Broken Brains with Bruce Parkman
Broken Brains with Bruce Parkman is presented by The Mac Parkman Foundation
The mission of this show and the foundation is To serve as a source of information, resources, and communications to the community of parents, coaches/Athletic trainers, medical staff, and athletes that are affected by sports-related concussions and to raise awareness of the long-term implications of concussive and sub-concussive trauma to our children.
Broken Brains will also explore how Concussive Trauma impacts our Service Members and Veterans.
Join us every week as Bruce interviews leaders and experts in various Medical fields, as well as survivors of Concussive trauma.
Broken Brains with Bruce Parkman
#3 Advocating for Brain Health: The Mac Parkman Foundation's Mission to Protect and Heal
Imagine dealing with the heart-wrenching reality of repeated head impacts and their devastating effects on loved ones. That's the reality for Bruce Parkman and Suzanne Lines. The brother and sister team created The Mac Parkman Foundation through the pain and agony of losing Mac. Joining them on this episode are Don Fried and Stacy Bayton, who are also critical members of the foundation.
Join us on this episode as the team shares their origin story, from a chance encounter with Bruce at a convention to the personal stories that fuel each of their passions. This episode of Broken Brains is a testament to the strength of personal connections and the relentless pursuit of making a difference in the world of brain health.
As the foundation gears up for significant growth, we dive into the mission-driven efforts to address sub-concussive trauma and CTE. The dedication to creating safer environments for children and veterans is palpable.
From issues like concussion management in sports and military training to converting the first tackle football team to flag football, this episode is filled with heartfelt gratitude and shared commitment. It's not just about problems; it’s about solutions, hope, and the promise of a safer future for everyone impacted by brain health issues. Tune in to hear the powerful stories, the progress made, and the exciting plans ahead.
Find out more about our mission at The Mac Parkman Foundation.
Join Blue Fusion and Horse Soldier Bourbon for the inaugural Special Operations Army vs. Navy Tailgate Event
Celebrate with us and support veteran wellness. Your participation helps fund The Mac Parkman Foundation's Veteran Program and Team American Freedom.
Your sponsorship ensures vital education, screening, and treatment for veteran mental health, aiming to reduce the tragedy of veteran suicide.
Enjoy food, beverages, and live music by Razor’s Edge, one of the top-perform
Produced by Security Halt Media
Welcome to Episode 3 of the Broken Brains. I'm your host today, bruce Parkman. We want to thank our sponsor, the Mack Parkman Foundation, for helping us get this program off the ground, and to you all so you can learn about the amazing things that are happening in the brain health space, as well as some of the tragedies that drive them On the horn with us. Today is we have absolutely the starting point of this whole thing, which is the Mack Parkman Foundation. With this whole thing, which is the Mack Parkman Foundation, and this foundation is staffed by a group of amazing people that, from their own walks of life, have all come together. So, as I say, it's how God works to create an organization that is literally driving the message home about what we are dealing with as a society.
Speaker 1:When we talk about repeated head impacts and repeated blast exposure and you know the consequences that not only are we paying right now, that we are going to pay for quite a long time if we do not start paying attention to this problem. You've seen on other episodes, you know, as we started diving into my personal tragedy and then talking to Marissa McCarthy on the issue of brain health and what she's seen as a concussive specialist. Today we have the staff from this foundation and it's going to be just a great conversation. I mean, what they're doing to drive this message home, to create awareness, to advocate, to bend your ear, to grab you in the hallway and just let you know that they are not getting off this trail is simply amazing. So I want to thank you all for being on the show and let's dive into it. Why don't you, uh, introduce yourself? Who do we got on this show today? I don't think I know you guys let's start with suzanne.
Speaker 4:She was the number number two number two, number two, uh, my name is suzanne lines. I am, uh, the acting executive director, and Bruce is my brother, mac was my nephew, so there's a lot of love that goes into being a part of this foundation and it's been a life changing experience for me so far, so I really appreciate being a part of it.
Speaker 1:Thank you, suzanne.
Speaker 4:Now I'm going to let you guys go.
Speaker 3:Just Suzanne. By the way, she does not have a last name. Yeah, that's it. That's all I got, suzanne.
Speaker 4:I said Suzanne.
Speaker 3:Lyons, it's on her birth certificate. Oh, you mean me, I know it's like. Madonna.
Speaker 2:You get to go next.
Speaker 3:Dawn.
Speaker 2:So let's see how this goes.
Speaker 3:All right, and I guess I would be number three then. Right, talk about startups and young companies and the engagement rates of it, but my story was started when I crossed paths with Bruce a little over two years ago. It was at your last I2 conference here in Tampa.
