CTE, Brain Trauma, Depression, and the Road to Recovery

CTE, brain trauma, athlete mental health, and the hidden emotional cost of elite performance are becoming increasingly important conversations in modern sports, psychology, and healthcare. Behind achievement, discipline, and competitive success, many athletes silently struggle with the long-term effects of concussions, neurological injury, emotional suppression, depression, identity loss, and the psychological consequences of constantly pushing through pain. As awareness around chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and brain health continues to grow, more people are beginning to ask what elite sports can truly cost the mind and body long after competition ends.

In this episode, Dr. Supatra Tovar sits down with former USA bobsledder and CTE advocate William Person for a powerful conversation about brain trauma, athlete mental health, emotional resilience, recovery, and life after elite sports. Together, they explore the hidden neurological and psychological consequences of high-performance culture, the pressure many athletes face to ignore symptoms, and the lasting impact repeated trauma can have on emotional wellbeing, relationships, identity, and purpose.

William Person shares his personal journey navigating the challenges associated with brain injury while advocating for greater awareness, support, and recovery resources for athletes and military populations. The conversation explores concussion culture, depression, suicidal ideation, masculinity and emotional suppression, nervous system dysregulation, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and the difficult process of rebuilding a life when performance is no longer the center of your identity.

You'll also hear thoughtful discussions about resilience, healing, emotional regulation, purpose after sports, and why conversations around mental health and brain health are more important than ever. Dr. Tovar and William Person discuss the realities many high performers face privately, the stigma surrounding vulnerability, and how recovery often begins when people feel safe enough to acknowledge both the emotional and neurological challenges they are carrying.

If you've ever wondered how concussions, brain trauma, high-performance environments, and elite sports can impact mental health, identity, emotional wellbeing, and long-term quality of life, this conversation offers powerful insight grounded in lived experience, advocacy, psychology, and hope for recovery.

Subscribe for more conversations on psychology, nutrition, mental health, emotional wellness, brain health, nervous system regulation, resilience, recovery, and sustainable wellbeing.

Timestamps:

00:00 Welcome back and introduction
02:15 Life after elite competition
06:40 The reality of living with brain trauma
11:25 What CTE can feel like
17:50 Depression, isolation, and identity loss
24:10 The hidden emotional cost of high performance
30:35 Masculinity, vulnerability, and asking for help
37:20 Hyperbaric oxygen therapy and recovery
44:15 Advocacy for athletes and military communities
51:10 Hope, healing, and moving forward

Episode Summary

The pursuit of excellence can come with hidden emotional and neurological consequences. In this conversation, William Person shares his experience navigating brain trauma, depression, identity loss, and recovery while advocating for greater awareness around CTE and athlete mental health. This episode explores resilience, healing, emotional awareness, purpose after sports, and the importance of changing the conversation around mental health in high-performance culture.

🧠 What This Episode Covers

• CTE awareness and education
• Brain trauma and concussion recovery
• Athlete mental health
• Depression and emotional wellbeing
• Hyperbaric oxygen therapy
• Identity loss after sports
• Emotional resilience and recovery
• Nervous system regulation
• The psychological cost of elite performance
• Purpose after competition
• Masculinity and vulnerability
• Advocacy for athletes and military populations

🔗 Connect with William Person

GoFundMe:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/cte-recovery-for-athletes-and-military

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/william.person.792233/

LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-person-4072b417/

Continue Your Journey

📘 Book: Deprogram Diet Culture: Rethink Your Relationship with Food, Heal Your Mind, and Live a Diet-Free Life

🎓 Course: Deprogram Diet Culture
https://anew-insight.com

🌐 Visit the Website
https://drsupatratovar.com

🎥 Watch More Episodes
ANEW Insight Podcast

🎤 Watch the TEDx Talk
Rethinking Your Relationship with Food in the GLP-1 Era

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:02

Welcome to the A New Insight Podcast, empowering and inspiring your journey to optimal health. Hosted by Dr. Tupatra Kavar, clinical psychologist, registered dietitian, fitness expert, and author of Deprogram Diet Culture. Rethink your relationship with food, feel your mind, and live a diet-free life. I follow my guests' journey to optimal health, providing you with the keys to unlock your own wellness path. Tune in and evolve with us.

