Simon Kardynal Donate Your Brain - research and proper can change your life.

Master Warrant Officer (Ret’d) Simon Kardynal joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1994 as an infanteer with the Royal Canadian Regiment.  Simon served with the 2nd Battalion, having completed multiple domestic operations (Quebec ice storms, Swissair Flight 111 Rescue/Recovery) and one international deployment in 1999 to Bosnia-Herzegovina.  The year 1999 was a big one for Simon because he transferred into the Royal Canadian Air Force as an aircraft structures technician (think autobody for airplanes), completing a second international deployment in 2005/2006 in support of the Afghanistan campaign.  Simon eventually became an institutional leader when he was promoted into the trade of aircraft maintenance superintendent, which he remained until his retirement in 2019. 

 Simon has completed many formal leadership military training courses, and in 2021, he completed a Master of Arts in Leadership degree from Royal Roads University where he found his desire to help emerging leaders create strong foundations as they embarked on their leadership journeys.

Simon retired from the Canadian Armed Forces so that he could follow his passions of being a private pilot, riding his motorcycle, running, and being the host of his leadership-themed podcast, Trench Leadership: A Podcast From the Front.

Famed author and leadership mentor Margaret J. Wheatley once famously noted that, “Very great change starts from very small conversations, held among people who care.”  

With this quote, I’m reminded that my small conversations can, and will, have a lasting impact for future generations.

Although I’m not aware of having experienced a major concussion throughout my 26 years within the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), I’m certain there have been multiple micro-concussions and instances where the cumulative effect of ‘small’ damage has built up over time.

I’m reminded of the time when, as a young infantry soldier, I ran in front of a Leopard tank just as it fired a live round and how I was suddenly looking at the sky, incapable of moving or hearing anything, the concussive force of the tank round knocking me to the ground.  I think of the dozens of times I was part of a Karl Gustav anti-tank fire-team, firing Rocket Assisted Projectiles rounds and feeling the air sucked out of my lungs, my eyes going cross-eyed for a moment.  I think of the many times I could feel the concussion from exploding ordnance all around me during training exercises.  I’m reminded how my experiences in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) appears to have spared me further concussive damage, but the damage from the beginning of my career continues to linger.

I know that I have been very lucky to have been spared the physical and emotional pain that is often associated with concussions.  And for a long time, I figured that because I had not experienced a life-altering concussion, my brain - my life’s experiences - would not be useful in the pursuit of concussion awareness.  After having spoken with the team at Project Enlist, it has become clear that my brain is just as invaluable as those who have suffered from major concussions.

The thing is, everyone has different experiences, and by pledging our brains, science can look at each brain, regardless of the level of damage, and see the differences and similarities between minor and major trauma.

But the awareness can’t be done, the knowledge can’t be discovered unless people are brave enough to put themselves forward, until people see and understand that all experiences matter, that we can all make small contributions to create great changes.

And so, I proudly pledge my brain, and will be a vocal ambassador for Project Enlist.

I’ll close with another Margaret J. Wheatley quote from her book Perseverance (2010):

“It is strange but familiar to hear people who are now well-known activists 

and respected workers for noble causes describe themselves as “accidental 

activists.”

They tell how a compulsion entered them, clarity that they had to do this 

work. They say, “I couldn’t not do it” or “If I didn’t do something, I felt 

I would go crazy” or “Before I even realized what I was doing, I was doing

it.”

In every case, they saw an injustice or tragedy or possibility when others 

weren’t aware of a thing. They heard a thundering call that nobody else

noticed.

Why this happens is a puzzlement, but it seems that issues choose us.

They summon us to pay attention while others stay oblivious. They prompt

us to act while others may stay asleep. They offer us dreams of bold new

futures that other will never see.

We are both blessed and cursed when history chooses us.

But once chosen, we can’t not do it.”

Pro Patria and Per Ardua Ad Astra