Don Mathewson (R)
Don Mathewson chose to return after five major health crises because purpose and the people around him made return possible.
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Don Mathewson doesn't see himself as a hero, more like a broken pot. A Queensland boy who lost his mother at twelve, he joined the Navy at fifteen and spent twenty-one years climbing the ranks, surviving a period of depression that threatened his career. After leaving at thirty-six to provide stability for his disabled son, he moved through roles in international aid and executive coaching, always driven by a need to help others uncover their values. Then, in his later years, he discovered competitive athletics. A middle-distance runner specializing in the 1500 metres, he became a world champion at World Masters Championships, competing internationally against runners half his age.
Then five major health crises struck. A subarachnoid brain hemorrhage while doing push-ups at home, three months before the 2013 World Championships in Brazil. A bike crash at thirty kilometres an hour that broke his pelvis in two places. A prostate cancer diagnosis. Eight months of excruciating lower back pain from a benign growth pressing on his nerve roots. Each time, Don faced the same thought: his running days were finished. Each time, he came back. What pulled him through was not the absence of pain, but a mental attitude that setbacks pass, just as depression passes. His competitiveness, which he didn't recognize in himself until others named it, became a tool for recovery. It drove him to follow medical advice with discipline, to train hard, and to return to what he loved. His friends gave him a name: the Man of Steel. But Don knows the real victory was always showing up, not winning. At seventy-eight, he still runs, still mentors, still teaches. And he listens to others without offering advice, because what people need is someone to hear them and say, that must have been hard.
“Find someone who'll listen to you and will not give you advice, because we don't want to hear advice. I want someone to listen and just say, 'Well, gee, that must have been hard.'”
“You're on the starting line, and that's the major achievement. You're here with us.”
“To you, this is common practice. You do this a lot. To me, this is a miracle. I can walk pain-free and run.”
The hero, today
Don's competitiveness, which he initially didn't recognize in himself, became a tool for recovery: it drove him to follow medical advice, to train with discipline, and to return to what he loved after each fracture. The hardest part of each injury was not the pain itself, but the thought that his running days were finished, and what pulled him through was the mental attitude that setbacks pass, just as depression passes. Don believes that having purpose in life, whether through athletics, mentoring, teaching, or cycling, is vital for mental health, and that purpose comes from journeying alongside others rather than standing apart. When Don stood on the starting line in Brazil seven weeks after a brain hemorrhage, the real victory was being there at all, not the place he finished, and his friends taught him that by celebrating his presence.
Yes. Don Mathewson (R) is a real person who shared their own story in their own words. Kintsugi Heroes is a not-for-profit that shares first-person stories of overcoming adversity, told with the person's consent.
Kintsugi Heroes, a registered Australian not-for-profit. Every story is shared with the hero's own consent and reviewed under Kintsugi Heroes' trauma-informed content standard before it goes public.
Don's competitiveness, which he initially didn't recognize in himself, became a tool for recovery: it drove him to follow medical advice, to train with discipline, and to return to what he loved after each fracture.
The hardest part of each injury was not the pain itself, but the thought that his running days were finished, and what pulled him through was the mental attitude that setbacks pass, just as depression passes.
Don believes that having purpose in life, whether through athletics, mentoring, teaching, or cycling, is vital for mental health, and that purpose comes from journeying alongside others rather than standing apart.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 00:00
This limited Kintsugi Heroes podcast series was made possible through grant funding provided by the New South Wales Department of Communities and Justice Connecting Seniors Grant Program. If you'd like to find out more about Kintsugi Heroes, head to kintsugiheroes.com.au. Welcome to our Kintsugi Heroes special series, Connecting Seniors. Where we share the experiences of ageing Australians to create connections across our communities. In this episode of Connecting Seniors, we're revisiting a conversation from Katsugi Heroes with a senior who is making an impact on the world or connecting with their community. This week, we hear Abilene Clarke's chat with Don Mathewson. Don, how are you today?
Don Mathewson (R) (Guest) · 00:52
I'm very well, Abilene, and I'm looking forward to chatting with you. You today.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 00:56
Likewise, very, very grateful to have you here on the show and having another Kintsugi hero with me. So let's get into this because this is about you, Paul. It's not about me. Take us back to the beginning, maybe, and where you'd like to start.
