Aug. 19, 2025
Resilient Horizons: Nicholas Vuchlewicz's Journey from Trauma to Triumph
Send us a text In this empowering episode of Living the Dream with Curveball, we welcome Nicholas Vuchlewicz, a passionate speaker, mental health advocate, and brain injury survivor. Nicholas shares his incredible journey following a life-altering motorcycle accident that left him with a traumatic brain injury. He opens up about the challenges he faced during his recovery, the isolation that often accompanies such trauma, and how he transformed his experience into a powerful advocacy for ment...
In this empowering episode of Living the Dream with Curveball, we welcome Nicholas Vuchlewicz, a passionate speaker, mental health advocate, and brain injury survivor. Nicholas shares his incredible journey following a life-altering motorcycle accident that left him with a traumatic brain injury. He opens up about the challenges he faced during his recovery, the isolation that often accompanies such trauma, and how he transformed his experience into a powerful advocacy for mental health awareness. With a unique perspective on healing, Nicholas discusses the importance of vulnerability and connection in overcoming adversity. He also highlights how gaming and music played a crucial role in his rehabilitation and community engagement. Join us as Nicholas inspires listeners to embrace their journeys, seek support, and find hope in the face of challenges. Discover how he continues to make a difference by speaking to organizations and advocating for trauma survivors. Tune in for an uplifting conversation that reminds us all that we are not alone in our struggles and that hope is always within reach.
WEBVTT
00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:08.480
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Welcome to the Living the Dream podcast with Curveball. If you believe you can achieve.
00:00:14.960 --> 00:00:25.120
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Welcome to the Living the Dream with Curveball podcast, a show where I interview guests that teach, motivate and inspire.
00:00:26.250 --> 00:00:34.490
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Today I am joined by speaker, mental health advocate and brain injury survivor Nicholas Vuklovich.
00:00:34.810 --> 00:00:43.210
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>We're going to be talking to Nicholas about his brain injury and how it happened, everything that he's up to, and everything that he's going to be up to.
00:00:43.770 --> 00:00:45.840
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>So, Nicholas, thank you so much for joining me.
00:00:47.119 --> 00:00:49.359
> Nicholas Vuklovich>Thank you, Curtis, for having me. I do appreciate it.
00:00:49.759 --> 00:00:52.719
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Why don't you start off by telling everybody a little bit about yourself?
00:00:54.509 --> 00:01:37.810
> Nicholas Vuklovich>Sure. Thank you. Well, my name is Nicholas Ruklovich. I am a, brain injury survivor. I was in a crash over a little over nine years ago. And through that experience I was able to take what I learned through my mental health journey before my trauma and become an advocate for many in any way I can. You know, keep pushing through, to this world, through interviews, through meetings, to webinars, you name it. I want to try to be in front center to help, share someone else's story to show they're not alone.
00:01:39.890 --> 00:01:55.959
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Okay, well, kind of describe, I know you said it was an accident, so, so just kind of describe, you know, what actually happened and, and just walk us through what happened and, and the trauma and, and you know, how you got through it and all that stuff.
00:01:56.680 --> 00:02:07.870
> Nicholas Vuklovich>I appreciate it. So, nobody really knows what happened, but I was in a single vehicle motorcycle crash March 15, 2016. I always say the ides of March on Brain Injury Awareness Month.
00:02:08.430 --> 00:02:27.439
> Nicholas Vuklovich>I, I impacted a wall, I separated my pelvic circle. I broke my sacroiliac, I crushed my left orbital. I had a massive concussion, a right side brain bleed, subdomheumatoma. I was taken, by EMT to my body, lay there for roughly four hours. I was in a small, remote area.
00:02:28.319 --> 00:02:42.780
> Nicholas Vuklovich>I, was taken to, EMT via EMT over to, Inova Fairfax, level one trauma, where I went right up into the trauma icu. They were concerned about bone piercing the brain, all the internal bleeding.
00:02:42.780 --> 00:03:18.759
> Nicholas Vuklovich>Fortunately, the, I didn't actually have to have brain surgery. The swelling, was under control and I'd never had any external abrasions, so I, I would have bled to death otherwise. And, but in the hospital was where I was for roughly two weeks. I was non cognizant, but I wasn't in a coma. so I have no idea, no where, how, when, what was up what was down, people would come in the room and I would respond to them with basic commands, or they said, we're going to go out to dinner and get me to eat dinner.
