13. No Excuses No Limits - Denny Chipollini

In this episode, I have the privilege of sitting down with a man who has faced far more adversity than most people will ever face in their lifetime. Yet, through all of these circumstances, Denny Chipollini has never given himself the option to quit. Denny has reached many accomplishments in his life including 2X Olympic Torchbearer, motivational speaker, starting a non-profit, cannabis advocate, writer, amputee Marathon, and Triathlon runner. He is also a lover of health, fitness, and life. The episode is one that I hope will motivate. It may even help you get off the couch.

Learn more about Denny on his website: www.dennychipollini.com

I got on the Pennsylvania turnpipe, and I started down the road all of a sudden, back in kind of slipped out and I'm hydroplaning sideways. Bambi, loud noise. All of a sudden I stopped dead and I looked around and I checked myself and I'm alive. I'm okay. I thought I was okay. I had a sudden rush of pain that came over me, and the pain was caused by what I was looking at. My left leg was on the dashboard of the car. The right foot was underneath a guardrail that came through the car all the way to the door on the passenger side, and my foot was stuck under that with all that was attached to, that was an artery. Hey, what's going on, everybody? It's Erin with the Simply Overcoming Podcast. It's another episode. Thank you for joining us today today's guest Denny Chipolini. He has an incredible story. I'm very excited about today's episode. Danny's story is one with so many obstacles, and he has had so many good reasons to call it quits, but his mindset has made him who he is today, the no excuses mentality and having an attitude of gratitude. Danny is a two times Olympic torchbearer. He's a speaker. He ran his own nonprofit for many years. He's a cannabis advocate, a writer, an amputee marathon and Triathlon runner and a lover of health, fitness and of life. I trust that you are going to be inspired by this episode, and it might even help you get off the couch. Danny, thank you very much for joining us today. Thank you, Aaron, for having me. So where are you calling from today? I live outside Philadelphia. Little Town, maybe 20 minutes out. Called Country Hawke. Okay. I've never been in the area. What's the weather like? There? Weather today is nice. I mean, it's sunny. It's about 40 next week. Supposed to be in the 60s. Okay, I'm excited about that. Get rid of the snow and get back to some spring type weather. So the temps are pretty cold in the wintertime there? Yeah, we had a lot of snow in the past few weeks. I've had enough of the snow ready for warm weather. Well, you have an incredible story. And I've been looking over the Internet, watching some videos that have been produced about you over the years. And so I'd like you to start out by explaining to our listeners a little bit about your accident in 89 and talk a little bit about how that transformed your life. Sure. About almost 32 years ago. It was September. It was a rainy morning. Saturday morning. I was working full time as a package card driver for Ups, but on the weekends, I was a hairdresser. Before I did that, I wanted something more physical. So that's why I got into the ups thing. But I kept the weekends for cutting hair. Mainly, I did a lot of guys talk sports, that kind of thing. I enjoyed it. It was extra money. So I lived maybe a half hour away from the shop that I worked in, which was my parents house, the house I was born and raised in. So I left that morning. Saturday morning, it was raining. It was a somewhat warm day. I got on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and I started down the road. Now, at the time, the Pennsylvania Turnpike was redoing the highway, so apparently their drainage wasn't very good. So there's a lot of water laying on the road. Anyway, I'm going down the road all of a sudden back end kind of slipped out and I'm hydroplaning sideways down the highway for about 200ft, and I knew something was going to happen. So I braced myself. I'm going to bang into something because I had no control. Bam, big, loud noise. All of a sudden I stopped dead. There was a moment there that I was kind of out of it. Then I came back and I looked around and I checked myself and I'm alive. I'm okay. I thought I was okay. I had a sudden rush of pain that came over me, and the pain was caused by what I was looking at. My left leg was on the dashboard of the car. The right foot was underneath a guardrail that came through the car all the way to the door on the passenger side, and my foot was stuck under that with all that was attached to that was an artery. So when I saw that, I panicked. And when that happened, my heart started to race. And when that causing blood to flow much quicker, almost like a garden hose. And I realized if I don't do something quick, I'll be dead in two minutes from loss of blood. So, Aaron, right there that moment I learned something that I use in my everyday life now, something I believe we all have. But in my case, it was called to arms, basically because it was a life death situation and I wanted to survive it. I reached into my head, my mind, and I visualized. I visualized myself in a hospital and doctors working on my legs hours ahead where I was now, I can't move left or right. I can't get out of the car. I'm pinned and I'm looking at a leg on the dashboard, the other one over here and visualizing that an amazing thing happened and even amazed me that my blood started to slow down to the point where I could then control it. I held off my one leg. That was where the foot was under the guardrail with my two hands, and I was able to cut that blood off by making a hand tourniquet. People started to come. When they did, I asked one of them, do you have a T shirt or something to make a tourniquet? And he took his shirt off and I used the turn signal lever and made a turn signal. I'm a wide awake through all of this. Wow. So you're driving down the road and you hit this guard rail. Your leg is on the dashboard, your other leg is twisted in a completely different direction, and you never passed out during this time. No. Wow. No. And here's the thing. As I was laying there sitting there