In episode 237 of The Just Checking In Podcast, we checked in with Jordan Nimmo.
Jordan is the Founder of men’s mental health platform, ‘Men Behind The Masc’ (MBTM), which he started in 2018.
MBTM aims to promote positive mental health in men and change the conversation around men’s mental health more generally.
Jordan became a father aged 19 years old with his childhood sweetheart Ashley and went onto have three children together.
Two years ago, Jordan lost his grandfather, who was a father figure to Jordan as his own father was absent during his childhood.
Losing his grandfather and Jordan’s father’s refusal to have a relationship with him was, in Jordan’s words ‘like losing two dads’ and it had a big impact on his mental health.
Tragically, the grief was not to end here as in April 2023, Jordan’s wife Ashleigh was taken to hospital suddenly and without warning.
Within a day, Ashleigh was in a coma and then died, rocking Jordan’s world in the blink of an eye.
Ashleigh’s official cause of death is encephalitis, which is colloquially known as ‘meningitis of the brain’.
Since that moment, Jordan has been forced into a grief he could never prepare for, become a single dad to his three boys and give them the stability and love they need to stop the death of their mother derailing their entire life.
In this episode we discuss the story of Men Behind The Masc, the impact of growing up without his father and how it created a desire in him to start a family and be a good and present father for his own children.
We also discuss the important roles that his grandfather and his step-father have played in his life.
We then dive deep into the grief of his grandfather’s death and for his wife Ashleigh respectively.
We discuss the health anxiety he now has in himself and his children after Ashleigh’s death, the decision he made to move house to the countryside to give him and his kids a fresh start and how he manages his children’s grief on a daily basis.
We also explore the conversation around paternal grief and the taboos that exist for single dads like Jordan.
We finish by talking about the strength his children give him, resilience vs antifragility, the concept of ‘The Wounded Healer’, why men evolutionarily take on a support role for others during times of grief and trauma and how he keeps moving forward day-by-day.
As always, #itsokaytovent
You can follow Men Behind The Masc on social media below:
You can read the 2018 Vent article we discussed in full here.
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