Hi, my name is Eddy and i'm the founder of Xalm. I want to tell you why and how i started Xalm.
It was a cold November night and i'd pulled my car over to the side of the road. I sat there with tears streaming down my face and i pounded my fist on the steering wheel.
My life had just been turned upside down.
You see my dad had just been diagnosed with Mesothelioma, a rare type of lung cancer that effects people who have worked with asbestos.
The outlook wasn't good, the doc told us the average survival time without treatment was around 1 year.
My dad hadn't even turned 60 yet.
I was devastated. My whole family were...
I let myself have that moment in the car.
But i wasn't about to give up.
As an entrepreneur I went into research mode as soon as i got back home, surely there was something that could be done.
The doctors were suggesting my dad go in for a radical but severe new trial.
They would surgically remove his right lung.
It sounded gruesome but what was even worse, it was a double blind trial, which means theres a 50% chance he wouldn't get any treatment at all.
I pushed the rage, anger, sadness and despair to one side. There must be something else.
I researched after work every single night into the early hours of the morning.
Until eventually i came across a cutting edge French surgeon who had a pioneering procedure for mesothelioma that tripled survival length.
After i'd gathered all the info i could get, I presented it to my dad.
He decided that whilst it was a risky 8 hour surgery that involved peeling the top layer of his lung off like the pif of an orange, he would go for it.
He went in 3 weeks after his diagnosis full of nerves.
After a nail biting 8 hours he came out the other side.
Thankfully it was successful. But the journey didn't stop there.
He also had to do a gruelling 8 week session of intense chemotherapy.
It was during this that his sleep really started to suffer.
The worst part was, because he was on so much medication he didn't want to take anything else for his sleep.
So i went back into research mode, surely i could find something natural that would help him sleep better.
I mentioned my fathers poor sleep to a friend who worked as a nurse for special needs children.
She told me about deep touch stimulation.
In essence it was a way of reducing anxiety, lowering stress and relaxing people using the power of weight.
Or put another way, using something called a weighted blanket to put a gentle all over pressure on the body.
She said it had been used successfully for years to help with autistic children suffering from poor sleep and anxiety.
I went back into "research mode" and started digging up everything i could about weighted blankets.
Turned out they were crossing over into the mainstream and starting to become more and more popular.
Tens of thousands of people were using them to reduce their anxiety, stress and most importantly sleep better.
I pitched my dad again and asked him if he'd be willing to give one a try to help him sleep better.
He told me sure, so i forked out the $249 to get him one.
Now, I have to be honest.
This thing isn't a miracle worker. I'm not saying it fixed his bad sleep 100%.
He still does have bad nights, as to be expected with someone fighting cancer.
But he did tell me it helped him a lot and that he was sleeping a much better.
My mum, who's sleep also had become terrible due to the worry and stress started stealing it when he wasn't using it!
She said it helped her with her anxiety and stress too.
What's more, she actually bought one for herself.
That's when i knew that these were something i needed to get out to the masses.
If they could help provide relief to my parents who were going through one of the toughest periods of their lives, I just knew they could help other people too.
That's why I started Xalm and i tell you that because i want you to know, whilst i'm not a doctor or medical professional, I am a loving son who did hours upon hours of painstaking research to find the best natural solution to my dads sleep issue.
It's something that worked for him and thousands of other customers of ours.
If you decide to buy from us here at Xalm I want you to know we'll look after you like family.
If you're unhappy with your blanket for any reason whatsoever, we'll make sure we put it right.