Don Mathewson (R) (Guest) · 01:14
Well, Aveline, I hope I'm not here under false pretenses because I don't feel like a hero, but I do feel like a broken pot sometimes. Look, I'm a Queenslander, don't hold that against me, and my early years growing up were not too flash, really. My mum died when I was 12. I don't have many memories of my mum, hardly at all, and my dad remarried, and unfortunately, I didn't get on with my stepmother very much. So on a whim, the Royal Australian Navy had a new scheme where you could join the Navy as a boy between 15 and a half and 16. On a whim, I did do that. I joined the Royal Australian Navy. This couldn't happen these days because that would be termed "boy soldier." The United Nations wouldn't allow young people under 18 to join the defense force. Look, I stayed 21 years in the Navy and progressed through the ranks. I was a very serious young man and boy in the Navy. I wanted to do well. I did do well. At the age of 24, I passed all my education exams and went to England for 2 and a half years training with the Royal Navy to become a naval officer. Subsequent to that, I served in a number of ships and establishments, and then another year back in England at the Royal Military College of Science doing a master's level course. And during my naval career, there was one point when I had a deep and sort of quite prolonged period of depression, which made me unfit for sea service for a couple of years. And at that stage, I thought my career was over, and I was getting help and medication. But I came through that, and my career reignited, and it didn't hold me back at all. And I was given accelerated promotion to Lieutenant Commander served in major warships after that time. And now, after 21 years in the Navy, I was still young, 36. I thought I was old though. I thought, gee, my life is over. I'm 37, 36, 37. I decided to leave. And one of the reasons for that was that we had a disabled child, and it was probably better for him to have a stable home life. And maybe that wasn't true, but I felt like that was the case then. And following my naval career, I worked with World Vision, which is an international overseas aid and development organization, and I started off as the state manager in New South Wales. And in the last 6 years there, I was the field director for the whole of the South Pacific region, which was absolutely fantastic fun. I would travel to villages in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Vanuatu, Tonga, and I was the director. And it was just a really good thing for me to do. And it picked up on my value set of wanting to help others. Now, I didn't know that so much at the time. I wasn't really into core values much, but I sort of, that's what seemed to be driving me there. And after 13 years there, I joined a major human resources organization, was listed on the stock exchange, and I was a senior manager there and then senior executive coach. And it's only recently that I left that. So I worked well beyond what might be considered the normal time for working. And I said that in my departing speech, thank you for allowing me to work well beyond what my be considered normal. Now, I never mentioned my age, Evelyn, so I won't— that would just be— some people will have to guess. But I was well beyond what might be considered the normal age for leaving. Now, um, it was very important for me to have purpose in my life, so vital. And I loved going to work as a senior executive coach, and I found that tremendously satisfying. Helping people get back on their feet and uncovering who they are and what their values were. One of my favorite sayings was, "If you take my advice, I'm not using it." But actually, I didn't give much advice. I listened and journeyed with people. And now, as someone who doesn't work, I volunteer as a mentor with Mentoring Men, which I've been doing really since the start. And this is tremendous, and I love doing that. Most of the guys I've mentored have been younger, 22, 30, and late 30s, some in careers. Also, I teach English as a second language to a group of people, which is really enjoyable. I've been doing that for many years too. I'm on an advisory group for probably Australia's largest disability support employer. And I just give advice to the board with others. And I meet a young fellow who's had a stroke weekly. He's early 40s and he's unable to speak now. It's called aphasia. So that's something else that I do. But in my other part of my life, which is very important, I'm an elite masters athlete and I compete internationally and I've been pretty successful at doing that. And I've been to a number of countries as a World Masters Athletics Championships, and every year I compete in the Australian Masters Championships and have been the Australian championship champion on a number of occasions in my age group.
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When Don stood on the starting line in Brazil seven weeks after a brain hemorrhage, the real victory was being there at all, not the place he finished, and his friends taught him that by celebrating his presence.
This conversation includes a broken pot, not a hero, twenty-one years climbing the ranks, from aid work to executive coaching, a middle-distance runner emerges, push-ups in winter turn to brain hemorrhage and starting line is the victory.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 07:01
That, that's impressive, Don. Yeah. And can I ask, what's your event?
Don Mathewson (R) (Guest) · 07:06
Look, I, I'm a bit unusual. I specialize in middle distance, so 1500 meters is my specialty. 800 meters is probably my second best, although it's just a bit short for me, and I've never won that event, although later I might tell you about that. And 5,000 meters is also a good event, um, that I've never won in the World Championships but won many times at other times. But I also run 10 kilometers, 10K, on the track, and at the World Championships They're over 10 days, so there are heats, and I do all of those events that I've mentioned. And then on the last day, I run the half marathon.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 07:45
Man, I feel, I, I feel like I, I'm, I'm in the presence of someone who's just living such a fulfilled life, which is really a beautiful, beautiful thing to, to witness and to be.
