He looked fine, but he was falling apart.

In this episode of The Lonely Chapter Podcast, Sam speaks with Jason Kubiak, a firefighter, former professional MMA fighter, father and co-founder of Unified Against Violence CIC.

Jason opens up about the period of his life where everything started to collapse around him: divorce, operational trauma, not seeing his children, homelessness, self-medication, isolation and the painful realisation that he did not understand what was happening in his own mind. From the outside, he may have looked capable, disciplined and strong, but privately he was struggling to survive.

This conversation explores men’s mental health, firefighter trauma, suicide prevention, emotional isolation, the pressure to be strong, fatherhood, recovery, routine, discipline, asking for help, and the importance of having people who do more than simply say, “let me know if you need anything.”

Jason also shares how his experiences shaped the way he now supports others, including his work with Unified Against Violence CIC, a project focused on youth violence, knife crime prevention, public access bleed kits, defibrillators, community safety and giving young people access to belonging, mentorship, sport and support before pain becomes violence.

Find Jason on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/jaykube0067/

Find Unified Against Violence CIC on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/unified_against_violence/