The One With Michael Crawford-Hick

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:00:33]:
Hello. Hello. Welcome to another episode. I have a fantastic guest, this, this time around. His background was in in robotics engineering, where he made machines move and made them build most of the things that are in your house. He does get bored easily, so he took off for 23 months to go traveling, came back, and he was made disabled with, FND, functional neurological disorder. That could be enough to, to wipe most people out. Didn’t stop my guest this time.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:01:08]:
In fact, he’s gone from strength to strength. That’s my guest, Michael Crawford Hick. Let’s bring him in. Are you there, Michael?

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:01:16]:
Yes. I am here, willing and waiting to answer the questions.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:01:21]:
Oh, brilliant. Brilliant. So let’s get started with questions. I guess we’ve we’ve heard your bio, but who is Michael? Who’s the man behind the bio?

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:01:30]:
Somebody who’s always been creative ever since day 1. I started with my film photography at age 10a half, and I basically took some photographs on a school trip, and they actually got exhibited in the classroom at age 10a half. I didn’t realise that until about 6, 7 years later when my schoolmates and I were having a discussion about my photographs. I said, oh, that was my first exhibition because they were better than the teachers. And I was hooked on from my first roll of film many moons ago. So I’ve done engineering because my dad told me to do engineering. He said that’s a good career to go into. And he said you could always do your photography later.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:02:30]:
Okay? And I’ve done my photography ever since that in little part time operations, doing weddings, portraits, building photography, anything that my friends wanted and made a few pounds to buy some more kit. Then fast forward to the almost end of my career, I after that trip to Asia, which was absolute Asia and Australia, which was absolutely amazing, 10 countries in that 23 months and 35,000 plus photographs later, I came back to the UK broke. That’s fine. But then on this fateful day in April, Easter Sunday, I was at Waterloo station, and I went to grab something from my bag, and I fell to the floor. And I said, oh, what’s happening here? And I couldn’t get up. My power from my left side and from waist downwards was all gone. Luckily, there was a contractor walking past, and he got me some help. They took me to hospital, did lots of little tests just like you see in any of the real life, casualty bits and pieces.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:03:52]:
And within an hour of being there, I didn’t have a diagnosis, but I overheard they said, oh, we gotta keep him in. Okay. I couldn’t walk at that time, and that is scary. Your life is turned upside down. You don’t know what the heck’s gonna happen. I was put up on the ward, and it took 3 days for them to allow me to try and walk. And yeah. I was wondering while I was in the hospital bed, what is am I gonna go out if you’re in a wheelchair? Do I need rehab? Do I need this or that? And luckily, the physios got me up and walking, which is I said, okay.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:04:41]:
That’s fine. But I I’ve now got to learn to walk again, which at any age is gonna be difficult. Because I was spasming, my legs, they were shaking like anything. And, eventually, on day 3, I did have the diagnosis of functional neurological disorder. Never heard of it, and most people haven’t heard of it. It’s despite it being number 2 on the neurologist hit list. There’s no cure. It’s basically like your brain has been scrambled like on a computer program, and you go from there.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:05:27]:
You can’t reload your computer in your mind or whatever. So apart from the legs not working, I get more brain fog, I go weak sometimes, my legs spasm to a solid block, I’m in pain almost 247, and you had to learn a completely new way of life. However, the consultant I had was absolutely amazing. She said, you’ve gotta ask for help, and she actually arranged some bits and pieces for, me, like getting mental health support and making sure I was okay to go home, etcetera. And she gave me a, basically, a to do list, where she said, ask for help. That mental health therapy really well worked because now I couldn’t run for a bus now. I I can’t walk up a big hill without in lot without being in lot of pain. Mhmm.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:06:37]:
I just can’t do the the stuff I did literally a few minutes before it happened, and it came to me without warning as it does most people. Luckily, King’s College London is one of the best centres for this, and it’s got 2 of the 4 top, neurologists of the country. So I was in good hands. After talking to another neurologist about 6 months later, and he said, it’s FND. You can’t do anything about it. Okay. And I just finished my mental health therapy at that stage and realised I can’t sit at home doing nothing. So I said, what can I do? And I said, well, I can do photography, and I used to do sports, photography in sailing, jet skis, powerboats, etcetera.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:07:30]:
But with my waist as it is, my legs not working, I can’t go on a boat and and free-stand. I need my stick all the time. So I said, well then I looked at disabled sports, and I said, well, I can sit on the side of a court or a track and let the action come to me. I said, oh, that that that will do. I I can make that work. And then you look up the images that are online about disabled sports, and they were so dire as in they’re old, out of date, and they’re using, normal able-bodied people in wheelchair photographs. You can tell that, and that’s not how the disabled in general want to be shown.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:08:22]:
Exactly. Yeah.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:08:24]:
So I did more research, but because of the World Cup at that stage in the latter part of 2022, there was no groups I could go and photograph to do anything, to even have a play. But I went to a conference on access for disability sports in the January, and I came up with the idea of the Disability Sports Network. The idea was to go and photograph all kinds of disabled sports and then hopefully get some people with video, and we’ll collaborate with other video content creators that we put on my website everything to do with disabled photography. That’s the aim. That was 18 months ago. Since that light bulb idea happened, I have the money has dropped in at the right time. The opportunities have arrived at the right time. I’m getting lot and I’m getting lots of comments to say, you’re doing amazingly well, apart from being disabled as well.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:09:43]:
So I booked a stand at the disability expo with no real reason or knowledge of how I’m gonna pay for it, which was £600 plus VAT, and all the other things that goes along with the exhibition stand. And I said, I’ll take a chance. It worked out, and I photographed some more wheelchair basketball games Mhmm. A powerhouse lifestyle event. I asked if I could go to the International Blind Games in Birmingham. Yes. I could come along, because I just wanted to know how blind people did sports, like blind football. It’s much more entertaining than the Euros just gone, but they are you have to, run the game in silence so they can hear the little bells in the ball.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:10:43]:
There’s 2 little and it’s fun to watch them try to find out where the ball is. It’s just, yeah, it’s just interesting. So I got hooked on that. And I did a few other sports while I was there, blind bowling, blind chess, showdown, and a few others. I can’t remember them all. And then I was lucky enough to get a press pass to the Invictus Games. Oh, okay. Yes.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:11:16]:
The the the armed forces, that stuff that was run by Prince Harry.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:11:21]:
Yeah.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:11:24]:
I only went there for about two and a half days because I had a medical appointments afterwards, but I came away with such amazing images. However, that was down to the help of Nikon Germany. They allowed me to borrow a couple of their very expensive lenses. I mean, we’re talking they let me have them for 2 days, and they’re about £2,500 worth of kit. And they said, try these. See how you come on go on with those. And I said, okay. Fine.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:12:01]:
Oh, I was blown away with the results. After I left Germany, didn’t want to give those lenses back. But, obviously, within a month, I bought one of them, and then about 4 months later, I bought the second one. Yes. It’s expensive, but when you see the printed quality of the work indoors, etcetera, it took my photography to the next level. Then, what was it, after September, things go quiet because of Christmas, and all the, games are coming to an end. So I go networking to find other bits and pieces. But in the meantime, earlier in 2023, I was about 3 and a half months late applying to the Olympics because apparently, you gotta talk to them 18 months in advance.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:13:01]:
Okay. Yeah. So, eventually, I found out, I could get I couldn’t get a press pass on the first pass through, but I got one on the second pass. That little email came to me sometime on a Thursday in May, and I looked at it and said, oh, wow. Yes. They’ve allowed me to go. So they must have checked me out, my quality of work, the stuff I’ve been putting out. I this is still to me a dream.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:13:40]:
You know? Until last week when I got my press pass through, it was just, am I really going? But my photography has improved since I’ve gone to mirrorless and had consultations with Nikon, etcetera, on bits and pieces. And it’s even I’m surprised with some of the photographs I get, which is great, but it’s been a while to try and understand when people say that’s an amazing photograph, Michael. I think to myself, well, yeah, I shot that, but, yes, I, you know, I need to see it from other people’s eyes. Mhmm. And then one photographer who I met through Small Business Britain, he looked at my photographs with a critical eye, and he says, how do you do this, to be so sharp and on point? Well, I just do. It’s, what’s the word? The answer is I don’t know how I do it, but I do it. I see the photograph in my mind as it’s just about to happen, and if you got the camera set up correctly, you’ll get it.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:15:09]:
Mhmm.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:15:09]:
Yes. I’ve messed up a few shots. We all do. But the critical ones, I’ve done, and it’s amazing. So, I’m just so happy with that. Now what I I’m not sure if you know, but I also wanted to put this all these photographs and my experiences and the sports in a magazine called the disability sports magazine. Mhmm. And I put together a 40 page book with just images from 10 different events.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:15:47]:
Because what I want to do is show the world my photography, but more importantly, show the disabled and abled world that even if you do have a disability, you can still photograph oh, sorry. Photograph, participate in a sport because the government said there’s only 11% of us disabled people, involved in sport in any way. So if I could get that to 12 or 15% through my magazine and my work, that’s helping the government. But, also, if you’re happier and you’re doing active, you lead less, medication in most illnesses. So it’s a benefit all around. So me encouraging the disabled people to come along to their local group of whatever sports. And before you say, oh, hang on. It’s only a couple of sports, wheelchair rugby, wheelchair basketball.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:16:48]:
No. No. No. No. There’s about 50 or 60 different sports depending on your level of ability. Even people who are quadriplegic, and very little movement can do something like botcher with specially adapted, launches for the ball. There’s a lot of people doing wheelchair racing who are quadriplegic, but their arms still work. So or an amputee.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:17:17]:
Yeah. There are different categories. And if you’re blind, there are categories b 1, 2, and 3, and there are so, there’s probably about 15, 20 sports you can do because you’re blind. So a disability does should not buy you from doing a sport. If you don’t want to be involved on that sport, why not just do the ticket sales or be a supporter sharing them on? That costs nothing, and that’s just your mindset. You don’t have to physically do anything. It so there’s so many different ways disabled people can go into sports. What I have noticed is because I’m disabled and I walk with a stick, I go into spasms while I’m at games or have to stop, because of the illness, I’m accepted into that regime.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:18:11]:
Somebody will come over and say, are you okay, Michael? Yeah. I’m okay. It will pass in a minute, But I’m in a safe environment whereas in a able-bodied sport things, they’ll just say, oh, what are you doing? Playing up? No. It’s my illness. I think there’s too many people here that don’t understand what a disability or an illness can do, but I flipped it on my away completely from not being able to do anything to now going to the Paralympics in about 30 days. Yeah. And that’s scary, exciting, etcetera. It’s it’s an emotional roller coaster.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:19:00]:
Yeah. I I can imagine. I I I guess you’re you you you were saying people say, how would you do that with a photo? I don’t know. I just do it. I guess that’s testament to this guilt from right from when you were when you were young. So I guess you’ve been doing it for so long. Yes.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:19:19]:
You you you’ve been you’ve