SPEAKER_03 0:33

Welcome back to the New Insight Podcast. We are back for the second half of our incredible interview with former nine-year team USA Bob Sled athlete and CTE awareness advocate William Person. William gave us terrifying insight into his struggles with CTE, but also gave us hope when he started to uh be administered hyperbaric oxygen therapy. I can't wait to pick his brain some more. Welcome back, William.

SPEAKER_00 1:06

Thank you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 1:07

So for people who don't have any clue what hyperbaric oxygen therapy is, can you just give a very basic picture of what happens when you get this treatment? And and what's happening in the body that's helping to heal you.

SPEAKER_00 1:28

Your listeners, do they get to see where we see us or just hear us?

SPEAKER_03 1:31

They see us too.

SPEAKER_00 1:32

Okay. Well, this is one right behind me. This is my hyperbaric oxygen chamber behind me. And that picture on the wall is so important. I had to have clues like that around me all the time to let me know what's wrong with me. Because some days I don't know and I forget. Like, I why am I feeling it? Pictures. Uh, you got CT, buddy. This is what happened to you. But yeah, this machine right here, it's uh what it does once you get in there, it pressurizes. It's like you, it's like when you get on an airplane, you got to clear your ears a couple times. That's what it feels like. You clear your ears, and that's once it gets to pressure, uh, it's this it's the same as being at least nine to ten feet underwater, depending on what chamber you have. If you do the clinical ones in the hospitals and they put people to burn victims in there, it'll make you think it's a lot deeper in the water. And so what happened is your blood isn't more like a gas, and it's able to get through all the blockages that you have. So uh that's why stroke victims they put them in there to because they usually have blockage issues. And so this thing just sends all the blood and oxygen to all your cells. And I and I believe that's why, you know, one of me doing this thing for one hour, it just changed my life. Um, and so um, yeah, that's really what it is. It just makes your body beliefs is underwater and it's bloods like a gas, and it gets to the block.

SPEAKER_03 2:44

Yes, yeah. So tell me if I'm right. CTE, you have these extreme G forces when you are bobsledding and you get these repeated micro traumas, and those are little damaged areas in the brain, and that damage blocks oxygen's just kind of regular ability to get to those cells, and you have energy depletion and difficulties in functioning depending on where these traumas are in the brain. When you go into the chamber, the oxygen actually compresses because you're pressurized, and that makes it more of a, you know, more gaseous, and it's able to bypass all of those little traumas and help re-energize the cells that have been damaged. Is that right?

SPEAKER_00 3:36

Um, there's a lot more to it, but yeah, that's pretty close. It's very close.

SPEAKER_03 3:40

That's uh amazing. So, how many treatments? You said you had the one treatment, then you came out, your eyesight was better, you were seeing colors differently. Um you came home, you did have a massive migraine and an erection at the same time, which is crazy. Um, but then the next day you woke up and you felt amazing and then had a little bit of a decline. Give me a picture of your treatment since then. And you had mentioned during our break that there was another treatment that you also found to be really helpful for you. So let's go with first. Tell me about what your treatment looked like and how you improved.

