Inspiring+ People - Chloe Cohen
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Not Synced[Interviewer] Welcome to "Inspiring People"
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Not SyncedToday, we have Chloe Cohen, who is going to tell us the inspiring story
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Not Syncedof her struggle and how she has been dealing with Multiple Sclerosis for many years, now.
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Not SyncedChloe, you are on.
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Not Synced[Chloe Cohen] Hi, everybody. My name is Chloe
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Not Syncedand I've been living with Multiple Sclerosis for about 14 years, now.
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Not SyncedI was 20 years old when I was diagnosed and for me it was very quick - it was not -
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Not SyncedMost people generally have symptoms and then slowly, more shit starts happening,
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Not Syncedand then they are diagnosed.
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Not SyncedBut for me, I hit my head real hard, and that head trauma caused symptoms pretty much instantly.
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Not Synced[Interviewer] Oh, it's not genetic?
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Not Synced[Cohen] They don't know. They still don't know if it's genetic, environmental or anything.
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Not SyncedSo they're still trying to figure out that out.
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Not SyncedBut - Yeah, nobody in my family has it, but like, one of the girls that I know with MS, her sister has it,
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Not Syncedand then, this other girl, her father has it.
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Not SyncedSo I don't know. I don't know if it's genetic or not. I don't think they know, but I will say this:
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Not Syncedwhen I was diagnosed 14 years ago, there were 30 drugs available to slow down the progression of the disease.
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Not SyncedNow, I think I should start by explaining what MS is.
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Not SyncedAnd that's a neurological disease that affects the central nervous system,
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Not Syncedwith a wide, wide, wide range of symptoms, from numbness and tingling
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Not Syncedto blindness in an eye, to the loss of the use of limbs, to chronic pain.
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Not SyncedAnd every single person with the illness is different, and how it affects them.
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Not SyncedAnd there is no two people who deal with it in exactly the same way.
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Not SyncedBut before these drugs came out, there was no way to slow the progression of the illness.
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Not SyncedSo that's why there is such an older generation of people with MS in wheelchairs,
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Not Syncedbecause they didn't have the benefits of these drugs that slow the progression,
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Not Syncedbecause it is constantly flowing, you never know what's going to happen today, you know,
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Not SyncedI've been now in remission for four years, and it's like a new life,
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Not Syncedbecause for 9 years of my life, it was this up and down thing of what's going to happen tomorrow,
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Not Syncedwhat - is this symptom not going to be here tomorrow, or what's going to happen tomorrow?
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Not SyncedSo I very much learned how to live [coughs] - excuse me - within the moment.
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Not Syncednot worry about the future as much.
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Not SyncedBut it's only because I went through all that, that brought me to this for me (? - 3:12)
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Not SyncedBut I'm definitely a lucky one. I was very disabled initially.
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Not SyncedWhen I hit my head, it basically just jarred everything loose that was loose .
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Not SyncedI probably had, you know, when I look back at my childhood before I even had MS,
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Not SyncedI can recall things that happened during that, you know, that were like,
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Not Syncedmy feet would go numb in the shower in high school.
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Not SyncedBut I didn't even consider it, because they'd come back to life, you know.
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Not SyncedOnly until I was diagnosed with MS did I go "Huh, maybe that was connected", you know,
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Not SyncedBut, you know, I don't know - I don't know.
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Not SyncedIn my theory, I've probably had this since I was born and it probably came up all through my life.
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Not SyncedBut I didn't get that diagnosis untill I initially hit my head
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Not Syncedand had this like fast bang: I can't use my left side, it was all like I had that constant tremor,
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Not SyncedI had vertigo, so it was like being wasted drunk all the time,
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Not Syncedbut you're not drunk, so you didn't get the benefit of the drunkenness [laughs],
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Not Syncedyou just got the bad stuff (4:35)
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Not Synced[nterviewer] Did you suffer from it really bad, sometimes? (?)
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Not Synced[Cohen] Luckily, it was only about, maybe, 6 months to a year, where it was really bad.
