FOLLOWING THE DREAM
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Dermot Brannick
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Dermot Brannick has a dream to walk again and make a film about it.
Niamh MacSweeney spoke to the first time film maker about his vision
and found out what drove him to embark on this unique journey.
When Dermot Brannick was
nineteen he was diagnosed with
a form of arthritis (Ankylosing
Spondylitis), which affects his
hips and lower back. Nine years
on he is determined to make a
film about his endeavour to walk again. The
groundbreaking film entitled Walking will
document the healing process and Brannick’s three
year journey to full recovery.
Brannick says that when he was first diagnosed
he was deeply unhappy and in the first few years
he desperately looked for answers to the condition
outside of what the doctors had prescribed.
Determination and Drive
“You get tired when you are putting all of your life
energy into something and you are so dying for
a result. Time and time again you fail one way or
another and it takes quite a psychological toll,” he
explains.
Disillusioned by conventional medicine, Brannick
embarked on a worldwide journey looking for a cure.
He has been to Australia, Japan, and the US. But it
was his time in Russia working with street children
that was a major turning point in his life.
“It was at that point that I stopped looking for
something that would fix my body and started
thinking about other things and the greater sphere
of life outside myself.”
Clearly putting his energy into volunteering was
a “mind opening and life altering experience.” So
much so when he returned to Ireland he started
fund raising for the street children to have a holiday
here. It was around this time that Brannick started
to think about his health again. Determined this
time to get a result and to make his dreams come
true he set up the production company Medium
Rare in 2005.
Visionary Dream
Brannick is not afraid to ask for something nor is
he deterred from his vision to walk again and make
a film about it. He is marketing and generating
publicity to entirely fund this film and rehabilitation
project.
Directed by former CNN producer John Kluver the
film will follow Brannick over three years as he reenters
the personal “healing arena”. He will undergo
six months to a year intensive programme in Tucson
Arizona, which will include massage therapy, water
massage and physical therapy. Brannick says that
it will literally be like an athlete training for the
Olympics. All his energy and time will be spent on
exercise and resting.
Entrepreneurial Endeavour
The two central aims are for him to recover fully and
to document the process. However, the production is
likely to also focus on other important elements of life
and will inspire other people to follow their dreams.
Commitment of
time and energy will be
intensive throughout
filming but Brannick
is optimistic about the
outcome. “I am looking
for small improvements,
I will build on that and
then building on that
again. I will try to turn
the tide back around”
he says.
| THE SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR |
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Entrepreneurial Drive: “I know from fundraising
that people often give money just because they were
asked. You don’t approach meekly, you need to get
out and ask for things.”
Biggest Achievement: “When the film comes out it
will be the biggest achievement. From two points of
view from the view of the person trying to recover and
the view of the film maker. Waking up and realising I
was alive and appreciating what I have gave my mind
clarity which has to be my biggest achievement.”
The Social Entrepreneur: Fundraiser and promoter for a
number of non-profit organisations and projects. Organised
and raised money to bring Russian street children to Ireland .
Worked on a project to send traveller children to a leadership
summer camp in America.
Advice for Entrepreneurs: “Things you fear have
to handled. A setback to me is almost better
because I go home and go crazy over it. Failure
and disappointments drive you it is all part of the
entrepreneurial psychic. Make ambitions - the bigger
the better.”
Inspiration: “There is a hidden secret. Continuous
and absolute dedication for the result. You have an
absolute goal and you are going to achieve it because
it is of utmost critical importance to your life.
Admiration: Christopher Reeves for his remarkable
achievements and Valentine Dikul, the Russian
power lifter who fractured his spine and
rehabilitated himself after six years in a wheel
chair.”
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