waiting for the emergency workers, it started to get comfortable. That scared me because I knew this wasn't good because it was almost like I was in this soft, soft cotton, almost cloud. And it was getting to the point where I feel that I may have drifted off, passed out. And then who knows what would have happened? So I kept visualizing that I was going to get through this. The workers came. They shot me up with a couple of syringes of morphine, which did nothing, because I got to tell you, when they pulled me out of there, they used the jaws of life to get the 1ft out. They peeled back the roof of the car, and they took me out and put me on a stretcher and brought a helicopter onto the Turnpike. And they helicoptered me to the closest hospital, trauma hospital. I got to tell you that helicopter ride was not fun. Every nerve was in. My legs were sticking out and just the vibration. I'll never forget that. I was probably Nanu seconds away from passing out, just from pain. But I held on. They got me into the emergency room. They called my wife, who was seven and a half months pregnant. I said, Be gentle. She's pregnant. They said, you better get down here. We don't think your husband's going to make it. Well, that wasn't the right thing to say. But anyway, she comes down, sees me, and she passes on the floor. She goes down because there was blood everywhere. And they cleared out the emergency room. I was in or wherever they put me into surgery, worked on my legs. And I spent three and a half months total in the hospital left leg. They put external fixators on both of them, which is two kind of long. And I have pictures of my website. I have these long spikes in the bottom of my shinbone and then on the top and then almost an erector set, a piece of metal connecting them and holding them together. Danny, it says a lot about who you are as a person. When you have a missing leg, you're in the hospital and they go to call your wife. And the thing you're thinking about is be gentle with her. She's pregnant. Well, yeah. And I apologize when she walked in, I said, I'm so sorry, honey. Well, she heard that. And then as soon as she saw the blood, it's funny. She did. We're divorced now, but we get along fine. She worked in the medical field. She couldn't see other people's blood, but people close to her, like if my kids got a cut. She would get all woozy or if I ever got, like, this situation. Yeah. It was funny. Interesting. She was okay. I think my wife can relate to that. She's a paramedic. So she works with trauma patients all the time and deals with these types of things. But when it's people that she knows, like me or even herself, it's a little different. Yes. Yeah. As I was in the hospital, it was about a month later, I'm getting prepped for an operation where they're taking a muscle flap. Now I had a choice either from my Latinimous Stormy or my stomach, and I chose to go with the stomach. What it's called is flap surgery. Because of the infection that the left leg developed, we needed to bring a blood supply down there. So they said, We'll like to try this operation. It works, but it's not guaranteed. So what they did is they took the muscle flap out of my abdomen and put it down on the left leg to bring a blood supply. It was a 13 hours operation while I'm getting prepped for that. It was a Friday morning. I'll never forget it. My wife. At six in the morning, she comes wheeling in on a wheelchair, and I'm like, what are you doing here? She's giving birth to our son. So obviously I couldn't be there for that. But it was kind of interesting. When I came out of the surgery and was in recovery, they kept running back and forth, telling me how it was going. And they eventually did. Later on in the day, the next day, they brought him to me. And he was gorgeous. Yeah. I'll never forget that 13 hours operation. It failed. Eight days later, they had to go back in, remove everything. And that was just a series of ten to eleven and more operations debriefing this infection until I eventually just said, That's enough. I want the leg taken off and I want to move on with life. I'll never forget the doctors came in. There was three of them. They circled the bed. My parents were there, and my father was there during this whole ordeal and said, Most likely, you'll never walk again without the use of some kind of apparatus, like a Walker or crutches. I looked at them and I said, you want to bet. And I started my rehab the next day. I did whatever I could. I told my father, bring the weights in, bring my bands in. I start the next day. And what I did, not only did I physically do what I could do, and I couldn't do much because I was laying in a bed with these external fixators. I still had them at one at the time. When they said this, I not only physically worked my body, but I worked my mind again. What I did is use that visualization. I visualized working, going to ups for work, coming into the parking lot, walking in and walking across the front of the package cars up to the locker room. And I visualize that 30, 40 times a day. So when I would get to that point and I was, I did get to that point again. All I had to do was do it. So as I connected my body and my mind in your mind, you weren't in a hospital bed? No, not when I was doing my therapy was visualization something that you were into before the accident, or was this something that you started doing after the accident? It was the day of the accident. It saved my life. I feel, wow. You just knew that you had to be thinking about things differently. And I had no other choice. And you had to have known how powerful the mind was, too. Yes. And now I know how much more it is. You really need to connect. I mean, you're out there climbing if you're just moving your body and your mind's not in it. And it's a tough climb, you ain't going to get there. No, you need to put them both together. Same thing when I did my marathon to get through that, I was pouring out blood and sweat every mile and a half, and I'm like, Am I going to get through this? You're damn right I am. And I could see the finish line. Because when I was training, that's all I did again when I was training for those marathons and triathlons, what I would visualize is the