The Healing Power of Therapy & Soccer: Overcoming a Traumatic Brain Injury with Jon Kinsler

What's going on, my friend?

How are you today?

Oh my goodness, glad to have you here on the podcast with me today, as always.

In case this is your first time, well, hey, I'm your host, Kevin Lowe, as well as a transformational life and business coach.

I've been blessed since starting this podcast back in May of 2020 to get to meet some of the most extraordinarily incredible people on this planet.

I've interviewed people from all corners of the country, that means the United States of America, but we've even taken it global.

I've gone as far as way as interviewing a lady all the way in Bali.

So to then have the opportunity to bring it back home, to take it from interviewing somebody from around the world to interviewing somebody right here in my hometown, well, I think that's pretty cool.

And today I have that opportunity because I am in the studio with a guy from my past.

We weren't necessarily good friends growing up, but we did go to school together and we knew each other back in the days of high school at Seabreeze.

His name is Jonathan Kensler, and today I am featuring his story because as with all of us, Jonathan Kensler's life has not just been perfect, it's not gone nearly as he had planned, nor anywhere close to how he ever thought it would go.

Because in the height of life, living life to the fullest, he would have a traumatic accident, a car accident, an accident that would leave a monumental impact on his life from that day forward.

When we think about accidents, car accidents, we think about the physical injuries, the things like somebody losing a limb or having something just immediately tragic like that.

But what about the injuries that happen inside?

Like the injuries to our brain.

Because Jonathan Kensler, he would suffer a massive brain trauma, and the impact of that, as I said earlier, would leave a lasting impact on his life.

Now, what's awesome about Jonathan Kensler is the fact that that is not where his story stopped.

That is not the highlight of his story.

No, the highlight of his story is what he did after the accident.

What he is doing today and continues today.

What role being the head coach of a high school soccer team plays in his life?

You're gonna get to hear all of it the good, the bad, and the ugly.

But one thing is for certain is that Jonathan Kensler is a pure example that none of us know what we are capable of until we are faced with it.

And so I want you to listen to today's interview and not just look at him and think, wow, what an awesome guy.

And the truth is he is an awesome guy.

But the real truth is that he's just showing you what you yourself can do also when you are faced with tragedy.

Now, coming from a guy like myself who's had my own tragedy strike in life, turning life upside down, sending me on a path I never expected nor asked for.

It's not that I'm saying that I want something to happen, or that you are guaranteed to have something happen in your life, but the fact is that it may.

And that's okay because it's life and you are stronger than your biggest challenge, and that's what's awesome about you.

So let's dive into today's episode.

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With that said, I introduce you to the guest in today's episode, Jonathan.

SPEAKER_00: Jonathan, welcome to the podcast.

Thank you, Kevin.

I'm glad to be a part of it, bud.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah, man.

Well, well, dude, thank you so much for being here.

So I would love for us to start things off by asking you to kind of take me back to the day of your accident, the car accident, and kind of paint a picture for me of what was happening at that point in life and in kind of leading up to the accident and then what exactly happened.

SPEAKER_00: Okay.

Well, at that point of my life, I was in a management and training program with Enterprise, the rental car company.

A few of my buddies that I went to college with and that I knew from around the area took that path and they they had a pretty good experience with it.

So I was enrolled myself in that.

I was also involved with coaching soccer at the local youth club at Ormond Beach Soccer Club.

So I was doing the both those during that time.

My job at Enterprise was in Daytona Beach, so I live in New Smyrna.

And when I was coaching, I was in Ormond, so I had three different locations I was kind of jumping back and forth to.

So in order to save some time, I would um stay at my parents' place instead of driving back to New Smyrna from Ormond that way.

I just had to Daytona Beach for work.

So the morning of the accident, I was at my parents' house, stayed the night there, was getting ready for work.

It was about 6 37 a.m.

And I had to be at work right around 8 a.m.

So I was getting ready, got my uh little uniform on, and headed out just like any other day.

So I was traveling southbound on US 1 and right around that Hawaiian Tropic building.

A semi-truck that was making a delivery was pulling out of that of the Hawaiian Tropic.

So he was crossing, you know, southbound, trying to get back to the northbound, headed to 95.

And at that point, you know, I don't know if he didn't see me or what the situation was, but he pulled out, you know, in front of me, and it's all history.

From there, I I woke up probably 10 to 12 days later, not really knowing what's going on.

I couldn't talk because I had been intubated.

So I had a tube in my throat to try helping me breathe and swallow and all that those uh normal functions.

And I just remember my mom was there.

I guess I was medically induced coma.

So they knew I was probably gonna come out of it, hopefully.