00:03:18.759 --> 00:03:48.240
> Nicholas Vuklovich>I know that music was a big part of my healing and I know that because when I was going through different pain spikes, my blood pressure was super high and my girlfriend would put on my, my heavy metal music station typo negative from Pandora and the music would literally lower my blood pressure. So now, you know, nine years later, I still use music and I speak about it highly, about helping me control my anxiety and, just when things get pretty dark.
00:03:48.800 --> 00:04:12.860
> Nicholas Vuklovich>Every brain injury is different. Mine was right side, so right side means left side negligence, and doesn't, you know, compulsory thoughts, vision, etc. I would say I woke up, coming to my rehabilitation hospital where it was very confusing seeing to everything. I didn't know why I couldn't move my left side, couldn't really relax, couldn't, couldn't do a lot.
00:04:13.099 --> 00:04:33.819
> Nicholas Vuklovich>And that's when the healing and the journey had to begin. And even though I have no memory for the two weeks I was in the trauma icu, I know for sure, fact, factually that my body was fighting as much as they could to heal. And it's not a, it's not a zero sum game. And trying to heal is, is hard work.
00:04:36.779 --> 00:04:45.819
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Well, you're all, you're also a mental health advocate. So explain to the listeners why and how you became a mental health advocate.
00:04:47.740 --> 00:05:19.379
> Nicholas Vuklovich>Thank you so, much. Again, what, what passions I guess I have, but, being a traumatic brain injury survivor is very isolating and very. Being a trauma survivor, being going through acute rehab, you name it, is very isolating. It's very. You feel that you're alone in this. And, I struggle with mental health, my mental health before my trauma, and I'm grateful I did because I don't know if I would still be here.
00:05:20.480 --> 00:05:30.779
> Nicholas Vuklovich>You know, everything happened, so I became an advocate. And I like to speak about my problems openly as freely I like to.
00:05:31.500 --> 00:06:58.300
> Nicholas Vuklovich>I believe Brene Brown said, if you can't be, you can't be brave if you're not vulnerable. So I like to express it to show others the courage that I have and that they might have in them. And I find that when we are able to speak about what we went through or express our, you know, weakness, vulnerabilities, people can see that and understand that we have empathy to walk with them. And I also do what I do because every brain injury is different and it can be. It is very isolating as I said, and you feel very alone. And male trauma injury survivors is twice as likely than a regular male, the same age and demographic to commit suicide. So I do a lot of advocacy work to help people be okay, to not be okay. mental health is a buzzword. Way too many people use it, but nobody really talks about or nobody really presents a path forward. But when we go through these journeys we have to ask ourselves the difficult questions to try to get better and to try to get to the next step. There is no better to try to get to the next step, the next stage where you can be as best as you can, okay with yourself.
00:07:00.939 --> 00:07:09.480
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Well, I know that you are also a gamer and you said that gaming helped in your recovery. Explain to the listeners how that was.
00:07:10.839 --> 00:07:52.300
> Nicholas Vuklovich>So, yeah, I say my nerd street creds pretty high. but I played a, before my accident, before my crash, I was, I ah, went through a really rough separation, divorce. And I, instead of being at home being angry or just kind of secluding, I, I push myself to go out and play games, meet people. I play a tabletop role playing, from called Pathfinder where you create characters and you create these circumstances. But I use the idea of not staying inside, staying alone to help beat the depression, to help beat the isolation.
00:07:53.100 --> 00:08:39.530
> Nicholas Vuklovich>So doing that was really critical in my healing from my separation and divorce. And then my trauma happened. It also became another great way for me to challenge myself in different ways. So I didn't have feeling my left side. I couldn't really relax. I had problems seeing. So right side brain injury also can be. You have a hard time necessarily going between analytical and creative thoughts and what a better way than a creative game. So I would go into these environments in a wheelchair at first, with noises, with different sounds. I would move stuff around with my left side. Eventually I would walk in there with a walker.
00:08:40.010 --> 00:08:49.931
> Nicholas Vuklovich>But I would try to push myself out of my comfort zone to be okay. And through that I was able to get more engaged with the community.
00:08:51.130 --> 00:09:22.971
> Nicholas Vuklovich>organization I volunteer with is called Paizo Organized Play. And they run games all up and down, all over the world. And I help volunteer games up and down the east coast. And it's important to me because meeting gamers gives them the ability to feel okay with who they are, where they are, to again feel included and not isolated. And one of the things that this lovely pandemic did to us was everybody went right back into the basements and away from people.
