Kyle Spyrides · 49 min
At 18, Kyle Spyrides was placed in an induced coma with a bug eating a hole in his heart and given little chance of survival, what followed was a defiant, family-fuelled journey through natural healing, open-heart surgery, and a discovered destiny to empower others.
Hear this story
At 18, two months out of school, Kyle Spyrides collapsed at home with a fever that wouldn't break. A three-centimetre infection was eating into his heart. The doctors gave him a 33 percent chance of survival when he arrived at hospital and placed him in an induced coma, telling his family he was unlikely to make it through the night.
When Kyle woke a week later, his stepfather Ward presented two options: open-heart surgery to remove the infected tissue, or a strict alkaline diet to starve the infection. Kyle chose the diet, trusting Ward because Ward had earned that trust over years of showing up for him. For six weeks in the hospital day surgery room, Kyle followed the regimen while staff questioned his choices daily. At the three-week mark, scans showed the infection had shrunk from three centimetres to 0.2 centimetres. But the damaged tissue remained. A year later, at 20, Kyle had the open-heart surgery to repair his heart. The operation was successful.
What pulled Kyle back to life wasn't the treatment alone. It was an army of people. His grandparents had taken him in at 14 when he had nowhere to go. During his hospital stay, a core group of five people visited him constantly, their genuine care and love reaching him even in the coma. After he was discharged, his grandfather was dying at home, and Kyle spent a week caring for him, holding his hand through his final moments. That's when Kyle understood what family meant across generations.
Today, Kyle has written a book and built a photography business. His mission is to reach people who don't have a Clive and Diana in their life the way he was blessed to have. His message is simple: find people who will call your bullshit, who see your potential and expect you to live up to it. Surround yourself with an army, not a solo mission.
“It takes an army it takes a tribe it takes a unit it takes a group to achieve and often times we you know the solo life or the solo preneur or the solo Mission you can do it you know you can take the 30 years or you can join forces with other people who are heading in a similar Direction and hitch hype with them.”
“I am Invincible I'm a spiritual being I'm an energy force I'm not just what's physically happening to me right now I'm much more than that.”
“I can say I would not be on the mission I am now but that if that bug never hit my heart I wouldn't be with my girlfriend who I'm so aligned with I wouldn't have had the maturity I wouldn't have had the maturity to meet all the great people that I've met in the business world and probably would not have written a book by now.”
The hero, today
Kyle chose to trust his stepfather's alternative path not because he believed it would work, but because Ward had earned his trust by showing up for him before, and that trust became the foundation for his decision to try the alkaline diet instead of surgery. The core group of five people who believed in Kyle's mission during his hospital stay proved to him that recovery depends on an army, not on solo effort, and that genuine love from family and chosen family is what wakes you back to life. Kyle learned to find common ground with people who disagreed with him, like the cardiologist who did not believe in his natural healing, because the goal mattered more than being right, and shared purpose can bridge genuine skepticism. At fourteen, when Kyle knocked on his grandparents' door with nowhere to go, they opened their home without hesitation, a choice that his grandmother later said God had prepared her for; this taught him that family is chosen as much as it is born. Kyle wrote his book because he wanted to share what got him through days at fourteen when he did not want to be alive, and to reach people who do not have a Clive and Diana in their life the way he was blessed to have.
Yes. Kyle Spyrides 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.
Kyle chose to trust his stepfather's alternative path not because he believed it would work, but because Ward had earned his trust by showing up for him before, and that trust became the foundation for his decision to try the alkaline diet instead of surgery.
The core group of five people who believed in Kyle's mission during his hospital stay proved to him that recovery depends on an army, not on solo effort, and that genuine love from family and chosen family is what wakes you back to life.
Kyle learned to find common ground with people who disagreed with him, like the cardiologist who did not believe in his natural healing, because the goal mattered more than being right, and shared purpose can bridge genuine skepticism.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 00:07
Welcome to the Kintsugi Heroes podcast, where we share inspirational stories of everyday people going through different challenges and how they overcome them. Please be aware that the story you're about to hear may have moments of deeply felt emotions and personal experiences. If anything you hear has a triggering effect please reach out to someone who can help keep you safe. If you love this conversation, we'd love you to like and share it with your friends so we can continue to share more inspiration and hope to as many people as possible. Now listen up for our next hero story. This conversation is with Kyle Spiridis, What a fighter, what an energy, what a guy. He has this amazing story of how he develops this serious heart infection as a young man, and at the age of 20 ended up having to go into hospital and having open heart surgery. You know, he was seemingly fit, healthy, outgoing, energetic young man, 20-year-old, and it just changed his whole life in more than the physical way. It changed his whole life because it gave him purpose and it, and it taught him so much about who to trust and family and support, and then the impact that he can have on other people. You know, he talks about the journey of his life, even leading up to that incident, and also how through the support of the people around him, he was able to make choices that saved his life and helped him to heal. Wow, what a, what a story. This, this young man is incredible. He's passionate and he's got a photography business and another mission to help empower lots of people. He's doing a lot of great things. He's a bundle of energy, really positive guy. I loved it. This is Kyle Spiridis. Hello, here we are. It is another episode of Consuga Heroes, and my guest today is Kyle Spiridis. How are you doing, Kyle?
