you where you would expect
• 19:08
  your the gear shifts to be on the left and right.
• 19:12
  That's where the accelerator and break up.
• 19:15
  So you've got the accelerator on the right with a paddle, the
• 19:19
  brake on the left, and then by our thumbs is where we can
• 19:23
  change gear. And you've got that on either
• 19:26
  side as well. So gear up and gear down on
• 19:29
  either side depending on what what hand that person prefers to
• 19:33
  change gear. That's so cool.
• 19:35
  So we don't have to take our hands off the wheel and then
• 19:38
  that way it doesn't put us at any disadvantage to any of our
• 19:41
  capacitors on track. OK.
• 19:44
  So do you race against, you know, other adapted cars or you
• 19:49
  know a variety of different cars?
• 19:52
  So we're, we're up against anyone.
• 19:55
  So yeah, we're, we're up against able bodied, you know, normal
• 20:00
  people that are competing normal.
• 20:02
  People love that. Yeah, just anywhere.
• 20:07
  So yeah, it's not just team are the first disabled team in the
• 20:13
  world. Really.
• 20:15
  Yeah, that's such an interesting fact.
• 20:18
  Team Brit is an all disabled driver line up, so only disabled
• 20:22
  drivers will be racing with them, whether that be physical
• 20:26
  or psychological disability, that we've got a range of a
• 20:32
  range of disabilities. So I've got obviously quite
• 20:36
  different high carefulness. We've got other other people
• 20:40
  that have had motocross accidents.
• 20:43
  So they've got their their spinal injury through that.
• 20:47
  We've had other people that are in amputee and then other
• 20:52
  drivers that aren't autistic. You must feel so proud to be a
• 20:55
  part of that team, not only because you are the first, you
• 20:59
  know all disabled drivers, but you're doing really well as
• 21:02
  well. Yeah, we are.
• 21:04
  We were really happy to to get first in class and we got a few
• 21:10
  wins towards the end of the season as well.
• 21:12
  So I was really happy with that and it was my first season as a
• 21:15
  rookie, unexpected but but really happy with that team.
• 21:19
  Brit really helped me get my get myself up to speed as quickly as
• 21:25
  possible to enable us to do that, so that's great.
• 21:28
  Do you have any kind of future hopes when it comes to racing
• 21:33
  future goals? Yeah so short term I'd love to
• 21:39
  be able to get out racing this year.
• 21:42
  At the moment I can't because of not having a sponsor.
• 21:46
  So I am looking for sponsorship this year to be able myself to
• 21:49
  continue racing with Team Brit. The long term goal with myself
• 21:54
  and Team Brit is Team Bits Goal has always been to be the first
• 21:58
  little disabled racing team to race at Lamont 24 Hours.
• 22:01
  So when they're ready to do that, I want to make sure that
• 22:05
  I'm part of that racing team. That would be so cool.
• 22:10
  Amazing. I love that you have those goals
• 22:12
  and I really hope that you do end up getting there.
• 22:15
  So is it kind of all sponsorship based to be able to be a part of
• 22:19
  the team and to race with the team?
• 22:21
  Yeah, so Team Brit isn't a charity, so all drivers have to
• 22:25
  pay for their own racing seat. So that's done by either self
• 22:29
  funding, if they're able to do that, or finding sponsorship and
• 22:33
  that will then enable us to be able to secure the seat to be
• 22:37
  able to race with the team. Amazing.
• 22:40
  OK, so this is a call out to anyone who fancy sponsoring.
• 22:45
  What's in it for the sponsor? So Team Brit offers hospitality,
• 22:50
  you know, they can have a look at our headquarters and they can
• 22:55
  come in and join us in the pits at any time if they like.
• 22:57
  They can be on the merchandise so they can be on the T-shirt,
• 23:02
  on the track, on the car as well on the overalls and things like
• 23:06
  that. So there's there's plenty of
• 23:08
  opportunities also with it. They've got rights to our images
• 23:13
  and also we can create social media and there's also chances
• 23:18
  to network with other sponsors within within the team.