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Not SyncedI was lucky because as soon as they discovered that it was MS,
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Not SyncedI got put on medication and really the only thing that they have, it was steroids and steroids
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Not Syncedto calm the inflammation or whatever that's happening.
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Not SyncedSo, getting on am oral dose of steroids relieved my trauma relatively
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Not Syncedand I was on - about some other drugs, there is this drug called antivir,
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Not SyncedAnd I don't even know what the heck it is, but it was something like working out, straightening you out (?).
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Not SyncedSo, I didn't have vertigo anymore. So, I give credits to the medical establishment
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Not Syncedfor having these drugs available, but never ... quite enough.
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Not SyncedAnd I found ...... to be one of the only things that relieved me from these constant annoyances.
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Not SyncedAt least, it brought me to a more accepting place, I guess you could say,
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Not Syncedwhere it's like "OK, if I have to deal with this 24/7, then I can, you know,
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Not Syncedas much physically as the marihuana was doing, the cannabis was doing,
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Not Syncedof calming my tremors and taking away my disconfort.
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Not SyncedIt was also bringing psychological relief that, you know what ? I can handle this and do it.
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Not SyncedAnd this is my life, and I'll move - and now, not worry about the future so much.
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Not SyncedBut my story really is important because, you know, within 20 minute, my life slipped .
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Not SyncedI had hit my head and I couldn't use my left side, and that was a challenge (?).
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Not SyncedThis is what I was going to college for. I was going to study music,
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Not SyncedI was going to be a Michael Bark Band (?) ..................... (6:46)
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Not SyncedThat's what I thought. But then what's, you know. Yeah, I had to reramp my life.
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Not SyncedMy life, you know, and I was very angry for a very long time,
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Not Syncedbecause I think anyone who've got their passion (?).... quickly (? /:07)
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Not SyncedAnybody who has had any kind of instant loss knows, appreciates every little thing a little bit more,
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Not Syncedbecause you know what it's like to lose it. (7:18)
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Not Syncedand i think it took me a lot of therapy and a lot of, like,
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Not Syncedawsome conversation with people who get it, to be able to be at this point.
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Not SyncedBut I did start a support group here, eight years ago, for younger people with MS,
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Not Syncedbecause all the support groups were for old ........... people
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Not Syncedbecause they never got the benefit of the medication until, maybe, 15 years into their MS game
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Not Syncedand it has done - it has taken its toll already, so there is always so much -
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Not Syncedthere is no repair of what 's been taken away.
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Not SyncedYou know - they're working on it, how to - figuring out ways to repair that myeline that's .....
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Not SyncedFirst, when you have myeline - I left this major point out - you've lesions on your brain.
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Not SyncedSo those lesions then form symptoms in whatever area of the brain they're covering.
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Not SyncedYet - but the disease is the demyelinization of your nerves,
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Not Syncedand that's what causes them to be set (?) on improperly, and things.
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Not SyncedSo when you have ........... nerves (8:45)
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Not Syncedand the messages get screwed up.
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Not SyncedBut what I have learned after not walking, to be where I am at now,
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Not Syncedthere is no way I could have done that without the concepts of neuroplasticity.
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Not SyncedAnd I think that's so important, like, our brains are so powerful and we are capable of anything,
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Not Syncedanything if you put your mind to it, and what I have proved to myself as well as,
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Not SyncedI guess, if the medical establishment would have studied me?
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Not SyncedBut there is no study of me, you know
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Not Synced, that what I have done is really carve new pathways in my brain.
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Not SyncedSo now I'm using my left hand and it's never going to be the same,
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Not SyncedI'm never going to be able to play the cello like I did but at the same time, I can use it now.
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Not SyncedI mean, in all these 9 years, I didn't use it, and it's only through this, like, persistence I have,
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Not Syncedof exerciszing, of pushing myself. And I think it helps bcause I was an athlete before I got MS.
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Not SyncedSo I had this like, competitive "I'm hard-ass" kind of thing in me (laughs).
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Not SyncedBecause I played soccer for many years, and we were really good, you know, our team was good,
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Not Syncedand so I have at - that hard-ass attitude of just like keep pushing, keep pushing.
