“Am I dead?” I asked when I woke up. My mum started to cry as they both responded with a resounding “NO!”. It felt like an absolute dream. This was the beginning of my road to recovery after coming out of a coma. My name is Jake and I am a Co-Founder of Raw Essentials Tea and the Roach Foundation.
My mum and dad were next to each other at the end of my bed, with bright white hospital lights blaring behind them. I am a burn survivor that was extremely lucky to come through the unimaginable trauma - something I never imagined I would have to go through. However, struggling through the trauma was just the start of my battle. I will tell you more about my recovery in a minute but first, let me tell you a little more about my background.
My old life seems like a million years ago; I worked in finance and had an amazing and balanced lifestyle. On April 2, 2011, my life completely changed. I was in a fire and 69% of my body was burnt. I was told recovery in hospital would take 1 year and 8 months; however, I was miserable there and made sure I did all the right things to get out after only 2 months. Once I was discharged from the hospital, I found it difficult to get off the couch, I had zero motivation and didn’t want to do anything with my life. It was such a hard time and I’m absolutely in awe of where I’ve gotten to today.
Now, everything is completely different. I wanted to create the Roach Foundation, an incredible foundation to help fund treatments that I was lucky enough to be able to afford. And we are able to fund this through our Raw Essentials Teas.
I want to help people throughout the world who may have gone through a terrible injury, like mine, and let them know that there is someone out there that can help them. Help them to get over the mental barricades within their heads, and help anyone who suffers from mental problems created through trauma. Back when I got out of the hospital, I didn't have the my usual zest for life and I didn't want to do anything. My energy levels were shot. I lost many friends. I couldn't go out on the weekend. I lost my confidence because the majority of my face is covered in scars from my burns. It felt like I had a cloud on my brain. I had also lost my social skills. I basically became an extreme introvert. I didn't see any light at the end of the tunnel. And felt like my life was going nowhere. I thought, “What the hell am I going to do with my life now?” Do you understand what I was going through? Have you asked yourself this question? Is this you? Or someone you know? (Please contact me if you know someone!)
“Mum, tea is tea. Why don’t I just use normal tea?” I jibbed. “Not all teas are the same. These are special and specially blended for you!” So finally, I decided I didn’t have anything to lose, and I tried the tea. My mum attempted many times to give me this green herbal tea concoction she had created, designed to detox your body: Mum has been a tea master for many years and has been working with an old Chinese herbalist and wanted me to try her detox teas. It was at this point that I would do anything to have my life back and realise my dreams again. Within 2 days of drinking the tea, I had broken out in lots of little pimples, and that was when we knew it was working. I was on a load of pain killers and this detox tea my mum had given me was helping to clear out all of those horrible toxins that had built up in my body. It kind of felt like a huge cloud had been lifted from my brain. I quickly began to regain my energy, which was absolutely terrible beforehand. I just felt like an overwhelming sense of vitality and wellbeing had hit me. In fact, we just had a report this morning of a cancer survivor using our tea to battle through chemo - it has helped him to think clearly and aid the adrenal system which regulates your mood by releasing hormones. Our Detox am tea has been specially blended to create this effect, so we call it our happy tea.
Around the end of week 3, I could feel things were starting to change but not even as much as people could see from the outside. Mum could see that I was getting up and showering every day and trying to make myself look as presentable as possible. I was starting to get my groove back. It was then that mum started to ask me: “if money was no object, what would you do with your life?” It was then that we started the Roach Foundation, an incredible way to help other burn survivors recover. 5 years later and we are treating patients who are receiving amazing results and we are now in the 18th carnation of our tea blends.
Now, I will be honest with you, it was very hard to stick to the diet and tea for the full month. It was hard enough getting through the first week, as your body has to have time to adjust to the diet and tea. It is also time consuming prepping food for the diet, and can be hard to find time in a busy lifestyle.
But don’t worry, it will not be as hard for you - we have you covered and I will tell you more
about that in a minute.
My skin is supple and my confidence has returned and I also look better from the treatments.
I now appreciate the journey rather than always seeking the destination. You can find me on the dating scene yet again.
And I’m doing pretty well for myself, thank you for asking.
So now it’s your turn... Can I take a moment to ask you a couple of questions about you?
Do you have your own mum and dad at the end of the bed trauma story? What would it mean to you to have your energy back? Do you want to “Take back your life and take back your dreams”? Would you like to know more about our Happy Tea?
The possibility of this must be a no brainer for you to investigate further... right? So all that is left is for you to get started and take the first step ...
My friends have come back. I train martial arts. And I’m starting to take pride in my appearance. I lost some weight. And the coating off of my tongue has gone. These days I believe that no matter how low or down you may feel, tomorrow will always be a new brighter day. Time heals everything. I now appreciate the small things in life like the sun upon my face, getting outside and am so happy that I can help others through my foundation. I now see a future in helping other people through the Roach Foundation. I have a purpose. I took back my life.