Kyle Spyrides (Guest) · 02:17
I'm doing great. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for having me on.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 02:21
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At fourteen, when Kyle knocked on his grandparents' door with nowhere to go, they opened their home without hesitation, a choice that his grandmother later said God had prepared her for; this taught him that family is chosen as much as it is born.
This conversation includes a fighter's goal, two months after school, the collapse, the bug in his heart, two paths, one choice, six weeks in the day surgery room and the old man's doubt.
You're welcome. Thank you for being here. Thank you for coming. It's always lovely to have another guest, and I always like to just honor you before you begin your story. I know it's sometimes not easy to tell your story and, you know, you're going into your past and I just want to honor you for being brave and vulnerable and showing up to share your story that might help others. It's a really courageous thing to do. It's really giving and I want to thank you. Let's get started, shall we? Um, I'm going to hand the mic over to you, figuratively speaking. And it's, yeah, tell us, where does your story begin? Take us back and tell us your story.
Kyle Spyrides (Guest) · 03:00
Yes. So firstly, you know, like I said, thank you for having me on and I love what Ian and yourself and what your whole movement is. Uh, I've felt really aligned to it and, um, That's where, where, where we were connected. So for me, um, I guess my story, you know, easy to start chronologically from the start, but probably the development of who I am came at the age of 18. And not necessarily how you would see most people's story, you know, when they go, okay, I'm 18 now, I'm a man, or I'm going out to the world, going to make, make something of myself. Uh, it was more of a 2 months after school, I found myself in an induced coma, uh, nearly died, um, and family were told that I wasn't going to make through the night. So very unexpected. As a teenager, I had my life planned. I was going to play international rugby. I was going to play rugby for the South African rugby team. You know, I kind of— I hadn't mapped out where I wanted to go. I had dealt with all the really, I guess, wasted time of, um, traumatic experiences and, you know, like relationship that, that were damaging to me, um, in, in family, um, from too many years. And I guess when you're kind of in the depths of darkness, you're looking for that glimmer of light. And for me, it was a goal. It was something that could kind of rip me out. And during my teenage years when I was experiencing, you know, all of that, all of that, that terribleness, um, I could go into the gym and work out. And that was my, my little monastery. You know, that was my little, my little sanctum, my special place. And lifting weights and working out and getting, you know, like making incremental moves towards my overarching goal was my self-healing, my, um, my counseling, my, my deep work. And so found myself, you know, 2 months after I left school in this coma, um, and I basically had 3-centimeter bug, um, in a hole into my heart. And none of the doctors, none of the cardiologists, none of the surgeons knew where it originated from. So, you know, there you are, far from where your goal is. Uh, I woke up out of the induced coma and, um, the whole family were waiting for my stepfather to fly over from Ireland. And he came over and he told me the situation and he said, you've got this Got this bug and it's pretty serious. You know, you had a 33% chance of surviving when you came into the hospital and the fact that you're alive is a miracle. Um, but now we've gotta deal with this situation. So he said, we can go in, have the operation. They're gonna cut a chunk of your major organ off. You're gonna be on these drugs. Your life's going to be limited in these ways, you know, and you can't do this, can't do this, can't do this. And so that's pretty, pretty far from the aspiration of I can do anything, can be anything, I can, I can achieve anything, uh, to all that limitation or that, you know, contraction. So There's another option, but there's this thing called alkaline diet. And my base understanding of nutrition was how to eat steaks and eggs and do weights and build muscles. Um, you know, and that's, that's all I knew about nutrition. And he said, well, there's this thing called the alkaline diet, basically juice cleanse, getting rid of all the things that the, that the bug needs to sustain itself. You know, the sugars, primarily sugars, you know, your carbs, getting rid of a lot of those things and just doing the juice cleanse. And the theory is that you change the ecosystem of what feeds the parasite, what feeds the, the, the, the sickness, and then the sickness dies out. So rather than cutting it out, you're changing the environment it's in, and then you're driving it out. And, you know, I believed in him. I believed in my, my stepfather was the, how I got assimilated into Australia from South Africa. And my stepfather was, you know, my introduction to, to his parents, you know, my grandparents who ended up raising me for most of my life. And so he'd done right by me on so many different occasions. I didn't necessarily trust the process either way was risky. Either way was a challenge. Either way, I was not happy about. However, you know, he turned, he gave me, you know, this is what I respect. I think anytime you're making a decision, you want this, you want all of option A, all of option B, all of the information. You don't just want option A and be guided to option A and told that option B doesn't exist. So all of option A, option B, here you go. And then he basically said, you make the call, your body, your life, it's your destiny. You make the call. And he went to walk out of the room, and then I called him back. I said, Ward, Ward, wait, wait, wait. I said, you know, he said, all right, Carly boy, because he used to say Carly boy, Carly boy, I'll let you think on it, you know. And, and as he left, as he was leaving, I said, no, no, wait, wait, wait. Said, look, I trust you. Do you believe this can happen? You know, has it worked before in the past? Yes. All right, let's give this a go. And then I found myself in this kind of this Buddhist army discipline regimen sort of mission that was lots of routine activities to heal the body and give the body the best opportunity to fight this bug. So he already had packed beetroot juice, handed it to me. I had a sip, instantly regretted it. Did not enjoy the taste. It was not going to be a tasty 3 weeks. And so I had all the juices, had the vitamins, all the heart, you know, and yeah, I'm not telling anyone what to do with their life. I'm not telling disclaimer, not saying disclaimer, just saying, you know, you've got to decide your destiny. So for me, this is my story. This is what happened. We took selenium, CoQ10, ubiquinol, hawthorn berry, lots of heart vital nutrition. Supplements and foods and basically just juice and salads. No oil in the salad, no salt, no pepper. I had my 19th birthday in the hospital and he gave me a little slice of watermelon. So, you know, it was pretty, pretty brutal regimen. And then, you know, we're going along and you do realize like, wow, I'm seriously going against the grain. You know, Steve Jobs talks about this. He says, everything around you was created by someone no more smarter or not that much more smarter than you. And we kind of just think things are there and they're just there and that's the way it's got to be. And I think we're entering a time on our planet where we're really questioning the way things are and why they are there and if they could be improved. And that's really that quote, you know, really look at that because it's, It's interesting. We just kind of accept what is, and that's the comfort zone. We accept our partner to treat us like this. We accept that that's their threshold and they can't offer anymore. We accept all these different things, but why don't we try and strive for something more, something better? And so that's what I was doing in the hospital, but everyone around me was not happy with it. Um, probably had 5 core people that were bought into the mission that I was on. So, you know, learned that, that core group, uh, that, that were driven and, and believed in and bought into what, you know, you wanted to achieve. And then we basically got to the point where we had to work out, all right, how little does the bug have to get to until it's a non-issue, until it's no longer a threat to my health? And we asked, we asked, we asked, we pulled teeth, and eventually got Yep.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 11:31
All right.
