I have to be honest with you. I was not prepared for how deeply this conversation was going to hit me. I sat down with Matt Long, a New York City firefighter, athlete, and speaker who was given a 1% chance to live after being run over by a 40,000 pound bus in December 2005. And what he shared in this episode is the kind of story that reminds you exactly what the human spirit is capable of.
Matt and I have more in common than you might think. We both had our femoral arteries severed. We both know what it is to wake up in a body that does not work the way it used to. And we both chose to keep going anyway. This one is for anyone who has ever been knocked flat and wondered if they had what it takes to get back up.
Here is what stayed with me most from our time together.
Your body was training you for something bigger than you knew
Before the accident, Matt had gotten himself into the best shape of his life. He was running marathons, completing Ironman triathlons, and training new recruits at the New York City Fire Academy. He thought he was training for races. He wasn’t. That fitness is what saved his life. His coach used to hang a sign at the fire academy: train for life. Matt didn’t fully understand what that meant until he was lying in a hospital at 122 pounds, fighting to survive. Whatever you’re doing right now to invest in your health, your strength, your mindset, don’t stop. You don’t always know what you’re preparing yourself for.
The “I will” mindset changes everything
At his lowest point, Matt said something devastating to his parents. He told them he wished they hadn’t prayed for him to live. And his mother, in one of the most loving acts of tough love you’ll ever hear, looked him dead in the eye and said, you’re not the only person going through a hard time. If you’re going to be miserable, do it by yourself. That moment cracked something open in him. He shifted from why did I live to I will live. Two words. That’s it. I will make a comeback. I will run again. I will get my life back. And three years after the accident, at 7 hours and 21 minutes, he crossed the finish line of the New York City Marathon. Every single mile was a victory.
Starting over is not failure. It’s courage.
One of my favorite moments in this conversation was when Matt talked about reinventing himself. He stopped running extreme distances because it wasn’t healthy for his body anymore. And instead of grieving what he lost, he found something new. At 60, he’s learning golf and he’ll be the first to tell you the ball doesn’t move and it’s still the hardest thing he’s ever done. He said something I want you to write down: starting over is one of the most courageous decisions you can make. You just can’t start over without honoring who you were and what got you here.
If you’re in a season where you’re questioning whether you have what it takes, this episode is your answer. Matt Long is living proof that miracles are real, that the body is more resilient than we imagine, and that two words spoken with conviction can change the entire trajectory of your life.
Tune in and let Matt’s story light a fire in you. I will. Say it out loud. Mean it. And then go!
About Matt Long
Matt Long is a retired New York City firefighter, Ironman athlete, TEDx speaker, and bestselling author of The Long Run. After surviving a catastrophic accident that gave him a 1% chance to live, he went on to complete the New York City Marathon just three years later and has since dedicated his life to inspiring others to never give up. His message is simple and unshakeable: every step forward is a victory. Connect with Matt at matlongspeaker.com or on Instagram and LinkedIn at matlongspeaker.
Connect with Matt
Website: mattlongspeaker.com
Instagram: @mattlongspeaker
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Transcript:
Amberly Lago (00:00)
What advice would you give them to someone who is saying, could never do this?
Matthew Long (00:05)
First thing I would do is to try your best to change that attitude because if you’re going to wake up and think you could never do it, then you’re right.
Amberly Lago (00:12)
for you, your injuries internally, like you were completely ripped open.
Matthew Long (00:18)
They basically gave me a 1 % chance to live. So when, you know, it’s funny, I’ve said that for the better part of 19 years. And when I sat down with our friend, Led My Let, he stopped me and said, you do understand that’s a 99 % chance of not being here. And I was like, woo, he really like got me there. was like, wow, I never looked at it that way. I was thinking like, wow, I beat a 1 % chance to live. So pretty surreal to be able to do the things I’m doing now after what happened to me.
Amberly Lago (00:46)
Do you still live with pain?
Matthew Long (00:48)
Absolutely, yeah, I’m every day. I’m not on any kind of medication, but there’s definitely muscles that never came back. There’s nerve damage to the right side and it goes down my right leg. So I have battles with nerve pain. Your body wants to move and if you keep moving your body, you’ll keep it healthy. So I don’t do the things to the extreme that I used to, but I do the things I know that are good for me.
Amberly Lago (01:11)
Thank you for tuning in today. I have such an inspiring story and I can’t wait for you to add just to change your life after hearing this amazing man. Whether you’re facing loss or failure or adversity, this conversation is really your wake up call that you are stronger than you think. mean, imagine facing an event so catastrophic that doctors give you a 1 % chance to live.
And now imagine coming out the other side, not only surviving, but thriving, but running a marathon just three years later. That’s the reality of today’s guest, Matt Long. He was a firefighter athlete and a man in peak performance condition when life threw him under the bus, like literally under the bus. Y’all now he is now a speaker. speaks all over the world. He’s got an amazing Ted talk.
He’s been featured in things like Men’s Fitness, Runner’s World, CBS. He’s even been on the Ed Mylett show. So it is such an honor to have you with us. Thank you so much for being here, Matt.