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:19:20]:
developed this ability.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:19:21]:
You you naturally develop. If you are, it’s like Henri Cartier Bresson, one of the most famous photographers. He said, the first 10,000 photographs you photograph of a subject or a style are crap. They are useless. You’ve just got to take photographs and photographs, not just like in film days, 36 photographs every year. No. No. No.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:19:43]:
No. You gotta do 10,000 photographs a year.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:19:48]:
Yeah.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:19:49]:
To get good at a subject. And I’ve been doing all sorts of photography since age 10, and I have no idea how many photographs I’ve taken, but that last trip to Asia was 35,000. When I’m going to the Paralympics, I’ve estimated 60,000 plus, I think. So you’ve you’ve got to know your subject. Like, I used to do sailing photography, but I used to know I know how to sail, so I know when the boat was gonna be in the correct position with the waves, etcetera, so I didn’t waste my film or the digital side, and I had to edit hundreds of photographs. So it’s knowing your sport when the peak of action is happening, but, yes, I will miss some, through one thing or another. Something distracts you, but you learn by those mistakes.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:20:53]:
Absolutely.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:20:55]:
But you’re also gonna get some peer review from people who are better than you, and they can put you on different pointers. And I want to teach some disabled people to take sports photographs, and it will help them. I’m talking to somebody this coming week who I may be able to I’m gonna be tapping into the schools, and hopefully, we can get some disabled people in there, because I know there’s disabled people in every school, say, right. Come on. Come along with me to an event. Not the Olympics because I’ve had too many requests to come along. Yeah. Carry my bags.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:21:42]:
Oh, I’d like you to do, with hindsight, I probably I could use the help of 1, but it’s too late now. But perhaps the next time when I’m in Los Angeles or when the Invictus came comes in 2027 to Birmingham, Maybe we can do something. But there’s lots of other local events I can get them involved in. It’s it’s teaching the next generation of people, because this field is wide open. If you look at the photography out there, it’s it’s hardly been touched. Mhmm. So I’m just gonna make the world on fire effectively with my images, I hope.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:22:36]:
Yeah. I I I have no doubt. I have no doubt you’re sorry. And, massive congratulations being