Kyle Spyrides (Guest) · 11:31
If it gets under 0.5 centimeters from 3 centimeters, it's a non-issue. And so that was our target. We had a target. We had, we had, um, and any sort of goal you have, any sort of thing you're trying to achieve, you need the target. You need a measuring stick to see how you're doing. Um, not measuring, hey, I've got this many podcast listeners because look at me, how famous I am. But hey, we're doing something right. We could be made the changes we made. Um, they're improving, our listeners are enjoying it. So for me, that's, that, that, that was the big, the big thing. Like, okay, we've got a target. There's an endpoint.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 12:09
Um, can I jump in here?
Kyle Spyrides (Guest) · 12:11
You can jump in. Yep. 100%.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 12:14
Kyle, this is fascinating. Can you just, uh, answer a couple of questions for me? I'm really intrigued to understand what were the physical symptoms that you were experiencing before you went into hospital, like what made you realize something was wrong? And then tell me about how you got to hospital and, you know, how you were feeling at that point.
Kyle Spyrides (Guest) · 12:38
Yeah, great question. Uh, so I was coming home from the gym one night, you know, had an up and go, had a little protein drink at a convenience store and got home. And then I was sitting down. And, uh, had Independence Day on. So I thought, aliens and, and fighter jets, this is what I want to watch. And all of a sudden, got really, really hot. So I stripped all my clothes off. Um, I was sitting butt naked on the couch. Then a split second later, got really, really cold. And then I just chucked everything on, but I, I couldn't really change my temperature. So that was the first sign that something was up. Next night, went to the bridge to the fridge, you know, to get some ice. And I collapsed, like I fell over on the ground. And I was aware, I was conscious, but I couldn't move. And then I, you know, I thought it felt like hours. Eventually got up and I looked at the clock and it was, you know, it was some time. And then there was vomiting and, you know, like temperature, all that sort of stuff. And I actually went to a doctor very early on, told them what was going on and they misdiagnosed or, well, he said, you've got gastro, here's some tablets, try this. Went home, took the tablets, threw it up. And I said to the people that I was with, hey, like, I need to go to the hospital. Like, like, I know this ain't no gastro. There is something bigger at play. I need to go to hospital. And then I went to my uncle's down in, down in Cronulla. So this was, I was in Sydney and like Sydney City, and then I went down to Cronulla and, um, he saw me walking down the hallway and he said, you've got a virus, like you've got a, you've got an intense virus. Um, you need to go to the hospital, uh, or a doctor. And if the doctor doesn't send you to the hospital, you need to take him to the hospital, you know. And so then I went to a doctor.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 14:34
Yeah, right. How did your uncle realize that you had a virus?