Matthew Long (02:20)
Thanks for having me, I really appreciate it.
Amberly Lago (02:22)
Yeah, well, I found you because my daughter’s best friend, I was at her house and she started telling me, she goes, what do you do? And I was like, well, I speak, I travel for speaking and I’m an author and she goes, well, I have a friend that’s a speaker too. And I looked you up and I was like, ⁓ my goodness, I have got to have this man on my show because this show is all about resilience and turning tragedy to triumph. And your story is more
one of just proof that miracles happen. And so I know you’ve told your story a lot, but one thing that really ⁓ touched me and gave me goosebumps when I was researching you was you said, you know, at one point you thought you were training for a marathon, but you realized you were training to live for your life, like just to survive and for your life.
And so I can relate to your story in so many ways, especially because your femoral artery was severed and so was mine. But can you take us back because are you still in New York?
Matthew Long (03:30)
no, I’m in Florida now.
Amberly Lago (03:32)
You’re in Florida, what part of Florida?
Matthew Long (03:34)
are right in the middle of our friends John and Ed.
Amberly Lago (03:39)
⁓ my gosh.
Matthew Long (03:41)
Yes, I do. Yeah, I right down the street from both of them. ⁓ good for you. ⁓ sweet. It’s beautiful.
Amberly Lago (03:50)
Yeah. Well, we’re moving because yeah, John and Catherine are really, really good friends of mine and they’ve been saying forever, like, where are you moving here? What do you mean? And so my daughter graduates and this she’s a senior and we’re already looking at places in Florida. And so I know I said that a few at one one. So then I had people going, you’re moving to Florida? And I’m like, well, yeah, cats out of bag. That’s what we’re doing. So.
Yeah. Well, awesome. I’ll get to actually get to hang out with you, I hope, and see you in Florida. So yeah, we’re looking up that air. We’re looking at Jack. Yeah.
Matthew Long (04:32)
It’s beautiful. It’s a beautiful part of Florida. You get all three seasons and it’s just great place to live. So I’m enjoying it so far.
Amberly Lago (04:42)
That’s awesome. So when you recorded your episode with Ed, did you go to his place in Florida or his place in California?
Matthew Long (04:49)
his place in Florida.
Amberly Lago (04:50)
Okay. Okay. Me too. I was there. It’s just gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous. But I mean, seriously, you are a miracle. So I was given a 1 % chance of saving my leg from amputation. I focused on that, that 1 % instead of the 99 % reasons of the chances that they were going to be able, they were going to take my leg. What can you, so take us back a little bit to you were a firefighter in New York in the best shape of your life.
Take us back to that moment, if you will, that in the blink of an eye, everything changed.
Matthew Long (05:25)
Yeah. So, it’s a little bit of preaching to the choir here, but, but it’s, ⁓ I’m happy to be on the, on your channel and your platform to just help re-inspire some others that may need it. So they’re getting a double dose of inspiration from us today. ⁓ you know, in 2000 and, we all look, I was at New Street Fireman Jordan September 11th. And after that day,
I would like to tell people that I kind of lost my way a bit, physically, mentally, drinking a little too much, maybe a lot too much, really lost the spark of life. It took a friend of mine to ask me to do something. I’ve always been willing to help raise money or help others as a firefighter. mean, that’s your job pretty much.
A friend of mine, I don’t know if he did it on purpose. We never even had this conversation, me and my buddy. He asked me if I wanted to get involved in raising money for Leukemia Foundation. We’d have to do a triathlon and collectively we get like five or 10 people to do it with us and we’d raise all this money. I was out of shape. was borderline depressed because of the events of 9-11.
But I signed up. said, sure. I said, let’s go for it. I said, I have to get a bike. I have to learn how to swim. But I am the type A personality who, I was the type of guy who, you put, in May, growing up in the East Coast, when it hits May in your first 90 degree day, you go up to the shoreline and you’re going to jump in the ocean, but you put your toe in, the water’s too cold. You probably don’t go in until July 4th. I was always the guy who ran into the ocean.
So I ran into this draft on Zoom.
Yeah, I was always the just let me jump in because I know if I touch it with my toe, I’m not going in front of the month. So I just jumped right in and I did this for the triathlon to raise money for leukemia foundation. I jumped right in and ⁓ I slowly started getting back into shape. That shape that I was in in college as a college athlete and slowly started to see my mood change. Slowly started to see that.
uh, happiness come back to my life. And I would, I was 38 years old, got within a year and a and a half got into the best shape of my life. Um, I was running, you know, the New York city marathon with the fire department qualified for Boston. So I’m, you know, I’m running a three hour, 13 minute marathon. did an Ironman and 11 hours. Um, so I,
Physically, there was nothing I couldn’t accomplish, but it was very interesting how that changed my life. Just going to work again was good. I’ll never forget what happened on September 11th, though do I think anyone should, but I was functioning again in a happy-go-lucky way that I always did as a kid.