Speaker 3:That's where it was and I know it was very recent for you. I think it was a year at that time. So I think you guys were just a year into it maybe, or just getting started when I saw you and I tell you it was just the authentic emotions that you had about the story and I was there for I too, and then, you know, you just went into the story with me. You felt so comfortable about sharing, and so you know it was your authenticity that just moved me, you know, to do something, and I think I actually called Stacy when I left that and I was like, hey, you know, gut, check for your boys. And you know it hit home because we were talking about it today.
Speaker 3:You know, bruce, you know, many moons ago, when I separated out it was early on in the war, in the early 2000s, and so I was starting. I did my own small charity, you know, way of giving back and pairing people with alternative therapies that weren't yet inside of the VA system at the time. And you know, like back this, pre-acupuncture days, and so acupuncture was a big one. That community really stepped up and a bunch of different ones. So, but so the story just really resonated with me, just from my own journey, from you know that time that was 15 years ago.
Speaker 3:So you know, in in that connection I just knew I could do something, I could have an impact with you guys, let alone from the business development side or, you know, the marketing side. So you know I was just moved. I was just moved, you know, that day that we shared that little bit of time on it and you know we stayed in touch and, and you know, started working together shortly after that and you know that was uh. And you know we stayed in touch and, and you know, started working together shortly after that, and you know that was uh. You know, now it's been two, two years, right, a little over two years.
Speaker 1:So um, I do. I think stacy was when you were there too, because stacy reached over and grabbed me and said I got a boy, he's struggling, and I, I couldn't help but overhear something. You were there too, stacey, weren't you?
Speaker 2:I wasn't there, but we had a conversation right after that.
Speaker 1:Who was at the vet jobs what? I said to you was you were, but there was a woman there and she pulled me in oh, there was that's right.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's Was, oh, that's debbie, she was a debbie grabbed me, she goes I overheard you.
Speaker 1:I'm sorry, I don't usually just overhear and she goes, that's right 21 year old, has been playing football since he was eight. He is hurting right now and I don't know what to do. So, um, I think that uh you know that I for some reason stacy. I always thought that you know, for some reason, stacey. I always thought that was you. Until this moment, I thought that was you at the table. No no.
Speaker 2:No that was Rebecca. But you're right, don, in the fact of you know, for us, bruce, for Suzanne, she's your family For us. We met you through an alternate universe, if you will, because we were. We were coming in through the I2 and the you know the business side, and and Don referenced the phone call he made he literally was on break, I think, from the conference. You weren't even on the way home, don, and you said I get that, I'm here for I2, but but I don't want to talk about it. We need to talk about some other stuff. And you know, the first thing he brought up were my boys and he said I'm concerned about what they're doing.
Speaker 2:And he said you need to hear this message and you need to understand what is happening, this message, and you need to understand what is happening, and and for me, because Don's my brother, so personally, you know. First of all, I sent him there to do something for business, you know. Then he comes back and he says no, personally, I've never heard Don, ever, you know, and I've known him his entire life, his, his voice caught. I'll never forget that, Bruce. And he said you need to listen to me and I've never heard him talk like that. So it really I did. I actually shut up, which doesn't happen a lot.
Speaker 2:So I did, I shut up and I listened.
Speaker 1:You know it's for all of you to, you know to jump in. So I did, I showed up and I listened. You know mama wasn't around. My stepmother, kid Parker, was in the Army and I'm literally just going out to the pier every night with my little three-pound dog because that's all that's left and I'm drinking myself to death. Every night. I'm giving away big tips to these little redneck guys that are just fishing for sharks and stuff. I'm just talking to anybody. I'm just alone and I'm surrounded by all these papers that are making me understand that I should have known something, because they're older papers, and I'm feeling the guilt and I remember we had a girl picked out and she declined the job and you said I'm in. And I remember that so vividly, you know, and I'm like, and I and I'm the relief. I felt like, oh, thank God, cause you know, as you say, I love the way you walk through life.
Speaker 3:And and.
Speaker 1:I know that you and I and you're like, well, what if I fart it all up, you know, and I'm like, well, we'll fart it all up together. Man, I mean, it's just, we're going to learn. We're going to learn and the mistakes we learned, we're just not going to make them again and we're all going to grow. I mean, I think you told me I can't even spell foundation or something like that, you know.
Speaker 4:I said to you was dude, I've been like raising kids and baking bread and building furniture. I said what do I know about running a foundation? And you said what do I know about running a foundation? And you said I've hired some of the most amazing people on paper and they end up screwing it up anyway. He's like so let's just do that. You said, let's just do this together and see what we can do. And now we're almost three years in and we've done some pretty awesome stuff we have.
Speaker 3:It just gets a more awesomer, right? I mean, it's just all the things that are in play right now. It's just the snowball effect, is it? You know, is is there, so it's, it's just growing.
Speaker 1:Let's is there, so it's just growing and growing. So I mean, let's talk about that.