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:22:42]:
Thank you.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:22:43]:
Being selected to be one of the photographers for the, Paris Paralympic Games 2024. Again, it shows the the, immense amount of skill that you’ve got with your with your, photography, and it shows, hopefully, to everyone who’s catching this that even if you have a setback like like you did when you got got struck by, FND, even if you have a setback, there are always things you can do. There’s always something you can do relying on the skills that you’ve that you’ve developed over over your life.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:23:14]:
Yeah. What happened is I I had a mindset that I can’t sit at home and do nothing. Now a lot of people who’ve had this illness just going a lot try to go along with their normal life. But what the mental health therapy told me was, hang on a minute. No. You gotta grieve your old life because you can’t do this. You can’t do that. And it’s okay to have a nap in the mornings or the evenings, because you’re exhausted.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:23:44]:
But you’ve got to have that mindset that you’re not gonna let this illness take take over.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:23:52]:
Yeah.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:23:54]:
I can walk at the moment, but I see a future, probably a year’s time, maybe 18 months, that I may have to use a wheelchair just because the pain or the the legs just don’t work properly. That’s okay. I can still go to all these events because 9 times out of 10, there are people in there with wheelchairs of all varieties, and I’m not I’m not different. They just have to accommodate me. But I’m slowly getting known in various, disabled sports events, so it shouldn’t be a problem

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:24:31]:
Yeah.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:24:32]:
I hope.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:24:34]:
Yeah. No. I I I love that. And I I’d love just to, to watch how your career, evolve. I mean, how your career evolves and develops. You you’re you’re a photographer at the Paralympics, I haven’t say. Once, you you don’t get much much harder than that, but

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:24:50]:
No. I know. I know. It’s just it’s when I come back afterwards, the 1st week or 2 will be clearing up inquiries and bits and pieces, but I’ve got to put something in place so that I don’t come crashing down.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:25:05]:
Yes. Yes.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:25:07]:
At the moment, I don’t know what that is, but it could be through a conversation I have at the Paralympic Games Mhmm. Or before that or after that, it’s it’s like somebody winning the race they’re running, and they’ve been going for 4 years, and that’s their pinnacle. They’ve got it. Now what? It’s when they come home with their friends and family, well, that means I don’t have to train anymore for at least a year. Am I going on to the next Olympics? Or there’s so many things on, but after this, I will be putting that I’ve got a blog for the photographer with FND. So I want to convert that into a book so it gets to all the neurology departments in the world, but put put my photography there to show them you can do something from day 1. The mindset, and I’ll explain that in the book. But I also want an exhibition early probably the Q1 by Easter, if I can, of the work I’ve done, at the Olympics, and we’ll see what happens on that.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:26:27]:
Yeah. I’ve had opportunities and bits and pieces come to me at the 11th hour. Like, last last week, I just put an inquiry into We Are SOTA. They wanted input on disabilities and what, problems you have with access. And I told him I was a photographer, and, actually, I’m now in with the disability policy center, which is a think tank, to help people overcome various obstacles in life. And they invited me along very quickly to a House of Lords thing, a luncheon. And I realized they said they both, Chloe and Clara I’ve got Charlie, sorry, were inviting me along very quickly because it was on the Tuesday after Thursday. And I didn’t know why until I got there.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:27:33]:
And then it was all about sports. So she said, you’ve hit us at the right the perfect time, and we’re gonna do stuff with them. So perhaps after the Paralympics, I can help advise or take photographs for them on how I found the Paralympics on whether it was good or bad. Yeah. It’s so there’s opportunities happening because I made an inquiry, and they say, oh. So there’s people just coming to me now with, I’ve got an idea for this. I’ve got an idea for that. And there’s somebody who wants to do a mini documentary with me.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:28:24]:
I’ve got 2 people who want to do that. And, yes, and a couple of other podcasts, believe it or not. And I have I have not approached anybody to go on these podcasts or do this little mini documentary. They will come to me. So that means my photography must be hitting the correct, and I’m saying the correct things at the correct moment.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:28:51]:
Yep. Exactly.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:28:52]:
I believe the way this has been building up, I had to become disabled to make these opportunities happen.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:29:00]:
Yeah.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:29:00]:
You know? So in one hand, I’m glad I was made disabled, but in the back of my mind, I said, well, why am I? Well, I would have gone back onto the normal treadmill of a 9 to 5 job.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:29:14]:
Yeah. Yeah.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:29:15]:
I don’t want a 9 to 5 job. I can only work 2 days a week. That’s fine. And we go from there.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:29:25]:
Yeah.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:29:26]:
It’s all about I think this whole thing is about mindset and taking a risk. The person who’s doing the media the documentary, I just said, oh, yes. I will get we’ll set up a go not a GoFundMe, a Kickstarter campaign. I said, let’s do it now. And because it’s only 3 or 4 weeks away from the Olympics.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:29:54]:
Mhmm.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:29:55]:
Oh, I keep going to the Olympics, but the Paralympics. But then I can populate this with brand new images that nobody’s ever seen, and that’s gonna generate interest. So