Kyle Spyrides (Guest) · 14:37
So, so he was a chiro and, and same as my stepfather, chiros, but they were really like, it's not the buck didn't stop at chiro. They were really into learning everything about the human body, health, um, diagnosis, you know, like kinesiology, testing little viral, like bottles to see what, what's going on in your body. So that very knowledge, yeah, I had a lot of knowledge in that space and he just, he could almost look at me. He just kind of, he kind of knew. And so, um, and at this time my peripheral vision went like, like a vignette, like everything darkened. And then, uh, I went to a doctor and it was my local doctor in Cronulla when I was growing up, uh, local GP. And he's this, this Chinese man. And he, um, remember when I was younger talking about like some of the, the, you know, childhood trauma. He, um. He gave me this book titled Hope, and it had a quote on every page and beautiful landscape. So he was more than a doctor to me. He was, you know, something special. And he basically grabbed my hand and he pointed to the tips of my fingers and he said, you know, about 12 years ago when I was learning my trade, I spent some time in the hospital and these red dots signify that you've got an infection on your heart. You need to go to the hospital. And then I got in the ambulance, went to the hospital, and then I was down the bottom somewhere and I told the family like, hey, I need to go to the toilet. Um, I'm trying to, you know, use the lovely little buckets you get. And I just, I couldn't, uh, do the dirty dirty. And then, um, the family got the nurse over and she looked at my paperwork. She said, what the hell are you doing down here? Like, like you're supposed to be. I don't know what's happened. There's been a mistake. You're supposed to go straight to ICU. The reason you can't go to the toilet is your organs are shutting down. And then I got rushed to ICU. Um, this guy with this mask on, the surgeon said, hey mate, we're going to put your pipe down your throat. You're going to go to sleep. And at that point I was so sick that it's like, yeah, righto, whatever. Let's do it. And put me to sleep. But, and then he told my family, hey, Carl's most likely going to die tonight. If we operate, we might be able to give him a chance, but either way, it's very unlikely he's going to make it. And my family called my stepfather, who was in Ireland at the time, said, what should we do? He said, obviously you guys are there, you need to make the call. I don't have the data, I'm not there. I would just think that maybe he's a bit too weak. And so I made the call not to operate in that moment. And then I woke up out of the coma a week later. And so when I woke up out of the week, you know, a week later, woke up and, and I had the, uh, had a bowl of Weet-Bix, vomited straight up on my nightgown. And so, you know, I knew something wasn't, you know, I had that transition of being in ICU and, and getting back to my health. But basically what happened in the long run, at the 3-week mark, we got rid of the bug. And according to him, the bug wasn't going away. And the bug was at 0.2 centimeters, so it was no longer an issue. And that was, that was a huge success. I mean, I didn't believe, I believed in what I believe in the system, you know, along with all the juice and the vitamins and everything I was doing visualizations. I was learning about the heart, learning about where the mitral valve is, drawing my fingers over it, sending commands, saying heal, heal. I did that in the shower because I was not very comfortable. Doing that coming through school, coming through the sort of indoctrinated upbringing and rah-rah. Like, you know, you're just not learned in those things. You know, they're not very manly things or very, you know, so getting in tune with your body's not on the curriculum at a private boys' school. So, you know, those sorts of things were very foreign to me. I do remember a powerful moment in the hospital where an older guy, and what happened was because I wasn't going through surgery and everyone was quite upset about that, they put me, instead of moving me into somewhere where I could spend more time, like a more private location, which there were rooms available because I'd walk around, they left me in the day surgery room where people were coming in and then they were going into surgery, coming in, going to surgery, coming in, going to surgery. I don't have facts to tell you, but I believe it was a psychological ploy. So I, it wasn't a nice environment and there wasn't much effort to make it any nicer. And every day I was questioned as to why I was doing it. So a lot of the things about success, about, you know, like driving about wanting to create something in the world are drawn from that experience. Every day you're getting told, what are you doing? Why? Who do you think you are? Why do you think it's going to work? So a lot of those things parallel into business, into going out and saying, hey, I'm a young 28-year-old, I'm going to write a book, you know, um, or, you know, who do you think you are? You're too young, you haven't had enough of the life experience. So similar sort of, it was almost like a training ground. And yeah, so I had that experience, healed the heart naturally, and And then whilst I was in the hospital, there was a powerful moment where an older man looked at me and he just looked me up and down. And, you know, I've got lots of respect for elderly people because of my grandparents. And they were some of the— they are angels. They're the best people I've ever met in my life, you know. And a lot of the things of, you know, traditional principles and values and a strong family and being a strong man and, and, and, and community and a lot of those things that, and having faith and believing in God that is like hated and labeled and scapegoated in our current world. A lot of those things they had took them through Great Depressions and multiple world wars and all sorts of crises. And so I've got a lot of respect for the traditional way that, you know, yeah, there's things that we need to develop and grow out of and create more opportunities for more diversity and 100%, there's a lot that needs to be changed, but there's a lot of, you know, strength and, and like, you know, foundational things that, that, that generation had ingrained. And I think in today's age, I don't think we should be too quick to discard the whole thing and just say, you got no idea, you're from a different generation. So I've got a lot of respect for that generation. Having said that, it was an older gentleman who came up to me whilst I was in the hospital and looked at me, looked at me up and down and said, oh yeah, I also thought I was invincible, um, when I was a young, youngster. And then I realized I wasn't. I just remember like being like, like kind of shocked. Like I didn't say anything to him. I didn't do anything, but he just kind of felt the need to, um, to share his, uh, crap information. And so for me, I had this inspiration and like this moment where I was like, I am invincible. I'm a spiritual being. I'm an energy force. I'm not just what's physically happening to me right now. I'm much more than that. I don't know where that voice came from. I got no idea what, who was, who was kind of in my corner then helping me because I was being knocked down every day. I was knocked down because I was there. I'd wake up in the middle of the night. I'd have this dream that I was playing rugby for Springboks and I had my girlfriend on the sideline and family and then and then we're also going to communities and, and helping like empower and inspire, you know, young kids. I had this dream and I wake up in the middle of the night and I, I, I'm in a hospital gown, the sweat dripping down my back and I'm, I'm in the middle of the night in hospital and I'm so far from that dream. So I just was constantly taking a beating and then this guy dropped his very contracting belief on me and for some reason I had that voice that came like almost like a rebuttal in my mind. And so, so that was, that was a powerful moment. Um, cuz you're kind of, you, you're at your nth degree in that sort of, uh, situation.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 22:39
How, how long were you in hospital for all that, Karl?