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Not Syncedand the hard part with MS is, like, your energy is greatly depleted.
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Not SyncedAnd I know for me, and for a lot of people, when they are first diagnosed with the illness,
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Not Syncedthey can't do this stuff the same way they did it before,
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Not Syncedthey have to figure out how to adapt to this new world of not being able to do things yourself
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Not SyncedAnd we knew that as stubborn and hard-ass that I was, there was no way,
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Not Syncedand how I would ve to ask someone to change my light bulb,
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Not Syncedbut it was at a point where I had that, so the light bulb would not get changed
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Not Syncedif I didn't ask someone to do it for me.
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Not SyncedAnd what I also had to realize is that generally, people like helping other people.
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Not SyncedIt gives them a sense of, self-sense of worth, you know?
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Not SyncedAnd where I looked at it like, it's a downfall for me that I can't do myself, do it myself,
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Not Syncedwhat they're getting from it is like, "We like helping people, I like it,
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Not Syncedit makes me feel better about myself".
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Not SyncedAnd I know, you know, when I can help people with stuff that they don't know anything about,
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Not Syncedwhether being DJing music technology, or MS for that matter, you know,
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Not Syncedit feels good to know that, like, I have something to give these people
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Not Syncedand so, like, for many years, I beat myself up being like, "Well, I can't do myself."
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Not SyncedBut that attitude really got in the way of my growth,
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Not Syncedyou know, I think you really have to learn that.
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Not SyncedI don't even know, I think I am lucky that I was able to adapt successfully.
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Not SyncedYou know, I've reached a point now that the MS isn't ............. life (11:59)
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Not Syncedwhich it was, for many, many years, ten years.
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Not SyncedAnd it was like that was every, everything I did, it was about MS.
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Not SyncedIt was about having - First of all, graduating college: I mean I had to -
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Not SyncedI couldn't be the music major, because I couldn't even play anymore.
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Not SyncedSo I changed into , speech (?) communication major (12:22)
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Not Syncedbecause I wanted to learn how to affect people effectively (laughs) with my words,
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Not Syncedand let them hear me, and not sign off.
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Not SyncedSo, I thought it was important to learn the art of communication
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Not Syncedand how to communicate effectively, to affect people.
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Not SyncedAnd I think I did that really well, and I know I'm doing it really well,
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Not Syncedbecause my story is special and unique in the sense that it happened so quickly.
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Not SyncedBut if you - if there's a will, there's a way. I mean, the fact that I couldn't walk and I went skiing
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Not Syncedand now I'm riding and I ...................... what the hell! (13:06)
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Not SyncedExcuse me, but like, it's .............. it's just mind-blowing to me (13:12)
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Not SyncedEveryday, it's a min-blowing experience like, brushing my teeth in the morning.
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Not SyncedI could never do that with two hands, and now I can.
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Not SyncedAnd so every morning, when I brush my teeth, I'm like, "Hell yeah, I'm doing this",
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Not Syncedand that' just a little thing, but it's like, I appreciate that stuff.
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Not SyncedTie my shoes? Couldn't tie them for a good nine years.
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Not SyncedSo now, I tie my shoes and I'm proud to tie my shoes, you know, it's appreciating those little things.
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Not SyncedAnd I wouldn't have had that perspective, I wouldn't have known this,
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Not SyncedI wouldn't be inl......... this much (13:45) without the losses that I've had.
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Not SyncedAnd I really say, I thing Ram Dass said it,
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Not Syncedthat, you know, through his strokes, this brought him closer to enlightenment.
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Not SyncedBecause now he had a new perspective, you know,
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Not Syncednow he saw what it was like, you know, on the other side - whatever.
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Not SyncedAnd I think it's been my duty to kind of let people look through a different lens for a minute
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Not Syncedand see, you know, look at themselves.
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Not SyncedIn that regard, I think most people don't ever think about things like that happening, you know.
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Not SyncedBut the fact is, they do and it could happen to any of us at any moment.