So I guess my eyes were were blinking or or moving.

So they told my parents that I was probably pretty close to waking up.

And uh my mom was there and I didn't really know what was going on.

I just saw you know a lot of lights and and beeping noises from the hospital, and you know, I I asked them what you know, what's going on, where am I?

And she says, You you don't you don't know what what happened.

I said, I have no idea what happened.

So later on I figured out that the doctors told me that was the brain's coping mechanism to forget such a traumatic incident.

So I have no recollection of the actual accident.

I just woke up in the hospital and from there I started my rehabilitation process.

I was always very motivated and eager to get better because I was such an active young man and wanted to get back to that if I could.

You know, the doctors didn't tell me I have, you know, six months and I'll be back, you know, playing soccer or running around again.

The brain heals in a different way than a bone or a muscle.

It is a muscle, but like a leg or a hamstring or something like that.

So there was no timetable, and I just kept working hard, working hard, wanting to get discharged from the hospital because I wanted to return home, get back to a normal uh life.

And obviously, normal wasn't really going to be part of my life again.

I was going to always suffer from some sort of deficit on my left side.

That's what got impacted.

But um, yeah, I've been working through those deficits, and I've been, you know, rehabbing with uh professionals.

I've been active on my own.

I've been staying and remaining positive and optimistic that I can one day get to the full recovery that I see in my eyes.

The doctors said I've fully recovered because I'm back to work, I'm driving, I'm living independently.

And those are those are things I'm definitely grateful for, but I think I still have more to offer and give myself, and uh, those are the things that I'm striving towards every day.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah.

Wow, wow, wow.

So the accident, the car you were driving, did you basically go right underneath of the semi-chark trailer?

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it would look like something out of the Fast and Furious.

Yeah.

Um they uh yeah, I went I went underneath of it and it took off the roof of my car, and the the paramedics and police said it was about six inches from decapitating me, really.

So definitely fortunate that upon impact I hit so hard that I was in my backseat of my car pretty much because I had uh well my my chair was in the backseat of my car, my passenger's or the driver's side chair.

So I I hit that hard, and that's what uh caused the the brain injury as well.

SPEAKER_01: Wow.

Now, besides for the brain injury, did you sustain any other injuries, like broken bones?

SPEAKER_00: Nothing of significance.

Like um, I had a I broke my nose and I had some other lacerations, but nothing of significance like the head injury.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.

Wow.

So now you you talk about like not having memory of the accident.

Can you remember though, which I mean I understand like sometimes it's hard because we our memory kind of gets tricked by you know hearing the story, but like, do you remember like what was your last actual memory before it happened?

SPEAKER_00: My last memory was I I I really think it was probably just telling my my dad or mom, whoever was up at the time in the kitchen, you know, hey, I love you.

I'll see you see you guys later.

I don't remember driving, I don't remember the night before because I had soccer practice.

So a few of the kids that came to visit me at the hospital asked, like, hey, do you remember our session we did?

And I was like, not really.

Yeah, yeah.

But um, yeah, so I probably lost about 24 hours of memory.

Wow.

Because I do remember long-term stuff, but yeah.

That that two one or two days prior, I don't really recall.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.

So crazy, so crazy.

So now talk to me about rehab.

What was the rehab process like for you know a brain injury like that?

SPEAKER_00: Right.

So they um Brooks Rehabilitation was the the provider, and they were in Halifax, but their main hub is in Jacksonville.

So inpatient, when I was in the actual hospital, we had uh therapy with is occupational and physical.

So occupational therapy worked with my upper limbs, and um physical therapy was more so my lower body.

So I was doing multiple sessions a day with both occupational, physical, and then I had uh speech therapy as well because I had some impact to my speech where the left side of my my face was um almost like a stroke where it was a little like droopy, if you will.

But um that never really ever came to anything that recovered very fast.

So I never had too much speech difficulties or you know, swallowing or chewing my food.

That was maybe a week, and then everything else was ongoing from there with the upper and lower body extremities.

Okay, okay, wow.

SPEAKER_01: Now, I know like therapy, I mean, physical therapy, occupational therapy, I mean, it can be a pretty grueling task, just I think emotionally and physically.

Is there any kind of like like moment that you can think back of like that was kind of like your lowest moment or like when you just kind of broke down, or kind of on the total opposite end of the spectrum, like any moment that stands out as like a highlight?

SPEAKER_00: Right.

Well, yes, it is a grueling process.

And with my injury, I was going back to very elementary things where I was trying to pick up like little pins and and stuff that I just, you know, on my right side, I could just boom, boom, boom, boom, pick it up, pick it up on the left side.

