The Wake-Up Call: From Near-Death to Thriving with Guest Danny Smith | S5 E23

SPEAKER_05 0:00

And then the next thing I know is I I just feel a shock, a huge shock just hit me, and I'm like, who the just defibrillated me. And I kind of calmed down for a second. I was like, did my heart just stop? And he's like, yeah. You know, they put the cats in, get out, and I've I had my LED 100% blocked. So then I go vegan and it actually got worse mentally, physically, I started looking into all this keto stuff. I was like, you know what? Let me give it a try. Let me get a try for a month. As I'm researching keto from the different doctors on YouTube, you hear carburet come up. He's like, if you want to be at the best health you possibly can, go carbo, go carbo. I'm gonna get busy dying or I'm gonna get busy living. There's no middle ground because that middle ground is hell.

Voiceover 0:45

Welcome to Respond Resilience, along with my co-hosts Bonnie Rimoli, LCSWEMT, I'm David Dashinger. Join us today as we dive into the inspiring journey of Lieutenant Danny Smith. He's a retired firefighter who faced a life-altering medical event and emerged with a renewed passion for health and nutrition. So tune in to hear how he turned diversity into opportunity, embracing the power of dietary lifestyle changes to spark remarkable health improvements and discover how you might be able to do the same. We invite you to like and subscribe YouTube Respond Resilience, Facebook, Responder TV, LinkedIn, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and go to our website, respondertv.com for past episodes to guest information. This episode is made possible by the First Responder Center for Excellence. Discover more at FirstresponderCenter.org and connect with us on X, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube. There's a new app built by firefighters for firefighters, and it's called Crackle. Download the app now for free as a legacy member and get early access to exclusive content, tools, and updates as they drop. Get the free app at crackle.responderTV.com. We'll be right back to speak with Danny after this. In this family, more of us die by our own hands and by the hazards of the job.

SPEAKER_02 1:58

In this family, a quarter of 911 telecommunicators have systems of post-metic stress. In this family, our mental health and wellness are in high risk.

Bonnie Rumilly 2:10

In this family, many struggle with job-related stress. In this family, welcome to respond to resilience.

Voiceover 2:50

So we welcome Lieutenant Danny Smith to Responder Resilience. Danny's a retired firefighter with 18 years of dedicated service, including 16 years at the Orlando Fire Department and two at a previous department. In 2017, he faced a life-changing moment when he was medically retired after a critical cardiac event, which sparked his deep dive into health and nutrition, leading him to discover transformative insights for improving well-being. Since then, Danny has dedicated himself to helping others achieve their health goals through dietary and lifestyle changes and shares his journey and the profound results he's experienced. LT, welcome to Respond Resilience. Thanks for having me.

Bonnie Rumilly 3:28

It's nice to meet you, Lieutenant. Thanks for this today.

SPEAKER_05 3:31

Oh, you're welcome.

Bonnie Rumilly 3:32

So I hope you don't mind, but we're first responders too, so we like to jump right to it.

SPEAKER_06 3:37

Okay.

Bonnie Rumilly 3:38

Um so take us back to your cardiac event. And just for our viewers and listeners, please share and set up the scene for them on what happened to you.

