In this raw, unedited video, David Brimacombe shares his 20‑year journey through seven concussions that culminated in chronic post‑concussion syndrome (PCS). He recounts each injury—from a teenage football hit to multiple sports‑related blows and occupational accidents as a physical‑education teacher—detailing how symptoms such as light and sound sensitivity, vertigo, irritability, sleep disruption, and low energy accumulated and worsened over time. A pivotal moment occurs when, in a fit of anger, he punches a wooden stool, breaks his hand, and confronts the stark reality of his deteriorating health. This crisis forces him to examine the root causes of his dysfunction, leading to a systematic lifestyle overhaul: consistent sleep‑wake times, removal of problematic foods (dairy, eggs), breathwork, gratitude practice, and a shift from a victim mindset to proactive belief. He also reveals deeper emotional drivers, notably the early loss of his father to a brain tumor and the looming parallel of his own age, which fuel his desperation and commitment to recovery. Throughout, David frames his experience as a roadmap for others with PCS, emphasizing personal responsibility, the need for a full system re‑calibration, and the importance of finding a compelling “why”—whether family, legacy, or future self—to sustain the hard work required for brain health and longevity. The video concludes with an invitation to join his channel for ongoing guidance and inspiration.
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I didn't choose to become obsessed with my PCOS recovery. Desperation forced it upon me. By the end of this video, I hope you'll have a roadmap, a voice in your corner, a reason to get out of bed and start your recovery. Let's begin. This video is going to be a little bit different than most of mine, a little less polished. No B-roll or subtext, just me talking to the camera. I've I want to give you my story, my situation, why I'm here today filming all these videos, starting this channel, because there is a very important reason behind it. My desperation is the driver for this. My desperation was a result of 7 concussions over 20 years, feeling like there was no hope that I would get to a point where I would even be able to function, let alone coach and assist other people in the same situation I was in 5, 10, 15, 20 years ago. And that's why we're here today. Let's talk about my story. The first concussion I sustained was when I was 16 years old. I was playing tackle football with some friends without equipment, got blindsided in the side of the head, went unconscious, and received 10 stitches in the side of my head. Again, concussion number 1, didn't think too much about it. I was 16 years old, grade 10. Who cares? Go back to school the next day. Had some headaches, had some issues, but Resolved within a few weeks. And again, I didn't think too much about that afterwards. Now, the next ones were far more serious and far more impacting for my life. The first one occurred when I was 22 years old. I was playing university basketball in a, just a typical practice. We had a rebounding drill. I went up to go get the ball, had my legs taken out. I landed straight on my head, knocking me unconscious. Now, this was my first real concussion. I went home that day not knowing what to expect. I remember getting up multiple times that night throwing up, basically not being able to look when I turned the lights on, just being in so much pain, like the worst hangover you've ever had, and not knowing what was going to come from that. Now, that was number 2 of 7. I was told by doctors at that point that once Once my symptoms subsided well enough that I could actually cope with going to school and cope with being on a basketball team, that I could just resume as I was. Now, we know that is terrible advice. We know that just because the energy systems have come back to semi-normalcy, it doesn't mean that you're fit for contact, fit for life. But that's what I was told. This was in early 2000, keep in mind. And again, I came back within a few months. I sustained another one on the basketball court. At that time, I was trying to play while seeing 3 or 4 different basketball hoops and not knowing why I was out there. But again, I did not have the advocacy. I didn't know what I was feeling or how to advocate to other people. I was simply there because I was just scared. I didn't know what was going on in my body. Okay? It was almost like an out-of-body experience. So I sustained that 3rd concussion, the 2nd while playing basketball. And then I took some time off and decided that maybe basketball wasn't for me. And I basically essentially retired from Complain thereafter. I then sustained a few more while teaching. As a teacher, it is a— there is some occupational hazards. Balls are— as a phys ed teacher specifically, balls are flying everywhere. As someone who's 6'6, you become an unintended target. So I sustained one concussion where a child dropped a weight on my head in the fitness center, and then another when we were playing football outside. And the football