Every once in a while you hear stories that restore your faith in humanity. One such story is that of Philippe Croizon, a quadruple amputee who swam the channel yesterday. I don’t care what anyone else says, that’s amazing; I mean, I probably won’t ever swim the channel, and he did it with no arms or legs … Wow.
The problem with media today is the focus on negativity, never achievement or positive outcomes and I think that’s why I am so in love with this story. This is a real news story and when I first read it, I smiled like the Cheshire Cat from Alice and Wonderland.
Mr Croizon set himself a 24 hour target and managed to complete the swim in just over 13 hours and has become the fastest disabled person to complete the challenge. I’d like to reiterate, I will never swim the channel, I probably wouldn’t be able to, can you imagine doing something so strenuous for 13 hours? I can’t imagine doing something like that for anything over 30 minutes! Philippe stated that at no point did he feel that he wouldn’t complete the challenge despite the constant aches and pains that were surging through his body constantly. Yeah, this man is my hero.
Philippe’s father said that the conditions for channel-swimming yesterday were perfect for his son and that at one point there were three dolphins swimming alongside him, which he took as a “sign of good luck“. I don’t think I’ve ever been as proud of anything as Philippe Croizon’s father is of him and that’s beautiful.
To read the full story on the BBC website, click here.