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Not SyncedYet we are so concerned about the future, or so stuck on the past that we're not living in the moment.
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Not SyncedAnd like, right now, I'm appreciating this moment, to be able to speak freely
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Not Syncedand let people know they've just got to appreciate what they have a little more.
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Not SyncedBecause, people, you really don't know what you have until you lose it.
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Not SyncedAnd I think it's so important for people to appreciate what they have.
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Not SyncedAnd you're never going to - hopefully, you'll never have to go through that,
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Not Syncedof learning what it's like to lose all that stuff,
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Not Syncedbecause it's not easy, and it was only through some intense MDR (?) theraoy (15:12),
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Not Syncedwhich is eye-movement therapy, that I got peace with the fact that I can't play the cello
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Not Syncedlike, you know, a symphony cellist anymore, you know?
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Not SyncedBut it - that is some intense stuff., for anybody ........... trauma (15:29), it's mainly for trauma.
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Not SyncedBut I always thought that I didn't go through war, I didn't have some horrorific incident happen to me.
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Not SyncedBut at the same time, I went there because I was in a car accident,
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Not Syncedand the car accident was because of this darned tauma (laughs)
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Not Syncedand I thought for a brief second I could use my other hand to grab something,
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Not Syncedbut in that brief second, my arm jerked and whoof, there went the car and we slipped (15:58)
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Not SyncedI lost my two dogs in the car accident. It was very traumatic.
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Not SyncedBut, so I was going to go, and I was like; "I'm never driving again."
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Not SyncedAfter that happened, I was like: "No: screw the car." (16:11)
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Not SyncedSo I went into this therapy, thinking I was going to work on my driving.
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Not SyncedBut what I realized was how connected it was to having a mess.,
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Not Syncedand the trauma that I went through with my diagnosis.
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Not SyncedBecause, you know, I was only 20 years old, my brain was not yet developped.
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Not SyncedSo it is pretty impactful when all you know is no longer, you know?
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Not SyncedBut I'm also very thankful because I had an amazing family to help me through it all, you know,
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Not Syncedthat's a key piece. But this also why I started my group.
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Not SyncedBecause I don't think that anybody needs to deal with that stuff alone (16:55)
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Not Syncedand fortunately now, there is now, what, seven drugs available,
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Not Synced........ just the three (17:02) that were available before, and those three were only injectables,
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Not Syncedthere is no - I think now, only in the last ouple of years, I don't even now,
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Not SyncedI'm kind of happy to live (?) with the medication
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Not Syncedbecause my medication has worked for me the whole time and I^m really lucky.
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Not SyncedBut I know that there's like one or two other oral medications out now,
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Not Syncedall the rest are injectables, and that's a big deal.
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Not SyncedThat's probably one of the harder things, it was having to know I ...... poked in my butt (17:40)
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Not Syncedevery four days or whatever, and you know, for a lot of these, a lot of people,
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Not Syncedit's so interesting how everybody is so different with these injections.
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Not SyncedI have one friend that is like, adamant, like "I'm never letting people do this to me.
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Not SyncedThis is I have to live this for myself, it's my medication,.
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Not SyncedAnd then there is someone like me that's like, I can't even look at the needle,
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Not Syncedso I need someone else to do this for me.
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Not SyncedAnd, you know, 14 years later, I still have someone else do it for me because I -
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Not Synced....... you want to make it easier for yourself? (18:18)
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Not SyncedIf I mean I have to do injections in my butt, into muscular leg, I'm talking big needles,
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Not SyncedI don't want to see the needle, I don't even want to know.
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Not SyncedBut even to this day, I don't do it myself, I have a nurse do it.
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Not SyncedI'm really good at it at this point, I mean, so much practice,
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Not Syncedand I think I have enough needles now that we are about equal on the coverage.
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Not SyncedBut I thik, you know, you know, I'm going to promote myself and I'm a DJ.
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Not SyncedAnd I -
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Not Synced[JOurnalist] (Incomprehensible)
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Not Synced[Cohen] I did transform that classical skill of music into my turntablism.
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Not SyncedIt's vastly different. It's a different sound.