SPEAKER_05 3:49

Um okay. Um the actual event. Uh first uh symptom I had was I I do been doing jujitsu now for 21 years, and you know, so this was you know eight, nine years ago now. And um uh uh my event actually happened September twenty-eighth of two thousand sixteen, but a couple weeks before that I started having symptoms. Of course, we're the worst, we're our worst patients, right? Um so uh I was doing jujitsu at the time, we had a really hard workout, and I was I started having this pain in uh in my epigastric area, like right in the middle of my chest. Uh not the chest itself, but epigastric chest area. And um got done with the workout, was really weak, kinda laid on the mats and just relaxed, and I was there for like 30, 45 minutes, and then it kind of subsided. It felt better. Um felt like I could move. So I I you know, I chalked it up to I I've had gastritis before in the past. So it kind of felt like that, but a lot more intense. Um so that I I I I actually went to the fire station that that that I worked at, you know, I was off duty that day. Um went down there, had him put me on the monitor, check me out real quick, and everything looked pretty good to me. Um and and and him too. I mean he's a seasoned paramedic, and uh, you know, I I I'm a paramedic also. And I looked at him, I was like, maybe I'm just dehydrated, maybe I'm getting a little touch of the gastritis back. So that kind of rested for I went home, I rested, um a couple days go by uh and then my daughter was in jujitsu, so you know I took her to class and I helped teach when I'm there. Um so I go and and then I'm playing with the kids and they they got this uh game called Bulldog where you kind of like try to catch kids and they run around you, so it's kind of fun. Um and then I started having that pain again. And you know at the time the gym's probably about thirty minutes from my house, so I'm you know, after we leave, I'm driving home with that pain and I'm I'm looking for a a gas station to get some Tums or something like that. Get Tums, go home. By the time I get home, it's the pain's gone. So it's always like 30, 45 minutes later. Uh fast forward uh maybe a few more days. Um I don't know the exact days, but uh I'm actually working and uh we get a fire. Um we go get a fire, I'm ha the pain comes back again, and I'm like, oh man. Um and we get done with the fire, finish it all, and we go back to do inspections because we were doing inspections right before it came out. And I told the crew I was like, hey, can you guys just go without me? I'm gonna I'm gonna hang back because I'm I'm not feeling too well. Luckily we didn't get a call for the rest of the shift. I I felt really bad. Uh uh the following shift, and we work every third day, and I know different fire departments do it differently. Um so the the following ship was uh um uh I called in sick because I I still wasn't feeling good. And then uh you know I didn't do any working out around that time, and then three days later it was my Kelly day. Well then I get called for overtime and you know I was like I I I still don't feel good. I didn't take the overtime. And normally I'll take all the overtime I can get. Um uh then I took took my daughter to school. It was like a daddy-daughter morning kind of thing, did that, come back home and I'm like, man, I've got to get a workout in because I felt like I hadn't worked out much. Well, I put I I had the insanity workout and I put that in. And it was crazy because I couldn't find anything to play it, nothing would play it. So I I was really wanted to work out, so I I looked everywhere. I found like an old you know, uh uh receiver or whatever, put it in there and finally worked. I'm like, I cool, I get I got it. Man, that was the worst pain I ever felt. I was I was I was floored. I mean that pain hurt so much. And and actually uh rewind just a little bit, uh the day that I called in six over the day before my Kelly Day or the ship before my Kelly day, I'd went to the uh um uh urgent care and they thought the same thing as me. They thought it was my belly, they they they thought it was you know maybe the gastritis kicking up, so they gave me some stuff for for uh um stomach. And you know, that never really worked, you know, because it wasn't what was going on. Um so fast forward, you know, they gave me a thing to go to go to a GI doctor. So I'm having this pain, and I'm sitting here at home by myself, uh, my girls at work, you know, my kids at school, and then I'm like, you know what, let me call the GI doctor, see if I can get in today. So I call him up and I'm like, hey, I said, I'm having this horrible pain, you know, it's referred to you guys. He's like, Oh, we can get you in next month. And I'm like, no, I need I needed it yesterday, not right now, you know, not not in a month. Um so then I I was like, oh man, I was like, I probably gotta go to the hospital. I mean, I was in I was in a lot of pain. I mean, I I have super high pain tolerance, and that was a that was a 12 out of 10. It was it was the worst pain I've ever felt. Um so I called my girl up and she worked here in a veto. I w I the the city I live in in the the the the fire department, my previous fire department that I worked for was here where I worked there two years. Um so I called her up and I'm like, hey, I from the the tone of my voice or whatever, she knew something wasn't right. So she came right home and I was in my truck, started up, I had a little bagpack to figure out I was gonna be overnight. Um driving on down to the hospital, we hit every single light on the way, and I I had a bottle of Tums. It wasn't a big bottle of Tums, but it was like you know, about that size. And and I had half of it done, and it's only like 10 minutes away. I had half of it down by the time we got there. So we we pulled up to the ambulance entrance, and uh uh uh a security guard came out. He's like, Hey, uh, you need a wheelchair? And I'm like, No, and of course that pride gets in here. He's like, No, I don't need one. And then uh um I was like, I took a couple steps and I'm like, Yeah, yeah, let me let me get that wheelchair. So they wheel me in, nurses stations right there, and then uh uh uh the doctor kind of notices me, and then the charge nurse comes over, he says, What's going on? It's like I said, I think I'm having a cute bout of gastritis right now. And uh and around that time the pain started going down. It was about 30, 45 minutes later. It was was it was a magic time that it would go down, and it started going down. And for me, I'm like, oh, maybe I didn't need to come in here, you know.

