According to the UK’s Daily Mail on August 9, a skier who was paralyzed in an avalanche five years ago has set his sights once more on the mountain that shattered his dreams. With the “ironman”-like determination to rise again, he plans to tackle the spot where he fell after completing a triathlon.
Paul Stewart, 32, from London, is a ski instructor. In 2008, he was caught in an avalanche while skiing, fell 200 feet (about 61 meters) off a cliff, and suffered severe spinal cord injuries that left the left side of his body paralyzed. Doctors diagnosed that Paul would never be able to walk normally again. However, Paul, refusing to yield to fate, stood up again with the help of assistive devices. Not only that, he also took part in a triathlon, which included a 2.4-kilometer swim, a 112-kilometer bike ride, and a 26.2-kilometer run. Next, Paul will take on the cliff that caused his fall and left him disabled five years ago.
Recalling the accident, Paul remains optimistic. Though he realized things were serious, he was grateful that he hadn’t been buried deep in the snow. Faced with the doctor’s blunt statement that he would “never walk again,” Paul, after initial despair, reignited his fighting spirit and threw himself into grueling rehabilitation training. “What takes me two minutes in a wheelchair takes half an hour on foot. But I know I must keep going, I must get stronger.” What Paul wanted to do was to turn the impossible into the possible. And in fact, he did.
“It was sports that made me who I am,” Paul says. “Every bone in my body believes I can stand again.” Facing the challenge of climbing, he is full of courage. “I lost last time, but I don’t want to lose a second time.” As the saying goes, rise where you fell. Climbing back up the mountain where he once lost his footing is Paul’s next test.