00:09:23.931 --> 00:09:36.171
> Nicholas Vuklovich>So I use my trauma, my advocacy, my gaming to help reach out to others, to let them feel that they are alone in this crazy world, that we all are part of a team.
00:09:39.130 --> 00:10:00.530
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Okay, so as a mental health advocate, you've spoken all over the place to international organizations, but you also spoken to political organizations, even Congress, the United States Congress. So explain to the listeners what you speak to the political organizations about and what you spoke to Congress about and why.
00:10:01.990 --> 00:10:31.291
> Nicholas Vuklovich>well, thank you for bringing that up. So I volunteer with, Trauma survivors Network, which is, now international organization that, has chapters all across the country and, know parts of the globe. And in those chapters, they have different meetings that people can reach out to at trauma centers and, you know, speak to, you know, groups. Well, I live outside of Washington, D.C.
00:10:31.770 --> 00:10:54.980
> Nicholas Vuklovich>so I'm, prime right for different activities. And there was a lobbyist firm that was seeking to have any trauma survivors to help with speaking to various lawmakers about the importance of having a national trauma, you know, support system in our healthcare environment.
00:10:55.860 --> 00:12:12.280
> Nicholas Vuklovich>So it was very empowering to go into the various, offices of senators or congressional leaders and speak to the staffers about our journey and what we do through this. Through this peer support, through this peer mentoring, many have, been able to really understand the gravity of the situation. Hearing various people's stories is, my injury is very different than maybe someone else's motorcycle accident or, you know, ski accident or whatever next to me. But the journey through trauma, the journey through recovery, all those have, checked many of the same boxes. And that's something that is very universal in this crazy world. Everything could be working normal, Then one split second, everything's upside down. And now you have to relearn how to do basic tasks. So being part of an environment is important. And then speaking to lawmakers, to different organizations, letting them know how important it is to have a community is very special and something I'm very proud I was able to do.
00:12:14.681 --> 00:12:22.921
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Talk about what it means to actually be a brain injury survivor, a traumatic brain injury survivor.
00:12:25.000 --> 00:12:49.721
> Nicholas Vuklovich>you get to check a box the rest of your life to say you were in a, you had a mental, you had a brain injury. But besides that, you. Let's see, I am part of a community that I never want to leave now.
00:12:51.020 --> 00:12:53.260
> Nicholas Vuklovich>I have deficiencies.
00:12:53.740 --> 00:12:56.061
> Nicholas Vuklovich>I sometimes struggle with certain tax.
00:12:56.860 --> 00:13:13.110
> Nicholas Vuklovich>But I can do so much more by helping people now, giving me an opportunity to reach out to others and in support, in compassion.
00:13:15.030 --> 00:13:35.291
> Nicholas Vuklovich>So being a brain injury survivor, it isn't my identity I maybe make it my own identity, but as I've spoken to other patients and others, I control my narrative. I let people know what happened or how I know it happened.
00:13:35.691 --> 00:13:45.010
> Nicholas Vuklovich>So that way nobody fills in the blanks. And my brain injury has made me a stronger person in many different aspects of my life.
00:13:45.010 --> 00:13:58.400
> Nicholas Vuklovich>From my work to help me slow down, be more cognizant, be more aware of my surroundings, to my personal life by reaching out to different music communities, gaming communities, you name it.
00:13:58.961 --> 00:14:03.841
> Nicholas Vuklovich>So being a brain injury survivor has opened my world to so much more.
00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:15.201
> Nicholas Vuklovich>I say that, you know, everything we get in life has just given us gifts. As bad as it is, there's gifts. Well, I have a gift of perspective. I see things very differently.
00:14:16.010 --> 00:14:34.331
> Nicholas Vuklovich>So having this circumstance happen to me allows me to connect to people from around the globe and talk to them about my struggle, my trauma, and show that they are okay to speak about theirs. And that's something that is. I never would have expected to be as powerful as it is.
00:14:36.811 --> 00:14:43.051
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Well, your bio says that you, have it tabletop role player.
00:14:43.530 --> 00:14:45.291
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Explain to the listeners what that is.
00:14:46.171 --> 00:14:50.671
> Nicholas Vuklovich>So, as I mentioned, it's a tabletop, gaming, so you.