Amberly Lago (08:46)
to what you’ve just described is you lost your way a little bit, started drinking, just the present, got into these habits of that’s what you did every day and it becomes a vicious cycle. I’ve been there after my accident. I slipped into not like a totally different person almost.
found purpose. First, you had somebody that reached out to you. Don’t know if they asked you on purpose or what, but that could have saved your life just right there. And then saying, Hey, involved in this. So you had that purpose and you talk a lot about visual, you know, repetition, visualization and routine. Is that something that you focused on when you were training for this, this Ironman, this triathlon and marathon?
Matthew Long (09:21)
AYE WELL Y-
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it’s part of every training plan. You know, it’s great to have a community of like-minded people with you so you have a better chance of succeeding. But one of the key things for training for an Ironman Triathlon is you got to go ride a hundred miles on a bike by yourself. you know, like when I had a coach who laid out a plan for me, he’s like, ⁓ this is your day. You know, you know the route and you’re going to pass people on the road.
He goes, but you’re by yourself. And I was like, what’s, you know, five to six hours of riding a bike by myself. What, you know, was like, what’s the point? Like, what’s the fun in that? And he was like, well, it’s not supposed to be our fun, but when you’re out on the race course, you’re going to question yourself. You’re going to question why you did this. You’re going to question why you’re here and you need to be able to face those battles and answer those questions. ⁓ And,
So, yes, visualization, okay. So, I did the 100 miles by myself. I didn’t get any flat tires, but the whole time I was going, I’m like, all right, what if I get a flat tire? What am I going to do? Like pull over, flip the bike over. What’s my routine? How am I going to go about it without panicking and further delaying my day? ⁓ What if you lose nutrition out of the back pocket of your bike jersey and you didn’t know?
What are you going to do? What’s your next step? You know, so a lot of things like that when it came to triathlon and endurance running, that’s what you have to do. You have to visualize yourself seeing these obstacles so that you can handle them when and if they happen. Now, I wasn’t visualizing, you know, the big story of why we’re here talking today.
But you what, you’ve brought it up early about train. was training. I always say that I thought I was training for Boston or training for the Ironman, but I was turned out I was training for life. And that was one of our slogans at the fire academy. was just a big book, big sign on the wall. The fitness academy said train for life. And then the fire service means that we’re training to save, you know, someone else’s life, not only your own. And, ⁓
You know, whatever my friend did that time and got me into the best shape of my life, I thought I was training for all these races and got a new bug and new ⁓ birth of happiness in my life. I wound up that the level of fitness I was able to achieve is what saved my own life in December of 2022.
Amberly Lago (12:17)
What, when did your accident?
Matthew Long (12:20)
It was a December 22nd, 2005. Oh yeah. it’d be 20 years this December.
Amberly Lago (12:24)
So,
Wow, isn’t that wild that how time flies in a lot of years. So tell us about that. What happened is so the audience can kind of understand because sitting here looking at you and I’m sure you get this a lot like people would never imagine that what you’ve been through. In fact, you know, I just thought about this yesterday. I took my daughter and I went and got
a mani and a pedi. And for me, most people think a pedicure, it’s so relaxing for me because I have this ⁓ nerve disease and it’s mostly in my right foot and leg where I had my accident. And my whole leg is metal, my toes are all metal. And so I put my foot up and she goes, relax, relax your foot. So I said, it is relaxed. I was like,
It’s all metal. My toes do not bend. My foot does not bend. My ankle does not bend. It is fused together. Like I’m trying to explain this and most people feel like it’s going to be relaxing. But for me, when you just barely touch my foot, feels like if she puts the towel on it, feels like sandpaper on my foot. But I just thought it’s so funny because to look at me, I look normal. Then I sit down in the chair, put my leg up and they’re like, what happened to you? You know,
And so like I see you and you just are this picture of health. You’re smiling. No one would ever imagine the hell that you have been through and that you almost did give up. And so take us back to the morning of your accident where you were just, it was like any other day and everything changed.
Matthew Long (14:17)
Yeah, ⁓ I was an instructor at the New York City Fire Academy. And ⁓ this was my last day going to teach before I’d go back to my firehouse. took like a one year detail to the Academy to be an instructor. Of all things, health and fitness. was training, physically training the new recruits, taking them on runs and pushups, sit-ups, all that stuff. ⁓ And I was forced to ride my bike to work.
It was a really cold December morning. And so I, you know, I got, I put on layer after layer, got my bicycle out of my apartment and started to pedal up third Avenue. And I, you know, I got four blocks before I was run over by a 40,000 pound bus. ⁓ it’s usually where people go, come on, you look at like, like you just said, look at you, want run over by a bus. I’m like, well.
For 30, I will.
Amberly Lago (15:17)
Let me show you the pictures of me in the hospital. So this is a question. I’m wondering if you get this question. I will never forget being in the hospital and I had a friend of mine who came to see me in the hospital and she goes, did it hurt? Cause I got hit by an SUV and I’m like, well, yeah, it hurt. Cause you felt it? Well, yeah, I felt it. I was awake and alert.
throughout the whole process until they put me in induced coma. Were you awake and alert? And if so, I can imagine how traumatic that would be being underneath a bus.
