Who's this guy?
The year is 2007 and a young boy from a small town has dreams of becoming an international rugby player. A dream of playing rugby at the highest level in the world. A dream of winning the world cup in New Zealand as a Springbok flanker. The boy worked every single day to accomplish this.
Unfortunately, he got sidetracked. He met his demons. He started training less and having regular meetings with the 7 deadly sins. 8 months into 2008 his life changed forever.
While playing a game of touch-rugby he "blew" his knee. The prognoses was bad. VERY bad. Now, for those of you who's a bit unfamiliar with the anatomy of the human knee... The knee has four ligaments: the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), the post-cruciate ligament (PCL), the lateral collateral ligament (LCL) and the medial collateral ligament (MCL). Only the lateral collateral ligament decided not to abandon him.
After major reconstructive knee surgery, the boy was told that it's over. He would be lucky to walk normal again, running long distances would be impossible. His dreams shattered into a thousand pieces. He started seeing the 7 deadly sins even more frequently. He started eating whatever he could and drinking whenever he could. Soon he was the over-weight bloke, bragging about a past long gone. A past that never happened. To top this off, his varsity grades started falling behind.
A couple of months into his ever-growing friendship with fast food and alcohol, a friend gave him a poster. On the poster was the famous photo of Mohammad Ali standing over Sonny Liston. It was used in the marketing campaign of a well-known sports brand. Along with the with the photo was the following words: "Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world that they have been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing."
It took me 8 months after receiving this poster before I could run 5 kilometers. A year later I ran a half marathon. In July 2011 I ran my first marathon, three years after my life "ended". I received my BAcc (Hons) degree in the same year.
Today, 8 years later, I've done 24 marathons, the Two Oceans Ultra Marathon, the Karoo Ultra 80km, the Comrades Ultra Marathon twice and the Double Century Road Race. I've jumped from helicopters into raging fires and from rescue boats into 5-meter swells. I'm a qualified Chartered Accountant (SA) working for a fantastic company in Cape Town. All of this was supposed to be impossible.
I've always had a passion for people, always trying to show them their real potential and, along the way, making them laugh about the 10-letter excuse called, "impossible". I hope that by telling you my story, you won't make the same mistakes I made.
Unfortunately, he got sidetracked. He met his demons. He started training less and having regular meetings with the 7 deadly sins. 8 months into 2008 his life changed forever.
While playing a game of touch-rugby he "blew" his knee. The prognoses was bad. VERY bad. Now, for those of you who's a bit unfamiliar with the anatomy of the human knee... The knee has four ligaments: the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), the post-cruciate ligament (PCL), the lateral collateral ligament (LCL) and the medial collateral ligament (MCL). Only the lateral collateral ligament decided not to abandon him.
After major reconstructive knee surgery, the boy was told that it's over. He would be lucky to walk normal again, running long distances would be impossible. His dreams shattered into a thousand pieces. He started seeing the 7 deadly sins even more frequently. He started eating whatever he could and drinking whenever he could. Soon he was the over-weight bloke, bragging about a past long gone. A past that never happened. To top this off, his varsity grades started falling behind.
A couple of months into his ever-growing friendship with fast food and alcohol, a friend gave him a poster. On the poster was the famous photo of Mohammad Ali standing over Sonny Liston. It was used in the marketing campaign of a well-known sports brand. Along with the with the photo was the following words: "Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world that they have been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing."
It took me 8 months after receiving this poster before I could run 5 kilometers. A year later I ran a half marathon. In July 2011 I ran my first marathon, three years after my life "ended". I received my BAcc (Hons) degree in the same year.
Today, 8 years later, I've done 24 marathons, the Two Oceans Ultra Marathon, the Karoo Ultra 80km, the Comrades Ultra Marathon twice and the Double Century Road Race. I've jumped from helicopters into raging fires and from rescue boats into 5-meter swells. I'm a qualified Chartered Accountant (SA) working for a fantastic company in Cape Town. All of this was supposed to be impossible.
I've always had a passion for people, always trying to show them their real potential and, along the way, making them laugh about the 10-letter excuse called, "impossible". I hope that by telling you my story, you won't make the same mistakes I made.