• 23:22
  So they they organise regular karting events where all the
• 23:26
  sponsors will get together. It gives everyone a chance to
• 23:29
  network to grow their their businesses as well.
• 23:33
  Brilliant. That sounds great.
• 23:36
  The drivers join in as well. In the, in the cartoon, we, we,
• 23:40
  we join in as well. We, we can't just sit and watch.
• 23:44
  But yeah, it's, it's, it's really good fun.
• 23:47
  It's the great chance for for everyone to get together.
• 23:51
  Definitely, and that's what it's all about, isn't it?
• 23:53
  Community. Oh yeah, Chelsea T-shirt.
• 23:56
  I did see the the little logo. This is something I have created
• 24:01
  for myself and we know my this is my own logo here.
• 24:07
  Wow. By website and social media
• 24:10
  handle. What better way to advertise
• 24:13
  yourself honestly? That's it.
• 24:15
  That's yeah. You think about exposure, it's
• 24:19
  definitely a way to bring the message out.
• 24:22
  I need to start making unbalanced T-shirts now.
• 24:26
  Yeah, I can recommend. Someone you know?
• 24:28
  Perfect. I've got a contact already.
• 24:32
  Hey, I mean, I, I get it. It's all about kind of putting
• 24:34
  yourself out there. You're the one that has to put
• 24:36
  in the work to, to grow and to make yourself known to people.
• 24:41
  So I yeah, hats off to you because it's not easy.
• 24:44
  Yeah, the, the, some of the easy, they say some of the
• 24:47
  easiest ways is through social media.
• 24:50
  Yeah. So social media is free for
• 24:52
  everybody. And it's, it's a great way to to
• 24:55
  reach out to millions of people. I think I'm getting there.
• 24:59
  It's hard. Yeah.
• 25:00
  Social media is hard. I can't wait to see where your
• 25:03
  journey goes with Team Brett. Where can we find you on social
• 25:06
  media to follow your journey? But on social media, I'm on
• 25:10
  Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn, all under Dumb Show
• 25:14
  Racing. On YouTube as well.
• 25:17
  The website is Dumb Show Racing as well.
• 25:20
  So if you just type that into Google, that'll come up first.
• 25:24
  Amazing. Well, it sounds like you're
• 25:26
  thriving in that area and I really do hope that you manage
• 25:30
  to get a sponsor so that you can continue to do this and also
• 25:34
  raise awareness. And I think you're the first
• 25:37
  disabled driver I've seen on social media.
• 25:40
  So I think it's really important what you're doing to kind of
• 25:43
  just showcase that that world, you know?
• 25:46
  Thanks very much. It's been great.
• 25:48
  Thank you so much for coming on to the podcast to chat with me
• 25:51
  today. It's been really nice to get to
• 25:52
  know you a bit. Thank you very much.
• 25:54
  It's been great to see you as well.
• 25:57
  I have one more question before we end the podcast, and if you
• 26:01
  guys are regular listeners, you know exactly what I'm going to
• 26:03
  be asking. And Dom, you might even know it
• 26:06
  yourself, but is there a piece of advice that you would give to
• 26:10
  your younger self or anyone who's maybe struggling?
• 26:14
  So if I could give it to my younger self, I would like we
• 26:19
  were talking earlier about not caring about what people think.
• 26:23
  You know, I was someone who was always a people pleaser and
• 26:26
  wanted people to like me. And I think that was due to
• 26:31
  where I was bullied as a as a young younger kid, as a primary
• 26:36
  school kid. And then, you know, wanted
• 26:38
  everyone to like me from teenage onwards so that I could never go
• 26:41
  back to that dark place. But you know, life turned out
• 26:46
  good. Life turned out good.