Kyle Spyrides (Guest) · 22:43
6 weeks. It was 6 weeks and at about the 3-week mark, that's when we, we pulled the plug naturally.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 22:49
And what was the feedback or the response from the medical staff when you'd healed it?
Kyle Spyrides (Guest) · 22:57
Um, when I left the hospital, um, so when we healed it, like, we, we cheered and everything, and then the cardiologist, uh, surgeon that we had, like, shouted and then, like, walked out the room, you know, and, like, because he, he felt— and, you know, that's fine, you know, everyone's got their opinions, and, and, and yes, we were taking a risk and we were taking a gamble. I'm not going to deny that at all. But he felt that we were reckless. And so even though we succeeded, he was upset about the way that we went about it. And so he, that's the last time that we saw him when he gave us the figures. We were like, yes, we did it, we did it. And he probably wasn't happy seeing us cheer. And so there's a lot of, just to fill in the gaps there, my stepfather, inform me that there are incentives. And I'm coming out of school very naive, you know, um, every police person's a good person, every fireman, every doctor, every person in certain positions is just good and kind and is there for the right reasons. And he just said to me, Carl, like, I'm gonna share with you some information. Now, I'm not saying this at all about any surgeon or this surgeon, this, that this is the reasons, but there are other incentives to do a great job, which is great because that means they will do a superb job and they're phenomenal at the work that they can do. You know, so he said there's, there is a big tax break incentive, incentive, um, in terms of a reward for doing successful surgery. There's also in the community, in the medical field, like a big hurrah, you saved a young child's life. There's— and he was just telling me the other reasons for going into surgery. And Ward was just trying to say, you can go into surgery tomorrow, you can have the operation, you can get it done, but you're going to have this metal attachment on your heart and you're going to have all these things and your life's going to be impacted. You can't do this, can't do that. Now you're going to get pushed into surgery and realize there are, there are, there are there's multiple reasons for this. And for me, I had no idea of any of that. You know, I had no idea to think in that way or to be skeptical. And so he at least warmed me up to the idea. And then when I was in the hospital, I was shocked at how despised we were or how we were treated. And because we would send back the hospital food, who the heck does that? You know, we would, uh, like, like, you know, there were times where the nurses were actually going into my cupboard and saying, I'm going to throw these vitamins out. You're not listening to Prof. You're not following what we're trying to do. And I was just like, I couldn't believe it because I was never in that environment. So I was just, I was probably in a state of shock. And then the moment that we left, I was being pushed out in a wheelchair and, you know, I spent 6 weeks in the hospital. So I went from 95 kilos, pure muscle, to 77 kilos. You know, so I lost a lot of weight, a lot of strength. I mean, the juice diet gave me a six-pack. So, you know, that was, that was one plus. But I, you know, I was leaving the hospital and the, um, registrar, this lovely Somalian man who basically came, you know, in and popped in every now and then, I made a good friendship with. He said to me, uh, look, he grabbed my shoulder. While I was being pushed down the wheelchair. I turned around, he said, Kyle, um, I just want to, um, you know, share something that Prof told me. I said, oh mate, you know, I'll see you later. It was good, you know. He's like, okay, like, I just need to share something. Okay, you know, shoot. He said, look, Prof just wants me to let you know that your lungs will be full of blood, um, you're going to choke to death within 2 months of leaving this hospital. You're going to choke to death in your sleep on your own blood. I was like, okay. I just cried. I just like, tears just dripped down my eyes. And so it was just, to answer you, it was, I was just in a state of shock really. Did not know what we were doing in the grander scheme. Did not know what reaction you get by going against the grain.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 27:08
Sorry for the interruption.
Kyle Spyrides (Guest) · 27:09
This is Ian Westmoreland, the founder of Kintsugi Heroes, and thank you for listening to this story from one of our mates.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 27:15
Amazing Heroes.
