Advice to a younger self moment. I was lucky to get a chance to talk to the juniors at Jones Beach Boardriders a few weeks ago and share my experience while giving back to a club that has helped me so much throughout the years.

It's not often you get a chance to speak to people where you could have potentially been one of the people sitting in the crowd so my mindset was to talk to them like it was a young Brett sitting in front of me. Amazing kids and an amazing experience!

When going through my recovery there was a period when I was gradually increasing how much I could bend my knee, the amount was 5 degrees per week which is a painfully slow and tedious thing to go through.

But one thing it did teach me was patience. A recovery can't happen overnight, much like the things we plan to do in life don't just magically happen over night. For me, it became a process doing the little things every day that kept me moving in the right direction. It's not exactly satisfying to massage scar tissue every single night but when you look back in 10 week's time and you can bend your knee 50 degrees rather than the first 5 degrees you're definitely grateful for everything that's helped you get that far.

I take this approach in life now and although this post may not help me reach my ultimate goal, there's a chance that one person sees it and that's one more person who's heard my story, has hopefully learned something or gained a perspective they didn't have before. And I know I'll be grateful for this one day.

For the longest time after the attack I dreamed of getting back to competing, back to a point where I was happy with my surfing. As I worked through my goals and got closer to this point I became interested by my motivation of trying to get back to being the person I was before.

The more I reflected on what it's like to go through such a life changing experience, the more I realised I had so much more to take away from it. This was my catalyst for change, to look at my purpose and start to use that to shape what I now do today, sharing my story to help others.

There's comfort in familiarity, and that's what ultimately pushed me back to surfing and while that's still a big part of my life, I've now started going down a different path that I never would have imagined was possible. Sometimes the best things that happen in life are disguised in experiences that could be viewed negatively. Perspective doesn't arrive overnight but when it does it can completely change the game.

Molokai to Oahu, what a journey. 54km and the most definitely the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I’ve dreamt of doing this for a long time to challenge myself both physically and mentally and it certainly exceeded my expectations in that department. So many people have helped get me to this point and I can’t thank everyone for their support enough.

This accomplishment was personally motivated but as with everything I do, I hope it can inspire others to push themselves and aim higher in life. And that’s not to say it was easy, there were times of massive struggle and parts that I wanted to give up but having people there alongside me both in the boat and on the water definitely played their part in getting me there.

I had an idea of what it might take to complete this challenge but after doing it, I have so much more respect for every waterman who has crossed the Ka’iwi channel.

My speaking journey started with a simple presentation in front of about 20 students at a local secondary college. I was terrified, had no idea what I was doing but stood in front of that group because I said "If my story can help just one person, it will be worth it."

The feeling of being able to complete that first presentation was one that gave me a bit of confidence but the teacher's feedback of "I've never seen that group sit still for 5 minutes. and to see them engaged and involved for 40 minutes is something incredible."

From that moment I knew I had something powerful that has led me to evolve my speaking. The nervousness is still there but getting the opportunity to share my story is one I'll always relish, regardless of the audience.

This was the last photo taken of me before the attack in 2016. This was at a point in time where I felt so confident with my surfing and everything was coming together. Funny how things change, I don't look at this photo and miss the surfer I was before but it's interesting to look back and appreciate how differently I value things in life today. Forever grateful to be alive and the fact I can still surf is just a bonus.