hospital bed that I never wanted to be back, never wanted to be there again. And I'm out there, and I would start to cry. I got emotional, but it's okay. But I was connected with the mind and the body. And I'll never forget my first marathon. I'm coming down and they let me finish with my kids. They would wait, like, the last 20 yards, and it's about a mile and a half out before the finish line. And doesn't my right leg cramp up? It was like I was shot. Somebody shot me, and I'm going from one side to the other, the amputated leg that's beat up, and then the other one with the cramp. But as soon as I saw my kids, the mind took over again. Bam, I started to sprint, grabbed their hands, and we crossed the finish line. It's amazing. So three years after the accident was when you did your first five K, or at least the first five K after the accident. Correct. What was that first race like for you? Awesome. Because it was in my hometown country hockey. It was the first cave they ever held. It was their October Fest kind of celebration. It was in October, and everybody came out. I mean, my family lived there for 70 years. It was awesome. I started the race and it's very Hill. I finished. It dead last. But that was okay because I realized it's not about where you end up. It's about getting out there and doing it. Yeah. It's about that journey who was denied before the accident versus after the accident. How did the accident actually benefit you mentally versus before? Well, I'm actually coming out with a book, and it's going to explain all that you're going to hate the first part of it. People will not like because I was that Mama's boy is Italian, the chains around the neck, the disco guy, the ladies man, that kind of thing. And it humbled me. It made me realize what's important and what is it? So for me, the accident was the best thing that could ever happen to me. Everything that came off the accident, and I'm not saying it was easy. It was hard, but it's made me so much better and made me realize what's important and how to live my life. So as one of your drives in life, I mean, there's different things that push people forward. And would some of your push be proving people wrong? Well, I realized after that first race I did in country Hakid, that first run, there was a little boy. His mother came over to me and said, My son would like to say something to you. Meanwhile, there's not a dry eye in the place and everybody's emotional. So I said, yeah, sure. So he walked over to me and I knelt down and I said, hey, buddy, what's going on? And he just said a few words, but it changed my life. He said, Mr. You're my hero. Wow. Nobody's ever said that before. I realized at that point I got a gift here. I've got something that can help a lot of people and help myself in doing so. And what that does, what that meant to me is I become an example. So I better live up to what I'm going to set out to try to do, because I made a decision that I'm going to use this. And years later, I did use it because my son that was born was diagnosed with Asperger, Tourette syndrome and some other disorders. He was bullied immersively in school, picked on, never didn't have friends. It was sad, but I was able to. Then I got it. I'll use what I have to bring attention to him and people like him. And so I started a nonprofit called Generation Hope, where I would go and speak to kids, corporations about overcoming adversity, accepting diversity and believing in yourself. Stop the bullying. Use your adversity to not only overcome it, but to use it as a springboard to take you further than you've ever been. And for me, it worked. And I know it can work for others, but we got to get up off that couch and believe in yourself. You can choose to allow the bad things that happen in your life to make you become bitter and angry. Or you can use those things as a launching board and as a way to build your character. Absolutely. I'm an example of that. Now, when you're going through that adversity, it's tough you're looking at why me. But if you open and embrace it. And there were times when I was laying in that hospital, my friends would come and see me. And it's a nice sunny day. And I know that when they leave there, they're going to go play golf because it was a weekend or something that would tear me up. That's one of the reasons I said to myself, I'm not going to be here. I'm never going to be here again. I've got to get better and help others to realize that what they're capable of. It's really, when you get in your mind, the body working, there is nothing you can't do if you set out to do it. Yeah, you have your damn days. And that's okay. That's when you regroup as long as you're headed up. And sometimes I set these big goals. And I don't always reach those goals. But as long as I'm heading towards it, I may break off and start some other ones, but that's the key. That is the key. And you know what? Don't be afraid to have others help you or take them along with you. It's a trip that we need to do together and separately. I love it, Danny. I love it. After your five K, this young man comes up to you. He says that you are his hero. Was that the first time that it registered in your mind that you could use your story and your experiences to help motivate others? Yes, because I was feeling sorry for myself, but I was out there doing it. I was still going, you know what? I'll show those doctors when I finished that race, it was in the news. I send that to him, and I wasn't sending it to them. But I was sending it to him and say, Look, I did my own rehab, and that's what I did. I did my own rehab. And that was a tough rehab because I had nothing to go by. All I knew what I want. And again, visualization, when I got home from the hospital, all I could do is drag myself on the floor. I would drag myself up and down the steps, the stairway just to get exercise, to work, to work the muscles. Eventually I got on a life cycle. I could only do 30 seconds before the pain came rushing in because my legs were below and the blood was rushing down. Eventually I got up to an hour, but I worked slow again. Visualizing. I got up on a wheelchair. So I started to wheelchair through the neighborhood five to 8 miles. I would do as