Christopher Glebatsas was a high-flying investment banker in London when the Aussie was struck down with meningitis meningococcal septicaemia and almost died. Photo / Chris Glebatsas Facebook
By Shannon Molloy, News Corp Australia Network
For most of his 20s, Chris Glebatsas was what some might call a "banker wanker".
He was young, rich, drove a flashy sports car and lived the high life in central London, working as global head of hedge fund valuations for a mega financial firm.
When he wasn't pulling 14-hour work days, the ambitious Australian was splashing cash on lavish nights out and all manner of boys' toys.
"I was your classic high-end banker," Glebatsas recalled.
"I suppose I was obnoxious. I was definitely a different person, but it's hard not to be in that bravado-driven environment."
It wasn't until he was struck down with meningitis meningococcal septicaemia, an often lethal illness, that he realised how meaningless those pursuits had been - and how alone he was.
He was on his death bed, barely conscious, his organs failing and brain dangerously swollen, when his boss waltzed in, shoved a mobile phone in his hand and tried to coax him to make a few final trades.
The bank had been losing millions in his absence. It didn't matter that doctors had given him a 10 per cent chance of survival - money simply mattered more.
"I was in a bed, not sure if I would survive, told if I did that I'd almost certainly lose a few limbs, and that happened," Glebatsas said.
"I thought, something is wrong with this picture. If I survived, I decided I had to change my life."
Eight years on, the co-founder of men's skincare brand Lqd - a homegrown success story taking on the world's biggest cosmetics names in Bloomingdales, Harrods and Sephora stores around the globe - is fit and healthy.
But back then, doctors weren't hopeful he would pull through, with the rare blood infection wreaking havoc on his body.
His mum Shona rushed from Melbourne to be by her son's side, after doctors phoned to tell her the end was probably near.
"It's not something you want your mum to hear," Glebatsas said.
"I'm from a single parent family, my dad passed away just before I was born, so mum lived for us children. She gave us everything and sacrificed everything for us.
"Thinking about her sitting on a plane for 23 hours, not knowing if I'd be alive when she got to the other end, breaks my heart, still."
Despite the many people in Glebatsas' life in London, his mum was one of the few he saw when he opened his eyes.
They couldn't manage to get away from work to visit, they'd say.
"Where were my friends? I had no one. I had more money than I knew what to do with, all the toys I wanted, and it brought me no happiness.
"It took me to a point of needing to make a big change in my life. Mum said, 'just be the person you are' and encouraged me to live my life as best I could. She was so supportive."
Against the odds, Glebatsas pulled through and began to recover.
But his body was so battered by the bacterial infection, and the flood of drugs given to try to beat it, that he had to endure six months of rehabilitation.
"I was on the cusp of 30. I'd spent months regaining my motor and neuro skills. Then it was like, what do I do now? So I came home."
He also came out to his family, acknowledging he was gay as part of a determination to live a more authentic life.
"A week after I arrived home, I met my partner Anthony - at the gym, would you believe. A classic love story."
Anthony McDonough was a chemist who'd gone into the world of marketing. They fell in love and started to build a life together.
"He came to a point in his career where he wanted something new, and that's how we came to build the business," Glebatsas said.
With Lqd, their booming cosmetics operation, Glebatsas focuses on the finance and logistics while McDonough navigates the right combination of ingredients.
It's the perfect partnership, they say.
"We built it online first and it got a real cult following," Glebatsas said.
"We started to be approached by retailers - Sephora Asia first ... a year later we went into Bloomingdales in America, then David Jones at home ... last month we went into Harrods in London."
That latest retail deal came as Lqd launched at London Men's Fashion Week to rave reviews and a flurry of buzz.
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For this interview, Glebatsas is in Las Vegas for one of the world's biggest cosmetics trade shows.
"And I just heard that we were the number one men's skincare brand in Bloomingdales across America. It's fantastic for two crazy Aussies taking on the world's biggest."
Gone is the well-paying but soul-destroying finance job, the Ferrari and the luxury London flat, which he realised hadn't really made him happy and probably never would.
And in their place he has a loving family, a blossoming career and, most importantly, happiness.
"We have a very modern family - Anthony and I co-parent his 13-year-old daughter with his ex-wife Jane, and we have an 83-kilo Great Dane.
"Mum lives around the corner - it's very My Big Fat Greek Wedding - and rings for us to come pick up food she's cooked.
"Me being sick was one of the absolute worst things to happen in my life, but it was also the best. I'm pinch myself - life has given me some fantastic things in the past (eight) years.
"I'm in a fantastic place. I'm happy."
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