Speaker 1:I mean, I think a lot of our audience doesn't know us yet and they don't know the dynamo that you know just the five of us with Nancy has become in this. You know the national space and our network of people and I do believe that there's a reason for that. I mean, it's not because we're people you need to know. You know we're not influencers, but we have created an influence. So you know, why do you think that is? What do you think about the foundation I've started? You know I've started the Green Beret Foundation. I founded the Global Soft Foundation and they're all they're. They're out there, but you know, and they're amazing foundation. They do great, but there's something different about this foundation and its mission and I think the traction that you all have developed and the momentum that you talk about, don you know what do you? Why do you think that is what is it?
Speaker 3:You know, being around for the last couple of years, I mean, it was definitely different when I first go. I think we found our messaging a little bit more clear and you know it's the right place, right time. I mean, think about it with Dr Amalo's discovery, you know. So, 2008, circa that time, you know, the focus has been on CTE, but the wording has been around for 15 years. Right, the movement's been around for 15 years. It's just never it's gotten its news stories, it's gotten its national exposure.
Speaker 3:Nothing's stuck over that time period and you know, hopefully, that we're the ones to do it in a sense. But I think we've been able to One, distill the messaging down, because it's very science, heavy down to a very granular level, but two, I think it's the relationships know that's leading to the national exposure, or possibly working in nine different states next year, to the developing of community outreach programs, to an app where we could, you know, really aggregate the content and the message around the LMS. I mean, there's so many things that have just unfolded in the last six months, especially just from the crossroads of people that we've we've, uh, intersected with. So I think it's just the quality of people we've gotten around in the last six to twelve months has gotten better and more important, uh for for what we're able to do, and it's just opening up more and more doors, and it's one hearts and minds right one at a time right there and yeah, but there's there at a time.
Speaker 2:That's pretty great stuff right there, yeah. But there's a word you used, don, when you were talking before the authenticity and the purity, because I think all of us have had experience in the nonprofit sector in one way, or the foundation sector, and you see a lot of missions pop up and it's personal to somebody but it doesn't always get carried through. Everybody who's championing that mission and I think it's, you know, being the last to come onto this, this team, just in the last year you know it's a very pure mission. It's not a selfish mission. It's stampeding out to save kids right, create a safer environment.
Speaker 2:It's not taking something away but just making sure that people are safe while they're doing it and that they know and I think, because of the way that this has been introduced and marched out publicly, people have listened where, in a lot of cases, when you're taking something out publicly, people have listened when, in a lot of cases, when you're taking you know something out public, if somebody disagrees they shut their ears. And when they do that, you know they become aggressive on trying to shut you up and shut you down, and you've seen a couple of those, bruce more, I think, on social media, but I think there's a purity to it and all the foundations and the partners that you have spoken to, or that we've spoken to, have embraced this message rather than become defensive and argumentative and not listening. And that's unique. Because I've worked in the nonprofit space for over 20 years. It's a very different scenario than I've ever experienced, and I'm not saying it's easy, it's not making our job easy.
Speaker 1:It doesn't hurt.
Speaker 2:But it is. It's making it a little bit easier to have the conversation and I think the other thing.
Speaker 1:You know, suzanne, when we got going back in the day, nobody knew what subcust of trauma was. I mean, it was just CTE and concussions. You know, when I went to the first Concussion Legacy Foundation, remember you went there right, cte and concussions, and I stood up in front of all these parents and all these NFL wives of deceased NFL players I said can we all admit that our loved ones are not here because of mental illness and what has been done to their brains? And they're all just looking at me and then, sooner or later, some people would come over right Because all they've heard is CTE, concussions. And Suzanne, what do you? What do you? I mean, what do you think since then? I mean, I think you know, what do you think about? You know the reality of this, you know, becoming more and more a understood or a recognized issue by the, by the public.
Speaker 4:I think that we have like a different take.
Speaker 4:You know where we did two years ago, and I think that I think a lot of it comes from you, to be perfectly honest, I think that when you speak to a room full of people or you speak individually to someone, you have so much passion in the way that you talk about your son in a really important way.
Speaker 4:It's not just, you know, you're dripping with grief and you can't, you know, go out. You are the and I tell you this every time I get a chance like the way that you honor your son is like nothing I've ever seen and I don't know that I could do that, honestly. But I think that people are very much drawn to what we're doing because we're not trying to like take anything away. Like you said, stacey, we're trying to make things better and we're not doing it selfishly. We want to bring everybody into it and I think the fact that we have brought those people in, you know, I think that's made some of the difference. I think the fact that we're not trying to, you know, get rid of you know we're out of that kind of angry stage and we're not trying to get rid of.
Speaker 1:Yeah, look at my Twitter feedings from back then.
Speaker 3:It was pretty bad. Well, she's right. I mean, that's the evolution of your grief at the same time, in some sense.