SPEAKER_00 4:25

Okay. Uh, once I knew I needed this machine after the second treatment, I knew it was it was real. Uh, I I didn't, I had just bought the lake house to to go, it was my death house. That's the truth of it. I I can't paint that picture any different. It's it's what it is. And so I didn't have I didn't have 20 grand laying around to to now put on this machine. And so um next thing you know, I was back in the abyss again. Like I was gone. It was like I'd never had treatment before. And uh my dad stepped up one day, uh, him and my girlfriend and we're talking, and um next thing you know, I wake up one day, I'm paying some bills, and there's uh 20 grand in my account. My dad's like, go get that chamber. And uh so once I had it, uh five days a week I was in that chamber. Wow, yeah, but there are some glitches here. Let me let me tell you, I tell people the truth of the ups and the downs. Um, like when I was going through it and I was feeling great, I thought I turned that corner, I felt like a human being again. So, Joe Namath, he doesn't need the chamber anymore. A lot of other people get permanent relief. And permanent relief wasn't coming for me, but the only way to find out was to stop using it. And so once I felt so great, I said, okay, I I I kicked this thing, I don't need it anymore. And so I stopped using it. And um, I don't know how much time went by. Uh, my concept of time is so far off when I'm in that zone. And so one day uh I'm back in that dark part, dark spot. I'm walking up and down Venture Boulevard. I don't want anybody, my girlfriend, to see me like this. I'm I'm out there, I'm I'm tearful, I'm I'm pacing. Uh I I probably I'm sure I look really neurotic out there. I'm just and and I'm asking God, like, why is this why is this happening again? And I literally come in the house and like I had just purchased a chamber, and so I didn't have an extra bedroom for it at that time, and so I literally kicked it and tripped over it, and I went, Oh yeah, I'm doing an experiment to see if I still need this thing. Well, I was like, you idiot, like get back in there, and and it took, yeah. So I'm back in there, it took me a couple days, and then I recalibrated and balanced. And so that's what this thing is. You know, you have to be extremely careful when you're doing, you have to make sure that you have people around you, and you're not shameful and and you're not trying to hide this thing. It's uh you know, it's it's a lot of awareness, you know. And and that's the reason, yeah, and that's why you know, for me, with this my cause is more about the awareness and the transparency so people can see what this is and how to get around it.

SPEAKER_03 6:55

Yeah, it is your is the reason why yours is more difficult than say don't name it, is because you've had so many more micro traumas from the G-forces of Bobsledding compared to you know, you get hit a few, you know, a lot during a game, but it's probably not nearly as many micro traumas as what you would experience with bobsledding. Is that correct?

SPEAKER_00 7:20

Yeah, I took up to six bobsled rides a day. And so what I know now, every time I went down that track, we would get micro concussions or major concussions. That's that's the two options. There's no any, there's no in between. Micro concussions allow you, it's doing the same damage, but you're allowed you don't feel you're doing the damage, so you can keep doing what you're doing. So I'm putting damage on top of damage on top of damage compared to my first World Cup, first World Cup race in St. Marin, Switzerland. It was about a month or two weeks before the uh 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. So we're over in Switzerland. I we crashed, I had vertical so bad, like I just didn't uh I I could sit up in the bed for a week without the room spinning. And and one of my guys in the sled was uh knocked unconscious. And uh like at no point had I ever seen the doctor, they didn't take us to doctors or clinics or uh and so think about that. I did up to six rides a day, three to five days a week, four to five months of the year, depending on the year, and for nine years. So my concussion count is way higher than probably any person on this planet, and so that's why I'm sure I'm in the situation that I'm in. And I'm I don't even understand how I came back from that now that I'm seeing what other people are dealing with.

SPEAKER_03 8:32

It's uh you're a miracle, I would say, because that's a lot of trauma to the brain. So you've had to use this daily, would you say every single day? What how often do you have to use it?

SPEAKER_00 8:49

Well, the one thing about my condition is I my my concept of time is is is skewed so far. So sometimes like I'll think I've been in there a couple times that week, but I hope we can go by and I'm not getting in there, and it's okay. But usually I can feel when I'm starting to when I my one of my red flags is uh before I got the chamber, like I'll ask myself, I'll give myself a simple math problem to do in my head. If I can't come up with that solution, I know not to sign any contracts that day, not to buy no major purchases, and don't spend money. Like, you know, like I I would live in those days, I would literally walk to a car that looked like mine, it was black, and I'll just open the door and get in. I'd be like, hey, wait, why are these seats in here all ripped up? My seats aren't ripped up, and I realize I'm in somebody else's car. You know, that's that's what I was dealing with. It's just it's scary, yeah. Yeah, so I put little checkpoints in place, and one of my new checkpoints now is I'll give either a math problem, or if I start asking myself, like if I start losing days again, if I ask, okay, what is today? Or if I start asking other people, red flag, okay, chamber, get back in that chamber.

