I Stepped Away for a Year… The Truth Behind My Absence and How Trigahex’s Play & Donate Fundraising Efforts Gave Purpose to the Silence

I’m a bit old school. I was raised in England with the “stiff upper lip” mentality — you keep going, you don’t complain, and you certainly don’t air private matters publicly.

So I didn’t.

I told myself I would write this blog when things improved. When I had answers. When I could say, “Everything’s sorted now.”

But life doesn’t always follow the script.

If I keep waiting for the perfect ending, I risk damaging Trigahex by saying nothing at all. And I care too much about Trigahex — and the community around it — to let silence do that.

So here is the truth.

Back in January 2023, I noticed a shift in my health.

Nothing dramatic at first. Just subtle changes. The kind you quietly observe and hope will pass.

They didn’t.

I began seeing specialists, searching for clarity. Appointments became tests. Tests became referrals. Referrals became more waiting.

Then in November 2024, something changed again — this time more noticeably.

• My speech began to alter.
• My mobility began to decline.
• My Chronic Fatigue became uncontrollable.

As someone who represents a game at events and connects face-to-face with people across the demo tables… that was confronting.

Very confronting.

I now see eleven specialists, including a neurologist.

We know something is wrong.

We just don’t know what.

There have been countless tests. Scans. Assessments. Evaluations. Each one searching for answers.

So far, nothing definitive.

At times it feels like I’m simply ticking boxes in a system that hasn’t quite figured me out yet.

For approximately six months, I carried a diagnosis of FND Australia’s associated condition — Functional Neurological Disorder (FND). Then things shifted again as my health declined/things came to the surface and specialists continued investigating.

The uncertainty is, in many ways, the hardest part.

When your speech is impacted and your mobility becomes unpredictable, standing behind a game demo table for hours — talking, demonstrating, pitching, laughing — becomes something entirely different.

It becomes exhausting. Stressful. Sometimes impossible.

So for most of 2025, I chose not to represent Trigahex in person.

The game still grew. It still reached libraries at events. It still found new players.

But I wasn’t the one standing there.

That decision wasn’t easy. Trigahex is not just a product. It’s something I built from scratch. It represents years of creative thinking, strategic design, late nights, hope, and belief.

Stepping back felt like stepping back from a piece of myself.

During 2025, I spent a great deal of time reflecting.

Medical appointments increased. Costs increased. Uncertainty increased.

Without a diagnosis, financial assistance through Centrelink was not available to me, which added another layer of pressure during a year already filled with unknowns.

And yet — even in that space — something else began to grow.

Perspective.

If you know me, you know I love puzzles.

Strategic thinking. Pattern recognition. Planning the next move.

Right now, with the help of specialists and a GP, I have a different kind of puzzle to solve — my health.

But that doesn’t mean my hopes for Trigahex have faded. Quite the opposite.

I have add-ons planned.

New concepts.

New games waiting patiently in notebooks.

The creative spark is still there.

It’s just sharing space with medical charts at the moment.

During this year of stepping back, I kept thinking:

If I can’t fix what’s happening to me right now, what can I do that still matters?

And the answer was simple.

Help someone else get the support they need.

From 1st March 2026, Trigahex will remain at the same great price of $39.95.

However, $1.00 AUD from every game sold will be donated to charities. In the future you will be able to choose which one.

Not added to the price.
Not a limited promotion.
Simply a permanent commitment.

And here’s the part I'm most proud of ...once I iron out a few app teething problems, you get to choose where it goes.

Trigahex has entered agreements — under strict regulations — with:

Both organisations mean something deeply personal to me.

I’m also in conversations to welcome more charities on board soon, with the hope that this small contribution from every game can grow into something that supports even more people who need it.

Because silence was starting to feel heavier than honesty.

I didn’t want Trigahex to suffer because people wondered why I wasn’t around.

I didn’t want assumptions filling the space where the truth should be.

And most importantly, I didn’t want to keep pretending that everything was fine just because I was taught that strength looks like silence.

Strength can also look like transparency.

I don’t have a diagnosis yet.

I don’t have a timeline.

I don’t have the tidy ending I hoped for when I delayed writing this blog for months.

But I do have:

• Determination
• Creative plans
• My family and community support
• And a game I still believe in wholeheartedly

Trigahex is still here.

I’m still here.

From 01/03/2026 onward:

Every Trigahex game sold = $1.00 AUD donated.

You choose the charity.

The price stays at $39.95.

• Same game
• Same mission to bring people together around a table.

Just with a little more purpose behind every move.

And if you’ve wondered where I’ve been…

Now you know.

This isn’t the ending I hoped to write.

But it’s the honest one.