many days as I could. I got incredible triceps from that. But then when I finally got up and stood up, which was scary because I didn't know if my legs were going to give out. After I got my prosthetic and stood up, I was walking with crutches. So I would walk 2 miles a day with the crutches. And this was during the summer, the hot weather, 95 degrees. I cut these real bad sores and both underneath my arms. That took months to heal. But I wanted it again, visualizing it. And I reached every visualization that I put out there because I had to do the work. But the mine was working with me. Amazing. And we all have that ability, every single one of us. So what would you say to somebody out there that may be struggling in their life that needs to start using visualization more in their life. How should a person go about doing that? How should you start doing that? But I would start with small steps. I would start. Okay, let's say somebody overweight wants to lose weight. I'd say the best thing to do is get a pair of good walking shoes and get out there. You can walk every day, at least five to six times a day. Set a goal, you might say. All right. I'm going to do a half a mile, visualize the half a mile and do it next day. Half a mile, ten yards next day, speed it up. You know what I mean? Just continue to push yourself. I'm a trainer. I train people in the gym. And the other day, I was thinking that I'm training this guy and I don't use heavy weights, but I'll push a guy to that limit to where it's not just physical. He has to reach in to complete it. And he has to bring the mind in there. And that's what I do. I try to take it to that point, and I'm watching them, and it's like you could see the fatigue on them. But then you could see them reach in and finish out two or three more reps. I love that. I love that. And that's the best feeling. We all have that ability. But you got to train the mind again. Those little starts. And then once you realize that you're in connection with your body and mind. Wow. Everything opens up. So starting with those attainable goals in your life and then just challenging your physical ability, challenging your mental ability, it's not against somebody else. It's you against yourself? Yes. Exactly. Wow. Well, you have such a passion for young people because of what you've gone through with your son. I know that you're a motivational speaker. You've traveled around and talked at schools. Have you done talks other places as well, or do you focus most of your attention with young people? I do. I do corporations. I've done insurance companies. I've done marathon groups. It was funny. I did one in Canada. It was a place called Lithbridge. Ever hear of it? No, I don't know. It's near Bath. I needed to take three planes to get there. The last plane was only four seats, and Lyftbridge is known for its wind, and I don't like flying. I don't like heights, but how I beat that is I jumped out of an airplane and that helped me with it. But I would always panic when I got in. So you got to challenge yourself. And that was another challenge. But anyway, coming in, I'll never forget that the planes going, oh, my God. Are we going to make this landing? But I got there and it was awesome. It was 500 people at this theater, and it was a marathon group up in Canada, the only one up there. And it was great. It was great. But I've done that. I've spoken in Mexico and across the country, but I would love to get back out there with the kids right now. You can't because of the Kova thing. That's why I thank you, because this is a way of getting the message out. Absolutely. You guys are awesome. You guys are doing these podcasts, and I appreciate you having me on. Boy, I appreciate it, Danny. I think audio is where everything is going back to, because people are so busy in life that oftentimes it's much easier to be able to listen to something while you're working or something of that nature. And apps like Clubhouse is a perfect example of where things are going. Live conversation, no filter. Let's just sit down and have a conversation. And I think that's becoming quite popular. That's what it used to be, and it kind of got away from it. We need to get back there. Each of us carries something that can help somebody else, our experiences, what we know, what we've done. And here's the thing, too. I don't like physically getting older, but I love the knowledge and wisdom that I'm gaining, and I try to show my kids and people like my kids that I'm not trying to tell them how they live their lives. I'm just saying, here's a road map. You can take your road. But I've already went this way and I can help you if you want it. And that's where I think we should look to the elderly for wisdom. When I was younger, I would always ask older people if they look good and they were healthy. And what's the secret? What's your secret? You know what a lot of them said conversation, laughing, sitting with others. Being an Italian, we always had the big meal that's important. And I looked that up. And that's one of the things that help you live longer and healthier. Socializing, family communication. Yes. So visualization is such a huge, powerful thing. I can attest to that. I have seen people on Mount Rainier crumble mentally long before their body goes, and you can just tell when it's time for them to turn around because they just enter that mental state. They start looking for ways out, start looking for excuses. Exactly. Trying to find that excuse that's legitimate enough so that they can quit what they're doing and stop the hard work. And so did you ever experience through all of this, that demon in the back of your head that was trying to give you a reason to quit? Yeah, it's always there. It's just you fight it off. And that's where if you can get the mind on your side and you visualize past that, of course, I'd be out there. And within the first 3 miles of the marathon, I would say to myself, what are you doing? You got 22 more miles or 23 more miles. What are you doing? Are you crazy being out here? And then I just groove into it, and then people come over and they'd start talking and they would inspire me. They're saying, it's awesome what you're doing here? And I would get pumped