My Life Story

When I graduated high school at North East Kings Educational Centre, I studied recording arts at the NSCC waterfront campus.  After graduating, I got a gig playing guitar on The Luckiest Woman tour with country musician Deanna Ouellette. We performed at every radio station and casino we could find. I enjoyed traveling across the beautiful country I live in. 

From there, I moved to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan where I worked as a guitar teacher, a soccer mentor, doing lawn maintenance, and shovelling snow. I worked for Trevor Hallow. I loved it there, I was there for 3 seasons, winter, spring, and summer. I stayed with fellow musician Carol Cockrum, who I enjoyed writing and playing music with. Carol had an unfortunate accident in a Pulp mill explosion that left her blind. When a new surgery became available, I drove her to the hospital for the procedure and I was the first person she saw post-surgery.  Meeting new people, playing guitar, recording, and writing new music were my favourite pastimes.

Do you see the world differently since your accident?

Yes I do. In 2012 I nearly lost my life, I suffered a traumatic brain injury that left me quadriplegic. I’m saddened sometimes when I look back at what I lost, but hopeful for what I will gain. 

I try to see the world through God's eyes. I still love Jesus. I had my accident and it brought me back to reality. I’ve always loved life, but more so now. I try to take in every experience that is put in front of me, every bit of life inspires me. Everything I do is with intent. 

But my life has changed since my accident, I’ve had ambiguous loss. My life is much different now. For example, I can’t use the washroom by myself. I can’t walk. I find difficulty doing most day -to-day things that others find easy. I do most of my recovery at home with help from family, care workers, and adaptable equipment. I love meeting new people because everyone has a story, and life would be nothing without those stories. 

I was part of the documentary “Strategies for Hope” and I am working on another documentary with help from Bonnie _____.  My main desire now is to spread awareness, I want my story to be a beacon for others through their struggles.

Resources:

211 - Crisis Hotline Nova Scotia

Hello, how are you doing?

My name is Matty French. My first name is Mathew, but everybody calls me Matty. 

Growing up in the Annapolis valley, my parents owned a campground called “the Lookoff”.  I spent my days laughing, enjoying life, and sharing time with family and friends.

 As a teenager, I was a guitarist for hire. I was driving at 16 and selling cleats and soccer apparel at a local sports store called “Wonderos”. I loved coaching sports and mentoring young kids in my favourite sport, English Football. One of the kids even made it big-time, Jacob Saffelburg, the first player from Nova Scotia to represent Canada at the Fifa men's world cup. 

 My older sister Kaleigh was full of life and wanted to spread awareness about AIDS education and help others. I called her “Tilly” because I couldn’t pronounce Kaleigh when I was a kid. She was a painter, and I always loved her craft ideas. But sadly, when I was in grade 11 (2007) Kayleigh passed away on June 10th. It was a really hard time and I was drinking lots, trying to drown my sorrows. I dream about her often and see that she is an angel with a big bright light around her. She is always near. I dream of others who have passed too. 

From there, I moved to Fort McMurray Alberta to work as a rope access Technician or ab-sailor. All the work we did was at heights. It was a great gig, great pay, and the company I worked for (Remote Access Technology) provided meals and accommodations. My Dad was a logistics manager for the same company and we shared an apartment. 

I had my whole life in front of me, I was only 21 years old. After working in Alberta, my work supervisor drove me to Burnaby, B.C to see the mountains. All hell broke loose. 

One night in B.C, my work supervisor and I were drinking too much. Somewhere along the line, some drugs came out. They were concealed in a yellow box and I’ll never forget the smell of it, like Tide. I snorted a line of coke and it turned out to be laced. When I passed out nobody could wake me up. They left me for dead. The receptionist of the hotel found me and couldn’t wake me up either so she called an ambulance. By the grace of God, I lived and I’m so very thankful for that. The toxicology report revealed the drugs were laced with Heroin. 

My mom was running the campground but dropped everything to be with me after my accident. My mother, Father, Brother Jay, and Auntie Dareena flew to B.C to see me and ended up staying at the same hotel where my accident had happened.

 I can remember the sound of the machines in the ICU. 

 I flew by leer jet back to Nova Scotia, my heart stopped three times on the flight. I heard a nurse say “He’s too young to die” and kept working on me. She was an angel.

From my coma I remember hearing my Moms voice. I also heard my girlfriend at the time, Kayla, helping me count. 

After I woke up from my coma, I went to rehab for seating for a wheelchair.  I was supposed to go to a rehab facility in Panoka, Alberta but that facility lost their funding before I could go. Dr.Sarak said they couldn’t do anything more for me there than could be done in Nova Scotia. I tested positive for MRSA, so I had to eat meals away from the public, and everyone was gowned up and masked. I did speech therapy too. I remember my first meal was Thanksgiving dinner, before that I had a feeding tube and would eat Ice chips on the sly.

 I remember seeing Dana, my work supervisor at an Aerosmith Concert years later. He asked “Do you remember me?”.

I didn’t say a word back to him.

I didn’t want to say anything, but after some thought it all came back to me. 

Why is art important? What inspires your artwork.

I love to be creative and share my life message for all who may need to hear it. I love to learn and find joy in new experiences. God inspires my artwork. I look forward to finding my purpose, I think it is to help others. 

I used to think my life was hopeless and wanted to end my life. But I realized that would be selfish and poor judgement on my behalf. I understand why people feel that way, I get it because I was there. Now I see the beauty and light in life, because life is a gift. I am thankful for every minute I’m in it. If you ever feel that way, please reach out to someone you trust. It is never too late for your situation to turn around for good.