SPEAKER_03 9:54

Yeah, and so like very interesting.

SPEAKER_00 9:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:59

So you had mentioned on the break that there was another therapy that you also found to be helpful for you. What was that?

SPEAKER_00 10:06

Well, on my journey, I ran into other people with my symptoms, and it didn't make sense. How could they have what we have? They weren't athletes, you know, and so we talked about the housewife and all those things. But what I found were the veterans, um, and I guess they when they come back from war, they they're given this blanket PTSD uh uh diagnosis. But some studies have been testing their brains one because you can only test them once under autopsy when they die. And so now that they're checking their brains, they're finding CTE. And they and it comes from the compression waves, it's hitting them in the face from the cannons, those big giant guns. And that's why they are suffering the way they are suffering. So I start finding these people like that. But one more per one more category that made me go to the military is when I was racing, we found these fighter pilots. They came out to do a bobsled ride. Like if anybody asked me what a G-force felt like, if I explained it to you, you wouldn't comprehend it. Yeah, you have to feel it. And only people that feel it are the the F-15 and F-16 fighter pilots. When they do those, you know, those inverted bank turns, it sends all the blood out of your head, goes to other parts of your body, and um, it's causing trauma. And so um we took we took these fighter pilots on the bobsled ride one day, and I did seven rides that day. That's the only time I've ever did seven rides, and they did one ride, and it was a smooth ride. And when they got out of the bobsled, they were rattled, and I didn't understand that. And uh, so what we know now, and so this article came out, uh written by the New York Times, and it was talking about this. I took that article, I shared it with our judge because I fought a class action to get everybody medical and help and uh and transparency to warn a new generation before they get in that slit, which they're still fighting me on all of that stuff. But I I took this to the courts to share with the judge and I shared it with the lawyers. And if you go right now to the New York Times website and try to find that article, it was scrubbed from the from the article. However, they they sent me a live link so I can always send it to you, but so I do have it, and also uh uh HBO Real Sports did a um uh a Winter Olympic CTE suicide episode on this. Uh uh HBO Real Sports, a TV show, and um you can go to their website, you can see every episode they've ever done. You'll see the time slot where ours was at, it's listed there, but you can never play it again. So people are scrubbing these things from from public view, and uh like I can't I can't make this stuff up like that. It's it's been happening.

SPEAKER_03 12:36

Yeah, that is really that is really awful. You you were going to tell me though about the different therapy that you found. Yeah, tell me about that, and then I want to get really running, like go into depth about the legal battle because that I think we need to have a lot of daylight on. So give me the the the just the little 411 on the other therapy.

SPEAKER_00 12:57

Yeah. By the way, you just found my glitch. I knew you asked me something. I was about to ask you, what did you ask me again? That's part of my yeah, it's one of my things. Yeah, uh so uh so some of the military guys in the UK were talking to me. Um, they're interviewing me a few weeks ago, and find out they have the same symptoms as ours veterans here, uh the veterans in Canada. And they told me what they do for their people, they didn't know anything about hyperbaric oxygen. Um, he said they take their veterans, they can't legally deep sea dive in the UK too far, they can only go a certain distance. So they take their people to the to the uh Bahamas, there's an island over there that they got a little section they go down in, and they take their people down there and they stay down there for they say a long time. And when they come back up, he said they're healed. They're their their PTSCT is gone. And I'm thinking, and but when they told me I was getting goosebumps because what he didn't know is every time I get in my machine here, it's called a dive. If you're in the hospital and they put you in it, they call it a dive. You're at home, it's a dive. And so this is simulating going down in the ocean, and they're just doing it naturally, and it's the same thing. And uh, I've been trying to spread the word that everybody I talk to, I'm just like I'm blown away.