Voiceover 9:37

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SPEAKER_05 10:36

So I I go and um I'm like, Yeah, I'm having uh uh about uh gastritis, I think. And uh and they're like, Oh, okay, um, yeah, we'll we'll put they put me right into a room. So I get in the room and I tell um I'm telling the the nurse my story. Um She's like, okay, we'll get some tests done, and and then uh um my girl's in the room with me, and then I'm only in the room maybe five minutes, maybe not even that. Um and then I I I I vaguely remember uh uh the EKG tech coming in, and then uh you know the nurse starts to lie start starting a line on me, and um and I look at the catheter, I'm like, oh, we're going to those catheters. And then and then next thing I know is like I feel like I'm gonna pass out. And she's like, No, no, no, you're good, you're good. So then I I just went out, everything was closed up, and then the next thing I know is I I just feel the shock. I mean a a a huge shock just hit me, and I'm like, who the just defibrillated me. And then and then I hear a voice, I couldn't see anything, everything's all blurry, and I was you know, down and I couldn't see anything, but I I felt that pain. And then I hear a voice say, I did, and I was like, Don't you F and do that again? And he's like, Don't go into VFIB or VTech, and I won't. And I'm like, I was like, did my and I kind of calmed down for a second. I was like, Did my heart just stop? And he's like, Yeah. And I at this point I couldn't see anything. I mean I couldn't see nothing. Like everything was all blurry and I couldn't picture up. I but I heard a lot of people around me. And then uh um and then I started hyperventilating because I was like, you know, everything just became real. And then I don't know how long it took, maybe a minute or two, and then I started seeing people. And you know, when I when I went out, I there was only you know, the nurse, my girl, and and then the EKG tech coming in, and then next thing I know is like 20 people in there. And then um so I started realizing what happened, and then so they get they uh I was at a hospital, they didn't have a cath lab, so they had to ship me to another hospital. So they get me out, and then there you know, it was an EMT and then a paramedic, a little small girl, and uh um and th this will come into play here in a second. So then uh I so they're wheeling me out on the stretcher and and then and then get me in the back of the truck, and it's just her and I back there, right? So then I'm like, is there anybody else coming? And and she's like, there is nobody else. I was like, there's a bunch of doctors and nurses right there, they'd be coming right here with me. So then uh uh she's like, Nope, it's just us. And I'm and I'm thinking, I've run a ton of codes in in my time. I've worked in a hospital for years, and and then running codes is we have at least three, four people in there sometimes, and it's only me and this little girl. I was like, and we're like 20 minutes out. So I'm like, if if something happens, you're not gonna be able to do it. Nothing. You know, you're just gonna be, hey, you know, keep me the cross and I hope she has a CPR machine in there. I don't think they had those. So then uh so we get to the hospital, it's like 20 minutes out, and in my head, I'm I'm I'm still hypervalent. I can't I uh usually I can control my breathing, but I just couldn't do it this time, there's no way. So we get we get to the hospital, and I'm thinking in my head the whole time, it's like please know what you're doing, please, because you know you don't want to die. Um so we get into to the uh cath lab. I mean they would they will reach directly to there. Um so I'm looking around, I didn't notice anybody, and then they're kind of putting me on the table, and I looked to the side and I was like, John, guy I used to work with, John Ranzella, he's he's he's over there and he's got like a uh you know, he's dressed up, he's not in scrubs or anything like that. I was like, John, what are you doing here? He's like, I work here. I was like, in the cath lab? And he's like, he's like, no, I uh he works in the education department. He had I guess he had gotten wind that an OFP guy was coming in. So he came over and then I'm like, cool. So like when I saw him, it kind of it kind of calmed me down at that point. Um so then they you know they they they gave me whatever reverse it or you know to drug me up, and then I don't remember a whole lot about the procedure. Apparently I was semi-awake, but not all the way awake. Um and then uh um you know they put the cath in, get out, and uh I had my LED 100% blocked. Um and then they were they were able to get the blockage out and then put a stent in. And then um yeah. Then I went to ICU for a few days and a little bit in the regular room for another day, and then and then went home.

Voiceover 15:00

So that's a lot there to unpack. And uh I kind of wanted to just ask a couple of questions, like how old were you when this all went down and and then once uh if you could rewind a little bit to like your lifestyle, your sort of you know what you were doing in terms of uh diet, uh sports, exercise, and work before all this happened.

SPEAKER_05 15:22

So I was 39 at the time, um and uh working out, I worked out all the time. I I mean I was in busy stations most of my career, having little to no sleep most of the time, and I would religiously go to the jujitsu. Like I I just I got hooked from the very first time I started, I just got hooked. So I would I would literally, you know, you get we get off ship to eight, I would literally try to sleep at a station to like 10-ish, and then get up, and it's hard to sleep because they're the guys are cleaning and stuff like that. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And then there are every there's always somebody on aircom, so it's like not even sleep, but I'm trying, and then I would go to jujitsu, and then by the time I get home from jujitsu, you know, I have maybe a half an hour hour to get a nap in, and then go pick my daughter up, and then it's you know, and then at that point it's like dinner time and you know, a lot of stuff going on, and that was my typical uh day. Um then um so I I worked out like a lot. Like to for I never was it was hard for me to lose weight unless I was working out. And I would work out two or three or four times a day would be for me to be able to lose weight. But my diet was never really uh uh um I didn't go to fast foods a whole lot, but I I wouldn't really have the best diet, especially knowing what I know now. I I it was it was it was a crappy diet. And it's just a standard American diet and people don't know. Um and there's so much there's so much um uh out there that that it's hard to know what which was right, you know?