• 26:49
  So going back to my younger self, I would not worry about
• 26:53
  what people think. And if there's anything that you
• 26:56
  want to do in life and you're thinking about it, do it now.
• 27:03
  What are you waiting for? If you want to do something and
• 27:05
  you're that passionate about it, find a way.
• 27:08
  Reach out to, you know, people that are doing it and find out
• 27:12
  how they started, you know, maybe through a podcast through,
• 27:17
  you know, reach out to them, phone the company you might be
• 27:21
  interested in, turn up at their doorstep to show interest and
• 27:25
  just follow what you want to do in life.
• 27:27
  You get one life that you know will live it.
• 27:31
  Go on holiday with friends, enjoy yourself.
• 27:34
  Go to a theme park. Even if it is going to be a bit
• 27:38
  harder for yourself in the day. You know, if you want to do it,
• 27:41
  go and do it. You want to go on holiday by
• 27:43
  yourself, do it. Live your life to the full.
• 27:47
  Don't hold back. Plan as much as you can, but
• 27:51
  just enjoy life. That's what it's there for, not
• 27:55
  there to be hard and horrible all the time.
• 27:58
  There will be hires that they yeah, we will have loads.
• 28:02
  But you know, enjoy life as much as you can to the full.
• 28:07
  I love that. I want to cry.
• 28:10
  That was beautiful. So yeah, just beautifully said.
• 28:14
  Definitely something I'm trying to channel every day of my life.
• 28:17
  And it's easy to lose sight of that and to get kind of caught
• 28:20
  up in the daily things. You know, you're 9 to 5, your
• 28:24
  routines. But I constantly need to remind
• 28:27
  myself of the big picture. You know that life is short and
• 28:30
  to and just enjoy your life as much as possible.
• 28:34
  Yeah, definitely. Having a disability does kick
• 28:37
  you sometimes and it will remind you that you are disabled even
• 28:42
  though you want to do all these wonderful things.
• 28:44
  But just take it one step at a time.
• 28:47
  Yeah, and I am finding that there are ways to adapt to
• 28:51
  things. You know, I sometimes think that
• 28:53
  I'll never be able to do this again or I won't even attempt
• 28:56
  that, but actually there are ways around it.
• 28:59
  Yeah, and it doesn't necessarily need to always be independent.
• 29:05
  You know, if you need to ask for help, ask.
• 29:09
  As I'm getting older, I'm less stubborn than when I was younger
• 29:13
  because I always wanted to show that I can be independent.
• 29:16
  I can do this. I can do that.
• 29:17
  And you know what? If it's easier and someone's
• 29:20
  there, why struggle? They're offering to help you.
• 29:23
  Let them. Yeah, that was called my
• 29:26
  thinking. Now I can do it.
• 29:27
  I can take all these shopping bags that are up here that I
• 29:31
  can't see, Ava or while I'm on my wing chair, you're calling.
• 29:36
  Me out right now, that's exactly me.
• 29:41
  I'm like, yeah, I could do it. Sure.
• 29:44
  I came out of a supermarket once and I did the whole, I'm going
• 29:48
  to, I'll be fine, you know, And the eggs fell out or something.
• 29:54
  And it was right outside and everyone was looking.
• 29:57
  And then it's not just someone who's dropped their eggs.
• 29:59
  It's the guy in a wheelchair. And it's like, you know what?
• 30:03
  No. But you kind of like have no one
• 30:07
  to blame but yourself. Well, thank you again for that.
• 30:10
  Yeah, lovely chat. You're so lovely.
• 30:14
  And if you guys listened to the end, thank you.
• 30:17
  I really appreciate that. And don't forget to subscribe on
• 30:21
  YouTube and to follow the podcast on your podcast
• 30:24
  platform. Don't forget to rate the podcast
• 30:27
  5 stars because that really helps me out.
• 30:29
  And thank you so much to kill LG and D2I for sponsoring this
• 30:33
  podcast. I'll speak to you soon.
• 30:35
  Bye.