The day I said yes when I should have said no
⚠️ Content advisory: this episode discusses trauma & healing, which some listeners may find distressing.
If you need support, you're not alone. Help is available:
• Blue Knot Foundation (complex trauma): 1300 657 380 · blueknot.org.au
• Lifeline (24/7 crisis support): 13 11 14 · lifeline.org.au
Simon Harrison was 15 when his mother died of a brain tumour, leaving him adrift. Years later, drunk and ignoring his grandmother's plea to stay home, he went out one Saturday night in May 1996. He was run over by a train and lost his left arm. The accident fractured his life into before and after, spawning decades of complex PTSD and recurring nightmares. He found stable ground in radio work, then later in volunteering. When he met host Simone at Radio Northern Beaches, a former Barker student whose brother had a similar accident, something clicked. Nine months after their first interview, Simon returned to Barker's Leslie Hall, nearly 30 years to the day of the accident, to stand before Year 10 students and tell them what it costs to ignore your instincts. For the first time, he felt the weight lift.
Simon Harrison lost his left arm in a train accident at 15 after ignoring his grandmother's warning not to go out. He spent 23 years in racing radio at Sky Sports Radio, and the past decade volunteering with suicide prevention and community services on the Northern Beaches. He has returned to Barker College, his childhood school, to speak with Year 9 and 10 students about listening to your gut.
In this Grit Diaries conversation with Mon & Mazz, Simon shares the story behind the moments below.
🎙️ IN THIS CONVERSATION:
• Simon went out despite his grandmother's warning and his own intuition. The accident was preventable. Thirty years later, he speaks to young people about listening to that inner voice.
🕒 CHAPTERS:
00:00 Welcome back to Grit Diaries with Simon Harrison
02:09 The power of saying yes when you want to say no
05:44 Finding unexpected kinship at Barker College
06:18 Simon's snapshot: the accident and what came after
09:02 The night he ignored his grandmother's warning
11:46 Standing in Leslie Hall, 30 years later
15:09 Complex PTSD and the healing that came
18:06 Why the tandem talk works for young people
20:22 Finding his voice after 23 years on radio
23:14 Learning to deliver the message, not just the story
24:02 Gold nuggets from Grit Diaries and Kintsugi Heroes
26:01 The ripple effect: from grit to grace
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Show notes by Kintsugi Studio · Approved by Tony Bailey · Australian English
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