Josh Dueck was injured eight years ago in a skiing accident in which he went ten stories in the air instead of three. Now he's partly paralyzed, but that hasn't stopped him from doing what he loves! Not only is he skiing again, but he just became the first person to do a backflip on a sit ski!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhTzafaatH8
Working as head coach of the Silver Star Freestyle Ski Club in Vernon, Josh was preparing students for the 2004 Canadian junior nationals. On a demonstration jump, he was too fast and overshot the landing hill. He dropped 100 feet, breaking his back and flipping his world upside-down. At 23, Josh was paralyzed from the waist down.
Just nine months after the fall, Josh was back on the hill. Since ...then, he’s has been an international winner for the Canadian Para Alpine Ski Team, winning the world championships in 2009. And this year, he won a silver medal in the men’s sitting slalom at the Paralympic Winter Games.
Josh credits three lessons learned from his injury:
- Trust your gut instinct when it says something is wrong.
- Know that how you see the world shapes what you can do.
- Find your passion, and dream big.