Speaker 4:Right.
Speaker 3:So it's you manifesting that in yourself that's helped shift your focus changes on it too, Right.
Speaker 4:And if you haven't noticed, like some of the newer people that you're bringing in, haven't? If you haven't noticed, like some of the newer people that you're that you're bringing in, if you were to look at them a year from now, they're going to be so different than they were, like right now when you're meeting them. I have two people that I'm thinking of specifically, that I'm not going to name, but they're in that very beginning stage where they are ready to burn it all down and they're just not ready to listen to anything else yet. And you know, karen Kinzel, and I talked about that.
Speaker 4:She said you're absolutely right. She said, eventually they're going to get, they're going to come to a like a level playing field where they understand that you kind of have to meet somewhere in the middle and you have to meet people where they are. And I think we're doing a good job of that now and I, um, I don't know, don't know, I feel like in the last six months we've just gotten tons of exposure and I don't. I think a lot of that has to do again with you, um, going and meeting a lot of people and just kind of dumping these like hey meet this person here.
Speaker 2:Here's another one, hey this one wants to talk at the end, you know, and we're like trying to catch them all.
Speaker 3:I was like what do we do now? But the quality is there, the quality.
Speaker 4:The quality is there. Like when I tell people about the veteran panel that we had at the summit and I'm like, yeah, you know those guys that like rode in on horseback in Afghanistan and killed a kind of. I'm like one of those guys was on our panel and people were like what? And I'm like, yeah, so I mean we were just like meeting these really great people that have something to say and really want to be involved. And if you look at it too, all these different people that are getting involved with us, they all have a different angle or they have a different, and I don't mean that negatively, they just have a different something to give. And I don't mean that negatively, they just have a different something to give. And I think we're still trying to figure out how we put that all together in one pie, rather than having all these people out there, Because everybody wants to do something and we all have like a piece of that pie. That's bringing it all together. That, I think, is what we're starting to figure out.
Speaker 3:I think it's us that brings that together, and that's part of the foundations doing in the space? Is we're becoming what do they call it? Like the dark?
Speaker 2:matter in space right.
Speaker 1:It's omnipresent. He's gone. Now there goes Don's brain, oh my.
Speaker 3:We are because our tentacles are in a lot of things. I mean, we were just on with the company out of Europe, basf, who knew that we'd be talking to guys like that.
Speaker 1:How can you help us? How can you, the foundation, help us penetrate the medical market for neuro inflammation? Like a couple of billion bucks, you can't figure that out. But we're here to help man. Billion dollar company right.
Speaker 4:This is the Omega 3 company Omega 3 company, that's right.
Speaker 3:Speaking of, I have a guy in my dog park here who does business with him and he has relationships, so I'm going to hit him up about some ideas. But just an example, right. I mean look at the General Hammer you met the other day To Liz. I mean look at the people that are doing things around us that are just gravitating to us because of the energy that's happening.
Speaker 1:And I think for the first part, you know, stacey, I think you've been around a lot of nonprofits out there and I have too and the ego and the competitive. You know, you know all that. You know the Green Break Foundation, we stood that up. It was all about a staff sergeant going there's not enough care, we need to stand this up. Within a year there were like three other foundations going to the same donors for the same problems and it was like why don't we just unite? And here I think you know what do you think? I mean? Because we are kind of that unifying factor. We don't do services, we don't do. We are focused on you know, connecting to your point, don creating this environment of networked individuals and organizations that are here to help children, to help vets, to help athletes. I mean, stacey, have you ever, you know, do you think that's, you know, part of our wow, you know, as a foundation?
Speaker 2:I do, and I'll tell you, the nonprofit sector is one of the most competitive markets that I've ever seen. You know, like you said, bruce, somebody stands something up, another person sees the dollar value of oh I'm gonna use that to go chase that pocket of money which I didn't think I was eligible to get, and it's it's survival, the fittest in the nonprofit sector. But foundations are changing. Foundations are actually coming forward now and saying, hey, we have limited funds, we want to see collaboration, we want to see. But that's not what the nonprofit sector has been about. They're not a collaborative group, they are very much an isolated. I need this for us to do this and I need to survive.
Speaker 2:And so I think for Mac, we came out the door waving our hands, going hey, we want to be friends with everybody and we want to collaborate and we want to be that connector and you know, we want to help make what you want to see happen and what you want to see happen.
Speaker 2:And we want to do what we want to do and we want to work together, because together we're stronger. That is not a common message, but it has resonated already with four foundations who are like we love it, you guys are just just so easy to work with and you're just so agreeable, you know, and you just want good stuff for the community, whether it's you or another group doing it. And we're like hey and Bruce I've swiped your message of we don't want to do everything. We want to do our part, but we want to help others do their part so we can get more done. And and it's, it's such a unique message and I and not I don't mean unique as if a foundation hasn't heard it before, but unique in the sense where we're not just given lip service. We actually all of us we mean what we're saying, we mean we want to collaborate, we mean that we need each other and we need to do more and our actions show that and I think that's truly what makes it.