Don Mathewson (R) (Guest) · 08:00
Thank you for saying that. It doesn't always feel like that in truth, but It's nice that you've said something like that.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 08:07
You've— thank you, Don. Look, you've already touched on a couple of things briefly. Um, first of all, having a bout of depression whilst you're in the Navy and being a parent of a disabled son or child. Sorry, I don't know the gender. Um, I must have known that for some reason. Is that the challenge that you want to share with me today, or is there something else?
Don Mathewson (R) (Guest) · 08:30
Look, it's not really that. They were challenges and they're ongoing. Our son still lives with us and that causes, you know, it's a different life for us, taking to things. It's not a bad life and it's something that if you think of a tribe, we have a tribe of friends who have disabled children and we do a lot together. And my depression comes out occasionally from time to time. It's never disabled me completely or anything like that. I know what it is. I know who it is, and I know one thing for sure, that it will get better soon. And I have to tell myself, don't worry, in a day or two, or maybe this afternoon after a bike ride, which I've done this morning, by the way, 30-kilometer bike ride.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 09:19
Oh my gosh.
Don Mathewson (R) (Guest) · 09:20
And coffee with friends. No, and I know those things, but no, really what I The adversity that I really want to talk about is regarding my athletics. And these are things that, on reflection, have been more serious than I've given them credit for. And others have made me aware of the seriousness of them. And I'll talk about those if I can. So before my adversity struck, I've always been a runner, and I would say a junk runner. I've done many City to Surfs, and on my background there, there are 3 trophies from City to Surf. You can't see them very well, where I've won them actually in my age group. And I met a guy who is now my coach, and he said, you need to come to the track and train, which I did. And would you believe, I realized that I'm not a long-distance runner, I'm a middle-distance runner, and that's where I've done best. And I was competing at the World, my very first World Masters Athletics Championships in Finland in 2009. I was very excited. I didn't know my competition at all then. I've got to know them now. And so I didn't know what was ahead of me. I didn't know how I would go, but I thought I would do well. About 8 weeks before, I did a hamstring injury, and that really derailed me, but I got over that. Anyway, I won the 1500 meters World Championship, and I was so excited, uh, because that's my specialty event. I've come third in the 800 meters— sorry, second in the 800 meters— and we'd already won the cross-country team gold medal, which is the first event over the 10 days. So 3 of us first across all Aussies, and we'd already won that.. And so that was my first introduction and it was a pleasant surprise, uh, and quite a surprise really. The next World Championships were in Sacramento in 2011. So they're generally every 2 years. Now in Sacramento, I was primed to— and I had an Olympic coach, would you believe, coaching me, uh, online. So I never met him, but he kept me honest. And I thought I was going to do very well, but it's a sneaky American and Spanish person who are well known, and I didn't think I was in their league. But anyway, we won the cross-country team event. That was the first event, so I felt really confident. But in the 1500 meters, I went out way too fast, and I thought, I'm going to win this. And I wasn't right ahead, and I was running with an English guy, and at the 200 meters before we finished, he died. And I'm in front, and I didn't want to be there. At the 100-meter mark, I'm still in front. At 80 meters, lactic acid came in, and I started running virtually on the spot. And passed me the American, the Spanish guy, and I came through. I'm still getting counseling for that. No, not really. In the 800 meters, I, I, I came second there, and I've raced that guy several times since. So I had been world-ranked number 1, and that's every year you get a world ranking on several occasions in my age group. Then things went bad. So that was on the lead-up to it. I was really running well, just the occasional injury that you get over with massage and stretching. So that was 2009 World Champions, 2011, then 2013 in Brazil. Now my times at this stage— and you know who you are because we have a way of looking at our competitors worldwide— and I would have won at least the 1500 meters and 5000 meters easily, but that wasn't to me to be 3 months before the World Championships, I was doing some push-ups, and I always have this saying, "If you want to be the best, do one more." That would be my training, do one more lap, because that's the injury lap, isn't it? And I was middle of winter, July, my wife is in Canberra, I was freezing cold, and I did push-ups every