Philippe Croizon recently became the first quadruple amputee to swim across the English Channel. Below is a video summary of his amazing accomplishment.

It was sixteen years ago that Philippe suffered a terrible electrical accident that left him severely burned. Medics were forced to amputate each of his limbs. Shortly after the accident, Philippe watched a documentary about a woman who had swam the English Channel. It was then that the seed was planted for him to overcome this challenge.

In his own words,

Two solutions were offered to me: to die or decide to live. I chose to rebuild myself. I watched that documentary and thought, ‘Why not me?’

He went on to say,

You only need to want something, and then it becomes possible to go beyond your limits.

Philippe lived by these words. When he began training for the challenge, he struggled to finish just two laps in a pool. It took him two years of dedicated training to accomplish his goal. Many weeks consisted of 35 hours of swimming practice.

In summary, Philippe offered the following words,

I’ve done this for myself, for my family, and for all those who have suffered tragedy and lost their taste for life. This (swim) is a symbol of overcoming your limits.