Speaker 1:I think Suzanne calls that, being Switzerland, and I've never been Switzerland on anything in my life. I'll tell you that. But I am Swiss. I am definitely Switzerland on this and, uh, you know, suzanne, is our, is our messaging has, uh, evolved. You know now, uh, you know we, we've come across the realization that we've got to address our veterans issues.
Speaker 1:You know, it was like, you know, we're all about kids and that's, you know, our, you know, part of the primary focus and I think you know, for our audience, suzanne, you know what you know I'd like you to, you know, talk about our position on kids and contact sports for folks to understand what you know, what we feel. But the you know the other part of it is that we decided, we, we found out that, oh my God, you know, being a veteran with a mental health breakdown two years ago and having to go through all that hospitalization and and trying all these new things to kind of, and then being diagnosed with, you know, general anxiety disorder as a result of, you know, all the explosions and combat and you know being shot. You know, and it's stuff that I had, you know, been going through. You know that. You know that that was like wow, you know, we've got to do something for these kids and, and they, and they are, they're kids that have gone to. You know, their only crime was they volunteered for the military and went to war. And we as a society have, you know, their only crime was they volunteered for the military and went to war. And we as a society have, you know, sent them to war more than any other generation. And yet when they come back, when they mess up, we throw them in jail.
Speaker 1:We have one million incarcerated veterans in jail right now. I mean incarcerated veterans, you know so. You know what do you feel about expanding. You know our mission. I mean, you've been there with the foundation since get go, when we were doing word documents and finding logos, and and now you know, you've, you've put together this amazing organization we have, you know, stacy coming in to to lead it, while you come to the board and help me out. What do you? What do you? You know, what do you? What do you think the veterans approach has, is, is going to do, and and you know what are the opportunities or challenges that you think it offers up for the foundation.
Speaker 4:Well, so I'm the only one that's not a veteran of the four of us.
Speaker 1:It was your turn for the question so don't be pawning it off, but you can't. This is like Hollywood.
Speaker 3:Squares man, it's like.
Speaker 1:Hollywood.
Speaker 4:Squares. You can hand it off, you know? No, I actually have a really really good answer for this, because it's really how I feel um I you know, knowing that you're a veteran, I have tons of respect. However, I think the first army navy game that we serve tacos at. I recognize the camaraderie and the brotherhood that people have Give the background to that.
Speaker 1:How did we end up serving tacos at an Army-Navy game?
Speaker 4:Well, all I know is it was July 4th, parade-ish right around there and you came bombing into your kitchen and said, hey, do you want to serve burritos at an army navy game? And I was like what? And you're like, yeah, we'll just like get those frozen ones and stick them in a microwave. I'm like how are we gonna do that? Like, and I don't.
Speaker 3:The fact that we figured it out, not just figuring it out. How many did we serve that first time?
Speaker 4:the first time we did 700, I think think. And then we did what Like 12 or 13.
Speaker 1:We froze.
Speaker 3:But, oh God.
Speaker 4:And like just the simple, putting that like in front of us. I'm like how.
Speaker 1:Don't say no. I don't say no, I know.
Speaker 4:I'm like, how are we going to make make this work? And I'm asking everybody for some like information. I'm like so what do people that usually fly and do like how do you get like cooking utensils and whatever? We killed it I'm not gonna lie, we killed it meatballs, yeah yeah, meatballs so just a little background.
Speaker 1:That was, we supported another foundation, but we saw the opportunity to raise awareness with all these parents that were there, and so that was really good. So that was your first time really around a military group. Huh, suzanne.
Speaker 4:Other than like your all-military rugby thing when I was like 18. Yeah, that was pretty much. That was kind of for the most part. I mean, I've known Carmine and Jay for a long time, but to see the I don't know. And then we did an event in Dallas and some guys came up and talked to you and you had no idea who they were, but you had one thing in common which was like maybe where you were stationed or something, and it was like you guys became friends, like that.
Speaker 3:And.
Speaker 4:I was like like no other place in the world, like I've never seen that, where people just start talking and the next thing you know like and what's crazy about you too, is that you'll talk to these people and you'll actually send them messages and next thing you know they're like I'm going to stay with you on the weekend, and I think that's so amazing that you have this built-in brotherhood in a lot of ways and sisterhood, and I remember being with you recently where you were getting phone calls about your friends that were really suffering and you're like man, this is no different, this is really no different than what's going on on the adolescent side actually express how they feel openly when they're having mental struggles. You know where, with teenagers, it's a little bit harder for teenagers and kids, I think. So I think the moving into the veteran space makes so much sense.