00:14:51.390 --> 00:15:26.931
> Nicholas Vuklovich>Everybody understands or knows the Dungeons, and Dragons D and D. It's the I play there, competitor of theirs, Pathfinder and Starfinder. So that is where you control a character and you decide the actions they do, good or bad, in the world around them. I will either play or I will run games for people and I help provide a good story. I try to provide a good story and a good atmosphere and have fun with it. What would this character do? What would they do? Think of a character of a TV show. How would they act?
00:15:27.410 --> 00:15:46.171
> Nicholas Vuklovich>How would they do? You can be silly. You can have fun. And the important part of Pathfinder and Starfinder is it is a, is a teamwork game, not an I work game. So it's nice to be able to work together with a common goal, to stop the enemy and work together.
00:15:46.811 --> 00:16:49.791
> Nicholas Vuklovich>And that's something that is neat in my community and growing more in this. I literally just came this past weekend to the largest convention at, Gen Con in Indianapolis. You know, 75, 000 plus other people playing various games and being in a, space like that is really powerful when, you know, people aren't worried about, you know, any identities, lgbtq, just who they are and just having fun and coming together in a common cause. And that's, that's pretty neat and something I never expected to really see as, as much as I Did until I started really branching out and stake. Trying to stay in the uncomfortable instead of just all my groups of friends just trying to meet new people and, and experience more. And that has definitely enhanced my life in so many different ways as well.
00:16:52.270 --> 00:16:56.990
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Well, tell us about any upcoming projects that you're working on that listeners need to be aware of.
00:16:58.410 --> 00:17:34.550
> Nicholas Vuklovich>I am working on, I'm working on speaking with my state representatives. We in, I'm in Virginia and they are in different mental health capacities for the state of Virginia. So I'm hoping going to speak in Richmond, just to help share my story and help share and hopefully break down any roadblocks that people might have. seeing care. I am running different conventions for games around the area.
00:17:35.270 --> 00:17:38.270
> Nicholas Vuklovich>I am, I'm always busy.
00:17:38.270 --> 00:18:08.671
> Nicholas Vuklovich>I always say if there's five minutes in the day, I'll, I'll fill with 10 minutes of something to do. And I was active before my injury but you know, I lost these 12, 12 days of my life. I never, I always feel like I'm trying to run and get back. So I continue to strive to be seen and let others know that they are seen as well and people. Sorry, go ahead, go ahead.
00:18:08.671 --> 00:18:09.951
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>I didn't mean to interrupt you.
00:18:10.111 --> 00:18:38.101
> Nicholas Vuklovich>No. Who knows what's going to happen? I mean I could tell you that three years ago I would have never expected to interview favorite musicians, you know, meet people from the globe, you know, write to, you know, international organization, SameYou.org, you know, go to Congress, who knows? And, and one of the things I know is that I don't know what tomorrow lies.
00:18:38.820 --> 00:19:07.361
> Nicholas Vuklovich>So I'm just going to always try to do the next right thing, step forward and try to see what is yet to come. Because my story is not finished. I will keep on writing the story I want to see and I will continue to try to strive to help people see that they're not alone and help people experience the joy that everyone deserves to be in.
00:19:09.921 --> 00:19:12.721
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>So listeners can keep up with everything that you're up to.
00:19:12.721 --> 00:19:14.240
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Throw out your contact info.
00:19:15.471 --> 00:19:26.840
> Nicholas Vuklovich>Perfect. Well, I have a, link tree, at Gifts of Perspective that has my various YouTube videos I've done, from interviews to speeches.
00:19:27.080 --> 00:19:42.971
> Nicholas Vuklovich>I have an email address giftsofperspective gmail.com where I can hopefully help reach people and provide any insight that I might have or, or help maybe connect them to people that might be able to support them.
00:19:43.770 --> 00:19:53.451
> Nicholas Vuklovich>I am always looking for ways to expand my network and support others in a kind and compassionate way.
00:19:55.530 --> 00:20:03.371
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Close this out with some final thoughts. Maybe if that was something I forgot to touch on, that you would like to discuss, or any final thoughts you have for the listeners.
00:20:04.050 --> 00:20:12.851
> Nicholas Vuklovich>well, there's. I'm full of. I'm full of a lot of quotes. Let's see which ones I pull out first. But, you know, it's okay to have a bad day.
