A YouTube interview on the Enlightened Executive where host Susan Drumm interviews John Rampton about his life-changing construction accident, subsequent medical treatment (including stem-cell procedures and multiple surgeries), the legal/financial fallout, and his recovery journey; the conversation frames his experience as a source of lessons on stress management, personal meaning, and leadership growth.
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Hi, I'm Susan Drumm, and welcome to the Enlightened Executive, where your personal evolution sparks your leadership evolution. Each episode we feature groundbreaking techniques and strategies to help you get the edge in personal and leadership effectiveness. Today, I'm really excited to be talking with John Rampton. John was recently named the top online influencer in the world by Entrepreneur magazine. Time magazine recognized John as a motivational speaker who helps people find a sense of meaning in their lives. And he now advises companies on how to manage their growth strategies. And his story of how he overcame devastating odds after a horrible construction accident to become who he is today is truly inspiring and enlightening. And he's with us today to inspire us and share his winning formula for success. So I'm so grateful to have you on the show. Welcome, John.
Hey, thanks for having me.
Your story is really compelling and I can't wait for our listeners to hear about it. And it's wonderful when I get this opportunity to bring on another executive who is walking the path of enlightened leadership and on their path to doing so. But maybe we can start a little bit about your story. And, and so if you could share a bit, what happened to you related to the accident and what was the impact?
Yeah, I mean, this goes back a while, guys, but, you know, I was working at a construction site on the nights, weekends, days off. I was going to college at this time, and I was just trying to make, like, ends meet and, you know, trying to pay for college, you know, wasn't born with silver spa spoon. And I had to pay for everything. So, you know, naturally, you know, you'll run out of money if you just keep spending. And I didn't want to be in student loans, so I worked at a construction site. And while I was at the construction site, I was spraying off construction equipment with a hose. And one of the guys, not paying attention and unbeknownst to me was backing up in the wrong direction and he ended up hitting the back of my leg and running over and basically snapping my leg in half. You know, basically hit me from behind and snapped it forward. So, you know, that it was. It was not a fun thing to do. I don't recommend anybody here try it. But, you know, that was one of those pivotal moments in my life where, you know, up until that point, I was like, all right, let's go to school. And I, up to that point, I had a goal of being a pharmaceutical sales representative. That was my goal in life. That's what I wanted to be. And that's What? Like I was going to college, learning sales, learning how to do this, learning to become the best me possible. Well, you know, over the course of the next, like, three months, I was told by 13 doctors I would never walk again. Wow. Like, never walk like doctor after doctor after doctor. And I just wheelie up into their office and they'd be like, sorry, you're. You're not going to be able to walk. And you know, that was, that was crushing to me. Yes. Because my, my dream up to that point had been, hey, I'm going to be a pharmaceutical sales rep, you know, and they're kind of required to walk a lot and go up and down stairs and be whining and dining people all day long. And, you know, it just wasn't necessarily in my cards. So, you know, finally I met one doctor, and one doctor's like, hey, you. He's like, I have this new thing, it's called stem cell research. He's like, I've never tested on somebody your age ever. And he's like, you would be the first client in the US and you have to sign all these things. And I have to sign off that it's a pre medical procedure and it's not fda, it's not anything approved. We're going to test it out on you. And I was like, wait, so you're saying I might have a chance to walk? All right, let's try that. Because that's. And I had one doctor from Norway, another one from Finland, and they ended up flying to the United States and working with a bunch of staff in there. And they did surgery on me. And then over the course of the next three years, really, really, it was 12 months. They did extensive. I had about four surgeries, had a rod in my leg, tons of pains, wasn't able to walk, had one of those cold ice machines around my leg. I was sponge bath for, I think, eight months. I had a catheter in me, like I could not move. And the guy's like, hey, you have to consent to doing all this because I want to give it the best shot. And I was like, I'll do anything. So, you know, they did all these surgeries on me. They injected me with stem cells, and over the course of the next year, started to regrow the bone in my leg that was completely shattered, completely gone. During this time, you know, I. I had medical bills piling up. I was still trying to go to school, and the person that ran me over, obviously, you know, what, what's common in the insurance world in the construction world is none of them have insurance at all. So we got there and they're like, oh yeah, we'll take care of everything. And then two weeks later, an attorney got involved on their side. And I'm like, that's really weird. They said they pay for everything. And then they were like, oh, you are trespassing this thing. And I'm like, well, I have like four paychecks from you. Like, they went completely the opposite direction. It was terrible. So I hired an attorney, went after them. I ended up winning. I. It ended up going to the state of Utah and their workers comp. Ended up paying for my entire life, which was one of the biggest unforeseen blessings of my life at the time. But, you know, during this time, I had to pay for things. I had to pay for school, I had to pay for food, I had to pay for. I'd love to say I was going on dates, but I wasn't usually the dates were. Dates were coming to me and just making sure I was okay. I had to rethink my entire life. You know, I couldn't potentially walk. Even this doctor was like, hey, you're never going to be able to run a marathon again. You're never going to be able to go on extensive hikes. You're never going to be able to do the things that you're used to doing every single day of your life. And I was like, okay, but I'll be able to walk, right? And he's like, I think so. I'm like, I think. And you're going through all this not knowing. Before we started, you said you I could. Yeah, for sure. But now you're. I think that's awkward.
What did you learn through this process? You know, I imagine you had a lot of soul searching time to do that. What, first of all, what helped you and what did you learn?
Yeah, I mean, biggest learn for me was I learned a lot about what was truly important to me during this time. Because when you're in bed for 24 hours a day, seven days a week, you want to have a ton of time to think. It's annoying how much time you have to think. But two, you start really prioritizing the people, things, food, energy and mental effort that you have because you just don't have mental effort. I was always on pain meds, I was always on this, on that, trying to, you know, move to the next day. So it really taught me a lot about myself and, you know, how, how I as a person can.