day. But this time I was freezing, I said, "I know what I'll do." I'll do a lot of push-ups. So I jumped down on the bed and did push-up, push-up, push-up. And I was straining and I said, I'll do one more. I got into bed and my head started pounding with enormous pain. And I knew this wasn't normal. I couldn't take any painkillers because I couldn't get my head back. And I started feeling really bad. And my son, who's disabled, was here with me. And I said, Cam, I'm in a lot of pain, I was screaming. I rang my wife in Canberra because I couldn't problem solve. She rang my daughter, my daughter rang the ambulance, and 20 minutes later Cameron's guiding the ambulance in and they came in and I'm in so much pain. And they said, what's your name? And I just was groaning and screaming. And they said, what's your name, mate? And Cameron said, his name's Don. And the ambulance guys said, no, we want him to answer because they wanted to know whether I could say my name. And what had happened was I had a brain hemorrhage. I didn't know that then. And most people die before they get to hospital with a brain hemorrhage. Depends on how bad it is. And as soon as I got in the ambulance, they gave me this wonderful painkillers and within 15 minutes I'm feeling really good and chatting. So that's what happened. And I went into ICU. I had this wonderful neurosurgeon who was actually an ex-naval surgeon. So we got on really well. He was probably in his early 40s. And we talked about him that he knew people and I knew people. And he came in and he said, look, Don, we've done every scan we can, we can't find the source of the bleeding. Now this could mean you could die any second while I'm talking to you. Or it could mean you're going to be okay, and we won't We don't need to operate. He said, and that's the situation. You're going to be fine. So after 7 weeks, extreme pain, walking in pain, I had my meeting with him and he said, Don, you now return to normal life after 7 weeks. And he said, but I said, I want to be running in Brazil in the World Championships, which was about 7 weeks after that. He said, of course you can. And you can train as hard as you like, but you're not in any danger. Of having another brain hemorrhage. There's nothing wrong. We've done many scans. And so that's nothing you should worry about. Just one of those things that happen. So I did, but I was nervous and I trained hard as I could with 7 weeks to go. He said, but Don, don't have any high expectations. You've had a major and serious illness and it's taken it out of you, but you can run. And I did. And I came 7th, I think, in the 5,000 meters. People were lapping me, which was very embarrassing. That's never happened before. And I did 10,000 meters. And I wrote him a healing report and told him how I'd went. And he was absolutely amazed and happy. And my coach and many of my athletic friends, when I was in Brazil on the start lines, they said, Dom, I'm kidding.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 16:56
Yeah.
Don Mathewson (R) (Guest) · 17:00
For some reason, it's brought up some emotion. But they said to me, you're on the starting line, and that's the major achievement. You're here with us. And that was my lesson to learn from that. It wasn't that I had to win. I wanted to win, but I couldn't. It was just impossible. So that was event number one.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 17:22
Did you have any fear? I'd love to know, Don. Did you have any fear as you stood on the start line?
Don Mathewson (R) (Guest) · 17:30
No, I didn't. But what I was afraid of when I started training was I had a friend who'd had a very similar subarachnoid brain hemorrhage. Now, because it wasn't a stroke or anything, it was just a burst blood vessel or something, and it wasn't really attributable to this push-ups. It's just one of those things. Right. And he had a really bad time with it. He said it took him months and months to get back. But I was back into running after 7 weeks and my coach was pushing me a bit, but I was a bit afraid to go fast, so I didn't run the 1500 meters in Brazil. Hmm. But that enabled me to— my Spanish friend who I'd already raced, and my American friend who was a very good friend now, and we communicate a lot, they both hugged me and, um, and many of my friends just said, it's so good to see you here. Now, I didn't have that thought, but that was meaningful that they were glad that I was there. So that was a learning for me. So that was Brazil. And one year later, 2014, I do ride a lot too, cycle a lot with a group. And I was flying with a group in a peloton. The guy in front of me stopped more or less suddenly. I missed him, but the guy behind me hit me. And I went flying onto the ground at 30 k's and I was in a lot of pain. I didn't know what was wrong. And they called the ambulance because I said, stand me up, stand me up. I stood up and fainted and they put me down.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 19:02
Is this on the road? Is this somewhere in Sydney?
