‘Just so grateful’: Bradford man finds help in battle against unknown illness

Thanks to the generosity of more than 330 people who donated $30,673 to an online fundraiser, Jonathan Andrews is back in Bradford and making progress in his life’s fight against an unknown disease that conventional medicine has been unable to diagnose.

After nearly three years of battling an affliction that affects his nervous system and left him bedridden until March 2022, the 29-year-old and lifelong Bradford resident is starting to see improvements, taking advantage of techniques and holistic therapies she learned while in Chang Mai, Thailand from mid-December to May 1.

As a result, Jonathan says he experienced a “massive mental shift” that was mirrored by his physical improvement.

“When I came back from Thailand, I was in a better head space and if you look at my body and the position of my head, my head is literally in a better position,” he said. “I went from trying not to die to now working on how to stand again, how to get back on my feet.”

That’s compared to the previous winter, which was “one of the most painful and difficult experiences of my life,” according to a post on the GoFundMe page, in which Jonathan explained that he had lost the ability to stand. or to walk and spent almost all his time. “in severe physical and emotional pain,” lying in bed.

While in Chang Mai, he underwent physiotherapy, aquatherapy, acupuncture, massage therapy and craniosacral therapy – which involves a gentle massage of the head, neck and back to release tension – as well as the use of mushrooms such as reishi, mane lion and cordyceps.

Those therapies were provided by specialists, most of whom traveled to a house rented by the Andrews, where Jonathan stayed with his father John, mother Laura and family friend Kim Reichert, who acted as a support person. personal.

Although he found aquatherapy to be the most supportive, Jonathan explained that all the different measures came together in different ways, even if some of them had to be modified.

Formerly a motivational speaker and author who advocated for men’s mental health, Jonathan wrote in his book: Man, you know I got youabout the importance of “meeting yourself where you are, before taking you where you want to go,” and that’s how he approached some of the therapies, modifying them to meet his own physical limitations.

Just before the interview, Jonathan’s dad was helping him go through some of those exercises that involved lifting and moving his arms and legs in different ways.

“It’s a million times more than I could do before I left for Thailand,” he said.

In addition to the specialists, Jonathan explained that the overall atmosphere was helpful while in Chang Mai, where the entire community was focused on “clean living” and compassion with treatment costing about a tenth of what he found in Ontario.

His sister, Tara Andrews, set up a GoFundMe campaign on Oct. 23 that helped cover the costs of therapies, services and the 20-hour flight, which was actually delayed several times from the original Nov. 24 anticipated departure.

“I wouldn’t have been able to do it without GoFundMe,” Jonathan said, adding that his parents “would have been willing to go bankrupt and bankrupt to help us,” but because of the fundraiser, they didn’t have to. .

“It’s been really hard on our family financially, so we’re so thankful that there are people in this world who are willing to help and lend a hand,” Tara said.

While an Ontario health advocate helped them apply for some funding, “the process was so slow” that by the time they found out they had been “rejected and rejected,” it was already January, according to Jonathan.

Still, he sees it as just another example of how he’s been able to use “self-compassion,” “self-love” and “infinite patience” to overcome his struggles, including the fear that he might not never improve or reach certain milestones such as getting married or having children.

“I was grieving that part of me,” he said, adding that at times it even made him consider ending his life.

Fortunately, Jonathan had the “love, care, commitment and devotion” of his family, who constantly helped him every day.

This includes continuous forcing for multiple responses. Jonathan said last week that the results of a neurological test revealed the presence of the Epstein-Barr virus, strep and other problems “in very high amounts.”

Despite having previously undergone more than a dozen different tests, Jonathan said no doctor in Canada recommended it and wouldn’t even have known about it without holistic health coaches Carl Weston and Phil Fontilea .

Unlike conventional medicine, alternative practitioners don’t always have a license or other government-approved credentials to indicate who patients should trust, but Jonathan felt confident in Weston’s track record with the CHEK Institute, which was founded by Paul Chek, a person Jonathan respects, who claims to have been practicing holistic medicine for more than 40 years.

“Sometimes if you don’t get the answers that help you progress and move forward, you have to be willing to keep an open mind and find out who else has experience, maybe in a different way,” Jonathan said.

Even in conventional medicine, Tara experienced the need to advocate for herself and find a doctor who could help her after being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma last February.

As well as running her own award-winning swim school, Beyond Buoyancy Aquatics, Tara also finished the last of 12 rounds of chemotherapy in September, and in January tests showed she was officially cancer-free.

Although she said she was “very grateful” to be alive, the experience left a lasting impression.

“It actually feels more difficult to live now than it was during my cancer treatments,” she said. “Cancer takes your whole identity. You have to figure out who you are again.”

Tara admitted that both brothers have “changed quite drastically” from their experiences, which Jonathan likens to the lingering impact of the pandemic.

“People are waiting for it to go back to the way it was, but it won’t be like that. It’s a new normal,” he said. “In a way, the pain I went through is the cleansing and purification of who I was as a person.”

Tara said she was able to persevere through diagnosis and treatment after finding strength in her faith, focusing on her passion for teaching swimming and enjoying time with her family and fiancé John Clark, who are both “very excited’ to plan their previously postponed wedding. for this September.

While the timelines remain uncertain, Jonathan’s next goals are to be able to sit on his own, then sit on his own, and finally start walking again.

Meanwhile, he is looking forward to attending his sister’s wedding.