Voiceover 16:55

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SPEAKER_05 18:18

Um so the the uh it was rough. It was super, super rough for me because I um you get a lot of stress in your life that you never really deal with, right? And then and then when something like this uh happens, you you you you deal with it all at once. Right. So it was it was it was very rough. I mean, I I I remember coming home from Ju like I would I would still go to jujitsu, even though all this happened, like I would basically do nothing there. And I would go there because I wanted to get out of the house, I wanted to do something because it was it was hard, it was hard mentally, it was hard physically, it was hard everything, you know. So I would go there and I'd had I'd I'd I'd feel great because I've been around the guys and you know, and and it it was cool, but then I I'd drive home and I'd be crying on the way home, and it was it was it was tough. Um and then it that that kind of snowballed and it got really bad where I I got suicidal, um and it was it was hard to deal with it, and I was trying to figure it out and you have this ego on you, you're trying to figure it out on your own. And and I'm going back to uh John, John Panzella, he had to retire out too uh due to due to an injury that he had and and he had his medical uh things and he kind of noticed things that were happening to me and uh um you know he he definitely stared me in the right direction. So he after a while of these things that I was going through, um he he got me to go and get help, um which which definitely definitely definitely helped out. Um it was counseling and I went there and it was uh um they did EMDR on me. Um to where they were doing and that that helped, but it it didn't it didn't uh do it all. I mean uh but before then Maybe rewind a little bit. Before then I I was trying to do things on my own. Like I was learning about breathing techniques. I was learning about cold exposures. Uh I was learning about meditation, yoga, all all these different things, which I I still do the the breathing and I still do the cold exposure. Um I don't do the yoga anymore. Um and I don't really meditate anymore. I I I've been getting uh I actually just got baptized on on Saturday. Um so I've been going to church and so that that's that's been my my uh um uh way of dealing with uh life, every basically life. Um and I, you know so now now going to uh uh therapy that that was helping, but that that wasn't um the thing that totally go got me over the edge. Um to rewind back again a little bit more. So after the after the event happened, um you know, I I was like I I I weighed 245 at my highest. Um I'm down to 200 pounds right now, sustained for the past like three years. And I did get down to 170, which I was I was way too thin. And and of course, learning diet and the way you should be eating, um, I started learning a lot a lot of stuff about it. So after after the event, maybe about a year later, um I I I talked to a buddy, which is uh he's a cop and a nurse at the same time, um, and he he was like, Man, if you if you really want to get healthy, you know, go vegan. And I'm like, and you all you always hear about fruits and vegetables, they're like the best thing for you on this planet, right? So I'm like, you know what, I'll do anything. Like I put my I like it's easy for me to put myself back on that bed again and then decide something right on the spot because you I don't want that to happen again, so I can I can do that. Um so then I go vegan and and and and actually got worse mentally, physically, everything. At first it was it was okay. I was losing weight and and and it was okay, and I understand why that it is after all the research and stuff that I've I've been through. Um I got better, um, but then about three months into it, it kind of just spiraled down my especially mentally, and that's when I was having these really bad bouts of suicidal thoughts and uh almost doing it too. Um and so so it's this about 2019. I go to uh Normandy for the 75th anniversary of D-Day because I play the bagpipes. So we went around to like Belgium, uh we were in Ireland for a couple days, um, Normandy and then Paris, and we played bagpipes throughout that area. And um so I was noticing a guy that that I work with, he's actually our our our bagpip instructor, and he was he was in on a keto diet, and he had lost a ton of weight, and I was watching what he was eating, and while I was there, I was like, you know what? I'm not gonna I'm not gonna do I'm just gonna eat what they have here, you know, just go back to whatever I want to eat. And I just kind of enjoyed my little vacation. And then uh I'm watching what he's eating, I was like, man, I could do that. I could that that's and I saw and I knew there was something to him losing the weight that he was, and now he was feeling great, and I was I was feeling like crap, really. My stomach always hurt, and I was like, I didn't feel normal. And uh so I get back and I did a ton of research. I I started looking into all this keto stuff, and I was like, you know what, let me give it a try. Let me give it a try for a month. After that month, I'm like, man, you know what? This is this is working. So I kept going on and on and doing it. And and as I'm doing it, I'm always researching, and I'm and and rewind back a little bit. Like I talked to my cardiologist, and he was he was kind of like that the the mindset of, well, let's see what happens. There was no there was no yes, no, or anything like that. He's like, Well, let's see what happens. Felt felt a lot better when while doing it. So as I'm researching keto um from these different doctors on YouTube, um you hear a carnivore come up. He's like, if you want to be at the best health you possibly can, go carnivore, go carnivore. So about a year onto the diet, I was like, you know what? I I've already noticed myself not eating certain things like naturally, like the vegetables and stuff like that, because you can still have vegetables on a keto diet. And I was like, you know what, I gotta cut out a couple of things, and and I and I'm right there. So I was like, let me try that for a month. I I I never looked back, never looked back, and that was at the time when I when I started that, it was at the time I was doing going through therapy. So I was in therapy for about two or three weeks, and I had started that cornerboard like right around the time I started uh therapy, and I was only around that amount of my time there, and I was like, and the guy's name was Steve. I was and I was like, Steve, I said, I hope you don't take any offense to this, but I don't think I need you anymore. And he's like, Why? He's like so then I I was like, I I changed my diet and I don't I don't think the way that I used to. I I I don't think the way that I used to. And he's like, like, what diet is it? I told him and he's like, man, I'm gonna do some research on that. And ever since then, nothing has come back. Nothing at all. The depression went away, the the PTSD, suicidal thoughts, everything just kind of just went away. I still I still have it in my head, but it doesn't affect me uh emotionally at all anymore.