Don Mathewson (R) (Guest) · 19:05
Yes, it wasn't on the main road. I was on the bike path. But I came down very hard and I broke my pelvis in two places. So off I went to hospital again, ICU. And the intern doctor, that's a younger doctor, said, Don, you've broken your pelvis in two places. And she explained what that was. And she said, you'll need a hip replacement. And you've broken a couple of ribs. And she said, you'll need a hip replacement. I did not react well. And I think I was probably again in a lot of pain and on pain meds. I said, what you've just told me is devastating. To me. I'm a runner. I'm not just a runner. I run competitively. And I don't just run competitively. I'm a world champion. And I need to get— Now I know that doesn't sound humble, but I was giving this young doctor a bit of a serve and she said, oh look, I'm going to have to talk to the boss about you, who was the orthopedic surgeon. So when I saw him, I lucked out again with a wonderful just like my other neurosurgeon. And he said, "Show me the X-rays, show me the scans," and said, "Look, no surgery is needed. There is a bit of a lip there, but you just keep running." And so 3 months off, and he encouraged me. And there was a young doctor trainee when I went back to see him, and he introduced me to the trainee and said, "This guy's a world champion runner, and he's going to be back to running, and he'll never get arthritis in that spot." So I never have, and that's never been a problem for me. So I did compete at 3 months off, come back slowly with exercises and exercise physiology. And I take all those things very, very seriously. I don't do things in half measures. So when I went to the exercise physiologist, I did everything that he wanted me to do and more. So that was 2014. And the next thing was 2015, the World Masters Athletics Championships in Lyon in France. And this was one where I was going to have my big comeback. My American friend was there. My Spanish friend, he was there, but he, he's sort of not doing so well. I beat him. Uh, he only ever beat me once. And so the World Championships in Lyon, in France, a year after the broken pelvis and coming back. But I came back quite quickly and was able to do very well training 3 months later. Now, in 2015, I did win the 1500 meters, my specialty event, by quite a long way. I beat a British guy and— or an American, but not my American friend, another American. And they were very tall men. Both of them were well over 6 feet. And at the start line for the 1500 meters, I am very, very small. I'm 52.5 kilos. I'm about 170 centimeters. And I felt intimidated by these two tall guys. But I beat them easily. And when I was on the podium, when you come first, they've set the bottom part, the winning podium elevated, went zoom, and I was— oh, now it's more at their level. And I said, you don't look so tall now. And, um, so that was Leon, and I came third there in the 800 meters to another guy that I raced quite a few times. The next World Championships were in Perth in in Australia. So they just had them the next year because they wanted to line them up with another event. So just usually they're 2 years, but this was in 2016. And at the end of 2015, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. And Doc said, uh, you've got prostate, you need to have surgery. And he said, well, we're going to wait and we're not going to do it until after the World Championships. In Perth. So again, I had this doctor who said, no, you will do, we'll fall in with you, not giving me advice but giving me ability to do the things that they obviously felt was serious for me. Sorry for the interruption. This is Ian Westmoreland, the founder of Katsuki Heroes, and thank you for listening to this story from one of our amazing heroes. Our mission is for these stories to provide hope and inspiration to people experiencing life challenges and to also educate the broader community on how best to provide support. If you would like to help us to continue to produce more hero stories and cover more adversity themes, we would welcome all donations. These can be made via our website, kidsuperheroes.com.au. The donate Subscribe function is at the bottom of the home page. We'd also welcome any feedback. You can email me direct using ian@kintsugiheroes.com.au. Now let's get back to the story. So I went to Perth, and I'm not really a cross-country runner. I do okay, but the first event was the cross-country world championships and I won it, the world, the cross-country. I was so cock-a-hootin'. I was interviewed on Channel 7 in Perth. Now, I didn't know I was being interviewed by this young journo. She had a mobile and asked me questions and said, oh, isn't it wonderful that you're here with people you know? And what's the social life? Why do you do this? Is it for social reasons? I said, no, it's not. I've come here for one reason. And Evelyn, what do you think I said then?
Aveline Clark (Host) · 25:05
The first thing that came to mind was to win or to bet.
Don Mathewson (R) (Guest) · 25:07
Exactly right. I said, no, I'm not here for that. I'm here to win. And then I felt, oh, I've said something. I don't— shouldn't say that. I said, well, now, while winning is very— and that's why I do come here. And every time it's been my sole purpose. Sorry, main purpose. Not soul. And then I knew I was saying things that weren't very humble. I said, but look, it is very important for me, the social life. And I said, see that person over there? We communicate regularly. He's from the US. See that one? And so I got myself out of it. It was on TV that night, and I didn't see it, but I'm still embarrassed about it. And we had my photo in the paper as well, because that's Western Australia. It would never happen in Sydney. Then I came back and had my surgery, and again, that meant time out. But it hasn't really worried me. My neurosurgeon— sorry, not neurosurgeon, it's prostate, it's a different surgeon. I was seeing him every 6 months, and he'd be saying, "I mean, didn't I say, what are you doing? You're stretching." That was another very positive event for me. Again, I didn't pay much attention. To that cancer in 2016. Now, last year— what was that, 2021? I had another event. I had excruciating pain in my lower back, and I couldn't walk. I kept falling over with pain, and I didn't know what was wrong, but I thought, this is it, my running days are over. This is bad arthritis in my lower back. I was getting physio and all sorts of things, Then I had an MRI and it showed there was a growth growing right on my nerve roots in my lower back. And again, I went to a neurosurgeon and he said, look, I've looked at your MRI and you can't get to see this neurosurgeon. He's the top guy.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 27:03
How did you get to see him?