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:30:09]:
Definitely.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:30:09]:
Yes. And you say, well, this is what I’ve done. This is what I’m doing. This is an idea. I’ve had this discussion with x, y, zed, etcetera, and we take it from there. So I think with all these things bubbling in the background, I don’t think I’ll get that correction out, after Olympics because I still gotta sort through all those photographs and make sure I printed out I don’t know how many.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:30:38]:
I hope

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:30:38]:
I hope to cover about 12 sports and about 3 or 4 games per sport. Wow.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:30:46]:
That’s that’s a lot.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:30:49]:
Yes. Yeah. It it’s a daunting task. I’ve been slowly buying extra hard drives, memory cards, and a few other bits and pieces. I think that set me back about £300 Just a just a little extras. Yeah. Because I don’t want to get caught out while I’m there. Oh, I need extra this or I need extra that.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:31:14]:
Absolutely.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:31:15]:
It’s all in my camera bag ready.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:31:18]:
Brilliant. Brilliant. Well, Michael, thank you so much for taking taking some time out of your out of your, incredibly busy and hectic at the moment life to to share with us, your your background, your story, how you got to to be where you are. Yes. All the very best at the Paris Paralympic Games. That’s that’s gonna be an amazing experience. Look forward to to seeing your your photos. I know you, a lot of your photos are, available on Alamo, and, I’m I’m gonna put pop a link to, to Michael’s, portfolio Alamo portfolio into the show notes for this.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:31:57]:
You’ll find all the details, KeithBlakemoreNoble.com/show/ and look for the one with Michael Crawford Hick. You’ll find find the show notes, all the details there. Michael, anybody who wants to find out a bit more or maybe even get in touch with you, what what’s the best way for them to do that?

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:32:13]:
The best way is go to my main website, which is TheDisabilitySportsNetwork.com – you can send me an email through that, or you could just subscribe to the newsletter, and I will be sending out regular updates throughout the, Paralympics. So anything every time I update my blog or something of notes that’s happened, you’ll know about it, that day, I hope, depending on this how many photographs and what I’m doing. But I aim to do it once a day at least. It’s a tall order, but some of the stuff may be delayed a day or 2 depending on circumstances. But as soon as I photographed an event, the once I’ve selected the images that are good, I will be putting those up on Alamy. But then towards the end of the day, I will update my website with that. I think they take about an hour to get up to Alamy to get displayed, and then you can see but I will be as quick as the newspapers.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:33:30]:
So or quicker, should I say.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:33:32]:
Okay. Yeah.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:33:32]:
Because you won’t see the newspaper stuff until if you just shoot on a Monday until Tuesday, I’m gonna be out on Monday night. So you’re ready for the morning Yeah. If you wish.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:33:46]:
Love it. Love it. So that’s the TheDisabilitySportsNetwork.com – Yes. I need to find find,

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:33:54]:
the only thing I can do. Even if you just put that those names in, I come up on the first search of Google, so I’m happy.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:34:03]:
Awesome. Well, Michael, thank you so much. It’s been fascinating, and I wish you all the very best, both at the Paralympics and, with with everything that that’s going beyond with with your book and and with the way in which you’re inspiring other disable disabled people, including youngsters to be be do the best they can, whether it’s in photography or in in whatever field.

Michael Crawford-Hick [00:34:28]:
Thank you so much. Definitely.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:34:30]:
Beautiful. And thank you, dear listener. Thank you, dear listener, for joining us. Do do check Michael out. Do remember to give us a like, a comment, a share, subscribe, and I’ll catch you in another episode very soon. Bye for now.