I was struggling, it was very frustrating.

And but the therapist, they work with you and they're like, it's okay, you know, we're we're gonna get it back.

Your muscles are gonna start firing, and you know, it's gonna be easy at some point.

I would say I recovered very quick very soon.

I went from a wheelchair to a walker to a cane to like a brace on my leg.

So I was going very fast and I was making, you know, really good strides forward.

I went from when I got released home from the hospital, I went up to Brooks in Jacksonville, and that's where the recovery got really expedited because they have like state-of-the-art equipment, they have very good therapists, and uh they work with you every single day.

So the commitment my parents made to driving me up there four days a week was uh very um admirable, in my opinion, because you know they're they're business people and they have their own lives going on, but they you know wanted the best for my recovery, so they did what they had to do.

You know, one would drop me off, come back, and the other one would pick me up, you know, six hours later or however long my uh my um session was.

We up there they had like classes with I had a class of people with similar injuries to me where we would you know work on um just different activities that would try to get our brains moving and working again, and then I'd have physical and occupational therapy up there.

So it was like a you know a structured um program that they had for me and people with sort of sim similar sort of injuries.

The highlight was just initially, you know, I I I started getting functionality back.

I was like, okay, this is this is good, but then the low point was probably the point where it kind of plateaus, and you're not really seeing any gains or any um any other movements.

I'm like, oh my god.

Like, so you kind of want to break down, like, what am I doing?

Why am I doing this?

It's not working anymore.

It's like, is this what I'm meant to live with?

So just you know, I've I got to that point, but then you can take it one of two ways.

You can break down and just turn negative, or you can turn around and say, hey, I still got more to give.

I'm not giving up on myself and remain optimistic and positive.

So I I continue to try to stay that way.

I do go to a local clinic here for for rehabilitation.

I have a a family friend who also is specialized in neuro for the brain and and therapy, so it was actually a very good connection.

And I work with her on a weekly basis, you know, and trying to you know get things firing and working on those little fundamental fine motor skills that I I need to um you know keep functioning in the right way.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, definitely.

So about like how long from the time of your accident to the time that you could get back to to living you know, a quote unquote like normal life, like how long was that?

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I was so I I went back living with my parents because I I have a town home and it's upstairs, downstairs, so getting up those stairs would have been a you know pretty tough task.

So I um when I was going up to Jacksonville, I was living with my parents at the time, and I think it was about six to seven months, the therapists and the doctors up there were saying, you know, he can start to drive again if when you're comfortable, like we've you know, cleared him to do so.

And I actually did a a driving course up there with them where they got that that they got to tell my parents, like, hey, we've evaluated him, he he can do it and he can live on his own.

But again, it's it's it's your pace that you should go by.

And so that gave my parents the confidence to you know say, okay, well, let's go out and get you a car and you know, you can start getting integrated back into your own home.

So we did it very slowly.

We we walked the stairs and made sure it was something I could do on a daily basis because I do it every day, you know, while I was still going to therapy, of course.

And at that point, I also got released to go back to work.

They were working, the Brooks Clinic was working with Enterprise and told them, like, hey, yeah, he he he can return back to work when uh a position becomes available.

So when it became available, they held it open for me and I got myself back in the workforce.

Wow, wow, wow, wow.

Probably about six to seven months.

SPEAKER_01: I mean, dude, that's really pretty quick.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, and that's and that's the thing.

It it it really moved quickly in the beginning, and then it kind of plateaus a bit, and then you're like, oh, well, what the hell?

Why doesn't it?

Why is it not still moving?

Like, why am I not you know improving that?

My doctor, who's was in control of like my she's a physiatrist, so she's in in control of my rehabilitation.

She's like, she told me, she's like, you will plateau at some point, you gotta work past it, you gotta try to stay positive and and um you know you can overcome it, but uh at some point you will plateau, just like in any part of life with working out or you know, you're in the gym, it's like, oh my god, I'm lifting the same weights for like six months, what the hell?

So um she mentioned that and it did it did come about, and uh it is defeating, but um working past it is something you know I'm I'm dealing with on a daily basis.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah, definitely, definitely.

Now, one thing like I was curious about when you talked about getting back driving, was that were you like apprehensive about it?

Were you scared?

Like have any kind of almost like PTSD given the fact of you know, all of this was caused when you were driving.

SPEAKER_00: It was weird.

Getting behind the wheel, I I was with my mom and you know, we went into a I think like a parking lot.

She's like, okay, do you remember?

I was like, I mean, I think I yeah, I just give me the give me the keys.

So I got in and it was like it was it was like normal.