Matthew Long (15:56)
So I was semi-conscious. And the last thing I remember was the fire department that responded when they cut the hood that I was wearing to keep myself warm off my head so they can get me stabilized. ⁓ I heard one of the firefighters say, know, holy shit, it’s Matt Long.
from 43Truck. So once I knew that they knew me, I just passed out. I was asleep. So I don’t remember anything else from that moment on. And the way I looked at it was, and I too was quickly put into a medically induced coma. was there probably for like six weeks. And I just think the mind is super powerful that
Amberly Lago (16:34)
point.
Matthew Long (16:56)
Um, if I had remembered that accident and the pain I was in, uh, would I ever ride a bike again? Would I ever want to run again? Would I, would I ever want to, you be, be near traffic again? I don’t know. So I didn’t remember much of my accident at all. Well, that’s, know, it’s, it’s kind of funny. It’s like, um, the mind wiped out so much. I forgot.
I had forgotten things that I did just weeks or months before the accident. Once I came out of the coma, they would come in and speak to me just to check the cognitive, make sure the head was okay. They’d ask me in front of family or friends, oh, do you like to travel? I’m like, no, I don’t like to travel. My friend sitting next to me was like, what are you talking about? We were in Puerto Rico, we did this, we had a great time, blah, blah, I’m like, oh yeah, I do like to travel.
As things were said to me, memory came back, but nothing of the accident. I’ve even seen the accident on video. Yeah. And, you know, everybody else was like, you don’t want to see it. You don’t want to see it. I said, ah, I think I do because I don’t, I don’t have any recollection of it. So, um, I was like, well, okay, that’s it. That’s me. that’s not me. I’m
Amberly Lago (18:02)
You have.
My goodness. Yeah, I remember every detail from The whole ambulance ride and everything but for you your injuries internally like you were Completely ripped open and The doctors told your parents your mom or I guess your parents that it doesn’t look good
Matthew Long (18:43)
Right. I they basically gave me a 1 % chance to live. ⁓ so when, you know, it’s funny, I’ve said that for, for the better part of 19 years. And when I sat down with our friends at my let, he stopped me and said, you do understand that’s a 99 % chance of not being here. And I was like, woo. I got it. Like he really like got me there. was like, wow. I never looked at it that way. I was thinking like, wow, I beat a 1 % chance to live.
He’s like, that’s a 99 % chance of you not being here today. I’m like, wow. So pretty surreal to be able to do the things I’m doing now after what happened to me.
Amberly Lago (19:25)
Yeah,
but it also, it’s like shows what you focused on. You focused on there’s a chance. was a Yes.
Matthew Long (19:35)
I did, but not right away. There was a year and a half or two years of battling of surgery after surgery. In my first five months, I had 43 surgeries. I think even today, my last one with regards to the accident was in 2020 and I’m up to probably like 55 and I’ll probably have to go in for more. As scar tissue grows in the body, it wreaks havoc.
I have, unfortunately, tons and tons of scar tissue growing in my intestines. And the guy’s like, look, you’re going to be back. Hopefully I buy you five or 10 years more. know, that’s okay. Yeah. I’ll be back.
Amberly Lago (20:16)
And that, that’s the thing I think a lot of people don’t understand is, ⁓ it’s not that you were hit and now you’re fine and life. mean, you are fine, but it’s like, do you still live with pain?
Matthew Long (20:30)
Absolutely. I’m every day. I’m not on any kind of medication, ⁓ but there’s definitely muscles that never came back. There’s nerve damage to the right side and it goes down my right leg. So I have battles with nerve pain. So I just try to, the way I look at it is your body wants to move and if you keep moving your body, you’ll keep it healthy.
I don’t do the things to the extreme that I used to, but I do the things I know that are good for me. I constantly exercise. I try to do swimming a lot. ⁓ You just got to keep moving. A lot of people that suffer with different things, they go, can’t do that because I have this. I’m like, well, maybe you have this element because you’re not doing anything.
Amberly Lago (21:21)
I completely agree.
Matthew Long (21:23)
And I know you have a fitness background. we both, like I said, we have a lot in common. And that’s what I used to tell everyone. Like, yeah, you have a bad back. I had a bad back once. And guess what I did? I started to run and I started to strength train and I lost weight. And guess what happened? Bad back went away. said, so I didn’t have a bad back. was the body telling me to get your ass up.
Amberly Lago (21:43)
my goodness, I just had a conversation with a friend who has been struggling and wants to quit drinking. And she’s like, well, yeah, I need to quit drinking, but I get anxious. So I need to go to the doctor and I need to get a pill for that. And I’m like, well, no, I know it’s not easy because I got sober in 2016. I started drinking after my accident. I was like, yeah, you’re going to feel anxious. Go out.
and get some sunshine and go out and just go for a walk. Just move your body, you know, cause it moves your mood. So I’m curious with the, know, cause you travel for speaking all the time and it’s not always easy traveling and sitting on a plane and the air pressure, I don’t know, it flares me up pretty good.
I always fly into an event the night before because I need to have my body, the nerves just kind of calm down so I can like get up on stage the next day. Is it hard for you to travel? And if so, what are some of the things that help you?
