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Inspiration from Marc Herremans
Following my last entry, I received several emails about Ironman Marc Herremans. With my limited knowledge of the sport, I had never heard of him. It didn’t take me long to realize that there was something special about him however.
Back in 2001, Marc Herremans finished 6th in the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii. Finishing 6th in such a highly regarded race is clearly an amazing accomplishment. Yet despite his strong performance, Marc wanted more. He had only started training for triathlons in 1998. Therefore, it was reasonable to believe that he would crack the top three in 2002, with the possibility of eventually winning the race.
Unfortunately, Marc’s dreams took a drastic turn for the worse after a terrible accident in 2002. After losing control of his bike, Marc was left paralyzed below his chest. Following such a tragic accident, it would have been reasonable for Marc to give up his hopes of winning the Ironman.
Fortunately, Marc has shown that he is everything but reasonable. Three months after his accident, Marc began training again, this time as a wheelchair competitor. Less than one year after being paralyzed in a near fatal accident, Marc Herremans competed again in the Ironman. He then competed each year afterward until he finally won the race in 2006. He was the first wheelchair athlete to finish.
Marc continues to train with the hopes of eventually walking again. If you are in need of inspiration, look no further than the video below:
Athletes such as Scott Rigsby and Marc Herremans have shown me that we all have much more potential than we will ever realize. In Marc’s own words,
“I didn’t know I was this strong either, but I became aware of it after the accident.”
I’m blown away by his determination. To see him get up and compete after dealing with such a tragedy is beyond amazing.
Marc speaks more about his life and his refusal to give up in the translated interview below:
It’s worth taking a few minutes out of your day to listen to him speak.
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Think you’ve got it bad and need to be encouraged?
A similar story: Nick Vujicid
I have got migraine sometimes and I got glasses on and I am not the best build person to lift heavy stuff as I like to. But my problems are none comapared to those which these truly amazing people have. But they do not give up.
Try again and again and again!
When loving life, you never give up. Really.
Great story, and thanks for sharing.
One of the great things about Ironman triathlon is the the acceptance of AWAD (athletes with a disability. I know of few sports that AWADs compete on the same course at the same time as able bodied athletes and pros. I am proud to be part of the Ironman family and congratulate all AWAD participants for just getting to the line. They are truly inspiring.
Very very inspiring…”DETERMINATION”.
True inspiration.. Even through such a traumatic experience, he keeps a positive attitude and focuses on what he has to do to achieve his goals instead of fixating on the negative and being upset about his situation.
that Film and interview was one of the most inspiring things Ive seen in a long time. I cant imadgine how hard an iron man would be able bodied let alon doing one with just arm power amazing
[...] Inspiration from Marc Herremans, a former 6th place Ironman finisher who, due to an unfortunate accident, became paralyzed from the chest down. Did that stop him? Take the time to watch both videos, including his interview. What an unbelievable way to kick off the day on fire! [...]
[...] Lue loput ja katso video täältä [...]
Wow, what a great story. I am a recent above knee amputee and have come through it a totally changed person. I started to take control of my health through eating as I wasn’t able to exercise like before. I have a whole new outlook on life and I feel so much healthier. I like to read stories of other people who have gone through similar experiences. Thanks for sharing!
I met him once in passing. He came out of the elevator at the place where I worked as a personal trainer. My first instinct was to go shake his hand but I didn’t. The man deserves to be left alone (after some really disgusting crap from the Belgian government).
BTW, he started with boxing as a kid and still trains a bit.
Wim