Some days you hear stories that make you question everything in your life, all those things you believe matter… it makes you pick apart your worries & your fears & then makes you realise that you don’t even know the half of it.
Bruno Hansen’s story is exactly like that.
For a while Hansen’s life was one that many would be envious of. He grew up on the beach in South Africa, surfing and spear-fishing every day.
In his 20’s, he was a surfer, sailor, free diver, life guard, engineer and world explorer. He did kung fu and karate, loved any kind of adrenaline adventure sport. He met a girl and embarked on a world tour with her, travelling the world on a yacht, chartering pro surfers around some of the world’s biggest and best waves.
Life could not have been better. His life was idyllic, enviable, easy.
“Then, in 1998 at the age of 27 years old, Hansen was caught in a hijacking gone wrong in South Africa which resulted in a car accident. His spine was broken, he sustained a complete T-12 fracture, he was paralyzed from the waist down, and he would never walk again.”
Hansen immediately decided to end his life. He planned to drown himself at the earliest opportunity. A year after the accident… he paddled out into the ocean by himself, he took one last look at life and drifted off of the board, hoping to sink to the bottom.
What happened next is one of those stories that forces us to think a little more deeply about the world.
Instead of drowning, Hansen connected with the ocean again on a different level and something changed inside of him.
He was carried to the shore by a wave that in accordance with basic laws of physics, had no right to carry him anywhere.
Bruno says that he was “confused” as to what was happening but that “something rebooted” in his mind and gave him the strength to face up to his new life as a paraplegic.
“Now, there are several ways a cynic might pick holes in this. Perhaps Bruno’s memories of the incident are hazy, embellished, or just told with a little poetic license, consciously or unconsciously. But perhaps they’re not. Perhaps this really is a story of the power of the human spirit which resides in all of us but few of us will ever access. Either way, I hardly think it matters. Because however Bruno ended up back on the shore that day, it’s the journey he has been on since that is truly remarkable.”
After countless doctors told him that he couldn’t do the things he used to do, he defied all odds, with the help of his somewhat stubborn nature, and went on a journey only some could dream of going on.
Since the accident, Bruno has already crossed the Indian Ocean on a catamaran with only one other sailor; he sailed from Mozambique to Thailand where he survived the tragic tsunami of December 2004 alone at sea; searched for sunken treasure; escaped from sea pirates; refurbished yachts into wheelchair friendly carriers; pitted himself against large reef breaking waves to get back the thrill of surfing big waves and become ISA World Adaptive Surfing Champion.
And is currently, competing in a sailing race from Seattle to Alaska which involves a journey of 750 miles across some of the harshest and most unpredictable ocean conditions on the planet. Bruno is tackling this journey with two fellow paraplegic friends, in an unmodified yacht.
Bruno’s next challenge is to walk again. He aims to do this using a set of “Rewalk 6.0 Bionic Legs” – which admittedly sounds like something from the realms of science fiction. Unsurprisingly these bionic legs are incredibly expensive, and so Bruno’s friends have started a crowdfunding campaign on his behalf. They aim to raise £70,000 and are making great progress with £29,000 donated already.
“He’s South Africa’s Indiana Jones on wheels… and together we can get him back on his feet!”
So the next time you’re “stressed” because you’ve lost your keys, had too many e-mails to deal with, or get stuck in traffic; think of Bruno, and think of getting over it.