Matthew Long (22:50)
Yeah, so I’ll do things like, I do pretty much the same. Depending on how far the flight is, I try to request an earlier arrival. One, I don’t want to be delayed and miss my engagement, but also I do need to get my body back into its routine, especially if I’m flying early or whatnot. Most of my issues, the ones you don’t want to talk about, but it’s with the digestive tract and all that stuff.
You know, just the everyday task of using the bathroom for me is difficult. And, and you know, that does, you know, just imagine, I didn’t get things moving today and now I got to be on stage in 30 minutes. ⁓ so I, try to, I try to arrange my flying, ⁓ with enough time for everything to just get me back to a comfort level. ⁓ as far as my legs, I’ll wear compression socks or calf sleeves.
to keep the blood circulating. ⁓ It’s probably the only time I take like an extra Advil or so when I’m flying. ⁓ But once I’m where I have to be, it’s funny, it’ll go back to it, especially if I’m traveling and I got an afternoon or an evening engagement, then the first thing I’m doing in the morning is getting to the gym. I’m stretching, I’m lifting weights, getting the endorphins moving.
And then, then feeling normal again. you know what I, when I like to talk, you know, we talk about it a lot is that you and I, you know, will get introduced so many ways, but most, most of the time you’ll say, wow, it’s amazing. The adversity she or he has overcome. Well, we didn’t overcome anything. We’ve accepted it and now we’re living with our adversity. You know, you, you just explained about the mani-pedi.
and how your foot doesn’t move normally and how you have nerve pain. Well, that’s still part of what happened to you. And my bathroom issues and my lack of nerve ⁓ stimulation down my right leg and muscle atrophy that never came back. That’s my adversity that I’m living with.
Amberly Lago (25:07)
Yeah, I agree. And I had somebody ask me one time, they’re like, I’ll never, ⁓ I’ll never forget this. So for two years, I had a non-union in my leg. like for two years, they, was basically walking on, ⁓ metal and they were hoping that it would grow back so they wouldn’t have to take it from my hip and put it down in my leg. And I was just, man, I got all kinds of comments all the time. And this one lady,
came up to me at the gym and I guess I was limping. I I live with pain every day and I try not to limp, but I guess I was limping this day after training a bunch of clients. And she goes, well, when are you gonna start limping? Aren’t you tired of limping? I said, well, I guess I’ll stop limping when I’m not walking on a broken leg. And she goes, like, because I just, I’m walking on a broken leg, lady. You know what I mean? I was just like.
You know, most of the time I have compassion, but I think I was just, I just had it. So I’m sure you probably get some comments sometimes too. Was it hard for you as a man? Okay, this is the difference. See, I remember my first boyfriend had a scar on his face and it was so black. I was like, man, scars on guys are so cool. They’re like tough, rough and tumble and they look good. Scars on women?
took me a while to accept all these scars. Do you know what I mean? Did you have a while? Did it take you some time to accept, since we’re talking about acceptance, accept your scars and look at them as strength instead of, ugh, look at the scar?
Matthew Long (26:44)
⁓ yeah, I guess, I guess once, once the battle, once I was winning the battle with depression and the mindset had shifted. Now I wouldn’t say that I was ⁓ back to where I needed to be, but progress was, was visible. ⁓ once that happened, then I, I took ownership of my scars. So my left leg has a
where the femur broke and was compound fracture, it just has like a big softball sized dent in it where they, and then on the right leg has a white patch where they took the skin from that leg to cover that hole. So I know what I like to do is when I’m sitting on the beach or my younger nieces and nephews or, you know, any of their friends are around and I can see them and they, you know, kids are kids and they just.
get caught with their eye and they look and the next thing I go, you see that? And they’re like, yeah, yeah, what happened? I go, shock bite.
Amberly Lago (27:50)
say same thing! Freaks speak well! I say the same thing!
Matthew Long (27:58)
Especially being on the ocean, and then I had to tell them, no, no, I’m kidding, I’m just kidding, it wasn’t a shock. But yeah, I just take all the shit, I laugh and I have skin grafts on both legs that hurt more than anything I remember. ⁓ And that’s the skin has no pigment, so it doesn’t tan, it doesn’t burn, nothing, it’s just this big white patch. And I’ll joke about my tan lines or whatever, but.
Amberly Lago (28:26)
Well, that’s good. I have been joked about the tan line, but actually I have joked about, cause all the skin on my right leg is gone. They took that off and put it on my lower leg. And so yeah, doesn’t tan. It just remains white. I’ll look, somebody will kind of look and I’m like, yeah, it was a bad situation with the self tanner, you know, cause they’re like, I don’t quite get like that whole thing. But I want to go back to you said something very important. Talk about mindset because
I think it really begins by shifting your perspective and with the right mindset because without it, despair comes, the why me comes. What was it in you that shifted that allowed you, you started to see the progress, but what was it in you that allowed you to start to shift your mindset and move forward? Cause there’s a lot of people that are stuck right now.