Kyle Spyrides (Guest) · 27:17
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 kitsukiheroes.com.au. The donate function is at the bottom of the homepage. We'd also welcome any feedback. You can email me direct using ian@kintsugiheroes.com.au. Now let's get back to the story. Did not know the beast that we're taking on in that environment. So, and then we went to another cardiologist that was referred to by a friend, and we tried to share this information, and I had my family in the room, and we were like saying Like, because my family are also in shock. They're like, we don't know what we did, but we got this sort of reception. You know, I went to stay at Holiday Inn and they treated me like this, you know, that sort of thing. And so the car dealer said, who's the guy? We dropped the name and he said, I don't want to hear anything about, I don't want to hear anything negative about him. I play golf with him on the weekends, at least twice a month. I don't want to hear anything. And then the family started talking and it just started getting aggressive. And strangely I made a like executive call and I said, family, get out of the room. Like, like, please just get out of the room right now. I just sent my family out the room. And my thing was, I just, we healed the heart naturally. We got rid of the bug, but the bug had eaten part of like the heart and we needed to repair it. And repairing it meant I didn't have all those complications and you ought to be on this and that. I had a normal life. Now the repair percentage in hospital was 0%. When I got out of hospital and I went to this cardiologist, instantly it was at 30%. And so I wanted to get that as high, the number as high as possible, and then consider open heart surgery to repair everything. The whole health program, everything was just to get myself in a position to be ready to go and have the operation, not be, you know, silly about how I went about it. And so Sent everyone out the room and I spoke to the prof and I said, look, that was our experience. He said, ah, I don't care. I don't want to hear it. Okay. That's fine. I said, look, I just want to get my heart to a good percentage. You've said we've got 30% repair. I want to get it higher and I want to have a repair. Um, I don't want my life to have all these complications for the rest of my life. And so I told him that we did the juice diet, we healed the heart naturally. So when you ask me, what was the reception? And he said, I don't believe it. Don't buy it. I went, oh God, like, I was like, okay, whatever. Like, I just, I need to find some level where I can get on with you. I think this is a big misconception in our world. I think we're always looking for who's on the same page as me exactly, who believes everything I believe, who is going to agree with everything I agree with. And sometimes, like, to be real, we're not going to get that. Not going to agree with your own spouse on everything. You know, your business partner. You just need to find little levels where you can connect and let's take us to the next level. Connect, take us to the next level. So I needed to find a common ground with him, and he took a liking to me. He, you know, maybe it was because I laughed at his jokes or because he also had like a challenging upbringing, and we actually developed a bit of a friendship and a bond. And so I kept going back to him and You know, he had his little beach thing and he'd send a letter every time. He's like, I was going back to get the percentage higher and higher. And behind the scenes, I was doing work on my health. And then his thing was, oh, Karl's just getting his head around the fact that he's got to have the surgery. And, you know, so like he had his reality and I had my reality, but as long as the percentages were going higher and higher and the heart was less and less stressed from the bug, then we're on the same mission. And then I went and had the open heart surgery and then I repaired, repaired the heart. So it was a successful operation in the fact that we repaired it. So that was the reception, to answer your question.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 31:24
Um, how old were you when you had the open heart surgery? So what was the time, I guess, between getting out of hospital the first time and then going back in to do the repair surgery?
Kyle Spyrides (Guest) · 31:34
Yeah, so I was quite old for my schooling, so I turned 19, you know, 2 and a half months out of school. Um, and that's when I was in, you know, when I was first sick. Then a year later is when I had the operation when I was 20. And so yeah, I was 20, had the operation, 6 months later went and did my Euro trip to finally, uh, get out and live.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 32:00
What was the year like between first hospital stint and then your surgery?
Kyle Spyrides (Guest) · 32:05
Not 100%.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 32:06
What was life like? Were you just kind of waiting?
Kyle Spyrides (Guest) · 32:09
Basically, once I got out of the hospital, um, you know, very, very weak and all that sort of stuff, I was just building my strength up. And then by that time, it was at about July, so it was when like semesters were starting again. It was when, um, you know, like you could go and study and things like that. So for me, um, basically my family whilst I was in hospital, my cousin came and showed me all these papers of like, hey, you can go study here, you can study there, you can do this, you can do that. And so I looked at, um, this studying in Albury-Wodonga in a country town, you know. I was studying environmental science, so I thought, okay, I'll do that. So I went and I studied environmental science for 6 months. That's— that was a nice way of just getting away from everything, just putting some distance between me and what I'd been through. And yeah, that's what I did, you know. But besides that, you know, that's pretty much— that was 6 months. And then the first 6 months was just that, that health attack. So yeah, I guess in a way you kind of find yourself on the back foot a few years after school, you know, um, because I studied in 6 months of that, but I didn't, I didn't go back to the country. Oh, I didn't finish the environmental science degree.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 33:21
What a journey that you were on. From the age of 18, right? Talk about a pivot point of your whole life.
Kyle Spyrides (Guest) · 33:30
Yes. And, and I can say I would not be on the mission I am now, but that, if that bug never hit my heart, I wouldn't be with the, my girlfriend who, who I'm so aligned with. I wouldn't have had the maturity. I wouldn't have had the maturity to meet all the great people that I've met in the business world and probably would not have written a book by now. So yeah, uh, the phoenix can rise from the fire.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 33:55
What was the most important thing on that, that, that journey for you? Um, I guess coming out of the coma, like what, what saved you, so to speak? What pulled you out of everything? If there was something, right? We often talk about, you know, a faith or a person or Whatever. What was it for you?
Kyle Spyrides (Guest) · 34:18
Um, and I love that, you know, because I know behind the podcast and people behind it and the energy and the movement behind it, there's so much faith and so much spiritual, um, strength, you know, behind what you guys are creating. And I love to contribute that, and I'd love to— people often ask me like, what did you see? Where'd you go? You know, and to be honest, like, it was black. It was still darkness. I didn't see anything during the time of induced coma. And what pulled me out of the coma probably, and this is a big point that I'd love to share, is that it takes an army, it takes a tribe, it takes a unit, it takes a group to achieve. And oftentimes, you know, the solo life or the solo entrepreneur or the solo mission, you can do it, you know, you can take the 30 years or you can join forces with other people who are heading in a similar direction and hitchhike with them, you know. And so for me, I just had so much love around me. Like, I was very lucky, but I had so many people coming and visiting me in the coma. And so family really rallied around me. A majority of this family I wasn't related to, originally born in South Africa and assimilated into this Australian family. So Australia, this Australian family really took me in. Um, and that's what I love about the culture. That's what I love about, you know, a multicultural society, uh, and society where you can be who you want to be. And, you know, and I think that was— I think that love was probably what woke me up, you know. And I kind of woke up, you know, and then I would, you know, I spent another week in the intensive care unit, and I was aware of who came. I don't remember what they said, but I remember seeing my uncle. I remember seeing this person, and I just remember this, um, almost tangible feel of love all around me, just oozing into me. And, you know, whether they were saying, 'I love you, Carl, we want you to be better,' blah blah, like, it didn't matter what the words were. The energy they were shooting to me was that. It was actual genuine care, consideration, and love, and wishing me to get better. So I think that is what pulled me back.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 36:26
That's so beautiful. Have you ever had a moment in your life where you felt that same energy before, or was that sort of beyond anything you'd ever experienced in that sort of love sense of the feeling of being loved?