SPEAKER_02 25:08

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Voiceover 26:13

So I want to circle back to the the whole nutritional change that you made and and some of the science behind it and some of the uh medical uh results you've gotten and speak to that. But before we do, I wanted to touch on something we were talking about offline, and that's the unexpected retirement, right? The medical retirement or some some incident happens in our career that uh kind of derails our uh you know our our job, right? Um in your case, uh as we're saying, none of us can really prepare for it because we don't want it to happen, we don't intend for it to happen, and and really there's no, you know, what's how are we gonna plan for something that's so uh difficult to even pinpoint? But in your case, once you kind of settled, you know, the dust settled from this intense uh medical journey, how did you start to cope and kind of get back grounded and sort of replace the things that are almost very irreplaceable from the fire department, the tribe, the the purpose, the mission, and you know, just the structure of it all.

SPEAKER_05 27:16

So uh like like I said, at first it was difficult, especially going through dietary changes, that you know, uh it's trial and error, you know. Um, and um after a while there, it it it naturally came to me that I have to like choose a purpose. And and and actually after a year after I retired, I had a I had a baby. I didn't have the baby, she did. But uh um so so I'm going through all this with the brand brand new baby, and she was colicky, so it made it even harder on me. And I was home all the time, of course, with her. And it's like when you can't you can't get a baby to calm down and you're trying your hardest, and you know, I was I was definitely not in good health around that time either, you know. So um, so I you know, of course naturally I I was like, I have to I have to try to stay alive for my baby daughter, Sophie, you know, and and if I can't, then she's gonna grow up without a dad, and my my oldest is not gonna have a you know, and she was still she was still uh you know, she was a teenager at the time. I think she was 10 when it happened, but um you know, so I have two daughters that are in the house that that I gotta I gotta you know stay alive for. So I kind of put my mind in that mindset, I'm not doing it for me, I'm doing it for them. Um because if I had to do it for myself, I was in a mindset that I didn't care. You know, you know, I was like, well just just take me now, you know. Um so I I really switched my focus to that and and it it definitely did help a lot. So the purpose that I I I believe that I I I'm still here for is that um I I see so many people uh in in the fire department that are sick with different cancers, heart issues, uh autoimmune issues, uh obesity, uh you know, arthritis, and just a whole sort of thing. And it's not that it's not just gonna it's specific to them, specific to the I mean the standard American eaten people. A lot of these people have these things, rosacea, uh psoriasis, weird autoimmune diseases I've never heard of, like you know, MS people, and I see people changing their diet, not just me. Um I I got involved with this uh uh Sean Baker um community, and um and I did it to to kind of learn for myself. But then I started watching all these other people and them completely changing their diet and and completely reversing most of these these uh chronic diseases that are out there, and and and then me thinking is like how many patients have I run on? And even when I worked in a hospital, how many patients that that came in there were chronic diseases that in in my opinion are mostly linked to dietary stuff? And it's like how many p people do you run on every single day? You run on multiple times a day that all they have to do is change their diet, and then that's what I did to change my lifestyle and and diet, and then now I'm off all the medications I'm supposed to be on for the rest of my life. And and my numbers, because they said that it had a uh a disease called um um uh hypercholesterolemia, which my my LDL gets super high, and and the numbers were super high, but it wasn't because of it, it was because of my diet and not because of a genetic issue. Because that they that's a genetic issue, and it's not. Um I've been posting stuff and mainly my meals, I'm posting my meals online, and and you're if you look up on Google or anything like that, they're gonna say, uh, you know, limit your red meat, eat eat uh uh you know, vegetables, eat fruits, and and you know, lower your salt intake. Well, the the two things that I do a lot of is I increase my red meat intake and I and I and I have a lot of salt. And all my all my numbers are are are perfect levels, everything with zero medications and um and they're actually not just normal, they're pretty good.