I was like, yeah, I know what I'm doing.

I know when to break, I know how fast to go and how hard or soft to step on the pedal and break.

And then what we were doing was I did the student driver thing at the at the rehab thing.

So I I went on the highway in Jacksonville, which is you know a little bit more difficult than just in like Ormond.

What we'd do is my mom would let me drive about to a rest stop and then we'd switch places, so just to get back in the swing of things.

But no, I was never um never too too worried about it.

And At the end of the day, I've had similar semi trucks kind of cut me off, not as like close to as I had, but I'm like, oh, you guys, you know, this is exactly how people get injured.

What the hell are you doing?

But uh, so like I'm I'm just more aware, I'd say, a little bit more uh defensive now.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.

Yeah, so now along this journey, I mean, obviously you were you were an active guy before your accident in all of that, playing soccer and and whatnot.

How has that been, you know, both kind of like recently after the accident and then you know in the years since?

Because I assume it's affected your ability to be as active as you were before.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, definitely.

It's it's been very hard.

It's a it's an inner battle I'm dealing with of who I once was and now who I am now.

But you know, I I do find outlets, you know.

I I can still attend a gym if if I chose to do so.

I can still do things.

I can't physically go out and run and play soccer anymore, but I can, you know, I can remain physically fit.

And what I how I get my fix through soccer is through the coaching side and the administrative side where I can share my knowledge of what I you know once did with kids who are trying to get to the same levels that I once did and and help facilitate that through them.

So I kind of live vicariously through the kids I coach.

It's what I got.

SPEAKER_01: So yeah, no, I I absolutely love that.

So so along this journey, at what point did you kind of get into coaching soccer?

SPEAKER_00: So when I returned from college, I came back to Ormond, and I started playing in some like adult leagues and pickup leagues just to stay active and see what it was all about.

So I went to Orlando a little bit.

I did some locally in Ormond, and one of the leagues had um an Ormond Beach, I think he was the president of the club at the time, and you know, we were playing and had a good relationship, and and he asked me, he's like, Hey, you bet you ever think about coaching?

I'm like, what, in Ormond?

He's like, Well, yeah, we have a competitive program here now.

I was like, Okay, well, and he said it's a paid position.

I was like, oh, cool.

That's well, I'll look into it.

What do you got available?

And of course it was like the worst team ever.

And um, I mean, I guess you gotta start somewhere, but I took that worst team ever and I started recruiting kids, younger kids that were uh I was a cooler younger coach, so they're like, oh yeah, I'll play for John, I'll play for Kinsler.

So I started recruiting, and then I got involved in the local high school of Father Lopez, and some of those kids weren't playing at all, like year-round.

So I got them on that team, and they were good, so it elevated that, and they knew kids, so it just, you know, that recruiting stuff helped, and then I built it up.

I was like, oh, I kind of like this, this is fun.

And then I got another team, so I was doing two teams, and then the the board of directors and the president of the club really saw the value of what I was doing, and then I started getting more roles within the club of directing it and and kind of um you know doing some more administrative stuff, and they they leaned on me for more than just the coaching piece, so I kind of turned into a full-time position where I can make a livable salary.

Yeah.

Now, was that all going down prior to the accident?

It was, but after the accident, since I wasn't as active, I got more involved in like the administrative things.

I still coach and I'm on the field, but um, I I would say my my time is more dedicated to the direction of the club rather than just the coaching piece.

But I I piece it all together.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah, okay, that's cool, cool.

So now at what point do you begin coaching at a Seabreeze?

SPEAKER_00: So, a little Disney story.

Right after my accident, I was starting to get into coaching, and I was still like hobbling around a little bit on a cane or a wheelchair, so it was hard for me to really do too much, but they were very supportive in everything.

And then I I took over an older boys team, and and the president of the club was saying, hey, like a lot of these kids, this is a very good team, and a lot of these kids will be at Seabree, so if you'd like, you can just transition from you know coaching them at the club and then bam, right into the the Seabree season.

And I was like, so because there the Seabrees coach had left, he moved to Lake Mary or something.

So there was an opening, and I was like, oh shoot, I'll take it.

Yeah, that'd be great.

So I I took it, and that first year, you know, the kids really worked hard for me.

They knew me from the club, and they knew my my perseverance, my resilience from what I went through with the accidents.

So they everything I said, they just bought into it.

I wasn't feeding them any, you know, BS, it was legitimate directions.

That year was 2017.

We ended up going to the state finals for the uh the state tournament, and uh we actually won it.

So that year I came back and from my accident and then um you know started coaching again was the year we we took the state.

Wow, dude.

