“Go find those who have the same experiences or are eerily similar and talk with them. Talk with those individuals that have been on that journey already and now have found the positive, the silver lining amongst the negativity.”

Meet Clayton Echard — Event Chair for 2024 Run, Walk, and Roll

Clayton Echard knows firsthand how it feels to have the insidious specter of brain injury hover at the edges of one’s life. As a former tight end for the Seattle Seahawks, a National Football League team, Echard sustained several concussions in his early twenties.

“I started to have headaches for the first time in my life that were pretty persistent,” Echard said. “And that’s when I realized that I needed to protect my brain because, if I didn’t, what would be the long-term ramifications?”

That question also arose when Echard began to notice a cognitive decline and emotional changes in several of his friends and colleagues. Many were also professional athletes who football or other sports in which brain injuries were not uncommon. Whenever Echard noticed these differences in people he knew, he would experience a melancholy sadness, always tinged with an underlying anxiety. He could not help but wonder at the state of his own brain.

“When it comes to brain injury, specifically brain trauma, this is something I’ve often wondered, how much trauma I’ve created in my own realm from playing football over the years,” Echard said.

Surprisingly, that experience isn’t what led to Echard becoming the Chair of the Brain Injury Alliance of Arizona’s fifth annual signature Run, Walk & Roll fundraiser. At least, not directly.

First Echard had to grapple with his experience being the lead on ABC’s The Bachelor. It was a tumultuous, foreign, and entirely new kind of fame for Echard. The show subjected him to an intense emotional roller coaster. In addition to the tumultuous relationships with the show’s contestants, aspects of being on the show forced Echard to examine, sometimes for the first time, his personal struggles and what had led to them. At the same time, he was entrenched in both the brightest and darkest corners of social media, subject to all the psychological vacillations that immersion in that space inevitably brings.

After the show, Echard began a long – still continuing – journey of deep introspection and self-actualization. Over the past year, Echard has publicly confronted his early experiences of body dysmorphia on podcasts, embarked on a continuous education about emotional intelligence and authentically connecting with others, reclaimed his passion for fitness and health, and finally let go of other people’s expectations.

None of that would be easy for anyone. But for Echard, who spent the vast majority of his adulthood in the relentless, unforgiving gaze of the public eye, every step towards authenticity is an exercise in courage and, sometimes, even an act of defiance.

As far as Echard is concerned, he’s only just begun.

“I think I’m at the very beginning of my journey of realizing who I am,” Echard said. “Now that I’m finding answers to many of the questions I’ve had for most of my life, now I’m having to dive deeper to understand why I’ve been doing what I’m doing.”

Part of that understanding lies in Eckhard’s ability “to figure out how to act in a way that I really want to and live an authentic life.”

For Echard, that meant getting out of his comfort zone in ways both obvious and subtle. He began to take dance classes, something he wanted to do since he was 10 years old, but didn’t because he was “so fearful of judgment.”

Though much of this work was internal, it was obvious to anyone who followed Echard he was changing, not the least because of the ways his appearance evolved.

“I actually realized I’m a creative and fashionable individual,” he said. “But I never allowed myself to be that way because I was afraid that I would look different.”

Eckhard decided to embrace being different, getting earrings and a hair perm.

“I wanted to change my physical appearance to something that felt closer to who I am,” he said. “And I never would have done that in the past because I was afraid of what other men would think of me.”

He also made deliberate efforts to deepen his personal connection with people, both those he knew already and the new people in his life. Echard has found others who share his passion for personal growth, self-discovery and authenticity.

“I’m starting to surround myself with those people and it’s just further validation that I’m on the right path,” Echard said.

Echard has had to navigate this reinvention while remaining a public figure. In some ways, he’s even leveraged his significant fan base to keep momentum on his journey. He has reclaimed control over social media by blocking toxic comments and people and integrating screenless time. These days, his profiles are used as a platform to, Echard hopes, inspire others to a healthy, authentic life. His prolific posts run the gamut from sharing his personal training clients’ success stories to vignettes that shamelessly show his dance progression.

Through a journey of exploration, he’s found a new sense of balance and emotional equilibrium.

“I’m more focused on just being me, and that allows me to not only do the things I just wanted to do, but now I’m attracting that same type of energy towards me,” Eckhard said. “I’m starting to surround myself with those people and it’s just further validation that I’m on the right path.”

By the time the Brain Injury Alliance of Arizona reached out to Echard through social media about being the chairman for Run, Walk & Roll, it seemed like the perfect opportunity for him to use his own experiences and journey to help others who travel a similar path.

After all, most brain injury survivors find themselves faced with rebuilding their entire identity, often from the inside out. Who they are and how they navigate the world is usually drastically different due to the mental, physical and emotional changes their brain injury brings. Like Echard, this frequently means embarking on a long, and deeply difficult, journey of personal growth and stepping outside one’s comfort zone.

That understanding, combined with the perpetual risk of brain injury, and witnessing the impact of brain injuries on others in professional football, gives Eckhard a deep sense of empathy for brain injury survivors.

Still, Eckhard is approaching leading Run, Walk & Roll from the perspective of someone with something to learn.

“It’s more of like a learning opportunity for me to go in and listen to these individuals speak and know more about this experience I’m not as familiar with,” Eckhard said.

He also appreciates how important a community of people who have similar experiences can be to someone experiencing any type of recovery.

His advice to people navigating the challenges of life post-brain injury is simple: “Go to where the experiences are.”

“Go find those who have the same experiences or are eerily similar and talk with them,” Eckhard said. “Talk with those individuals that have been on that journey already and now have found the positive, the silver lining amongst the negativity.”

It is perfect advice for everyone participating in this year’s event, whether in-person or through the virtual event.

ABOUT BRAIN INJURY ALLIANCE OF ARIZONA

The Brain Injury Alliance of Arizona (BIAAZ) is the only statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of adults and children with all types of brain injuries through prevention, advocacy, awareness and education. BIAAZ also houses the Arizona Brain Health Resource Center, a collection of educational information and neuro-specific resources for brain injury survivors, caregivers, family members and professionals.

What began in 1983 as a grassroots effort has grown into a strong statewide presence, providing valuable life-long resources and community support for individuals with all types of brain trauma at no charge.

The Brain Injury Alliance of Arizona:

• Works with Congressional Brain Injury Task Force
• Houses Arizona Brain Health Resource Center
• Hosts virtual and in-person support groups for survivors and families
• Has Statewide Opioid Use Disorder & Cognitive Impairment Response team with peer support, training, and family wraparound services
• Facilitates Brain Health Advisory Council
• Manages statewide Help Line: 888-500-9165