And they’re thinking, whoa, it was me. And you’re like, dude, I’m having trouble even going to bathroom. So you know what? I don’t want to hear it. Just keep going. You know? So what is the mindset shift that started? How did that happen? And what can somebody do today to start to shift and start moving forward?
Matthew Long (29:45)
So my mind shift came, first of all, was externally motivated by my mom. And she gave me a really tough love message at a crucial point. had gone to, ⁓ I was still living in a wheelchair and they had taken me to the doctor for an appointment. And I was banking everything on this appointment going well.
⁓ It was with my colorectal doctor and I was hoping that they would be able to reverse and remove the colostomy bag. So I’ve basically put my plumbing back together. ⁓ I remember days and weeks before disappointment, praying, just give me this and if I’m in a wheelchair the rest of my life, that’s fine. Just put me back together and if I limp the rest of my life, I’ll be fine.
Yeah, I was begging and praying for that, for the results and my body wasn’t ready. And the doctor told me flat out that I may have to live like this the rest of my life. And I did not want to hear that. you know, it’s 38 year old single guy living in Manhattan. And, ⁓ it was at that moment when I said something pretty harsh to my mom and dad. And I told them, you know, you, you guys prayed for me to live and your prayers were answered and I wish you had prayed for me to die.
And I said, no one deserves to live the way I’m going to live. No one deserves to suffer like this. And I, you know, I don’t know if I was looking for a hug. I laugh about it now when I speak, I say, you know, just wanted a hug, but my mother just, she just put her hands on the table and said, enough’s enough. And she goes, you’re not the only person in this world going through a hard time. And if you’re going to be miserable about it.
and just sit here in your wheelchair, then do it by yourself. So it didn’t happen. Yeah, it was, you know, it was tough. was, was very tough for her. I’m sure it was tougher for her to think it and say it out loud that quickly. But for me to hear it, it was tough and I wanted to go home and I told them that and they took me home. And a couple of weeks later,
I remember sitting there, just having one of those pity parties about why, and it was never why me, it was always why did I live. ⁓ That was always the question I asked, why did I live? Why did I live? It was never why did I get hit? I responded to accidents like this over 17 years of a firefighter all the time. And I just know it happens. And I just hit me and I said, she’s right.
somewhere in New York City, somewhere in this country, there’s someone that was hit by a lesser vehicle that didn’t make it. They didn’t go home. I said, you know, I’m alive and now I have to start to live. And that’s when I changed the mindset to just to, will, it was an I will mindset. And I said, I will make a comeback. I’m going to run a marathon again. I’m going to run an Ironman again. I’m going to get myself back in shape. And
So at that point I was 122 pounds, could barely stand for five minutes in my wheelchair.
Amberly Lago (33:17)
How tall are you? I’m
11 and 122 pounds.
Matthew Long (33:23)
down from the day of the accident was 178.
Amberly Lago (33:27)
⁓
Matthew Long (33:28)
And ⁓ so that moment of mind shift, I went to therapy and took everything they said more seriously. ⁓
Amberly Lago (33:43)
therapy and physical therapy? Are you talking about like a therapist?
Matthew Long (33:47)
no, did both. did both. ⁓ So, but my physical therapy, the physical, I no longer went, was just going through the motions. I was now out of the hospital and I was going back to the hospital as an outpatient therapist three days a week. I hired the two therapists, the one occupational therapist and the one physical therapist to come to my home on the other two days privately. And then.
Amberly Lago (34:16)
five days a week I had
Matthew Long (34:18)
Yeah,
five days a week. And then I started, when I started to feel more energy, I started going back to the gym that was near my house. I had someone take me to the gym and I talked to a guy who I used to see all the time. was an older gentleman, older trainer. His name was Ed Rhodes. And I walked into the gym and he was like, he hasn’t seen me in like maybe 11 months. He knew what happened to me, but never saw me again. And I was like, Ed, I need your help. And he’s like, what do need?
I said, you know, I know what I’m doing because you see me in the gym. knew I was fit. said, but I can’t get out of the chair and into the machines. said, I need you. I trust you. Can you help me? And I saw him three days a week and he just got me in and out of every Nautilus machine. know, at this point I was just doing those, the Nautilus station. There’s the push, there’s the pull, there’s the legs, there’s the up. I would just do that. And, ⁓ and you know, I had another doctor’s appointment with that doctor and
He saw the difference and he said, what are you even doing? I said, I’m training again. ⁓ this was no longer therapy. This was training. I want my life back. And he examined me and he said, you keep it up in six months. We’ll get rid of that class. Wow. And that’s what happened.
Amberly Lago (35:36)
You could have easily sat back, but instead you said, no, I will. I will.
Matthew Long (35:45)
Every day. 100%. And I. Okay.
Amberly Lago (35:48)
Well, I just love that even ⁓ your sizzle reel on your website gives me goosebumps. And it says right away, I will. And I’m just like, man, those two words are so powerful for determining your destiny. So you went in six months later and you got to get the colonoscopy bag.
Matthew Long (36:14)
Yeah, they put my plumbing back together and thank God everything worked out. Life has been an uphill battle since, but it’s a great battle. ⁓ Every day put my feet on the ground, I’m very happy.