SPEAKER_03 14:06

Like, okay, so maybe I yeah, maybe I don't have CTE because I'm also a diver.

SPEAKER_00 14:15

But how far down do you go?

SPEAKER_03 14:17

Well, probably not as far as I need to.

SPEAKER_00 14:20

However, yeah, yes, you're you're a diver.

SPEAKER_03 14:25

Yes, I see. I grew up in Colorado, but uh traveled a lot. So I grew up skiing for sure, was never wearing a helmet. It was like, you know, way back in the day when people didn't wear their helmets skiing. Um, but I'm also uh a scuba diver. And so I wonder if that's helped me considering all the little head traumas I've had from skiing.

SPEAKER_00 14:49

I would guarantee it did. Because there's one bad, only one bobsled athlete who told me he never had any problems. Um, you know, and I had never met this guy before. We heard stories about each other, so we connected, and we're talking, we're on the phone for like two hours. So we've never spoken before, we just connect the story. Well, we both used to hang out with uh Prince Albert from Monaco. So we're talking about our Prince Albert stories and all that kind of stuff. And and then right before we hung up the phone, he told me when he left the sport, he was working, I think, as a firefighter or something, or some company where they had to put people in the hyperbic chamber, so he had to sit in there with the clients. And I was like, buddy, you should have started with that conversation. That is yeah, and so yeah, it's a trifecta. It's like now we understand what this thing is. We I know what it is that will bring you out of it. And uh man, I I just won't stop talking about it now.

SPEAKER_03 15:39

Like, I'm oh yeah, and they use those hyperbaric chambers for diving. If you come up too quickly, you don't allow the nitrogen to come out of your system, and you get what's called the bends, which is just gross, it's like you know, nitrogen coming out of your skin and just horrible stuff happening. And they put you in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber. So it's really interesting that the the compression, the pressure is what is helping along with the delivery of oxygen that you're getting when you're uh when you're diving or when you're in one of those chambers that helps to heal damage in your body, you guys.

SPEAKER_00 16:17

This is you are so lucky, you're blessed. You are like, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:22

It's a great thing. I love skiing and I love scuba diving. So awesome.

SPEAKER_00 16:26

And by the way, just for your own brain, since you didn't wear your helmet all those years, I think for the next three weeks you have to put a helmet on and walk around through the community and just you know, thank your brain for that.

SPEAKER_03 16:36

Yes, exactly. Well, I wear a helmet now for sure, because I was like, what was I? I wasn't thinking, nobody was thinking back then. We were like, you know, it was the 80s, no one was thinking.

SPEAKER_00 16:47

Well, actually, the the other part about this, I don't think the helmet, I think it really only helps with splitting. Like if you're gonna crash and you don't want to open the skull up, open the flesh up, it helps with that, but I don't think it really helps at all with the uh because you know, there were people who raced with me when I started, like I owned a treatment facility, a very successful one. And um, most people had like $100 helmets, $200 helmets. I had a $1,200 helmet, and I have the same symptoms as the people with the $100 helmet. Yes, and uh, and so that helmet it it helps with certain things, but it doesn't help with this thing.

SPEAKER_03 17:19

Yes. I actually know somebody who uh was a uh football player from the early 70s, and I think he retired in the 80s or something like that. I saw all the progressions of his helmets, and I was like, well, that's great. It doesn't necessarily it doesn't, it doesn't, it keeps you from getting your head split open, yes, but it doesn't keep your head uh perfectly aligned so that you're not gonna get that those micro traumas.

SPEAKER_00 17:45

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 17:46

So I really want to pivot into the legal efforts that you have. You mentioned this before, but give me a picture of how you have gone on a mission to try to raise awareness and also change some policies.

