If you ever thought about trying to accomplish something but, for whatever reason, didn’t think you had it in you, Philippe Croizon might want you to think twice about your doubts. That’s because the 42-year-old Frenchman just completed a swim across the English Channel — without any limbs.
On a fateful day in 1994, as AFP reported, Croizon was a metalworker working on someone’s roof, trying to remove a television antenna, when he was struck by a 20,000-volt charge from a power line. Doctors were forced to amputate both of his arms and legs, but while he was in the hospital, “he saw a television documentary about a Channel swimmer and an ambition was born.”
Croizon, a father of two, has been training for two years, and swims using prosthetic legs specially designed for swimming. He swims at around two miles per hour, about half the time an able-bodied swimmer might be able to swim. Last month, as part of his training, he did a 12-hour swim between two ports on France’s Atlantic coast. And according to the Sun, Croizon finished his Channel race — from Folkestone, Kent in England to Wissant, near Calais in France — in just over 13 hours, a full 10 hours faster than the goal he’d initially set for himself.
As to why he put himself through this, Croizon was quoted in the Sun as saying, “I’ve done this for myself and for those who have suffered tragedy and lost their taste for life.” And as he was quoted in AFP, he hopes to become “a symbol of overcoming one’s limits.” I’d say he’s accomplished that goal. What do you think?
Screengrab by riboux86 via YouTube.