Amberly Lago (36:32)
you’re a miracle. Well, what are some of the daily practices or mindset practices that help you still to this day?
Matthew Long (36:41)
Well, I think one of the things that we were just talking about that I learned the most is that your mind and your thoughts are going to control your outcome, period. Just because you wake up in the morning and say, will make this comeback, doesn’t mean it’s going to happen tomorrow. Doesn’t mean it’s going to happen fully. I tell a story about
When I was making my comeback in the New York City Marathon, three years after the accident, all the newspapers were all over me. The New York City fireman makes his courageous comeback, blah, blah, blah. He’s running New York City Marathon. There’s stories in every paper and on every TV channel. My brother, Jim, says to me, the night before the marathon, now I have to be up at four in the morning. I have to ⁓ get a car, get to the start of the race.
He talks to me the night before and says, what if you don’t make it? I said, what? And he goes, well, everyone’s following you. Everyone’s going to ask how the firemen did. What if you don’t make it? And at first I was upset with him. was like, what, you know, what’d you punch me in the gut for the night before I’m trying to make this comeback? And then I said to him, you know what, Jim? I said,
The marathon is 26.2 miles. Let’s say I finished 20 and I leave six on the course, 6.2. I said, go back into my journal three years ago, I should have been dead. So this was 20 miles of success, not 16, 6.2 or failure. that was my mindset going into the race that every mile was a victory. Every step forward was a victory. And did I stop a few times? Absolutely. It took me seven hours and 21 minutes.
So I stopped quite a bit, ⁓ but every mile was a victory. And I think that’s what people have to understand is, okay, if you’re going to wake up with an I will mindset, if you have a vision of where you want to be in six months and you’re not there, well, turn around and look back. If you’re no longer in the spot where you started, if you moved forward, that’s just a different level of success. Push your target line back a little further.
Move further away from you, give it another six months, you’ll get there.
Amberly Lago (39:08)
so powerful. Yeah, I always think about like if I’m giving myself a hard time or that self-doubt creeps up or anything, I think, well, I may not like exactly where I am right now, but it’s a heck of a lot better than where I used to be. So I think it’s very powerful to look at that. For people that are sitting there going, well, that’s great. He made it through, but I could never do a marathon. I could never overcome.
this situation in their life? What advice would you give them to someone who is saying, could never do that, or I just don’t think it’s possible for me?
Matthew Long (39:48)
Well, first thing I would do is to try your best ⁓ to change that attitude. Cause if you’re going to wake up and think you could never do it, then you’re right. And then the other thing I would say to her is like, it doesn’t have to be a marathon. You know, what is your marathon? What is your, you know, what is your goal? I look, I just had a girl ⁓ email me or she didn’t even email me. I’m sorry. She just tagged me on Instagram. She made a post.
There was nothing wrong with her. She’s perfectly healthy fitness professional. She heard me speak and she said, I’m going to be an Ironman one day. She wrote it in the book while I was speaking. She took a picture of the journal, tagged it on Instagram, and she just became an Iron girl. Ironman, but Ironwoman, whatever you want to call it now. ⁓ She just did it on Saturday. ⁓ We’re now connected and she had nothing wrong with it. It was never in her plans.
Amberly Lago (40:47)
Raring so many.
Matthew Long (40:48)
So
I think, so, you know, when I said to you earlier about why, why I lived, you know, I, remember having a conversation with a priest, a family priest while I was still in the hospital. And he asked me if I was angry with God and I lied to him and said, no, I was pissed. I was very upset that this happened to me. I do believe in God and I do believe he has plans. And I said to the priest, said, father Jim, I said, I just want to know why.
I live. And he said, that’s between you and God. And, you know, I found that out later in life. And selfishly, it was a marathon. ⁓ Selfishly, it was an Ironman. But when the story got out, when I wrote my book about it, when I get on stage and talk about it, my purpose in life is to be that guide that lets people know they should not give up, that anything’s possible.
We all have the same human spirit that burns inside of us. You just got to find out what burns the strongest flame. ⁓
Amberly Lago (41:56)
so powerful. Well, what does resilience mean to you? What is your definition of resilience?
Matthew Long (42:03)
Well, I believe that the resilience is a learned practice through life’s adversities. I believe that my adversity, your adversity taught us resilience. And then we in turn turn resilience into the fuel, the energy source that’s going to get you past or get you through the obstacles ahead. That’s what I believe. I believe 100 % that
You know, like I said, I accepted this accident. I accepted my new body. Now how do, how do I live a fulfilled life? Okay. So I’m not running a three hour marathon anymore. You know, in fact, when I, when I, after I ran to the Ironman come back, I stopped. I’m like, this wasn’t healthy for me. So what does, what does a guy who, you who, who’s running a hundred miles a week or 200 miles a week, what does he do? I, I looked for something else to fuel my passion. So.
Amberly Lago (43:00)
That’s so.
That’s so.