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Not SyncedAnd it was a huge loss to me, to not be able to create my own sound, and even turn, you know,
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Not Syncedbeing on turntables, it's someone else's music that I'm playing.
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Not SyncedBut what I've learned is that nobody else can make it sound the way I'm making it sound.
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Not SyncedBecause it's the art of the mixer, and it's really about hearing, and the harmony -
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Not Syncedthis tattoo right here represents harmony because - and I have one on the back of my neck,
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Not Syncedthat was initially made out of two base clefs in a - in........... (19:52)
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Not SyncedBut the tatto artist was not a musician and he put the dots on the wrong side,
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Not Syncedand I was like, Oh, can we just like... SO he just made it in ..........(20:02)
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Not SyncedBut it still has the same meaning to me, and that is that the music is never lost in me,
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Not Syncedno matter if I can play that or not.
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Not SyncedI will forever hear it, I will forever feel it.
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Not SyncedAnd that's what I put into my turntablism, you know?
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Not SyncedI'm not a big scratcher. Oh, I must admit, the other day, I was fucking around
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Not Syncedand I scratched some of this Saudi Arabian music, and made it House: it's pretty hot.
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Not Synced[Journalist] Now....
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Not Synced[Cohen] Well, you know, that was just like, I don't know if I can do that again,
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Not Syncedit was kind of in the moment, but I am able to let out my creativity through the turntables now,
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Not Syncedand it took me a long time to get to this point, but it's -
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Not Syncednow I know that the sounds I'm creating whether - and it's all other people's music,
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Not Syncedbut the way I'm manipulating their music, it's an art within itself.
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Not SyncedAnd I think that there's plenty of DJs these days that just use a stupid program
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Not Syncedthat does it all for them, and they just click in stuff,
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Not Syncedbut they've lost the art form of what it really is, and i think if you go back to, like
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Not Syncedthe original people who were DJs, they were - they were musician
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Not Syncedand they were creating their own sound,
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Not Syncedand unfortunately, technology has kind of moved faster,
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Not Syncedand so all these kids are trying to be DJs, and it's kind of funny to me,
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Not Syncedbecause they don't even know how to match a beat.
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Not SyncedBut you know, to each their own, and I do not judge (laughs) Bullshit, I totally judge.
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Not SyncedI am - I would be the first to say that. It's like if you don't know how to match a beat,
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Not Syncedwhy are you even trying? BUt, you know, that's a whole other show.
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Not Synced[Journalist and Cohen laugh]
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Not Synced[Cohen] BUt I think that the message I want to leave with, I guess you could say,
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Not Syncedwould be, you know, "Stay positive." That's the only way I got through all this stuff with -
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Not Syncedby staying positive, then I kept pushing, you know, it was like, you know:
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Not Synced"Bring it on!" - now I made a point to bring it on, you know?
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Not SyncedWhat else are you going to do with me? You know, I don't really -
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Not Syncedyou know, I can beat it, whatever it is, you know, and yes, I may have this illness
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Not Syncedfor the rest of my life, but I'm not going to let it run me, and I'm not going to let it control me,
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Not Syncedbut you know, at the same time, I say that, and there's definitely a lot of restrictions it puts on you.
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Not SyncedI mean, when you've chronic fatigue and you're sleeping 18 hours a day, you can-
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Not Syncedit's going to be .... hard not only to be able to hold on a job, more or less like "relationships",
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Not Syncedthat's whole other ball of game. So it's like, you really have to learn how to adapt.
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Not SyncedAnd a lot of it is adapting to other people.
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Not SyncedBecause, especially like now, even now, like, I don't look like I've an illness
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Not Syncedor anything wrong wrong with me at all.
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Not SyncedAnd then, I have a drink, and I look like I'm wasted.
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Not SyncedAnd I've been called (?) out of bars even (23.29), a few months ago I got called (?) off at a bar,
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Not Syncedbecause the bartender saw me stumbling, ad^nd I was like: "But I have MS!"
