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Philippe Quason swims in very cold water. The sea is dark, the waves are high. He is in the far North. He's crossing the Bearing Strait. Finally he reaches dry land. It has been the most difficult swim in his life, but he has finished. He has crossed the seas separating Asia and North America.
It is a major success for anyone, but it is it's an even greater success for Philippe Croezon. Croezon has no arms and no legs. Today's spotlight is on Philip Croezon. His successes show us that we can all achieve great things, no matter who we are.
Philippe Quason was twenty sixty years old when he had an accident. He was working to fix a television wire. He climbed to the top of his house on a metal ladder, but he accidentally touched a power line. The electric shock went through the ladder. It set his arms and legs on fire. A neighbor found him twenty minutes later, his arms and legs were burned so badly that they stuck to the metal.
The doctors tried to save Croezon's arms and legs, but they could not. The doctors had to remove both of his arms and both of his legs. They left parts of both arms and legs, but not enough to walk or use his arms. Croison had been a healthy young man, but now he was disabled. Talking about this much later, Croezon told the BBC.
When they cut off my last leg, I wanted to die. I was so depressed. My spirit was as low as you can get. But you have to choose, and I chose to live.
While he was recovering in the hospital, Quaison saw a television program. It was about a woman who had been swimming across the English Channel. This is the sea that separates France from England. After watching the Programquason wondered if he could do the same thing.
Croison decided to make crossing the channel his new goal. It took two years to prepare and a lot of hard work. He exercised every day to make himself strong, and he spent a lot of time in the water. He used special equipment to replace his hands and his feet. The equipment attached to his stumps what remained of his arms and legs. This helped him to push against the water and swim. He would swim for about five hours every day.
Finally, in twenty ten, Quason was ready. He entered the cold, gray sea of the English Channel. He was now forty two years old. It took him from early morning until night to swim the distance. His body ached, but he continued. He became the first person without arms and legs to swim between France and England. Quason had achieved his dream, but he did not stop there. He searched for a new goal.
Early in twenty twelve, he announced a new project. It was called the Intercontinental Straits Swimming Challenge. He planned to swim across the seas that joined five major continents. His friend Arnaud Chasseris would join him. Chassary was experienced in swimming long distances. The two men trained hard together. They worked as a team. Croizon told the BBC.
When it comes to training, Arnault has to put my special equipment on me. On Land, I am just a big baby. But a big part of this project is the unity between Arnau and me. What I do. Arno does what he does I do. We remove what makes us different. In the water, we are the same. We are both human.
Together. The two men swam many kilometers. They swam between the four continents of Australia, Asia, Africa and Europe, and finally they swam in the cold waters of the Bearing Strait between America and Russia. They had completed the challenge.
Croezon hopes his success will change attitudes. He wants people to have better attitudes towards those who are disabled. He told Ability News.
I want to show that disability is not the end, that a person who has a disability can accept this and be happy.
But Quason was not finished showing what he could do. In twenty seventeen, he announced that he would race in the Dakar Rally. This famous car race is one of the most difficult in the world. The twenty seventeen route went between Paraguay, Bolivia, and Argentina. It went through deserts and mountains, but the route did not use roads or highways. The entire race was off road.
It took Crouezon twelve days to complete the Dakar Rally. He drove a car designed just for him, but the race cost him greatly. Most days he was driving more than fourteen hours. He found it difficult to keep his body cool. Temperatures inside the car could get up to sixty six degrees celsius. The car broke down several times. Extreme weather like thunderstorms caused mud slides. These left him stranded. Often it felt like he would never finish, But on
the fourteenth of January he reached his goal. He was the first man without arms and legs to complete the Dakar Rally.
Quason continues to amaze with his achievements. He plans to take part in the Dakar Rally again. He wants to race in a car powered by green energy. No one else has done this, and he has decided that his next big goal will be becoming the first disabled man in space.
Those who support disabled people hope Croezon's successes will have an effect all around the world. Elizabeth mcnairn leads Handicap International. This organization helps disabled people. This organization supported Croizon's swimming project. Mcnairn wrote about Philip Croizon in the Huffington Post.
This gives him a chance to show the world the many things that disabled people can do, they can take risks. Philip is changing the way people think about being disabled. I hope that someone living with a disability will see news and think why not me.
Philippe Quaison worked hard to show that disabled people can do amazing things. He wanted to show that everyone is equal, but he also shows something important about humans. All of us go through difficult and sometimes tragic things. We all fail, but we can also pick ourselves back up again, and with enough time and effort, we can do almost anything.
Do you have a disability? Do you know anyone with a disability? What do you think you could accomplish despite your limitations? You can leave a comment on our website at www dot Spotlight English dot com or on YouTube. You can also get our programs delivered directly to your Android or Apple device through our free official Spotlight English app.
The writers of this program were Alan Harris and Dan Christman. The producer was mitchio Ozarki. The voices you heard were from the United Kingdom and the United States. All quotes were adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. This program is called Doing Anything with Philippe Cuisson.
We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye