Anna the anxiety coach on surviving a roller coaster accident and healing her nervous system

Mar 23, 2026

Anna Ferguson, counsellor and author who specialises in nervous-system regulation, recounts surviving a childhood rollercoaster crash and finding healing through Muay Thai and body-based therapies. She discusses trauma’s effects on the nervous system, the role of the vagus nerve, movement and breath techniques, cold exposure, and balancing intense caregiving with practical regulation tools.

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ANECDOTE

Childhood Rollercoaster Crash That Changed Everything

Anna Ferguson was 10 when a rollercoaster crash left her trapped for hours with a crushed chest and a lacerated spleen, triggering dissociation and life‑long nervous system changes.
She remembers slipping into a dreamlike, dissociative state until panic returned when her dad's face made her realise she couldn't breathe, shaping her emotional aftermath.

ANECDOTE

Muay Thai Gave Her Body A Way To Heal

At 19 Anna joined a Muay Thai gym and discovered movement provided a rare sense of stillness and relief from chronic tension.
She trained, fought and found community in gyms where belonging and physical exertion helped regulate her body.

INSIGHT

How Trauma Rewires The Nervous System

Trauma floods the body with adrenaline and cortisol but when action is impossible the system shifts into a parasympathetic freeze to conserve energy and reduce pain.
That freeze is protective short term but can leave the vagus nerve signalling muddled, producing low vagal tone and chronic miscommunication between body and brain.

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When Anna Ferguson was a little girl she was badly hurt in a roller coaster accident. Although she made a full physical recovery, emotionally everything was different, and for many years she couldn't understand why she remained either angry or numb.

Anna was 10 years old when she went with her family to the Melbourne Royal Show.

Anna was excited to ride a roller coaster for the first time, but something went wrong on the ride, and Anna and her sister were trapped for hours.

Both of them needed major medical treatment, and while they made a fully physical recovery, overnight Anna changed from a happy, outgoing little girl into a child carrying a lot of anger and resentment.

As the years went on, Anna realised she was still carrying the legacy of that accident in her nervous system.

So she set about bringing her nervous system back into balance, first through becoming a champion Muay Thai fighter, and then by going to university to study psychology.

Anna is now a counsellor who specialises in teaching people practical ways to get regulate their nervous system - whether that's by calming or by energising it.

Anna's latest book, 21 Days To A Less Anxious You is published by HarperCollins.

You can read more about Anna's work at her website.

This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison.

It explores mental health, mental wellbeing, dysregulation, neurodivergence, cancer, terminal cancer, brain tumour, parenting, regulated parenting, vagus nerve, trauma, PTSD, childhood trauma, how to regulate yourself, breath work, meditation, tapping, yoga, Anna the anxiety coach, depression, fight, flight, freeze, fawn, the wellness industry, psychology, Muay Thai, boxing, fighting, exercise for mental health, carers, caring for a spouse, the NDIS, therapy, overwhelm.

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