Speaker 4:Just it's so logical just because of what you guys have for a background in general and all the people that are hurting, just because of what you guys have for a background in general and all the people that are hurting, that's not to say and they're actively hurting, like you can see it, you read about it and you know, I know that the suicide rates for veterans is like through the roof and I mean, if we could do something on that side too, then that just kind of doubles our mission and, you know, allows us to do something.
Speaker 1:We met with general hammer from the FDVA the other day and you know, suicide rates have decreased, but only like by four or 5%, which any percent, of course, is a big, big step. But there's still too much. You're still too high and I think we are, you know, you know, talking about what could be a pretty common disorder. You know, we were talking to Marissa this morning about just parachute shocks. I mean, my kid's a parachutist, right, he's not a big fan of jumping out of planes right now. Every time he does, it's a disaster.
Speaker 1:I mean it's, you know, it's crazy, but uh, you know, I do believe that you know, the, the, the veterans, uh, you know, identifying, uh, this issue with veterans.
Speaker 1:It's not like we're creating a whole, nother veteran thing. It's this issue, you know, addresses our impacts, our children and older, when they become adults, but veterans. And then, like me, you know, I've been retired 20 years and here I am sucking my thumb in the corner of the bed, going, why am I having these? I didn't even know what a panic attack was. I was flipping out and I'm just, you know, and I know that you know there's a whole bunch of guys and girls that have seen it way. I didn't fight these two crazy wars. You know there's a lot of people out there to see it and I think you know, now that we've met and we're, probably we're going to be looking at legislation now to get these alternative events covered, cause you know what came out in that conference was and Don comment, this is like the current, you know protocols of just pharmaceutical drugs and therapy, especially when it comes to RBE, repeated blast exposure and even RHI with kids and stuff. It just doesn't cut it. It's not getting us anywhere.
Speaker 3:And that's two decades, right. So when I was talking about the work I was doing with Military Mustards 20 years ago and it still hasn't gotten, it hasn't in 20 years time, hasn't really gotten. There's no significant shift or improvement. The high suicide rate is still there. I mean, that's a long thing. But look at the parallels right, the high op tempo for veterans and military training alongside kids and sports, right, and high op tempo in sports. You know the repeated, you know they don't have the rest, you know. So there's a lot of the things that just cross over into the world. That's why it's easy to to pick that up and and just, it's not like we're really overburdening ourselves because it's really a lot of the same things. Do rbi, rbe to rhi, a little bit different, but um, so there's some nuances, but there's a lot of the similarities and treatment options. Right. Then you, it's even more compounded if you think about the, the people who are in military or or separated. But we're athletes, prior athletes, a lot of prior prior Prior athletes Brains coming in.
Speaker 1:Yeah, marissa mentioned it this morning. I'm like, well, you can't screen for that. Those are the kind of guys and girls we need to come in.
Speaker 1:They're angry, they want to go mess somebody up you can't tell me, you're not because you play contact sports, but you know to your point. So, Stacy, you know you're coming in CEO, so we've come a long way. You know the conference was, you know. You know, for our audience, we held the first conference in the history of mankind on repeated head impacts and repeated blast exposure and these three musketeers, with Nancy, put that whole puppy together. I didn't do anything, I just came up with the idea where are we going to ship? What would you like to do with the foundation for our audience? Sue and Don got it this far and Sue's still going to be a significant presence in this organization. I am just going to be that face. That's why I flip her. She's like I just flip stuff over the fence and she's like, oh, and she catches it all, man, and she keeps it going. You know so.
Speaker 3:We're running with it we're running with it.
Speaker 4:Yeah, all I know is on Sunday you were real busy because I had about 67 emails and I was like come on down for a minute, bert. That was my email catch-up day, man.
Speaker 1:I mean, I was 300 into it. I'm like dude, I got to get these out of here, but you know, all of you comment on this.
Speaker 1:Where have we been, you know, and where are we going to go as a foundation to you know, not only keep the momentum, but increase it right and put the pressure on the right people to address this issue for our children. I mean because we can have a safer society, we can have contact sports, we can have the most lethal military in the world and we, you know, we're not like you said, you all have said it, we're not taking anything away and I think that's part of our appeal is let's keep what we have, but, man, can we make it better, right? So you know what are you? How are we going to make it better?
Speaker 2:So I think we've come a long way, you know, in the last couple of years. It's it's so crazy to me to think that this foundation is only three years old. Thank you, Sue and Dawn of uh ground. Yeah, yes, the amount of ground that has been covered in such a short time is just, it's unfathomable in this, in this uh industry.
