'Start from basics': Doctor plans to run across NZ after traumatic brain injury

Isaac Chan is determined to run the length of New Zealand a year on from receiving lifesaving neurosurgery after suffering a traumatic brain injury in his first Muay Thai fight. 

The 25-year-old, Auckland-based doctor suffered bilateral subdural haemorrhages, which were slow bleeds on the outside of both sides of his brain, but he wasn’t aware of the extent of his injuries immediately. 

“It was my first amateur Muay Thai fight,” said Chan. 

“I came up against a very very good, very strong opponent. Had a really hard, scrappy fight and he landed quite a flush head kick at the end of the second round. 

“Knocked me down, got back up, kept fighting, finished the fight. And it was nothing too acute really. I felt like I’d been knocked around a little bit. 

“But as I said with the injury that I had, it wasn’t until quite a while later that I found out the extent of it.” 

Symptoms included dizziness and headaches, but he felt it could have been an ear infection before the pain became so bad he had to admit himself to hospital, where they scanned his brain and discovered the bleeding. 

“I was at home in Tauranga when I found out. I got flown up to Auckland to have neurosurgery, an operation which released all of the blood out from that area. 

“And then from there it was just a slow and quite long and really difficult recovery. 

“I had to start from, not quite square one, but I had to start from basics and I couldn’t do things like work and I couldn’t exercise.” 

Chan said despite being a doctor, he found the entire experience isolating, scary and uncertain, with the mental side of recovery one of the toughest challenges. 

“I was at home. I couldn’t do really anything physically for a while. I tried to keep busy with things like reading and just keeping my mind active. 

The 25-year-old was airlifted to Auckland from Tauranga for emergency neurosurgery after his brain bleed was discovered. Photo / Isaac Chan 

“I guess recovery for me is also where I went to mentally and that was a really quite difficult and dark place. 

“Having what felt like everything taken away and then facing the uncertainty of having a brain injury and what that looks like, that was a huge part of my recovery and I really didn’t know at the time that there’s charities like Brain Injury New Zealand and those sorts of things in place to help people through that sort of part of their recovery.” 

Chan is attempting to run from Bluff to Cape Rēinga in January and hopes to raise $100,000 for Brain Injury New Zealand while creating awareness around what those with similar injuries might be going through. 

“It’s really just the uncertainty and the unknown that’s the big thing for me. 

A head kick in his fight knocked him down in the first round, but he wasn't immediately aware of the damage done to him after the fight. Photo / Isaac Chan 

“And that’s that’s what I want to help help raise the discourse around and help people that were in my position and that are feeling uncertain and don’t know what’s going on, just to have a little bit of hope and know that recovery is not linear and you can you can still go on to do great things.” 

Chan said returning to work was a good feeling but running had been a particularly important outlet for him since the brain bleed. 

“That started off being the only way that I could get back into things and physical activity. 

“I started walking and started jogging and started running. And from that it’s grown into more of a tool that I can use to help do what I want to do and help push myself. 

“I’m not fighting Muay Thai anymore after something like that and [running’s] much of the same really. There’s no one out when you’re in the ring, there’s no one out there fighting for you, and similar when you’re out on your runs, there’s no one out there running for you. 

“So I think it’s for me it’s a really important tool just to push myself and help myself grow.” 

The 25-year-old would slowly increase the distance he was running every time he went out and with his aim of running the length of New Zealand, he hopes to run a marathon a day. 

“Stacking up 42km every day, I think would take about 60 days roughly on some rough math, but I think a marathon a day is the target.” 

Chan plans to keep people updated on his progress on his “Run it back NZ” social media pages and show people who suffer brain injuries can still accomplish major achievements. 

“I want to show myself that I can do something like this and it’s about taking accountability for what’s happened and wanting to make something cool from this experience that I was sort of agonising over for a long time and felt quite bitter and angry about. 

“But then more than what I’m saying, it’s about helping and showing other people what you can do and doing it all in the name of a really good charity.” 

He was also clear he won’t be making a return to the fighting ring. 

“There’s always a desire and I’d love to do something like that, but I think protecting myself and after what’s happened I’ve got a different calling. 

“As my coach said, I don’t have to be in the ring fighting anymore, so no more fights.”