Bonnie Rumilly 31:02

Wow. You touched on a really good point before, which is that it's not just one thing, it's not just therapy or just diet or just exercise. But I observe with my clients that the people who do better and heal quicker are the ones who embrace multiple things at the same time. And it sounds like you did that. And look, you're right. Um, we can do a lot with EMDR and therapy, but what you do outside matters. What you put in your body, what you do with your body, your mindset. Um, so myself and other colleagues, we really encourage a lot of different supportive things to help yourself. So it sounds like all of the things you did were the perfect mix for you. And what I would say to listeners and viewers is you have to find what that perfect balance and mix is for your own health. You know, and you went through so much in such a short amount of time. I'm really, really inspired by resilience. I know a lot of people um don't like the word, uh, it's part of our podcast, but I'm very, very interested in how you would characterize and describe how you built yourself back up and fought against that fear because you were describing it before of that fear of it happening again. And so I'm wondering, what did you do mentally to build yourself back up and fight that fear response that you were having?

SPEAKER_05 32:38

Um, it didn't happen overnight. Um, I I you know I always had uh uh a fear of it coming back again because every time I have like a little uh uh stomach issue or whatever, and I I hardly have that ever have that anymore. But when something like even hunger, when I get hunger pains, you know, like it kind of pops up in my head right away, and I'm like, no, that's that's not it. You know, because I know what that feel like that worst pain I ever felt like kind of feeling is and this is definitely not it, but it always pops up in my head. But I to get to get to the point to where I I didn't you know stew upon it for for a while, it it was probably maybe about a year into the carnivore diet, and I started the carnivore diet uh uh September 15th of 2020. Right? Yeah, September 15th, 2020. So it was during COVID time, so around COVID time I was able to do a lot, I was at home anyways, I couldn't go anywhere. So I was doing a lot of research around that time, just just you know, instead of doing nothing, I was just researching, researching, researching, and then um so around that time it's it started to go away about a year into the carnivore diet. Like I still think about it, but it doesn't affect me. Like it won't be like, okay, I gotta stop doing what I'm doing because I don't want this to happen, you know.

Bonnie Rumilly 33:49

Right. But what you described there is CBT cognitive behavioral therapy, that you were changing your own response to a pattern that was learned, which was the fear. So I think that's really inspiring. And thank you so much for sharing that with us.

SPEAKER_05 34:03

Yeah, little motto that kind of helped me is is it is if I'm gonna get I'm gonna get busy dying or I'm gonna get busy living. One of the two. There's there's no there's no middle ground, because that middle ground is is hell.

Voiceover 34:13

Right. Sometimes it takes that life-altering event, right, to adopt that that mindset. Um we see like people that do kind of get busy dying, right? They come to that crossroads and uh it's a choice at that point, right? We which way do we go? Are we gonna put our energies into getting better or just like letting things spiral down? So that's uh that's incredibly inspiring. Thanks for sharing that. No problem. Danny, I've had the opportunity to hang out with you a little bit. Um you were even eating breakfast before we started recording. And uh and I've heard you played the bagpipes, which was great um in Orlando this year earlier. Give us a snapshot or kind of a glimpse into your your culinary world. What is what is meals, what do meals look like on a carnivore diet for you?

SPEAKER_05 34:58

So I basically eat about two to three pounds of meat every day. Um and a carnivore diet is basically beef, butter, bacon, and eggs. It's like the staple. Um, so it's easy to get. Um and but you can you can go fish, you can go clams, you can go, you know, bison, lamb, you know, anything, anything that has a mother, basically. Um you can eat. And then it and like I said, I I went down to uh 170 pounds while I was on a carnivore diet, and I wasn't eating enough. Because when you eat meat, you get satiated to where you don't feel like to eat much anymore. And you know, I was working out, you know, trying to get healthier and actually doing a lot better. Um but then after a little while on there, I was like, I noticed I had to eat more, so that's why I eat about two to three pounds of meat every day. Um now I'm I've been at 200 pounds. I fluctuate between like say 195 to 205, but 200 is about the middle level that I stay at for the past three years, and I eat about that much meat every day.

SPEAKER_06 35:53

Three meals a day?