up and they would pump up, and I could see how we fed each other. And then it got back, locking it on. Then I would think about the hospital bed. So you have to fight those demons all the time now. Unfortunately, that demon did get me, and that was in the way of opioids. I call it Satan. And my excuse was, oh, it's helping to kill the pain. Well, it did at first, but then it killed everything else. Thank goodness I worked through it. I was active through that. But it just build and build and build until I was doing so much just to try to not kill the pain. It wasn't taking all the pain away. It was just dulling it. And it was creating its own pain to me. What it would do is every 3 hours. It's like, all of a sudden, you could feel my whole body would ache because it wanted. Now the mind turned against me here, or I turned against it because I allowed the opioids to take over, and it controlled me for a while. So what kind of opioids were you taking regularly? I did whatever I wanted. Now, this is a prescription. I was under doctor's care, so it was okay. There was my excuse. I'm under doctor's care. And one of the excuses I remember a doctor said to me, you won't get addicted because you have pain. Oh, okay. I mean, there were times, Aaron, when I stopped 200 milligrams of oxycodone in the dead. If I would do that now, I dropped dead. I couldn't leave the house without my little pill box. Oh, my gosh. It owned me. It owned me. But I finally said, this is it. And I know my heart stopped a few times and I shook myself out of it. What if I didn't shake myself? I'd be in the ground now. But I was fortunate I got through that. And I think because I stayed physical as long as I did, it helped. I always was in the nutrition, even though I was killing myself with these pills. But I made a decision three years ago to stop. And I looked at the different treatments, and I saw that the conventional treatment, they put you through a detox for five to seven days. They put you on other drugs. They make it comfortable for you, and then you go through the withdrawal. Well, I didn't want it comfortable. I did not. I wanted to feel every bit of that pain of coming off drugs. It was so painful and uncomfortable that I know I don't ever want to be there again. I could not pee standing up for months because I would just diarrhea. I had no control of my mouth. My skin was crawling for the first week, felt like bugs were on and I couldn't sleep. It was horrible. And again, that's what keeps me not even thinking of that stuff is I visualize and I actually lived it the pain and the suffering of going through that. Yeah. Opioids can take you away from everything. It makes it nice, warm and fuzzy. But it's no way to live. And life isn't easy. No, life is painful. Yes, it is. So there are so many people out there who struggle with addiction when it comes to legal drugs. Opioids, thankfully for you, you already had a strong mind through the things that you've done in your life, and you were able to kick that addiction. But there's just so many people out there who are not able to kick that addiction, and it kills people. It's killing people. Yes, it is. What is your take on the opioid crisis that we have been going through and continue to go through right now? And it's being politicized and all that kind of stuff, and it's sad. Well, yeah. And here's something I found out the opioid companies make the opioids, but they also make the drugs that they treat you in treatment for you're, given other narcotics, you might not get high on it, but you're still being fed the addiction. That's why now this is what I read. There's only a 5% that make it through the conventional. So look at it. It's a vicious cycle. Okay, so they get sued the pharmaceutical companies, and I just read an article the other day. What was it? $27 billion. That's nothing to them. Guess what? They want money back because they paid these legal and they want to be paid back so much from the government. Are you kidding me? Crazy. And here's the thing, too. In 2020, opioid use was up 45%. What happened? I thought doctors stopped giving them. They did not. It's still going on. It's criminal. My thing is to educate people what I did, and I'm not saying it's for everybody. But what works for me is I used exercise. I used the sun. I used herbs and nutrients. Good diet. Cbd helped me get through the first couple of weeks of the anxiety in Pennsylvania is medical marijuana. I have my card. I use that for my Phantom pain because the Phantom pain. That's why I was taking it. Phantom pain is brutal. It's like being electrocuted every five to 8 seconds. Now I can honestly say to you, and I mean this. That's why I really believe in that wonderful plan for me that I have not had Phantom pain for two and a half years because it took a little while to get the right dose. I do a tincture during the day, four times a day under the tub, and it doesn't make me psychoactive. It doesn't make me high. What it does is it keeps the pain away. And I mean, no pain. Opioids. I still had pain. So, yeah, it has worked for me. I'm excited that they look more into it because it can help in a lot of different things. I truly believe that. Is that something that you ever struggled with just because of the stigma that's been put on marijuana? Right. Well, I grew up in the 60s. I experimented with cannabis, but the cannabis. Now I have a talk that I'm working on. It's not your crazy uncle's marijuana anymore, meaning it is a wonderful plant that has so many medical uses, and they have it just scratching the surface, the terpenes in it, the different strains. One of the best healers is laughter. So if cannabis relaxes, you enough to laugh and enjoy life, you're ahead of the game. Yeah. And I'm not saying you need to do that, but I'm just saying, if people do it, to escape, to run from reality, then that's not good anything. I mean, you can do too much exercise. You can do too much drinking or working out. Absolutely gambling. If you can control it again, it's keeping control with your mind. Those drugs can take over if you let it. And that's what happened with the opioids for me. But that stuff is that Satan, because it takes over and my heart goes out to people that are