So the gym concept came from a
memory from battalion. The battalion had
a rustic gym and it was my favourite area
and it was sacred to me and that’s
where all the hardest soldiers hung
out and that’s where I want to hang out.
One day the doors closed on me and
it was a white room with mirrors and
just the weights and it was so clear and
I had so much fun and it was a moment
of true enlightenment in this tiny room.
Then when I got after my second
deployment I got posted to Kingston and
then I left all my brothers and all my
section mates and Brittany and I both
left and then I’m alone and that’s where
I discovered that there was an issue
because I wasn’t hanging around my peers.
I didn’t have people that were on the same
level as me and then it turned really bad.
I went from the Prairies to busy like
seeing Toronto where some of my
flashbacks became real.
I became, I would lash out immediately
in civilian public and then I became suicidal.
What is this and why can’t I turn this off?
Why do I envision just scenarios that
happened overseas but I wish I did more
so people that were there probably
understand my context is on that and
it was maddening thoughts consistently.
And then I had thoughts well that’s it,
I’m going to get out. I am going to join
Syria, I’m just going to die in conflict.
I just want to die in combat.
I just want to die that way.
So then I would be spending six hours
in the gym and then I told Brittany my
suicidal thoughts and I told my warrant
and my warrant was super supportive
and then immediately got me into
a social worker. I got my social worker
and then we immediately started talking
openly. We started nurturing the inside
of my soul which is the childish, artistic
side. And then I just went from there.
I created a clothing line, HAF and
then from there I was like I need a
house to protect people because
I went to a lot of civilian gyms and
I felt worse leaving because of the
opposite of comradeship. It was staring
glares and judgemental glares and
confused glares and eye contact
was one of my triggers. So I go to a gym
and all of a sudden there is like people
who appear the same as me giving me
eye contact and then when I step up and
then switch it on they kind of run away
from me and that was me trying to be
like hey let’s be friends,
lets train but in a weird way
so I found it really difficult.
So then I literally woke up in the
middle of the night, I said,
“Brittany do you want to do this?”
We have no backing,
we have nothing and I just said,
“If we are going to do this and
if you trust me to start this process
I will bleed and I will die in this
floor so if we fail,
we can be proud of our failure.”
So she said yes and so we went on
kijiji got everything second hand,
signed a lease, gave the guys,
Frank our landlord seven thousand
dollars and the only concept was to help
Veterans give them a hangout platoon
room and give them a sacred gym where
they could break the walls and all I do is
give them a hug and hand them a mortar
and then they fix the walls and then come
back the next day to heal themselves.
So that was the beginning of the
foundation of The Iron King and then it
evolved and my mission statement has
grown and the purpose of The Iron King
and the purpose of me is to save lives,
give Veterans, service men and women,
police and corrections officers especially
in Kingston that esprit de corps and
that connection with others and a safe
outlet to push as hard or as not hard as
you want. This is not only just a place of
iron and metal, its yoga, it’s stretching.
I don’t care what it is. It is you sitting
in the middle of the floor just breathing.
And that’s our concept of the gym and
I am going to grow and I promise you
I am going to grow and there’s going to
be just more for you to do outside of
your home but feel like you’re in
a home with PT, because PT is life!