They met in band camp. Melanie was a flag girl and Jeff played the drums. Fifteen years and three kids later Melanie received bad news from her doctor. She would need surgery unless she changed her life dramatically.

Years of lifting kids, hectic schedules and poor nutrition habits led to two bulging discs and one herniated disc in her lower back, and 45 extra pounds on her frame.

“We had a bad relationship with food,” Melanie said.

Despite the pain, she was determined to reverse her fortunes. She started exercising and eating right. 

Jeff, who’s a high-voltage electrician, was happy Melanie was determined to improve her level of fitness but wasn’t inspired to join her. Then, on a trip to a remote electrical line in the Beartooth Mountain wilderness, he was struggling to climb the pole while a 60-year-old co-worker was making the hard task look effortless. 

“We had to hike into that location,” he said. “It was like 90 degrees that day and I was just so out of shape.”

So he decided to join his wife and together they embarked on a journey of fitness. They found joy in the stress-relieving activities and their confidence increased as they watched their bodies transform. Soon, with a ton of changes to their lifestyle, both were in the best shape of their lives.

Then Jeff had a tragic accident. He doesn’t remember much about that October night. He was riding a sweet 1100cc cruiser one minute and seemingly woke up in a hospital the next. He doesn’t remember how he wrecked or being life-flighted to St. Vincent’s in Billings. He had a broken scapula, three broken ribs and 15 broken bones in his face. But the most life-threatening injury was his swollen brain. Doctors had to do surgery to relieve the pressure. “The whole right side of my skull got cut out,” he said.

Jeff wasn’t conscious to see his family pray at his side or the Powell community come to his aid. 

Tommy May and Brock Ninker — along with many others — quickly put together an entire afternoon of stock car races a month after the accident to raise money for the Matthews family.

“The only thing that got me through it was the community and how everyone banded together to help us,” Melanie said.

Her husband was in a coma for 10 days and hospitalized for more than a month. As bad as that may sound, he was actually lucky to live. While he was in a coma doctors showed Melanie an MRI of Jeff’s skull, pointing to dark areas. Those areas of the brain that are permanently damaged appear as dark spots, or “black holes.”

Melanie didn’t know what to do so she stayed put. She was afraid to leave his side. Then Jeff surprised them all. 

He began to quickly heal. One of Jeff’s first memories after the accident was his neurosurgeon telling him his level of fitness had saved his life.

“He said, ‘I don’t know what you’re doing. But had you not been doing it, you’d be dead.’ So keep doing it.”

He didn’t have to tell Jeff twice. And, while it may seem a little odd, Melanie continued her exercise regimen while Jeff was in the hospital. She reorganized the hospital room to have room for her workouts.

“If I would have just sat there and not taken care of myself, my back would have been out and I would have been no good to anybody,” she said.

Jeff and Melanie came out of the experience inspired by the folks who came to their rescue and the exercise routines that gave them both more productive lives. Melanie decided to become a certified health and wellness coach and started teaching classes. 

“The one thing that helped me move forward with [teaching] and doing this was I had to find a way to pay [the community’s help] forward by helping other people.”

Currently she teaches 10 exercise classes a week — eight a week at Club Dauntless. You’d think it would be enough exercise for an entire basketball team, but Melanie doesn’t stop there. She also takes a couple classes a week.

Jeff is equally obsessed and loves to join her classes for several types of fitness training — from ballet to combat styles. The diversity of exercises helps his brain as it continues to heal. But it’s not just exercise. Melanie concentrates on nutrition and physical activity equally.

After a few weeks in the hospital, Jeff wanted a Red Robin milkshake. “It almost put me back in my coma,” Jeff joked. 

But he knows diet and exercise saved his life and trusts his “personal” coach to keep him on the right track. It was hard at first, he warned, but well worth it in the end.

“It’s like playing the guitar,” he said. “You can teach your brain to play guitar. You might suck at first, but you get better every time you play.”