struggling through it. But the first thing you got to do is believe in you. You can get through it visualize, never taking a pill again. That's hard to do. I could never imagine me never taking those pills with me, never having them. Now, I don't ever want to take another. But I had to visualize. I got to get there. It was hard. It was hard. It's like somebody's quitting smoking. It's hard. But you've got to believe in it. Danny, have you been able to use your experience with marijuana, with CBD to help other people over the last three years since you've been experiencing these amazing results? I think so. And what I do is what I tell people. At least try the CBD. The CBD seems to you don't get that psychoactivity. It helps a lot of people relax. It helps a lot of people sleep. I got a Chihuahua. I give him a drop or two. It calms him down nicely, if not this dog's like. But, yeah, I say this if you believe in a creator or somebody created us, they gave us the foods to eat to maintain our health and our life. And I think cannabis is one of those things. Of course. Yeah, they gave us poppy, too. But when you synthesize the poppy and make it 50 to 100 times stronger, maybe that's where the mistakes made. I don't know. And I'm not condoning doing drugs. That's not what I'm saying here, right? What I am saying is it worked for me, and it was God send as far as my pain. That's all I do. I'm 68. I know a lot of people on blood pressure medicine, on heart medicine, this and that I take nothing but my cannabis. And I use different herbs. Red beets for my blood pressure, red beet powder or red beet. I eat them ashagandha, which is a root from India. Amazing how that helps with anxiety, especially during this time, the pandemic time where everybody is very anxious and on edge. It's really interesting. So, Danny, just to take it back a little bit during all of this in your life. Have you ever experienced any type of depression? I have. But it was when this depression came because I needed a blood transfusion back when I had the car accident. They didn't test the blood. So that blood was tainted with hepatitis C. That was something else. In 2000, I remember I gave blood at work and I got a letter back saying, you have hepatitis B and C. And I'm like, what? So that was another little obstacle. Well, at the time, the only treatment for Hep C was interferon treatment, which was self injections for a year. Now, you got to realize before this, I want to do my last marathon before I went on this treatment, I was running marathons. I was in great shape when I started interferon. I couldn't walk up the steps to my bedroom without being out of breath. It took a lot out of me. And one of the things it can cause is depression. And it did because I started getting suicidal thoughts, things like that. So I've been there. But again, I had to fight it through it. And I realized they wanted to put me on an antidepressant. I went, no more drugs, no more drugs. Basically, what you're saying through all of this and through your story is that the biggest obstacle in anybody's life is the ability to conquer your own mind. Yes, that's a good way to put it. Yes, I say this. I used to say this to kids. Guys get to know yourself, get to be your own best friend, and you'll never be alone because we meet people. They come, they go, but you got you. It's you and get to know you understand you and don't live your life for others. Live it for you and start slow again. See, some people, I think sometimes and I think meet the social media. Sometimes they've got people thinking, oh, I can do that. This that and other things. Yeah, maybe you can. But you've got to take slow steps, because if you fail, then all of a sudden you're twice as depressed. And failure is a good thing. Sometimes I got a quote where I say, the road of life is full of turns, but that's what makes us better drivers. So we need those roadblocks or you run off the road, you figure it out, you get back on you. Try not to do it again. You try not to make the same mistakes. Absolutely. Trial by fire, baby. You got it, man. When are we going to expect this book? Because I really am interested. Yeah, we're working on it right now. We're kind of revamping just a little bit. What we talked about today is really what I think the book is going to be about. It'll have my story in there. But I really want to share with the way I was able to overcome some of the things that I did. Not that I'm a Superman because I'm not. I'm like everybody else. But it's just that I made a decision in my own head that I am not going to take no from. I don't care. People tell me what they tell me. I'm not going to take no from me. I'm not going to tell myself I can't do it. And I think it's awesome. You love climbing mountains. Me. I'm not crazy about heights. So would I do a mountain? I mean, if I wanted to, I would. But I would attempt maybe a walk across the desert or ultra marathon or something like that. I'm more of a warm weather guy, but everybody's got their own thing. Yeah, I can respect that. And that one picture you have where you're up on the mountain there my insides start switching. I'm not crazy about heights, but like I said, I did Tan him out of an airplane, jumped out of an airplane 3 miles up. I've seen that awesome. Yeah, and it helped me now deal with airplanes. I can go on an airplane and not freak out. But before, I just wasn't crazy about heights, was that just a challenge that you wanted to give yourself because you're afraid of heights? Well, it turned into that. But what that challenge was? I met up with a bunch of it's called Amputees Across America back then about 2004, and I met up with them in Pennsylvania, up in Redding, Pennsylvania, and they came from California and bike across, and they're all amputees. So I joined up with them and biked into New Jersey with them and the leader of them, Joe, Joe says to me, We're going skydiving and you're going and he put a challenge to me. He goes, My motto is no excuses, no limits. So he goes, Mr. No excuses, no limits. I don't want to hear it, so I couldn't get out of it. And if you look at my I put the video on my website. You look at my face. I'm like, wow, but it was awesome. And that's the other thing. We