hit my temple, knocking me out cold. Now that one was the most substantial because it was the most recent. It was basically my body, my body shut down after that point. I could not go in any kind of light or listen to anything. It was causing all my symptoms to stir. Okay. So what I found out later was that that was not the most significant concussion, But all my symptoms had not been resolved prior. And because of that, all those symptoms came to the surface. And what you're going to notice, and what you probably already have noticed with concussions, is that they bring to the surface all of those simmering situations. So again, if you had anxiety or depression or a sense of a lack of sense of self-concept or self-image before, all those things get exacerbated. They get worsened by a concussion. Okay, so again, all those problems I had— I had problems with my energy, my sleep, my irritability— all those things now became exacerbated. I was now the most irritable, angry. I had light sound sensitivity. I just felt like I was just a terrible human being. But again, that was, that was because my systems were all dysregulated. I hadn't dealt with them for my prior concussions. I just had kind of gone back to living thinking Well, I guess I'm going to have to live with vertigo and walking around seeing multiple objects and assuming that if there's 3 doorways, I'm just going to go for the one in the middle. That was kind of how I was living. Again, it's a terrible existence, but in the late 2000s, early 2010s, people weren't talking about concussions as they are now. I went to multiple doctors and most times they just said, if you want something to to get rid of the symptoms, I can prescribe it, but that's all I was given. A neurologist would simply say, there's nothing wrong with your brain. There's nothing structural wrong with your brain. But we know now that with a concussion, it is a functional injury. There's changes in how your brain functions, but structurally it will look the same unless you have some brain swelling or there's a skull fracture. Your brain will look the same. Now, we know people who have PCS, who've had a concussion, understand that your brain is not functioning the same, and that is where the frustration comes. And that was where I was after that 7th concussion. I remember the tipping point for knowing I needed to make a change, find a change in my life. Okay, I was sitting outside my daughter's room waiting for her, for her to go to bed. This was a nightly ritual. I would sit outside, read a book, relax, And usually, if I had the energy, had the mental bandwidth, I could wait for her to fall asleep. Now, for some reason on this night, she did not want to fall asleep. She did not want to go to bed on her own. So she kept on saying, Dad, I can't fall asleep. I was anxious and ready to leave. And then all of a sudden, this anger just surged through my body. And I decided, against any form of good judgment, To go ahead and punch a wooden stool that was located right next to me, breaking my hand in the process. So again, this was my tipping point. This was my absolute ground zero. I was an absolute disaster physically, emotionally, mentally, and now physically as well, walking around with a cast on my hand. This forced me into a situation of desperation. It was a desperation because I had to walk around, and when people asked Why do you have a cast on your hand? Sports injury? An accident? A motor vehicle accident? I had to tell them, no, I actually just punched a stool. I had to be honest with them, therefore honest with myself. I was not at a place where I was ready and I was healed. I was nowhere near where I wanted to be. I was a shell of my former self. Now, this led me to start looking at what are the changes I can make in my life. What are the lifestyle modifications that I can improve upon? Now, this did not happen quickly because again, my systems had been dysregulated for decades going back to my original concussion. So, I had to look at things like sleep and like diet and mindset and trying to find points of gratitude in my life. It was not easy, but it was doable. So, after that last concussion and after that incident of breaking my hand, I started to learn a few things about what was driving my symptoms, what was actually the root cause. Once I started to believe, and once I started to change that subconscious loop that was playing in my mind that I'm permanently a victim, this is how I'm going to be, I could actually see a path forward. I could see a road where I could become the person I could only wish 4 or 5 years ago that I could become, but I needed That belief. And that belief came because I started to make small changes. I started to try to get up at the same time and go to bed at the exact same time. I started to take out foods that I know probably weren't serving me well— dairy, eggs specifically. And I started to look at how I was viewing a given situation, how I would look at my symptoms. Was it a sign that my brain was broken, or was it simply a sign that I needed to correct symptoms. So small little changes