Ed Jackson | Millimetres to Mountains

07/28/21 • 74 min

Ed Jackson had a ten-year career in rugby. A proud Bath lad, and someone who had grown up watching Bath at the Rec, Ed’s dreams came true when he was signed by the club in 2007 at 18 years old.

Surprisingly, it was a day off the rugby field though that would bring Ed’s rugby career to an end. On 6th April 2017, at a family party, Ed chose to jump into a pool and unfortunately the depth was much shallower than expected. Ed was rushed to hospital immediately – along the way having to be resuscitated three times – when in the Spinal Cord Injury unit at Southmead Hospital he received the devastating news that he would never walk again. However, as we write this message, Ed is getting ready to walk Mont Blanc – one of the numerous mountains he climbed in the last 4 years.

He is the living example that in life we cannot change certain things that happen to us. What we can control, however, is how we perceive these events, and therefore our responses to certain setbacks. Since jumping in the pool, Ed has defied the odds to walk again, has climbed mountains in Nepal, has been recruited to commentate on the Paralympics in Tokyo and – as of yesterday – has become a Sunday Times best-selling writer. These are all feats that– to Ed’s own admission – he wouldn’t have done when still a rugby player. However, Ed’s ability to find purpose in his life and to practice daily self-improvement, gratitude and perspective has allowed him to achieve. Often in life it’s the post-traumatic growth we need to become who we always had the potential to be, and Ed is testament to that.

Ed has also co-founded Millimetres to Mountains, a platform that helps individuals redefine their limitations and take steps towards a brighter future. Alongside this, Ed has recently released his book, entitled “Lucky: From Tragedy to Triumph one step at a time.” The book, which is available on Amazon, is an incredibly personal account of Ed’s journey and the mental and physical challenges he overcame to get to the point he’s at today. The strength of the story has been confirmed by reaching Sunday Times best-seller status recently – another incredible achievement by an amazing bloke.

Ed Jackson had a ten-year career in rugby. A proud Bath lad, and someone who had grown up watching Bath at the Rec, Ed’s dreams came true when he was signed by the club in 2007 at 18 years old.

Previous Episode

Layla Guscoth | Defending the Nation: From the Court to Covid Wards

Today, we have the great privilege of releasing our conversation with Layla Guscoth who is both an international sportsperson and a qualified Doctor on the Covid-19 frontline.

In February 2020, Layla won a dream move to play professional netball for the Adelaide Thunderbirds in the Australian Suncorp Super League, widely regarded as one of the most competitive in the world. Just a few months later, as the pandemic spread, Layla – who studied Medicine at Oxford - had to choose between staying in Australia or returning to England to join the frontline fight against Covid-19. As a dedicated Doctor, Layla returned to England.

We often speak to athletes about the need to deal with pressure in order to achieve their goals and Layla’s success is a wonderful example. Whether coping with the intensity of an Oxford medicine degree, the high-stakes environment of elite sport or, more recently, the life-and-death environment of Covid-19 treatment, Layla has demonstrated that capacity to deal with intense situations. So there will be few people more knowledgeable than Layla about coping with the demands of high performance whether in sport or at work, and it was fascinating to hear her insights on both of these. We were so grateful for the conversation we had together, and we hope you enjoy it.

Next Episode

Tony Underwood | Flying High: A Story of Resilience

A British & Irish Lion, international rugby player and producer of some of the most memorable moments in English Rugby.

Coming off the back of a Grand Slam win in 1995, in which Tony Underwood and his brother, Rory, scored 7 of the 9 tries their team scored all tournament, England entered the World Cup of that same year full of confidence. The highlight of that campaign for England would be a quarter-final win over Australia – a side who had beaten them in the final four years earlier - with Tony scoring one of the most memorable tries in English rugby history, out-running the reigning world-champions’ defence from his own half.

Weeks later in the semi-final, Tony Underwood had the job of marking Jonah Lomu. After the 80 minutes, Jonah Lomu had announced himself on the world stage with four devastating tries, while Tony understandably had one of his lowest moments in the game. With New Zealand beating England 45-29, Tony had by his own admission under-performed on a big stage. However, as you will see in the podcast, he is far from someone who lets setbacks define them. Tony focussed on controlling the controllable, and rather than ruminating on past mistakes, he focussed on what constructive actions he could do to ensure he got back to his best.

Testament to this was Tony gaining a place on his second Lions tour two years later– one of the most memorable Lions tours of all time – which many will know from the documentary ‘Living With The Lions’. That tour, Tony would get a full Lions cap in the third test, which he refers to as a ‘symbol of resilience’. From one of the lowest points of his career in the semi-final in 1995, to achieving the ultimate honour in British rugby, Tony is proof that resilience and self-belief are some of the key components in maximizing your potential.

Since retiring from rugby, Tony has gone on to captain the largest commercial aircraft in the world - navigating an A380 across the globe. More recently though, in his role with Wordplay, Tony is helping organisations and individuals drive performance through better relationships and teamwork. As can be heard in our podcast, he has a set of proven methods to help people achieve their goal, and to help people facing their own Jonah.