create the fear. Think about this. And this is one of the talks I would have when I would talk, you get up in the morning, you know, before you even get out of bed. You know, it's going to be the worst day of your life at work. You know, it. A lot of people would find a way to call in sick, avoid going to work. Now, how many times people be at work? Everything's going good. Midday. It all goes to pot. It all goes horrible. I mean, the worst day you ever had. Guess what you get through. It our mind again. If you get it going the wrong way, the fear keeps us from doing things. Get in there. When I started public speaking. Oh, my gosh. I just went out there and did it. You know, it scared to death. But then it became a passion and I saw what it meant and it just grows. So don't be afraid. Don't miss life by just sitting back saying, I can't do it. Get out there and try it. The idea of your mind being able to change your life is just so powerful to me personally. And people who listen to the podcast have heard me talk about this before. And the idea, the simple illustration of buying a car. And then once you buy that car, you see all the vehicles like it on the road. But you didn't see those vehicles before. I just believe that happiness and success and all of these things, they're already around us. And if we focus on those things, those things can come to us. That doesn't mean that bad things aren't going to happen in our life. But what that does mean is our mindset during those times of trial will be so much different and it's incredibly powerful. I just wish people could realize the power of their own mind, and the only way they can is to exercise it and to do it and trust themselves again. Rome wasn't built in a day and just take your time and work your way back. I look at people and some people that are overweight and not healthy. And I'm like, It's got to be tough every day to live like that. Why do you want to let's change it? Because if you don't make a move on it, it's going to be the same. Nothing changes picking your brain from the side of your personal training. What is the importance of exercising, getting out there and moving? Whether it's doing a marathon or whether it's walking a mile? Like, how important is it to just get out and move for your mental health. Yes. Oh, my gosh. It's probably one of the most important things, the combination of the sun, the vitamin D, the movement. And again, I was one of these guys when I was younger. I'm hitting heavier weights. This and that. And I'm feeling it now. I mean, it tears up your joints. You don't have to do that. You really don't. And that's how I train people. We use lighter weights, but I use the mind. We got to go in there and we connect them. But, yeah, it's important. Just get out and walk, move the body. I say to people. And especially as you get older, I can't work out like I can, but I'm going to suffer for it. I can because I still get out there and I'm working out and it's like, all right, let's push it, push it. And then I feel it. But the one thing, as you get older, you need a longer time to recover. I say to people, if you can just get out and walk five to six times a week during those walks, take some Hills. Do the Hills. Hills are really good, but do them at your own pace. But again, pushing yourself each time and two times a week. Do a little strength training. Not a whole lot. Just a couple of weights, curls, triceps, little presses, pulls. You're going to be good. Try to eat. Well, keep the stress down. Yeah. I just think that's so important and turn the TV off. Oh, yes. Oh, my gosh. It just stresses you out. Yeah. I see everything going on in the world, and I truly believe that we, as humans, were never meant to be able to know what's happening in every corner of the globe. And here we are, staring at the TV, finding out what's happening in every single country and all the bad things that are happening. And we just get into this cycle of focusing on the negative and people who watch the news every day and just focusing on all of that negativity in the world. It's just not good for our minds. No. And it's got us fighting each other. And it's like, that's not the way it should be. That's not the way it should be. So hopefully we can make a change. People will listen and maybe attempt these things and try to change their lives a little bit and make the world a better place. Because you know what? We're not going to change the world until we change ourselves. But we can only change what's in our own sphere of influence. And we're an example. Everybody's watching. People are watching. So you want to be a good example to that? You want to say, hey, I'm doing something. I got a smile on my face. My mother's 95. I just left her and she's grumpy. But I'm like, mom, mom, let's face it. We got a few years left, but let's go out with a smile, and I'll start messing with her, and I get her smiling. And it's like you can see the color coming in her face. Amazing. So were you traveling around and speaking before we got hit by this pandemic? Is your plans to start speaking again once we get through this pandemic? I would like to if we ever get back, that if kids get back into school, because I got to tell you something. I did a lot of local schools, too, and I'll never forget. And this means so much to me. I would be out maybe at a supermarket or at the mall or whatever. And some kids would recognize me and they'll yell over to me, hey, Mr. No excuses, no limits. And this is five years later. Maybe they would remember what I said. Parents would. I would see them, maybe in the gym. And they would say to me, you know what? My kids still talk about what you did? Because what I used to do, they didn't know it was an amputee. I had the basketball pants and I'd be out there and fooling around. And then I'd talk to them and I'd say to them, like, Guys, one of the worst things that you could do is judge someone perception. It's kind of like if your parents gave you a plate of broccoli and said, Eat it and you go, no, I don't like it. Well, how do you know you don't like it? Well, I know I don't like it. Well, try it. So it's like perception. So I'm like, I would say, Yo, guys, how do I look? And I was younger. I