I woke up as a ticking clock, not a ticking bomb
Joe Henderson — former Brisbane police officer, survivor of a heart attack at 37, and a man living with a mechanical heart valve — was on the phone with his best mate Dan when the line went dead. Dan was killed on his police bike while they were still connected.
"I couldn't even say I'm sorry for my behaviour."
"I'm a ticking time bomb, pretty much."
Joe Henderson lives with a mechanical heart valve — every beat an audible reminder of the surgeries that saved him. Add a heart attack at 37, the loss of his best mate, PTSD from police work, and 15 years as a single dad, and you have a man with every reason to break. Instead, he faced the mirror — literally — and changed.
What we explore:
- Rebuilding life after multiple heart surgeries and a stress-driven heart attack at 37
- The weight of grief — losing his best mate — and what it did to his mental health and family
- The mirror exercise: brutal daily self-honesty as the engine of change
- Talking to your children about mental health, and why honesty beats pretending
- Breaking the cycle of toxic masculinity and what fathers model for the next generation
Connect with Joe:
Website: joe-betterdad.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/leaddontblame
Facebook: facebook.com/leaddontblame
Instagram: @leaddontblame
A little about Hamish
I spent 25 years building a life that looked successful from the outside, but within, it was the opposite. Everything was falling apart, and I was throwing fuel on that fire. The joy of life had fallen away. Late November 2018, I had to make a choice: live or die. I chose to live, and everything changed. I had to confront the pain I was carrying, look at the stories, and change. I built The Brave Man Project because there was nothing like this when I needed it.
Podcast website https://thebravemanproject.com/
Hamish's website https://hamishniven.com/
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@TheBraveManProject
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/hamishniven/
TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@hamish.niven
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hamishniven/
Personal Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hamishniven