Don Mathewson (R) (Guest) · 27:05
That's a good question. My sports physician, he said, now this is what it is. And I said, I want to see Dr. Brian Awer. He said, you'll never get to see him. He's got months. And I said, well, just send my MRI to him. Friday evening, he sent the MRI. 5 o'clock, I'm on my way home. My phone rings. I couldn't take it. It was the surgery, Brian Owler Surgery. So that was Monday morning. I rang them and they said, Professor Owler is looking at your MRI. 20 minutes, I'm going to ring you back. 20 minutes later, they rang him back. He said, "Professor Olin wants to see you tomorrow," which is Tuesday. So just a few days after him seeing it, I went into him on Tuesday, and he showed me the damage that my nerve roots and the nerves— he just said, "Your nerves are not working." I had numb feet. He just asked me a couple of questions about bowel movements and gave them toilet. He said, okay, because the nerves, sometimes you can die because you don't feel it. You won't need to go to the loo. He said, this is urgent and serious. I need to operate immediately. And he said, I can fit you in maybe one night this week. Oh, my head's spinning. And he said, but I'm going to definitely do it on Friday. He operated Friday, took out this growth, which is benign. No, been a big growth. It'd been there for a long time. And I didn't, I I was living with the pain for quite a while. And that night, I wanted to go to the loo and the nurse came in. I said, I need to. She said, well, I'll help you. I said, I stood up and there was no pain. I said, no, I'm okay. She said, well, hang on tight. Do everything, you know, and I went in. The next morning I got up and I'm walking around the corridors pain-free after 8 months of pain. So that was probably the worst of all the things, but they all happened quite quickly. And so the next day, the surgeon came in and he said, do a heel lift. Now, heel lift is where you stand on your toes, because I couldn't do that when I saw him a week before. He said, that's good. How's your bowel movements and all that? That's good. He said, you're fine, Don, you go home today. And I said, Professor Allett, can I give you some feedback? He said, yes. I said, to you, this is common practice. You do this a lot. To me, this is a miracle. I can walk pain-free and run. He said, you'll get back to running. And I said, look, if I lived in Bangladesh, Nepal, India, he said, you would be crippled. And I said, aren't we lucky to have this health system? Wow. It's reliving the experience. Yeah, more dramatic than I ever give it credit for. I just wash it away. But they must have had deep meaning for me because if I'm reliving it now and it's emotional. Anyway, he was another good doc. So I saw him, I think after 6 weeks, and he said, get back running, but take it easy. And he said, oh no, I'm wasting my breath telling you that. But anyway, I have come back after that, just slow and painful comeback. And I— the Australian Championships were on in March this year, and I won the 5 events that I did quite easily. So of all that, that's— they're the only events, I suppose. There's not just one. I think if I counted them, there might have been 5, but I'm not sure. But it all happened sort of one after the other, and I think I might have mention to you, I have a running friend who's a physician, and I was just chatting to him. I don't see him a lot. Uh, he's a well-known runner himself. He's a— as a young man, he was Australian championship, and he was with his son, I think. And he said, we call you the Man of Steel. And I had never— they talk about me behind my back, and I don't know that. And I know that people saw he's a world champion I don't want to know about that. To me, it's a bit embarrassing. But he said, wait, let's recall you. You've had all— and I've— again, that struck me because I hadn't put all these things together like I have for you today. And he said, whatever happened to you, get over it. You always come back. Clearly.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 31:33
Wow. I'm sort of— I'm just sitting here, my head's spinning a little bit, Don, just processing. What you've shared, what's— what was the hardest thing for you to deal with through those injuries and, and those events?
Don Mathewson (R) (Guest) · 31:47
Well, I think the thought was, um, it wasn't the pain, or when the pain was there, that was terrible, but I was able to overcome all those things. And I was lucky to have all of the medical advice I got from people who understood me. Knew what my drivers were. I'm strongly motivated to do well. I got some feedback from a friend who knows a friend. I've never thought of this. And this friend said to me, your friends say you're very, very competitive. I said, oh, I didn't know that. Now, it may not seem that, but I didn't realize that. And another friend said to me, Don, he's a running friend, he said, there's two things about you. 'One thing is that you're very competitive. That's a good thing,' he said, 'but there's a bad thing about you, and that is that you're very competitive.' So my competitiveness can be like a two-edged sword. I'm glad I'm competitive, but I don't see myself as that wouldn't be a value I would put out there. I would never say that, but I had to face the truth. That I am, and I want to win. It's important for me to win.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 33:04
How relevant or, um, important has it been for you to be that competitive person to get through these physical setbacks throughout your life and emotional setbacks?