SPEAKER_00 18:03

Okay, well, when I was with the sport, like um I didn't even remember how they mistreated me. I didn't really remember because my memory was wiped. It took for a white athlete who saw the racism that was done to me to call me and he told me, Hey, Will, have you seen the email floating around? I was like, No. Um, he said the bobsled team have was audited, and all those things that they did to you is being addressed in this audit. It's from an external company. And um, so I read it. And so my first day uh at Lake Placid um at the Olympic Training Center, this gentleman came up to me. He said, Hey, Will, it's the Good Old Boy system here, but it's getting better. And I didn't believe him because at that time my ex-girlfriend was on the German Olympic track team, and I traveled with the Germans and I traveled with them, showered with them, I ate with them, broke brick. You know, it's just I couldn't believe racism would still be here. But he was right. So, for example, one year um after the world championships, I'm the number one or number two breakman in the country. Um, a few months later, it's time for training camp. I call in the coaches, they said they're not gonna fund me. And so I had to pay my own way to Canada. And my my driver, Stephen Holcomb, he's the only gentleman that ever win Olympic gold since um Billy Fisk back in the 50s. And so uh he says, Hey, well, come stay with me. You were my breakman, you know, I got you. So I went to Canada, I stayed there. And during the world championships, we won uh Verizon team cell phones. So we all had the same phone number, one digit off. And the short story is um one of the other drivers came to me and said, Hey, Will, um Coach Tuffy called and he said to let you know when the Federation comes to Canada, we're gonna move to a new hotel and you won't have a room. You have to find another workplace to stay. And I was like, What? And so I called the coach from my phone a few times, he didn't answer. A few days later, that guy came back to me again. He gave me that same message. He said, I feel uncomfortable telling you this, but I don't know why he's coming to me. So I called the coach again from my phone, he didn't answer. I call from the other guy's phone, he picks up on the first ring, and I'm just like, hey Tuffy, what's going on? And he says, he gives me this story. He says, Each driver gets one funded athlete. And I said, Tuffy, I've been here for a few weeks, I know the real story. Is that the story you're sticking to? Uh, he got quiet. Oh, I'll see what I can do, I'll see what I can do. So a couple weeks go by, Federation comes to Canada, they move us to a new hotel. I got a new roommate. I saw that guy the year before, he was our track janitor. He was the one who actually carried helped carry our sleds with the world championships and wiped down the equipment. And he told me he um he went to the training camp. He finished dead last. He said he got injured, so he's laying around at the Olympic Training Center. And Coach Tuffy came to him and asked him if he wanted to go to Canada. He paid for it. And the guy said, he said, yeah, I want to go. What have I got to lose? And so those are the kind of things I dealt with over there. Uh, the last Olympic year in 2006, on day number one of training camp, I had the fastest push time. On day number two, I had the fastest push time. On day number three, they the assistant coach Stu came to me and said, Will Tuffy told me to let you know you can't slide push with the uh with the national team anymore. And I said, Why? He said, Because you had that car accident last year and you didn't have any international races. And I said, Are you sure? That's he's like, Yeah. I said, Well, go back and check the record. I came back at at least 10, but they still kicked me out and they made me only practice with the women, so they couldn't compare my times. But he told me, Don't worry, the coaches know how well you're pushing. I said, I know they do, that's why you're kicking me out. And I checked, yeah, and I checked the books and where they were putting the times down. My numbers were erased from that book. And so that those are the things I dealt with up there. And but I forgot about it when I left the sport. I never talked about bobsledding. I left with my tail between my legs because I was on the national team. I'm the number one breakman, world championships. Uh, but I don't have if you look on my record, you won't see an Olympic racing on Olympic day. That's on the days when a good old boy system kicks in and they take over. And and so actually six months ago, that audit from 2022 was um Re-uh looked at it, was uh updated and I could send it to you. It still mentions the good old boy system in that thing. And this was six months ago. And so those are the things I dealt with. So what I did, I saw everybody sick. I knew they wouldn't listen to me, so I hired lawyers to talk for me because I couldn't talk, I couldn't form sentences very well, I couldn't pronounce many words, and I was dying. And uh I asked for the class section I asked for was get everybody some help, take care of my guys, and warn a new generation. That's all I asked for. I didn't ask for anything for myself, not a cent. And uh they refused to this day. The last four quarter hearings, the lawyers are now, the lawyers that I hired are now standing with the defense. They're together working against me. Uh yeah, there's an offer on the table, right? Guys, public record, you can find it. Um anything I say there's receipts for. Uh, the offer is for um $2.1 million. Uh I represent over 700 athletes. So it's $2.1 million for them to only, yeah, going to the lawyers only, and then for the doctors to evaluate us only, like zero treatment. And so I asked the judge, why would you send your child to a doctor who's not going to treat them? What would be the point? We're not lab rats. And so that's where I'm sitting at now. And so, and the crazy part is like, I can't make this up. Like, receipts, you guys have receipts. I'm not making this up. I spoke with Johnny Cochrane's, no, I'm sorry, uh, not Johnny Cochrane's partner, uh, was uh Robert Shapiro.