SPEAKER_05 35:55

Uh no, usually I I I can go with one meal, but uh most of the time two meals a day and maybe a little bit of snack in between, but mainly about two meals. Like today I'm I'm I'm uh I might do one or two meals today. I like I had a pound and a half of Burbai while I was talking to you. Um so you know, I might have another little small meal and then and then be okay for the rest of the day.

Voiceover 36:15

What do snacks look like? What are those for you?

SPEAKER_05 36:17

Uh like bacon, I have beef jerky, I make like um uh I have a dehydrator, so I put a little salt on uh I have thinly sliced uh New York strips from from Costco's, and um so I I put in there and it's it's makes about three or four pounds of it, so I leave it inside the refrigerator and you know snack on that. And my daughter also eats that for her lunch uh for school. So he she eats mostly uh like a meat-based kind of uh diet.

Bonnie Rumilly 36:41

Now, something I'm wondering about is we're not mentioning sugar, but um is that something that when you're on the carnivore diet, you really have to cut out a lot of the carbs and a lot of the sugar-based products that the American diet generally has?

SPEAKER_05 36:56

So the standard American diet is is most people are eating out of a box, and we're we're not meant to eat out of a box. I mean, you go back you know 100 years ago or whatever, and you had to go out and get your own food, there's no there's no nothing. You may get a barrier or two here. Most plants on this planet are are are toxic to you. You can die. You know, uh most of the stuff that's in inside the the even in the the uh um the uh the produce area is all that stuff's been genetically mutated. There's no broccoli in in nature, there's no there's no cauliflower, there's no other stuff, it's all been genetically mutated to to have that. Um so but uh a carnivore diet is zero carbs. Uh affecting like so so but the thing is you you don't you don't there's no essential carbohydrate that you need to ingest in your body ever. There's essential fatty acids, there's essential amino acids that you must have, and of course minerals, and and then you know, of course, water and salts. Um and that's all you need. So having actually having a car carbohydrate, you don't need it. Do you need uh um uh glycogen for your for your muscles, for your brain, for your you know, for or different organs? Yes, you do, but your body converts that over. Uh it's called uh gluconeogenesis. So most of the time it uses the proteins to do that. It can't use fat, but um your body prefers using proteins. So when your body needs it, it it automatically produces it, and it's actually a better uh uh fuel burning than it than it would be um uh if you put it into like sugars and stuff like that.

Voiceover 38:24

We'll shift gears a little bit. This someone who's experienced a major medical event and coming from the world of fire service, what advice would you give brother and sister firefighters about the high stress profession and managing their health?

SPEAKER_05 38:39

Uh first thing, if sleep. Sleep, uh we don't understand how sleep is super, super important for everything in your body. I mean, it causes heart disease, it causes uh cancers. There's different a whole slew of things. It just depends on where's your weak point in your body. My weak point was my heart. Um, and then that's where it happened. And like I said, I I'd religiously not sleep and go to jujitsu. So I thought working out, I can outwork out a bad diet. You know, you always hear that, and it's it's absolutely not true. Um so sleep, I would constantly I mean uh the best you can to get sleep. I know if you're working, it's hard to you, it's it's it's possible to you know stop a call. You can't do that. So but then afterwards you just gotta prioritize that sleep as much as you can. Um right before I I uh you know had retired, I always I was trying to say, why don't we change our start time till night time? So say you come in at eight o'clock at night, now I get off eight o'clock the next night, and now I go right to sleep. There's no there's no trying to push yourself throughout the day and then destroy the because that that day is that day is a wash. Right. And then you truly only have one day off. Yeah. Instead of you you hear, oh, I work one day and three days, but you truly only have one day where you're recovering. So it should be I go home and then I I start my recovery right then and there, and then I I wake up in the morning, not now I have two full days of recovery instead of just one. Right. If you if if they really want us to be healthier, that would should be on the top of their radar. I know they're trying to do this 2472, which is which is good, but if you don't change that start time, that day that you're off, it's if you're bit up all night, you're at a basic station, it's you're still gonna be not rested, not ready to go for your day, you know. Right.

Voiceover 40:18

The first day is uh is shot pretty much.

SPEAKER_05 40:22

Especially these guys that have jobs on their days off, you know. So if you're you're mowing lawns or you work in a hospital, whatever you do on your day off. And it doesn't, you don't even have to work, you know. You you're that should be your day off. You shouldn't have to recover the whole day to have a uh, you know, on your time off.

Voiceover 40:38

Yeah, well, just underscore, and it's pretty prevalent in here in the state of Florida, is the 2448s. I mean, that is that's a brutal schedule for anyone, not to mention trying to recover and get some sleep and turn around, um, come back. And if you're that's assuming you're not working a swap or an overtime shift, uh so 2472 is definitely a step in the right direction, but we're starting to see more and more of those 4896s and some other permutations where there's more than two days off um between ships.