Speaker 2:Um, this last year it was a lot of the small baby step growth that that don talked about. You know we're picking up grant dollars, letting the foundation world know who we are and that we're not going away. You know we're getting bigger and badder and we'll be back. So it's, you know there's a lot of baby steps as far as outreach and engagement, becoming a part of some good organizations out there who have been around for a long time, like Project Play and the Aspen Institute, Safe States. So becoming a part not just a part, but I hope this resonates with you a respected partner in those networks which is really hard for new nonprofits to one get access to become a part of For this age, right yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, at this age, but to be respected. And you know, bruce, they're fighting, they're knocking on the door on can you guys do this, can you, can you do that? So it's, it's, it's very much still about that community outreach and that growth. You know, becoming a bigger part of those networks, having a larger presence and getting our Mac app out there, getting the information out there. Presence and getting our Mac app out there, getting the information out there, increasing the engagement from a foundation perspective, becoming a bigger part of Project Play. You know, taking over some other areas for Project Play.
Speaker 2:We're in, I think, two areas right now, suzanne, correct. So we're going to be going into more of those areas. But also, you know, we've got a lot that's been that's come at us from the summit, a lot of the doctors, a lot of the research. So we want to increase our research and do more of it and I think I think we're finding new, new directions to take some of this research, both on the youth side but also on the veteran side, search, uh, both on the youth side but also on the veteran side, uh, and just expanding that message more.
Speaker 2:You know, and just I don't want to say we're flying, but we're flying. You know, you guys went from crawl to run to fly. Uh, we skipped the walk stage. So we've got a lot of work to do in this in this next year, but I I still feel it's still a lot of research and a lot of engagement, you know, and stepping up into larger roles within the community. And we're storming DC in May, so we're knocking on the legislature's door and we'll be in that town for a full week.
Speaker 4:God help them all.
Speaker 1:And we're ready. Well, suzanne, you're the pilot that got this airline moving man, so you know. And Stacey, you mentioned the app. I am so excited about the app, so you know, talk about the app. You know, how did we get in there? You know what's this app going to do and you know, because I think we're getting ready to, you know, we're going to have like a minimal. You know, I have a beta product pretty too, which I need to do a little bit more writing on. But, but, but, talk about, talk about this app, cause I think you know that this app, you know, puts us as a foundation, on a map, as being a partner for parents, you know, and their children. I mean, you know, it's uh, you know there's there's nothing in this app that I just think it's such a blessing to be able to get this out there. So, suzanne, talk about this. This is kind of your baby man, I mean you.
Speaker 4:It's really not. It's more Stacy's baby because she wrote the plans for it. Well, I asked you the question, so you know we're talking about the app Sorry.
Speaker 1:Hollywood Squares man, okay, I know Hi.
Speaker 3:All right, what would you like? All right.
Speaker 1:So, suzanne, as we get ready to close out this episode, you know what would you like to, what would you like to talk about, and we'll save the app for you know somebody else.
Speaker 4:Oh no, we can talk about the app.
Speaker 4:I'm excited about the app I think the app's going to be great. I think that it you know the more that we you know when we started doing these things and engaging in the community. We're like we're trying to decide if that's really, you know, if that's what we want to do, do we have the bandwidth to do that? And I think it's probably the best way for us to actually get our message heard is to be in the community and educate, um, but I think the app is going to be a big part of that.
Speaker 4:And I think if we pair those two in the app and say some sort of a training for coaches, I think they go hand in hand, um, and it allows the coaches to know what to look for. It allows the parents to know what to look for. You know, when my son got a concussion, I didn't know what to look for and we went to a concussion specialist and, funny enough and I don't even know that I've told you this the first thing the concussion specialist did was push drugs on somewhere and I was like nope, yep two drugs.
Speaker 4:First one was an antidepressant and another one was something that mom took. And I was like absolutely not. And we left there and Sawyer said to me, mom, that doctor did not like you very much. And I said well, he didn't like the fact that I wouldn't do what he told me to do, but I wasn't going to put my 13-year-old son on drugs that I've already seen, and this happens all the time in this country.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and I didn't even know that was a thing. So, to let parents know that they have an option and they know, I think, more than anything is that they're their child's advocate, anything is that they're their child's advocate, and if they really get the information that they need and hopefully our app is that place for them to get that information then they can, you know, mitigate those, those situations where they think, oh well, the doctor's always right.
Speaker 1:Well, sometimes the doctor isn't always right and sometimes, if it doesn't, feel right, we should probably add an FAQ section, you know, to the, the, to the app, about what? Should the doctor recommend drugs, and you know I would, you know, and then we could say, hey, you can get another opinion, that's for sure, because it is completely until those drugs are warranted. How do you give those a preventive measure?
Speaker 4:you give them a drug that you're gonna you can become addicted to right off the bat well, no, because there weren't like a bit, it wasn't like a benzo or anything like that it was. It was more like a um and it would only have been for a short amount of time but.