SPEAKER_01 23:25

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 23:26

Um, and we he did an investigation, we had a few phone calls. Um, he sends me an email. He said, Well, I fired your lead attorney. I kept your counsel because I know I'm we're gonna get you the results you need. And I'm like, Yeah. 24, 40 hours later, he sends me an email, I quit. What? Yes, so somebody's getting to these lawyers. I don't know who I think I know who it is. This didn't happen until the insurance company showed up. Once the insurance company showed up, this is what happened. And so now my lawyers are going from fighting for us to now they're standing together. So the last four court hearings, here I am when we started this. I couldn't talk, I couldn't form sentences. Now I'm representing my class in the last four court hearings. I'm kicking their ass in court right now. Excuse my language. But eventually they're gonna win because I don't know the law. Once the law kicks in and I can't talk about feelings and what's the facts, they're gonna go low on me and I'm gonna lose this case.

SPEAKER_03 24:28

But yeah, and but let's not go there yet.

SPEAKER_00 24:32

Oh, it's it's it's in writing, it's gonna happen. I already know.

SPEAKER_03 24:35

You will, you're pretty sure you will lose this case.

SPEAKER_00 24:39

Yeah, because what they did is um, first of all, they tried to bribe me. I didn't accept the bribe. Uh, then they told me they're gonna kick me out of the lead plaintiff. Uh the judge said he will not allow that. Um, so they've done a lot of things. These are my lawyers doing that, not not the defense, these are my lawyers. Uh, and so uh yeah, this is what's what it is. And but somebody's got to these lawyers and they went from fighting for us and tell us what they were gonna do for me and uh in the class and to nothing. And uh I don't understand it. And uh yeah, and it is what it is.

SPEAKER_03 25:08

It is so unfair. Well, hopefully, if you're getting the word out to people and we're gonna be pushing this out, maybe there is someone who can come in and help you fight the good fight because no one should be suffering, uh, no one should be experiencing that kind of racism and um you know classism and the whole thing. Yeah, go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 25:30

Or have some good news though. I have some good news. Okay, uh I got a lot of good news, a lot of good news. It's not all d doom and gloom, guys. Uh, last week, if you guys Google it, uh one of our Olympic uh bobsledders from the USA, he retired because of concussion issues. When I was racing, that would never, if you had a concussion issue, they would bully you to get back in that sled. Like, so now the world is listening, and and and um the athletic it's a global issue, it's not just in America. So the athletes around the world are talking about this case now. Uh, and just last week as well, uh, the Swiss team, which is one of the best teams in the world, they boycotted uh one of the tracks because of unsafe conditions, all these things that I've been talking about. And so, yeah, and so it's it's getting out there, and it's really the to the people like you because uh uh the mass media have uh actually I just want to say they've been bought off. That's all I can really say. Uh, because they're not talking about this anymore.

SPEAKER_03 26:29

And uh people should be talking about this. This is a shame. You know, you've represented our country, you've you've won medals, you've done amazing things, and you know, just like people who serve in the military, you deserve a voice, you deserve to be heard, and you deserve access to care and treatment should you be hurt. Uh well, I tell you what, William, you're such a one more. I got one more, one more, one more.