SPEAKER_05 41:08

That's good. Other things I would do is it's definitely a diet change. I mean, the the the in in my opinion, and and it's not just what what I've seen in myself, I it's like almost every single person I've seen that actually does it right has gotten healthier. Every single person that I've seen. Um, and then of course other people that I I see on on the podcast that I that I go with Sean Baker, um, and it's incredible. So the I I if you can the closer that you can get to eating only meat, the healthier you're gonna be. And removing all the poisons out of your diet, the healthier you're gonna be. And and of course, if I would have known this earlier, I I would still be working right now. Um it's uh it makes a huge, huge difference. Because it the like you can take a vitamin, right, and they say, okay, this vitamin's good for you, but then you don't really feel a difference. You're like, uh, you're kind of convincing yourself there's a difference. But no, there's a night and day difference when you when you change your diet. You're able to think better, you're able to move better, pains go away, uh, digestion's way better, your skin feels different, your teeth feel different, your your hair feels different. I mean, it's it's a it's a it's a huge thing. So like taking a pill, people think, okay, I can take a pill, or like with with mental health, I can do one thing and then I can fix it. You know, I can take this one pill, I can fix it. Oh, I can go through therapy, I can fix it. Well, no, it's not just that. There's a lot of things that you need to do. Because if if and I and I tell everybody this, go back to where we're if we're out on your own, you didn't have stores, you you had to hunt on your own and you had to do things. Well, we're gonna be out in nature, we're gonna be out in the sun, we're gonna be grounding ourselves, uh you you're gonna be you're gonna be working out to try to get your animal, you get the animal. Well, also that you're not gonna be the best hunter on the world, right? So you're gonna fast for a certain amount of periods, you know, first until you get your next meal. So you get your next meal, and then you're gonna feast. So and then you're gonna keep keep on repeating that cycle. And then of course you're gonna have family life where where you need to be happy, you can't be sad all the time. Um, and then all that is is is necessary in this modern world still.

Bonnie Rumilly 43:05

So, what do you want to say to the listeners or viewers right now who are kind of sitting there thinking, wow, I know I need to do something, but I just don't have the motivation. What could you say to those people?

SPEAKER_05 43:18

One one day at a time, one meal at a time. I mean, make make better decisions. You're gonna you're gonna fall. You're gonna fall, even though you want to get better, you're gonna fall, but don't don't stay down, just keep getting up and and then and then it becomes a routine, and then after that routine, you're gonna see that you're like, Man, I wish I would have done this a long time ago. I I've got friends of mine that that you know from the fire department, and I was like, you know, they see what's happening in me, and they, you know, I play the bagpipe, so I come on around every once in a while, like, man, you're just like way different. And then you're still eating those that that meat still, and I'm like, Yeah, yeah, I'm it's just the way I eat now. But that didn't happen overnight. That didn't happen overnight. It was just constant, constant. I was like, I'm I'm gonna get busy dying, or I'm gonna get busy living, and I want to get busy living.

Voiceover 44:00

Dandy, uh truly a story of resilience, like you know, mentally, emotionally, physically, medically. And we appreciate you sharing all this with us. And is there somewhere people can find you if they want to get more information to learn more about you or some of your um what you're doing?

SPEAKER_05 44:16

Uh yeah, uh mainly on Instagram and and uh um uh Facebook. Um those and I I think I'm on tick, yeah, I'm on TikTok too. Um I think it's just Danny Smith. I think you can find me there.

Voiceover 44:27

Okay. Yeah, we'll put the links up there.

SPEAKER_05 44:29

I think there's there's uh yeah, an S FD Rescue on on TikTok.

Voiceover 44:34

Okay. Sounds great. Um Bonnie, any final thoughts before we wrap?

Bonnie Rumilly 44:39

Well, I really thank you for sharing your story with us because these stories inspire people to make changes in their lives, and we don't know the ripple effects that either one of us or all of us have on people, um, and we can't measure it. But I know that someone listening is gonna make a decision for the better today because of you. So thank you so much for that.

SPEAKER_05 45:01

Whoever can reach out to me, and I'm you know more than willing to help.

Voiceover 45:05

Yeah, thank you for being uh you know such a shining example of being able to bounce back from um from extreme adversity and find a new life and a new purpose after the fire service. I know how hard that is to do. So appreciate your being willing to share that with us today.

SPEAKER_05 45:20

Thank you. Thanks for having me.

Voiceover 45:23

Remember to like and subscribe, YouTube, Responder Resilience, Facebook, Responder TV, LinkedIn, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and go to our website, respondertv.com for past episodes and guest information. Till the next time, stay safe, be kind to yourself. Take care.