00:20:13.411 --> 00:20:20.050
> Nicholas Vuklovich>It's just a day. I promise the sun will rise tomorrow. And I finished.
00:20:20.050 --> 00:20:31.290
> Nicholas Vuklovich>I did a recent webinar and someone asked me, what would you want to leave, with them? And I said, hope is a free medicine. So I'll leave that here.
00:20:31.290 --> 00:20:37.451
> Nicholas Vuklovich>Hope is a free medicine and life's a four letter word. It depends on how you want to use it.
00:20:39.691 --> 00:21:07.141
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>All right, ladies and gentlemen, be sure to keep up with everything that Nicholas is up to if you can support his cause. Follow us on your favorite podcast platform and visit www.craveball337.com for more information on the Living the Dream with Curveball podcast. Thank you for listening and supporting the show. And Nicholas, thank you so much for joining me and thank you for all that you do for the mental health field.
00:21:08.340 --> 00:21:16.101
> Nicholas Vuklovich>Thank you, Curtis. I do appreciate your support and you willing to help listen to stories like mine and others. It's really helpful.
00:21:17.141 --> 00:21:38.901
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>For more information on the Living the Dream with Curveball Podcast, visit www.craveballah337.com until next time, keep Living the dream.
00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:08.480
00:00:14.960 --> 00:00:25.120
00:00:26.250 --> 00:00:34.490
00:00:34.810 --> 00:00:43.210
00:00:43.770 --> 00:00:45.840
00:00:47.119 --> 00:00:49.359
00:00:49.759 --> 00:00:52.719
00:00:54.509 --> 00:01:37.810
00:01:39.890 --> 00:01:55.959
00:01:56.680 --> 00:02:07.870
00:02:08.430 --> 00:02:27.439
00:02:28.319 --> 00:02:42.780
00:02:42.780 --> 00:03:18.759
00:03:18.759 --> 00:03:48.240
00:03:48.800 --> 00:04:12.860
00:04:13.099 --> 00:04:33.819
00:04:36.779 --> 00:04:45.819
00:04:47.740 --> 00:05:19.379
00:05:20.480 --> 00:05:30.779
00:05:31.500 --> 00:06:58.300
00:07:00.939 --> 00:07:09.480
00:07:10.839 --> 00:07:52.300
00:07:53.100 --> 00:08:39.530
00:08:40.010 --> 00:08:49.931
00:08:51.130 --> 00:09:22.971
00:09:23.931 --> 00:09:36.171
00:09:39.130 --> 00:10:00.530
00:10:01.990 --> 00:10:31.291
00:10:31.770 --> 00:10:54.980
00:10:55.860 --> 00:12:12.280
00:12:14.681 --> 00:12:22.921
00:12:25.000 --> 00:12:49.721
00:12:51.020 --> 00:12:53.260
00:12:53.740 --> 00:12:56.061
00:12:56.860 --> 00:13:13.110
00:13:15.030 --> 00:13:35.291
00:13:35.691 --> 00:13:45.010
00:13:45.010 --> 00:13:58.400
00:13:58.961 --> 00:14:03.841
00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:15.201
00:14:16.010 --> 00:14:34.331
00:14:36.811 --> 00:14:43.051
00:14:43.530 --> 00:14:45.291
00:14:46.171 --> 00:14:50.671
00:14:51.390 --> 00:15:26.931
00:15:27.410 --> 00:15:46.171
00:15:46.811 --> 00:16:49.791
00:16:52.270 --> 00:16:56.990
00:16:58.410 --> 00:17:34.550
00:17:35.270 --> 00:17:38.270
00:17:38.270 --> 00:18:08.671
00:18:08.671 --> 00:18:09.951
00:18:10.111 --> 00:18:38.101
00:18:38.820 --> 00:19:07.361
00:19:09.921 --> 00:19:12.721
00:19:12.721 --> 00:19:14.240
00:19:15.471 --> 00:19:26.840
00:19:27.080 --> 00:19:42.971
00:19:43.770 --> 00:19:53.451
00:19:55.530 --> 00:20:03.371
00:20:04.050 --> 00:20:12.851
00:20:13.411 --> 00:20:20.050
00:20:20.050 --> 00:20:31.290
00:20:31.290 --> 00:20:37.451
00:20:39.691 --> 00:21:07.141
00:21:08.340 --> 00:21:16.101
00:21:17.141 --> 00:21:38.901