SPEAKER_00 26:57

Oh, dude, tell me, tell me. The state of Missouri, I had told people I'm opening them by my facility, I'm opening in St. Louis, the state of Missouri as of this year, they are now accepting HBOT for veterans. So they will reimburse for treatment, which will make it easier for us to open quicker. Um, they have acknowledged, they signed the paperwork, it's a done deal. So now I can officially open and treat veterans for free, free, 100% free. Guys, there's no money coming out of anybody's pocket. I'm officially 501c3. We are here. We do have a crowdfunding out there, so you find it, please donate to it. We need money to get the equipment. This machine behind me cost me 20 grand, which is we need the commercial grade, which are gonna cost me closer to 100 grand. But the good thing about that is um I'm I hate to put this other part out there. Uh there, if you saw the movie Concussions, the whistleblower had a lot of I don't want to say threats, and like I've been warned, I've been threatened, I've been warned by some really big people that some other big people don't want this uh coming out and to be very careful. They said it's not safe material. So what I did, I created a foundation in the building that I'm purchasing is gonna be in that foundation. And the equipment, once we buy it, will be in that foundation. Now this thing will be up and running for eternity, is what the goal is. And so if I'm gone for some reason, whatever it may be, this thing will still be here treating our veterans and our and it's open to the public as well. We're gonna be open to the public, people with these issues. We're not gonna be turning people away because they they can't afford it. It's it's very expensive. It's like if you just did the low grade oxygen, it's $12,000 a month for the first month. But if you go to the hospital, it'll be like $150,000 for the first month. And so no one's gonna be able to afford that. And if it wasn't for my dad out, I I wouldn't have been able to afford it either, you know.

SPEAKER_03 28:39

Wow. Oh my gosh. Well, you're such an inspiration. We are going to put all of your links and how to donate, how to find out more in our show notes. Um, but is there a quick way that you can tell people if they want to get a hold of you, if they want to work with you somehow?

SPEAKER_00 28:58

Yeah, the best way to find me is through my social media. I have a uh a TikTok channel called uh One Man with a Chamber. One man with a chamber. And I say that because Joe Namath had a team of doctors. I'm one guy with a chamber, sharing my experiences, trying to save lives. And and so if you come there, if your loved ones are struggling, I'll show you how to CTE proof their life. I don't charge you, is everything's for free. I don't, none of that funny business. Uh, is everything free? Yeah, and so I'll help you. Uh, trust me, doing COVID, guys. I bought four cars. Ask me why. I don't know. Uh it just uh it was just your brain's not working, right? And you make bad decisions constantly. And so I stepped in all the potholes and and I keep people from trying to step in the same ones. But find me on my TikTok, Google my name, I'm William Person. I'm all over the place. You can find me easy. Uh, and I work with everybody.

SPEAKER_03 29:44

William, you're amazing, you're inspirational. You're also just giving, and you care deeply about this cause, and it shines through in this podcast. I am wishing you nothing but the best, and I will definitely point people uh your way. And I'm just I'm hoping that justice will prevail for you and treatment will come for everyone who needs it. So thank you so much for joining me.

SPEAKER_00 30:10

I'm taking care of that treatment, so I'm not too concerned about it, and it will be for free. Please, please help us to find that follow us on the journey and come with us. Like I was in dementia. Listen, I was in dementia. I came out, I couldn't talk. I was go to my social media. I'm sorry, guys. I was bald on all my old social media stuff. My hair was receding. Now I have hair past my chest. It's just it's just been amazing. It's been a journey. And uh, yeah. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_03 30:36

Well, thank you so much, and thank you everyone for joining my little podcast. I am looking forward to the next exciting interview, and I really hope you join me next time.

SPEAKER_02 30:47

Thanks for tuning in to the A New Insight Podcast. Please remember the content shared on this podcast is for entertainment purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. You can find us anywhere podcasts are streaming, on YouTube at my.com under the A New Insight Podcast tab. And follow us on our socials at my dotanu.insight on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and threads for more updates. Tune in next time for Evolve With Us.