Speaker 4:I felt really uncomfortable with giving my 13 year old son those. Ironically enough, he's, six months later had post-concussion syndrome. It was seeing auras and stuff. We brought him to a neurologist and she actually put him on the exact same medicine that the concussion specialist was going to put him on.
Speaker 1:At least you brought him back to the post-concussion syndrome. A lot of parents don't even know that. That's a thing you know, True.
Speaker 4:But I think it's important that parents have that information. Like I, you know, I didn't. I wouldn't have even thought that they would have put my child on drugs for recovering from a concussion. So yeah, I think you're right. I think a question FAQ is a great idea.
Speaker 1:So Don closing yeah.
Speaker 2:I was just going to throw Don under the bus for the app because I think a good just to kind of leave the audience with this. There's a lot of information out there that we do know. There's some that a lot more that we don't know and with society being as digitally driven as we are, everybody wants to find information the fast way right. They want it organized, they want it fast, they want to know they can go to a place and get everything they want. That's why they go online to the med, the doctor, rx or whatever they call it, online to look up. You know what's wrong with?
Speaker 3:me.
Speaker 1:WebMD yeah.
Speaker 3:I'm on air. Three boys.
Speaker 2:I know nothing knew nothing about concussions prior to coming here, other than what the coaches would tell me oh, will hit his head today. You know. If he ends up a little dizzy or has a headache, you know, follow up with your doctor. That's what we get. You know, as parents, and unless you're a parent who digs in and finds out more, you know, but most of us don't know. You know, but most of us don't know, and we don't. You know this, this.
Speaker 2:There's so much that's different now in sports than when we were kids. Uh, we didn't play year-round contact sport. We didn't play year-round football or year-round soccer or year-round anything. We had seasons, and so we're running our kids through, you know, year-round training. You know, and there's a lot of points that we don't know as parents and, bruce, you talk about this all the time the same with kids as we do with veterans. It's often the training where we're harming our kids the most right. It's not that they played the game, but what they're doing in between the game. No-transcript, other people have that information where we as parents, you know, often do not feel like we have that Absolutely.
Speaker 1:It's so imperative that I think between the book and the app you know, we've got a platform of information that's not been. It should be replicated. It should be a lot more. We shouldn't have to do this right. I mean, that's why this foundation exists is nobody's addressed this issue? I mean the VA is just starting to wrestle with this and just think of what that means for the 20 years of veterans that are not here, incarcerated, that have lost their jobs, gotten other than honorable discharges, bad conduct discharges, and then for the parents. Just think of all those kids that have been incarcerated or that are not here or that, as adults, suffer you know this suffering and silence right.
Speaker 1:And trying to find a way home when now we know there's treatment options that didn't even exist three years ago, that we can, we can bring to them. So, um, yeah, no, I mean, you know, I wanted the audience to get to know the team. You guys are the heart and girls. You, girls and guy, are the heart of this organization.
Speaker 1:And I thank the Lord every day for having, either you know, run into you or for you being part of my family or our family. And what you? That ayahuasca retreat this weekend and as you deal with your own internal issues, you start to expand awareness and I became absolutely overwhelmed when I looked at not only the veterans that I was suffering with, but looking at Mac and all the other children and parents that are out there and adults dealing with this. I'm like where the heck do we start? It's so big, but we have started. There's no doubt that you guys have started something that is resonating with everybody we talk to, from one person to another. I mean, people are texting us, people are bringing on the podcast. They're so excited about the. You know they're already talking about next year. We haven't even started planning for next year yet, you know.
Speaker 3:We're stressing about it, don't worry, I got the master plan we need to just have, we just got to put the pieces in place, nothing impossible, and we got to keep going.
Speaker 1:And then you know, I mean we just converted the first tackle football team in America to flag from PAL, that's amazing.
Speaker 2:We're going to keep going.
Speaker 1:I think you are the folks that got this going. I cannot thank you enough for what you have accomplished, for what you're doing for our parents, for our veterans it's all about you, for what you're doing for our parents, for our veterans, and it's all about you. So I just really appreciate the time you took to come on the show and talk about the many things that we've done and what we're accomplishing now, and I am so proud of every one of you, and so is our audience, whether they know it or not, because this is how you're going to keep caring about. So thank you so much for coming on the show and we'll maybe we'll have another round. Well, maybe we'll have a podcast about the conference next year. We got it all planned out.
Speaker 3:We got to do get everybody fired up about yeah, maybe do like a quarterly or biannual update and it's great to see expansion right. Denny to the team. The team's growing a little bit. This is going to be a big chapter this next 12 months Super big.
Speaker 1:Super big, we work with everybody. Yeah, biggest Switzerland out there, exciting stuff, all right.
Speaker 4:So get back to work, get back to work.
Speaker 2:All right Well.
Speaker 1:God bless you all you have a great night and we'll just keep coming up with those great ideas. You're doing amazing you, thank you.