Kyle Spyrides (Guest) · 36:43
That, that was pretty powerful. You know, I think that's, that one's hard to beat. Um, and like you said, such a pivotal, um, transition moment, I think. You know, another moment was probably going and seeing my grandfather when he was passing away, and he passed away in his, in his home, and holding his hand, uh, right until the last moments, seeing, seeing that, which is such a beautiful moment. Um, you know, like, we, we kind of don't— we don't, we don't confront mortality, trying to have our consciousness to live on forever, but when you're aware of the spiritual lessons and the spirituality and so empowering. But anyway, I was there for a week. He, this man had never had pharmaceuticals, never had surgery, never had anything, um, medical really challenging his life. And so right when he was 91, found himself in hospital. He, something tweaked, like he was like not enjoying it, not having it, not happy with it. Um, so very different how, how my, my experience. So the family went, all right, we need to get him a hospital bed. We need to put him in his home. He wants to pass away, or if he wants to get better, we need to put him in his home. And there was nothing. The doctors couldn't see anything. There was nothing as to why he was sick. You know, there was not— no, but, but he, he started having struggle with his air. And in his family, so interesting, when they wanted to clock out, they clocked out. His mother, when she was She broke her hip and then she was in the hospital and then she got better and she was jumping on the hospital bed with her niece and she was all full of life and the family came and said, oh, look, you know, Nan will be putting you in a retirement village. Um, you know, like, like, uh, tomorrow, like when we get you out of here, like my, like my grandfather, the Clive, his family, like they, they, they lifestyle was everything. They didn't want to be in a retirement village. None of them would get dragged into it. And. And, and she passed away in her sleep, you know, and there was no cause, there was nothing. But it— and he had an aunt that did the same thing. She just seemed to like— she was getting a bit sick and she was like, love you guys, you know, love you all, I'll see you later. And she just like tapped out alive. And so incredible ability. And so he was, you know, he— I think he was ready. Um, and so anyway, we were around him and I was, you know, sleeping like in the lounge room on some pillows, um, his hospital bed and he'd wake up in the middle of the night and he'd yell, Guinness, Guinness, Guinness. And he never was a drinker, but there's something apparently when you're dying or when you're giving birth, I don't know if it's from that era, but the iron in Guinness is what their craving is. So it was really strange, but we had to get Guinness and give him the Guinness. So I don't know what was from his upbringing or what happened in his life, but, and you know, we have the sippy cup and and, and that was my alarm clock. And so there were moments where, you know, we were kind of looking after him and, and, you know, all the, the toilet care and like the, like, you know, like the shower and brushing teeth and all that sort of stuff. And like, you know, kind of overwhelmed, and I would, you know, like it would hit me emotionally. I'd cry and I'd walk down the hallway and I'd see my auntie walk at me and just kind of do a 360 and go, okay, yep, I'm not going to go down there. That's going to be mostly traumatizing. And when I left The family, all of them, they're not necessarily a super huggy family, super emotional family, but they all squeezed me so tight. And all of their kids just were so thankful and grateful and just so, just, you know, that I showed up for their parents in that way. But their parents showed up for me. They raised me pretty much from when I was 14, when I had nowhere to go, had no home, and they showed up for me. So, I think the commitment to family was another time where I felt that love. And it was interesting, this family that I was not related to, they always said, hey, your family, your family. I never quite really felt that because I had like a bit of a, you know, a, a love for my South African family and, you know, wanting to go back there and, and then, and little dream that I made up, you know. But I could really feel it at that time. So that was another time.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 40:44
It's pretty powerful, Kyle. And, you know, it's almost like you were given a gift, not just the gift of life, but you were given the gift of a family and you were shown through that experience that you actually are loved.
Kyle Spyrides (Guest) · 40:59
Yeah.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 41:00
And you do have a family.
Kyle Spyrides (Guest) · 41:02
Yeah.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 41:02
And that's a really, really beautiful moment to experience. And even people that have a biological family. Many people don't ever feel that loved or that supported. And yet you got that in, in bucket loads, in droves, in this, you know, magnified moment or through that whole process really, didn't you?