Don Mathewson (R) (Guest) · 33:18
Well, I think what's happened, though— I have a lot of, and they're younger friends, really good athletes One's an Ironman. He's also one of my coaches. I've got two. And I run with a group of young triathlon trainees. The youngest is 10, so they're 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, and I train with them. And I did well. I don't last. I run with them. Some of them are young girls, younger, and there are one or two older people, but not many. And he is so positive to me. And he always wants me to— if I'm running, they say, look, there's a world champion, that's a guy who's competitive, look at him. I never ever feel like that. And they all high-five me. And this guy's my coach, he's in his 40s, and he said he went to the world championships in Perth. I was there too. And he was running the cross-country and he was telling all these young people, This was only a week ago or a couple of weeks ago, because I've just finished with COVID by the way. And we were talking and chatting with the young ones, because 7 of them, 7 of his young people had qualified for the Australian Cross-Country Championships in Adelaide, and they were going. It's a big deal. And he said, mindset, you've got to have the mindset to win. And I'm thinking, oh, anyway, he said, I didn't have the mindset. And I said, um, I said, 'Do you mind if I say something?' He said, 'Of course, Don.' I said, 'You know that I was in that World Championships too, don't you? And in my age group, I won. I was World Championship. And I was keen to win, and I knew I was going to win from the beginning because it was a flat course. I don't run well up hills.' And that sparked an amazing response from all these young guys. They said, were all high-fiving me, "Fantastico!" And I thought, "What? I didn't realize." And so again, this might not sound too humble, but I didn't mean for that response. But they feel inspired by having me there. Now, I'm not there for that reason. I'm there for me. Lovely and joyful for me to run with those young guys. And I do that every week. But that coach, to him to have me there is like an inspiration. And he always wants me to run with the young ones.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 35:42
It's beautiful. How important has it been for you throughout the journey to have someone or something to believe in to get through those difficult times?
Don Mathewson (R) (Guest) · 35:54
I think I believe in myself. I have an attitude, and again, I don't dwell on this, but I just have to say it, I suppose, that my attitude is one that I can get through this. It's not good now, but as through the process, I know, and really from experience, that life is hard. You don't know what's around the corner. That's one of my big learnings. I can feel like Superman sometimes, but the learning for me is I am not Superman. The things can happen, they can happen to me tomorrow, but I'm not wanting it to happen. I'm not thinking it's going to happen. At some deeper level, maybe I overtrain and I know that I can overdo it. But it's having that mental attitude that life is fragile. You don't know what's ahead. And to have an attitude that's more positive. And I think you know my story about aging. And I do have a lot of older friends who are older than me and some are my age. Who appear older because they often say, look, I'm getting old. What's that guy's name? What's that person's name? Or I'm getting up out of the chair. And I have a reputation. It's not always a good one, but I will never tell people my age. If they say, well, do you mind if I ask you how old you are? I'll say, look, I don't tell people my age because I have a philosophy of aging. If you want to hear that, I will tell you how old I am. And you know, that's just that. Don't focus on your age at all. Just live life at the moment. The sun's shining, you're running, your friendships, the coffee. And that's what's important. I think I might have told you I ran on the Gold Coast, our introduction before we ever met. And I'm running with two younger women, much younger than me. One was in her 20s. And she said, oh, you're running so well. And I felt that was a bit patronized. It was a 10K race. But I didn't know. I said, okay, well, good. Thank you. And another younger person who I raced with the whole race. Now at the end, during the race, this other younger woman, I passed her and she came up to me and said, oh, you're running so well. Can I ask you how old you are? And I said, look, it's my birthday. It was my birthday the day before, a bit of a lie. And I said, but I'm 78. And she said, oh, I hope I can run like you when I'm your age. So at the end of the race, she came up to me and was so embarrassed and said, look, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to say that. I said, that's all right. And she said, what I meant was you're running so well, but she couldn't dig herself out of the hole. And the other woman came up to me and she said exactly the same thing. We didn't speak during the race. She said, do you mind if I ask you how old you are? 'And I said the same thing.' And she said, 'Oh, that's so amazing.' And she took a selfie. So I, I'm— and whenever I say that to anybody, and I do say that in any of— any, um, place, whether I'm buying shoes or running shoes or whatever, and my wife just disappears out of the shop. So it's a mental attitude. I realize I'm, I'm fragile and things can happen, but I don't really want to dwell on it too much. But in my dark days of injury, those events, that's when the depression comes out again. It's when I feel that life is hopeless, I'll never be able to do it again. And what I've learned is those times pass, and it's like the depression, that passes. I'm not— I'm a human, usually I'm a very good human. I'm known for that. I don't tell jokes, but I try to make light of things.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 39:39
Well, that's how you come across to me, and everything that you've shared has just been full of joy and light, despite the setbacks that you've had. Um, what strikes me, Don, is that you have this incredible mind, you know, that, that this purity of mind, strength of mind, to really hold fast what's right for you, and you don't seem to allow others to permeate or change what you believe. And that comes— I think that's reflected by your competitiveness. In other words, you have this strong belief internally. Your internal nature is just so strong and concrete. And like you've said, there are— you're human too. And yes, you have moments where you have to accept that you're not Superman. But most of the time, I guess that mindset has— is that you are, and that you can achieve what you want. And it's not about age, it's not— there's no limits. And, you know, what a beautiful example that you set to anybody for any age, I believe.