created belief, and that belief allowed me the motivation to move on. Now I'm going to tell you about something a little bit deeper, something that caused greater desperation in me. One of the greatest losses of my life was when my dad passed away. My dad passed away when he was 43. I was only 9 years old at the time. It took a long time to recover from And I remember the years of just wondering, you know, where's my, my male role model? Where is the person I'm going to look up to? Now, my dad died from a brain tumor. He was in and out of the hospital for the better part of my childhood. And understanding the combination of multiple concussions and a father who succumbed to a brain tumor was that additional surge that I needed. that desperation that I needed to make my transformation. Now, there's 2 ways to go about creating the motivation for change. Now, a lot of people will use that inspiration of seeing someone get to the place they want to be, and that works, okay? It requires self-motivating to get to that point. Now, a lot of other people are at a point of desperation. They're at the very, very, very bottom of the valley, and that's where I was. I'd broken my hand. I'd realized that I was getting closer to the age at which my dad had died from a brain tumor. I am now 42, 1 year removed from the same age that my dad died from his brain tumor. That is desperation for me. That is a desperation for me to help others recover from their PCS, but also improve my state moving forward, work on not only— now that I've got through the recovery, but actually layering up. Now, what are my brain longevity tools that I'm creating? And again, we can get to that later on in some of the other videos, but I want you to think of what is your point of desperation or inspiration that you can actually create, that you can think of in those darkest moments. Again, this was constantly a reminder for me, those days where you had those dips in your symptoms and you felt like, I didn't want to do my routines, I didn't want to do those protocols that were actually causing Or helping me. I just, I would sit there and I'd think, you know, what if, what if in 5 years I'm not here? What if in 10 years my kids are growing up in that same environment that I was growing up without a father? And this is no, obviously, fault of his. It's just, it's tough. It's sad. I love my family. I love my kids. And I look forward to just living as long as I can with them. But This was my point. This was my rock bottom, as they say. Taking that point of desperation and turning that into a catalyst for change. Okay? And again, I want you to think about after watching this video is, why am I doing this? You need a reason. You need a why. Is it your kids? Is it your future self? Is it your legacy? Is it because you know there's more for you in this world than what you have right now? But why are you doing this? Why are you embarking upon changing everything you do? And I'm going to tell you right now, for most of you, it's going to take a full, full system rehaul. You are going to have to be pinpointing when you go to bed, when you get up, what you eat, how much breathwork are you doing, because your body is at a state of disrepair. Your body is at a state where it is so dysregulated It needs more help than the average person. I think about it this way. I feel like before when I was driving my car, my body was like driving an automatic car. It would shift in and out of its sympathetic, parasympathetic. It would tell me when it's hungry, when it's tired, and I would respond. Easy. Okay? Now I feel like my body is like a standard transmission with a shoddy transmission where it's constantly clunking in and out of gear. But But I am the one determining if I'm going from a sympathetic to a parasympathetic. If I'm getting ready for bed, I have to dim the lights and do some breathwork and do my gratitude because my body isn't capable of that. And that's okay. Guess what? You are not the cause of your concussion, but you are responsible for your recovery. Again, to change is hard, but you know what's even harder is to live in this life Forever. I thought about that many times. I'd sit on my bed and think, as crappy as it is to get up and do something, as much as it pains me, as much as I have zero energy, it pains me even more to think that this could be my existence forever. I don't want this to be your existence forever. There's hope for you. There's great futures for you, but you need to put in the work. You need to start somewhere. Start small. Take that first step, but you got to take it. And then move on. With every step, it'll become easier. Okay, inertia tells us that that first step is the hardest, but thereafter, once you have momentum and motivation, it will improve. I hope you enjoy this channel. Please come back. My point of this channel is to provide you with that inspiration, okay, to provide you that roadmap. I want to be that guide for you because I've been there. I know how tough it is, but there is a road out. You just got to find the path. Thanks for watching. We'll see you later.