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Not SyncedAnd it's like, I don't have it tattoed - I wear a bracelet now that says "I've MS",
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Not Syncedbecause I carried a card that I have MS, but this is much more like, bang!
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Not Syncedyou don't have to, like, struggle, to get it out of your wallet or whatever.
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Not SyncedBut, you know, it's all the invisible symptoms that nobody sees,
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Not Syncedand that's what I will make visible is that with this illness, you can't see the pain they're in,
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Not Syncedthe struggles they're in, feeling like they have a tight belt around their waist, you know, 24/7,
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Not Syncedor whatever - you know, for me it was shaky arms, so you know, I - there was always tricks,
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Not Syncedthere were times that I just sat (?) on my arms (24:22).
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Not SyncedBecause whenever I'd bring it out, it was like flopping in the wind.
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Not SyncedSo it's - you learn tricks (laughs).
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Not SyncedBut I think that a lot of people - its - it's really hard for a lot of people,
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Not Syncedbecause they don't want to accept it, you know, and what is it?
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Not SyncedThe 5 stages - were you a ...........? (24.45)
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Not Synced[Journalist] Yeah.
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Not Synced[Cohen] OK: spit them out: denial, anger, I don't know. What are those? All those stages you go throug.
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Not SyncedYou go through that stuff with MS. It's like, OK, because like that first year, I drank so much boo-
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Not Syncedso many beers because it was so much easier to say: "No, I'm just drunk", instead of
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Not Synced"I've got this illness that's making me all uncoordinated".
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Not SyncedAlcohol was awesome for making me deny the fact that this stuff was going on - to a degree, to a degree.
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Not SyncedAnd then I was reallyhe angry because I was on a college campus,
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Not Syncedand everybody was so young and sttupid and hadn't -
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Not Synced.................... angry (25:34)
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Not SyncedI was like, "Everybody is stupid" [laughs].
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Not SyncedBut then, after i got over the anger, I, you know, became accepting of it
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Not Syncedand I knew that the anger wasn't getting me anywhere, any of these -
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Not Syncedor the sadness for that matter, you know, or any of these emotions, wasn't taking me to a place of peace with it..
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Not SyncedAnd I really think that because of this........ therapy (26:05), I became at peace with it all,
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Not Syncedand it still sucks. I'm never going to say it doesn't suck,
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Not Syncedbut you know, fortunately for me, the only thing that I have to deal with is these injections. (26:15)
- Title:
- Inspiring+ People - Chloe Cohen
- Description:
-
Each week, we will be interviewing people who are truly inspiring. They come from all over the world, and have overcome obstacles that make life that much harder. Their stories are inspirational, and allow us to be grateful for what we have in life.
"Many people have come to see disease as a gift in their lives. Often, they learn that they are more than their disease, and once freed by that certainty they go on to live the rest of the story."
This week, we interviewed Chloe Cohen. A truly inspiring woman who has been dealing with Multiple Sclerosis for many years. Chloe's inner strength and determination to help her deal with MS allows us to realize that their is hope for everyone. I feel honored to be able to share Chloe's story with everyone, and I hope it gives you as much enjoyment as it has given to me. Women like Chloe are hard to come by. Too many of us give up before we even try, especially, when suffering from a disease such as MS. Chloe's openness and willingness to share her story with all of us is amazing.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- Music Captioning
- Project:
- On and Around Music
- Duration:
- 51:29
Claude Almansi edited English subtitles for Inspiring+ People - Chloe Cohen | ||
Claude Almansi edited English subtitles for Inspiring+ People - Chloe Cohen | ||
Claude Almansi edited English subtitles for Inspiring+ People - Chloe Cohen | ||
Claude Almansi edited English subtitles for Inspiring+ People - Chloe Cohen | ||
Claude Almansi edited English subtitles for Inspiring+ People - Chloe Cohen | ||
Claude Almansi edited English subtitles for Inspiring+ People - Chloe Cohen | ||
Claude Almansi edited English subtitles for Inspiring+ People - Chloe Cohen | ||
Claude Almansi edited English subtitles for Inspiring+ People - Chloe Cohen |