In this episode of ListenABLE, Angus sits down with Spencer Connelly for a conversation that is confronting, inspiring and incredibly human.

Spencer shares his lived experience after surviving a traumatic fire as a child, spending months in hospital, and learning to navigate the world with visible scars and amputations. He reflects on memory, trauma, recovery, self-image, the complexity of forgiveness, and why he now sees his scars as signs of strength rather than weakness.

The conversation also explores disability identity, facial difference, confidence in public, representation in film, and Spencer’s growing dream of building a career in acting. That dream has already taken shape, with Spencer landing a speaking role in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, and he has publicly credited the KIDS Foundation with helping build his confidence after his injuries.

If this episode resonates, share it with someone who needs to hear a story of resilience, perspective and hope.

Key Topics:

• surviving severe childhood burns

• trauma and memory

• hospital recovery and rehabilitation

• living with facial difference

• disability identity

• scars and self-acceptance

• therapy and healing

• public perception and staring

• confidence and resilience

• acting, representation and Furiosa

  
  

The Story:

00:00 Childhood trauma and the memory that stayed
01:00 Spencer’s story and entering the disability community
05:45 Living with disability and visible difference
07:20 Recovery, surgeries and life after hospital
11:10 Returning to school after trauma
14:50 The truth about what happened
17:40 Differently abled, disability and identity
19:00 Staring, confidence and moving through the world
20:40 Looking in the mirror after trauma
23:15 Forgiveness, healing and moving forward
27:20 Acting dreams and losing one career path
28:20 Meeting Sean Millis and working on Furiosa
35:30 Facial difference and representation in film
37:50 Halloween, scars and public perception
40:10 The bowl of uncomfortable
44:25 Life from here and what’s next

When Joshua Ruff’s heart stopped for three minutes, everything changed.

Living with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) since childhood, Joshua had already navigated a lifetime of disability, adaptation, and resilience. But in 2020, a sudden cardiac arrest during the early days of COVID forced him into a profound reckoning with mortality, fear, and what actually matters.

Unable to speak and communicating only through his eyes, Joshua was told he might never return home. Instead, that moment became the catalyst for a new way of living. One centred on human connection, creative purpose, and letting go of fear.

In this powerful conversation, Joshua shares how surviving cardiac arrest reshaped his outlook on life, relationships, and ambition. He opens up about growing up with DMD, the emotional toll of teenage years, and the quiet pressure to always appear positive as a wheelchair user. We explore how gardening became both therapy and vocation, leading to the creation of Henle Gardens, a lavender farm producing oil, products, and community experiences.

This episode is about disability, yes. But more than that, it is about meaning, independence, love, and choosing to live fully without apology.

Key Topics Covered

• Surviving a cardiac arrest and communicating only through eye movement

• Living with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and challenging early life expectancy narratives

• Letting go of fear after facing death

• Gardening as purpose, therapy, and business

• Building an accessible lavender farm and producing lavender oil

• Independence, support systems, and redefining success

• Why people with disability are elite problem solvers

• Relationships, self-worth, and rejecting the idea of being a burden

• Positivity, grief, and the danger of masking emotions

  
  

  Notable Moments

• “The most important thing is human connection. Everything else doesn’t matter.”

• “My heart stopped for three minutes, and somehow that freed me.”

• “I didn’t believe I deserved a relationship. That belief almost cost me one.”

• “People with disability are the best problem solvers because life never gives us the easy path.”

• “Independence for me is choice, not doing everything alone.”

About Joshua Ruff

Joshua Ruff is a gardener, lavender producer, and founder of Henle Gardens in regional Victoria. Living with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, Joshua has transformed personal adversity into creative expression, community connection, and entrepreneurship.

After surviving cardiac arrest in 2020, he committed to building a life driven by purpose rather than fear. Today, his lavender farm produces oil, dried lavender products, and hosts garden visits, festivals, and community groups, proving that accessibility and beauty are not mutually exclusive.

Colin Judge was born with one arm and no legs, and today he is a Paralympic table tennis player, speaker, and analyst living in Dublin.

In this episode of ListenABLE, Colin opens up about dating with a disability, rejection, and why you do not need to prove your worth to the wrong people. He shares the moment a short video about dating stopped the scroll online, and how learning to value the people who choose you changed the way he sees relationships and confidence.

Colin also takes us through his journey to the Paralympics, the hidden grind of elite sport, and what people do not see behind the scenes of Paralympic competition. From being excluded as a teenager, to finding his sport, to navigating reclassification and identity, this conversation explores resilience, adaptability, and self-belief in a way that goes far beyond disability.

We also talk about fear of rejection, finding your voice on social media, taking initiative when it feels uncomfortable, and why accessibility is often more about mindset than infrastructure.

This is a powerful, honest conversation about confidence, self-worth, and becoming more than the labels placed on you.

Follow Colin Judge on Instagram: @colinjudge100