Don Mathewson (R) (Guest) · 40:47
Well, thank you. And I, I don't like— I don't dwell on that thought that you've just expressed because that would, that would change me a lot, I think, if I thought I was that I was inspiring anybody. I never think that. It's just the joy that I get from being there and competing. And what's important for me, I suppose, if there were some things that are really important in terms of my own mental health and satisfaction, it's having purpose, a purposeful life. Now, that athletics and cycling and my teaching English to beautiful people doing the things that I do and my mentoring, that they're purposeful. And I know I could do more, but they're the sort of things that give me that sense of purpose and having a value set. But I've come to realize that others have told me that helping others seems to be something that is important for me. So then I recycle right back to World Vision. Why was I doing that? And even as a naval officer, one of my captains said to me, Don, this is Matthewson, you know, Lieutenant Matthewson is a serious young officer. So serious, okay, I didn't know what that meant then. But I'm a serious person despite the humor, who gets the best from his men. So I remember that, and that's a long time ago. I was a young officer then. And it was because the people I was responsible for, it was just the way I handled that set, that leadership was different. But it was that, and that's what I think comes through that sense of helping others. But I don't ever say helping others. That's not my language. My language is journeying with others through their life journey. And trying to uncover wholeness for people, including myself. So when I mentor people, when I finish that mentoring session, I feel good. I feel good.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 42:52
Don, I've got one final question for you as we come to a close, and that is that if there's someone that's listening to your story who's going through any of these challenges similar to what you've been through, the piece of advice you'd I like to leave them.
Don Mathewson (R) (Guest) · 43:08
Yes, advice is something I don't do. My joke is that I've already mentioned, you take my advice, I'm not using it. So anything I do say, hopefully I do demonstrate, it's more or less a joke. Look, I think the thing is believing it. Now see, these things don't sound even true to me, but I have to say something, I suppose, And it's sort of having that sense of you can do it, you can overcome what's holding you back. And sometimes it takes effort. Don't be lazy, because if I were to overcome any of those injuries, and all of them, that's taken discipline. I'm a disciplined person, disciplined around diet, disciplined about reading. I read a lot and I've read a lot about mature age health. I'm also in a social justice, strongly aligned to many things and I read a lot about those. So to me, being involved and having purpose and just trying to see beyond what's holding you back now. And if you want to, you can exercise starting small and slowly. But exercise is vital for your mental health, even if it's— I'm not talking about what I do, I'm talking about you can, you know, do invite people to join us because our coach and our team, our training team, we have people who could be anybody starting from the beginning. Obese, never run before, come and join us because we're inclusive and we want you there. And we have people who have deep depression in our running group. And being— because I've experienced that, I know the pain that people experience. And that helps me come alongside people. So if you can become involved in something that's community-oriented and walking in the morning in the beautiful sunshine and if you can in nature, and I do that a lot, I'm not always running, and to find friends. Research shows that very few people have more than one or two friends or even one that they can share all their innermost thoughts with. And I do have that person. He's much older than I do. I call him my mentor, but he doesn't understand what I'm talking about, but he listens to me. Find someone who'll listen to you and will not give you advice, because we don't want to hear advice. I don't want anybody to give me advice. I want someone to listen and just say, 'Well, gee, that must have been hard.' Well, that's tough. How you going? You're okay? Are you okay?
Aveline Clark (Host) · 45:55
I love that. And you know, if I lived in Sydney, Don, I'd be coming to your training group. I can tell you that.
Don Mathewson (R) (Guest) · 46:01
You'd be welcome.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 46:03
Oh, thank you. I want to thank you so much for everything you've shared. I have enjoyed every second of this conversation. I hope you have too.
Don Mathewson (R) (Guest) · 46:12
I have.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 46:12
Thanks, Don.
Don Mathewson (R) (Guest) · 46:13
Thank you. And it's been, in some parts, emotional. Unexpectedly so. I'm not that sort of person generally, but I can cry, and crying is not a bad thing, even for a guy.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 46:29
Thank you for listening to this episode of Connecting Seniors, a Concilia Heroes special series. Thank you to Colin Lilly for permission to use Broken as our theme music for this series. If you enjoyed this conversation, share the podcast with a friend and let us know by leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you'd like to support Kintsugi Heroes and the stories we share, head to kintsugiheroes.com.au and follow the instructions to make a tax-deductible donation. Thank you for listening, and we'll see you next time. Time.
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