said, I look pretty good, right? And I flex for them. They go, yeah. And I'm like, you would never think that I had a disability, would you? No. Well, I do. People stare at me and then I bit real quiet and I'd rip these pants off. And there I'm standing with one leg. Some kids fell out of the chair, but it was good because it left an impression. It showed them something. And I feel that some of them, it stayed with them, I hope. Well, I'm sure you have impacted so many lives through your story and through your experience, and you continue to impact people's lives. This is the whole reason why I started this podcast is giving the average person the ability to share their story doesn't only help others, but it also helps the person who is sharing the story as well. Absolutely. It's so important to share your own experience in your own story. What it does, too. I feel it gives what happened to you purpose, because now you can help someone else with what happened. Like I said, with my son, I could help him by going out and do the antibullying thing and tell his story. I would tell his story. Kids would cry. And then it meant, what happened to me means something. Hey, I can't let this go to waste as we're wrapping up here, can you just talk a little bit about Generation hope a little more so that people understand what it's all about? Well, I don't have it. It's not in existence any longer. Okay? It was a nonprofit, but the problem is with nonprofits, it's hard to run them because you need to have a board, and these people do it as volunteers. And it's hard. It was really hard. I did it for about eight years, but then it just got tough. At one point in my life, I wanted to start a non profit, but I realized that the work that goes into it is just so much I'm better off raising money for an existing nonprofit, something that I'm passionate about. And in 2019, I climbed the equivalent elevation of Mount Everest up and down to raise money for a nonprofit that has worked with people who dealt with mental health issues and being able to use my influence and my passion, which is exercise to Garner attention and send that attention over to this nonprofit. It was great. And I think it made a lot more sense to do that for somebody small like myself to do that and raise money for them. I think if somebody out there listening to the podcast, if you have a passion, if you want to raise money for a non profit, maybe start by getting out there, get out there, find a nonprofit that you're passionate about and they will work with you. They will help you advertise because they want you to raise the money for them. They want to work with you. And so they will work with you. And you can make a difference without actually launching your own nonprofit because they're already set up and you're going to live your passion through them and everybody wins. So yeah, I think the way you're doing is awesome because there's so much to know, and you got to have lawyers. And this as we're wrapping this up, is there one more thing, anything else that you'd like to share with the listeners? Any Sage advice? Again, I keep going back to believing in yourself. We're all going to get older. There's no way to stop it. I don't care how much money you have. I don't care how many operations you get, the pool of skin, we're all going to age. It's the great equalizer. It kind of equalizes everything. But what makes the difference is how we get there. And it's how you live your life, how you take care of yourself and what you do with your life. Like you said, when you're doing something for someone else, it makes your life glow inside you. And that's what's important. And guess what? You get better. You become a better person and others see that. And then you set that example. That's what we need to get back to. You're doing good things, man. I appreciate again, you having me on. I love this. I didn't think I was going to like these podcasts because back in the day, I mean, 20 years ago, I was doing marathons, and I was the only amputee there, so media was easy. I do an interview and they put a micro. That was fun. And I thought, oh, I don't know if I'm going to like this. I love this venue. I love this, what we did today, I'm all pumped up. I'm going to have to go run around the block, man. Thank you so much for being willing to be on the podcast and share your story. So excited about what you're doing and the lives that you're changing. Where can people find you on the internet and learn more about you? Maybe reach out to you and have a conversation with you themselves? Absolutely. I got everything on my website, all my other social media, everything's right there. It's dennychippalini. Com, all my videos. I'm building on it, so I'll be adding stuff to it. This podcast will be there once it airs. Awesome. Man, we live in this world where we can just reach anybody and everybody around the world. And it's such an interesting time to live in, isn't it? It is if we have a good message to send. Yeah, there's a lot of messages out there that are messing people up. They really are. I think what's really nice that you're doing, like you said, the everyday person. And I'm sure you would love it if you had some celebrity. Come on. You'd love it, right. You're going to get the attention. But the thing is, who can relate to a celebrity? Nobody. Yeah, we can. We can relate to everyday people. And that's who we're trying to talk to. If you're listening to this podcast and you want to reach out, let us know what you think about this episode. Let us know what you think about Danny, and maybe you want to share your own story on the Simply Overcoming podcast. Maybe you have an inspiring story that you'd like to share with others. Don't be afraid to reach out. You can message us on Instagram. Our Instagram is at simply overcoming our Facebook. Simply overcoming. Yeah. And let us know what you think. We'd really love to hear from you and Danny. Thank you once again for being on the podcast and looking forward to staying in contact with you and seeing how all of this progresses. You. Aaron, I can't thank you enough. I appreciate it. And keep doing what you're doing, brother. Thank you, brother. Have a great day. You too, man. All right. Bye.