I mean, that's pretty incredible.

It was special.

You know, these kids were the same ones, a lot of them were the same ones that came to visit me in the in the hospital.

So, you know, just that journey with everybody was it was it was a special, uh special time.

And you know, this the state ring is still sitting right here on my uh my counter, so keep it in mind when I'm getting down.

I can just yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: I I mean I absolutely love that.

And I mean, I think we I think we all need those little reminders of of what we've already been through, what we've been able to overcome as that reminder, you know, when when life is tough, like, hey, don't worry, I've done it, I've been through worse, I can get through this, you know?

SPEAKER_00: Exactly.

And you know, whenever you think you're like, you know, how bad I, you know, you think you got it, you gotta go back and be like, well, you know, I could have been so much different, it could have been worse, or you think of other scenarios which could have happened, and you know, you're you're grateful for where you're currently at.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah, definitely.

Now, at any point, like kind of along kind of the whole kind of healing process after your accident, was there any moment when like you thought about like I don't want to be involved in in soccer if I can't be the same that I was, I can't be on the field playing like I was.

Was there ever a time that you kind of had that mindset?

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, you go back and you think you're like, oh man, like these kids, you know, they're you know, they see me as I am, but if they really could have seen me, they would have been like, all right, well, I'll shut up now and listen.

But so I uh yeah, you know, I I still go through those and like I said though, I mean I'll I'll laugh with the kids because they're all of an older age and they understand to a degree, and I, you know, I'll laugh about it with myself.

Oh yeah, I might not move, but I can still whoop you guys up.

You know, stuff just silly stuff like that.

Like just fun banter with you know high school guys and you know how uh men are with um you know boys.

We we like to mess around with each other and it's not all like serious, serious.

So uh having a good relationship with them is has made the it a bit easier for me not to be as able because they still respect me and um really you know take what I say seriously.

So that that that goes a long way.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, I absolutely love it.

Kind of my last question for you.

Okay, for somebody listening to this interview today, listening to your story, and maybe they've gone through something similar, they've had a traumatic accident, and it's kind of knocked them kind of off course in life.

Do you have any piece of advice for that person?

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's it's really just not to give up because I think my ability to remain positive through such a you know negative time really got me to another level.

There's been people I know and people that I've heard of that, you know, turn the other way and they're still, you know, struggling to get out of a a wheelchair and or other situations where they may have just maybe let themselves go altogether.

So just remaining positive that things will improve and get better, not giving up on therapy because as you may plateau, there is still more you can give yourself and just not to give up on yourself because that's you know the ultimate thing you want to fight for in this life.

You know, you got only there's only one of you, so you want to fight for it.

You know, give yourself the best chance to to live and be a good quality of life as well.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, I love that.

I love that so much.

Listen, John, man, I want to thank you so much, dude, for for being a guest here on my podcast, for for taking the time out of your day to to share your story.

And I just uh really want to thank you very much for it.

SPEAKER_00: Oh, hey man, I appreciate you uh you inviting me on, and I'm glad I got to share my story and um and reconnect with you really too, because you know that means a lot.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, well, thank you.

Thank you.

And for you listening today, I hope that you more than just enjoyed today's episode.

I hope that you've been able to take something said by our guest today that can be an impact to your life.

Because whether it's a traumatic accident or it's just the everyday struggles of life, I think there's a lot that John has just shared with us that we can put into action in our own life.

And remembering that we're capable, we're able to get over the hard stuff, and we just gotta keep fighting, putting in the reps and do what we gotta do because, well, this life, it's worth living.

So sometimes we just gotta fight for it.

This is Kevin Lowe with Britt Grayson Inspiration.

Get out there and take on the day.

Hey, real quick before you go, I have one last thought to leave you with.

I of course hope that you've enjoyed today's episode, but more importantly, I want to remind you that I never want you to listen to an episode of this podcast to hear something that I have to say or that my guest has to share and think, wow, I wish I could be like this.

I wish I could overcome my own challenges and do the great things that they are doing, but I just can't.

Well, friend, that's where you're wrong.

You are capable.

You are able, and you darn sure are deserving of having all that you can imagine in this life.

There's nothing special about me or any guests I have on this podcast.

We are all just normal people trying to make it in this life.

And so I encourage you to take a look at yourself in the mirror and remind yourself that you know what?

I can do it too.

Now, of course, if you would like help along that way, reach out to me.

Whether that's as a listener of this podcast, a friend, or if you'd like to work with me as a coach.

My contact information is inside of every episode's show notes, just like this one.

So go down, check out my contact information, and reach out to me today.

With that said, I encourage you to take on the day every day.