Anthony Bennett
Inspirational Speaker and survivor of devastating illness as a young adult
Following a trip to Disneyland, aged 18, Anthony suffered 3 life threatening viral infections had a 10% chance of survival and had to be resuscitated 12 times. Anthony shares his incredible story of combating all odds to gain a second chance at life. His thought-provoking keynotes uplift the hearts and minds of all listening.
Speaker enquiryAfter returning from a school trip to Disneyland Paris in 2006, Anthony fell ill with what he thought was a cold. Within two days Anthony was unable to make sense of anything he said and was rushed to his local hospital, where he was diagnosed with Streph-Pneumonia, Influenza and Staphylococcus, which left him with a 10% chance of survival.
Anthony was transferred to Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital and placed on an ECMO life support machine for 3 weeks. During this time, his white blood cells reduced to zero, he had a seizure whilst in a coma and needed to be brought back to life 12 times during his 7 week stay in hospital.
Amazingly Anthony survived, however for him to recover, he needed to learn the very basics all over again. How to breathe without the aid of machines, hand-eye coordination, sitting, standing straight, walking again and re-training how to use his voice again. He was told he would be on 20 tablets a day, long term…Anthony disagreed. Within a year her was taken off all medication.
After making a full recovery Anthony went on to help GOSH win a £7.5m partnership with Whitbread, which landed him a job within Whitbread’s CSR team, leading campaigns which in four years raise £8.5m.
Having recovered from such a devastating illness and gone on to excel, Anthony decided to share his journey and the life lessons learnt. He has now over 10 year’s speaking experiences and has been brought in by organisations such as Network Rail, Premier Inn, CIPD, Costa Coffee, Risky Business, and BT to address some of the following subjects:
· Miracle Man
· Discovering Your Super Power and Using it For Good
· Overcoming Fear – The One Thing Holding You Back Could Change Your Life Forever
· Teamwork – The Butterfly Effect of Your Actions Could Save Lives
· Watering Your Seed – The Simple Path to Success
· The Motivated Mind – Finding Strength to Push Forward When Life Knocks You Down
Anthony also has a clear passion for inspiring and motivating the up and coming generation. With the power of holding the attention of every student in a classroom or assembly, Anthony equips millennials with thoughts and messages including holding focus, not giving ups and build towards goals with his bit-by-bit and self-awareness approach.
“My absolutely favourite thing to do is inspire a room full of people, creating a shared energy, leaving each person feeling empowered and ready to start working on becoming the best versions of themselves.”
View moreAdversity
Health & Wellness
Mindset
Resilience
Teamwork
“A huge thank you from me for agreeing to join us. The feedback we had from everyone was superb. It’s inspirational to see the journey you’ve been on and the work you’re now doing.”
Ruth Clarke, Marketing Manager, Kimal
“I don’t think we could have found a better way to finish the event than having Anthony join us. He was utterly brilliant!! The messages he delivered on stage were perfect, he pitched his session beautifully for the audience and took time after the session to meet and talk to many young people who were keen to discuss the session.”
Matt Bassett, Youth Engagement and Development Manager, Teenage Cancer Trust
“Anthony’s engaging style and ability to tailor his presentation / personal story to the audience set the two day conference off on a high note – within twenty minutes Anthony variously made the audience both laugh and cry as well as telling an uplifting tale of teamwork within a stressful and highly emotionally charged environment. Anthony would be an ideal speaker for any healthcare related event, whether provider or supplier as he resonates well with the patient safety imperative that is top of the industry’s agenda. Anthony takes the time to investigate his clients business activities, their audience and carefully aligns the messages to fit the agenda – all this is achieved through his natural, engaging, intelligent curiosity.”
Glen Hodgson, Head of Healthcare, GS1 UK
“The passion he demonstrates when sharing his experiences; engaging and inspiring his audience, played an important role in helping the charity to secure a £7.5m+ partnership with Whitbread plc. His natural ability to connect with, inspire and motivate people to support fundraising and to push themselves towards personal success has been astounding. He carries such positivity and it’s a pleasure to witness the impact he has on people, engaging them in fundraising and helping them to understand the ability they have to make a real difference to others.”
Tim Johnson, CEO, Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity
Speaker enquiry form