Kyle Spyrides (Guest) · 41:26
Yeah. And in terms of the faith question or, or something deeper there, when I came to Australia, I was 3 and a half and my, my, my mother met my stepfather and, um, you know, he, he brought us over and, um, he, he wanted me out of South Africa because it was, it was right around when, um, Mandela got into power, which is great for the country, but it was very dangerous. It was very, um, there was a lot of uproar and violence in the streets and it was, it was a very— and he was like, wait a minute, like, this kid shouldn't be growing up in that country, like, come to Australia and have a better life. And so he brought me over and he really, like, loved me as like his son, you know, he really had that connection. And when I was walking up the stairs of his parents' home, Clive and Diana, he's, you know, he's, you know, he's my grandparents that became like my parents. Uh, I was walking up the stairs and my grandmother would still tell the story to this day. You know, she saw me coming up the stairs and, um, but what actually happened was that she had this kind of shooting feeling sensation through her body. And this kind of message from God that she was going to be important in my life. And she can, you know, she's into her 90s and she can relate that story. And at the age of 14, I literally had nowhere to go. And at that pivotal moment of my life where I was out on the street, like, I could have gone down a very dark path, you know, like, who knows, like, I could— my, my destiny could have been totally different. Like, I knocked on the door in the middle of the night and And, um, they let me in, you know, they opened up their door, their arms, their heart, and their family, you know. Uh, and they were just special people. I think they had over 150 different families stay at their house, whether it's exchange students from the US, exchange like organizations from, uh, middle of Australia, Aboriginal, you know, kids coming in to kind of study in like in the city, whatever it was, you know, like they, they just opened up And I, and I've never seen anything like them. Never seen anything like it. And that family thing, it's such an important point and such an important thing to have strong. Uh, if you want to go anywhere in this life, you want to achieve anything, if you want to, if you want to make it through. Um, and I think it's something that isn't regarded in today's day as much.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 43:44
I'm not going to say that you're lucky, Kyle. I'm going to say you're blessed. Yep. Yeah.
Kyle Spyrides (Guest) · 43:49
Yep.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 43:50
And however people want to take that, it's, it's up to them, but it's, and it's a non-denominational, uh, term that I'm using really to, to say in a universal level, you are blessed to have had that family, have that family and to have had this journey. So that, that's really special.
Kyle Spyrides (Guest) · 44:10
Yep. And the beautiful thing about being blessed or having the opportunity is that, you know, I think I generally do believe most people are good. I think, um, they get fuddled along the way, and I got fuddled along the way, and I, and I wasn't good at times. I wasn't being a good expression or good contributing member of society. And you have something painful happen to you, then you want to go and cause pain. And, and, you know, so I get a lot of that. And then, but I think the beautiful thing about being blessed or having that opportunity is that you now— I now look at it and go, okay, who doesn't have a diner in Clive? You know, who didn't have that opportunity? Like, who can I help? And that was the big driver behind the book, was like, what can I share that helped me through, you know, basically at days of 14 not wanting to be on this planet anymore? You know, like, like serious things that, that, that, that serious, like, assaults or attacks. What, what made me— what got me through that? And, and how— what things did my grandparents teach me? What did I learn from them? And And so that's really why I wrote the book and why I want to kind of do more work extended from the book because not everyone gets the opportunity. Like you said, that's it.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 45:18
Yeah. These, these pivotal moments in life, they shape who we are and who we become. And it's beautiful to see how you've taken the gifts and the lessons from that period of your life. And you're now living a life as a result of that, which is really inspiring.
Kyle Spyrides (Guest) · 45:37
Thank you, thank you. And so are you guys with what you're doing. I think it's the, the contribution element, uh, no matter where you get in life, like the need to contribute is something so deep within us. And you know, it's just such a drive. And I think that's really where people struggle with business, career, uh, happiness, fulfillment. It's, it's that where am I contributing? Where am I Where am I? Am I extracting enough? Am I learning enough? Am I training myself enough? Am I upgrading myself enough to be able to contribute at an, at higher levels? And that's a, a big thing to work on.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 46:13
Indeed. Kyle, we're coming to an end and I've got a final question for you. If there's anybody listening to this conversation who can relate to anything that you're talking about, whether it's having a medical issue and fighting the system,, or, you know, even the family support in a, in a dire circumstance. What would you like to say to them now as a, as a final comment to someone?
Kyle Spyrides (Guest) · 46:39
I'd say find people in your life that will call your bullshit out. And that's people that are going to call the bullshit out in and around you, going to see transparently. You know, what's going on, where the COVID people and operators are, and the effect they're having on you. And also going to call your own bullshit out and say, hey, you're creating this. You being a victim, you swirling in your own inner dialogue and mess and not confronting and not writing out what's going on in your life, in your situation, you're creating this. And we can just have people in our lives that will call that out. And I'm very grateful to have people in my life that will say, hey, you know, you've got more in you. You're better than this. You, you know, you can be better. Um, I expect more from you. You know, I was so worried about that expectation piece, but hey, you've shown me that there's potential. I expect to see that potential. I think that is a big part.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 47:44
That's great advice. Great words. There's a lot to take in there. Thank you, Kyle. Thank you so much for being here, for sharing your story, and just for being you, for showing up and bringing your gifts to the world.
Kyle Spyrides (Guest) · 47:58
Thank you so much for having me and creating this, you know, you're creating the space, you're holding the space for these conversations, and that's important on this planet.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 48:07
Thank you so much. We hope you've enjoyed this episode of Kintsugi Heroes. Please like and share the show to your friends so we can get this out to even more people. If you have a story you'd like to share with us, please reach out using the contact details below. And join us next week for our next hero's story. Until then, keep being you, and remember that we are all heroes in our own unique way.
Kyle Spyrides (Guest) · 48:40
Only when it's broken, only when it's broken. When it hits you in the middle of the night and the truth burns so bright. Only when it's broken, only when when it's broken. Take pride in those cries, it's only for tonight, and then you rise. Only when you're broken. Only when you're broken. Only when you're broken.
You don't have to be in crisis to call.
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