Matthew Long (43:03)
Yeah,
so it’s super important to keep reinventing yourself. ⁓ and it all could be driven by the same thing or the same type of outcome. But for me, I was always an athlete. I was always into fitness and that’s what I wanted my life to be like. So, so now I’m at 60 years old. I’m trying to play golf. I’m trying to get like good at golf and, I, I still wait, train, I still swim, I still ride a bike because that’s going to keep me around long.
Amberly Lago (43:32)
⁓ And I love that you brought that up that like, okay, you’re like, well, wait a minute, this just isn’t healthy for me to be doing this. you know, I tried to get back into what I was doing. I was in the fitness industry for 26 years. And I realized one day when I was bleeding out, my stitches came open and I’d had a surgery and I had one of those medical boots on and was bleeding. There was a trail of blood across the gym floor. And my husband was like, happened to be at the gym working out. And he was like,
What are you doing? And it took that for me to go, maybe this isn’t the best thing for me to be doing for myself, for my clients, for my family. And sometimes I think it is, you got to take a good hard look at your life and it’s okay to reinvent yourself. It’s okay. And like you are playing golf now. And I’ll say one more thing really quick is I was, you know, I love to run.
I was, I ran everywhere and my youngest daughter wanted to go for a run and I looked at my husband and I was like, ⁓ it’s such, such a shame. I can’t, you know, go for a run with her. would love to be able to go for a run with her. And I mean, I can run. I just pay for it later. I’m in a whole lot of pain later. I can do it, but it’s not pretty. And then I pay for it later. And so he goes, well, ride your bike beside her. And I was like,
Matthew Long (44:51)
you
Amberly Lago (45:01)
Yeah, so there’s always another way you can think outside the box. There’s always but the bottom line is Finding something to fuel you like you have such a fulfilling life. You’re speaking all over the world What’s next for you besides playing golf and maybe I’ll take up golf, especially when I moved to Florida a lot of golf there Or I could just be your caddy for you ⁓
But what’s next for you? What are you doing next?
Matthew Long (45:34)
⁓ That’s funny because I get that question all the time. That might be the title of my next book, What’s Next? ⁓ Physically, goal is to die young as late as possible. I have no events that I’m, that’s the way I say it. My wife goes, please stop. I’m like, no, that’s my goal. ⁓
I have no physical events that I’m training for or anything. I was training for some indoor rowing competitions and just to keep the athletic mindset. But right now I’m just training for, I’m back to that train for life status. ⁓ I’ve, you know, I stopped speaking for a little while and then in the last maybe, when COVID hit, it was funny, I started getting some calls.
There was like a two or three year period where speaking just kind of dried up. My book came out in 2012. I spoke for a couple of years. It was great. And then, you know, it just moved on. COVID came and speaking, the opportunity to speak virtually started coming to me. And I was like, wow. So I’m really trying to keep the speaking career going. And, you know, I like to tell people whether I’m on stage talking about it, if it’s appropriate to the
to the client or if I’m in a small group setting, a lot of people think that starting over is a sign of failure and it’s not. And I tell people, said, you know, starting over is probably one of the most courageous things you can do, the most courageous decision you can make in life. You know, but, but the way I look at it is I can’t start over without really remembering who I was in the past and what pushed me.
So, I don’t know physically if I have any, besides the golf, which is mentally challenging, the ball doesn’t move and you could be a Division I level athlete and you can’t hit the freaking ball. It’s just amazing. But besides golf right now, that’s the biggest challenge. just that mindset of staying fit for life is what I’m trying to do right now.
Amberly Lago (47:51)
⁓ that’s amazing. Well, I hope to see you in Florida really soon. Actually, I think actually, you know what? I may be reaching out to you because I’m speaking at an event in Florida in March. So I’m thinking of taking a little road trip and driving to ⁓ your area, your neck of the woods. And so I may reach out to you. Maybe I can caddy for you while you play cheerleader.
⁓ But anyway, where can people find you and how can they get your book? What’s the best place? Where’s the best place to get your book?
Matthew Long (48:28)
The best place to get the book right now is on Amazon. It’s called the long run and I didn’t have time to put a shirt on. that’s why I’m bare chested on the cover. That’s the other motivation for me to stay as fit as I can. got my pictures out there on the cover of a book. should at least resemble it a little bit when I’m on stage.
And then the best place to find me is matlongspeaker.com. That’s my website or matlongspeaker at Instagram, Matlong on LinkedIn. That’s the best place to get me.
Amberly Lago (49:05)
Well, thank you so much for sharing your wisdom. I’m so grateful that we got to connect and I feel like this is just the beginning of a long friendship. You’re not getting rid of me. ⁓
Matthew Long (49:19)
I hope so. I hope so.
Amberly Lago (49:21)
Yeah, I just appreciate you being on the show, sharing your wisdom, sharing your inspiration, sharing the hope. And thank you so much for tuning into the show today. It’s really, I appreciate you tuning in, downloading the episode and sharing it with friends. Share this episode with someone who needs a little bit of inspiration to keep going, to show them to never give up, to use Matt’s wisdom and his story to inspire them.
And thank you again for tuning in and we will see you next week.
