Victor Vermeulen is a highly regarded speaker who just happens to be a quadriplegic. He uses his life story and how he never gave up to inspire others.
Victor had a promising future ahead of him, in 1993 he was rated as the best up and coming cricket players and played for SA’s under 19’s team. An accident changed the entire course of his life and set him on a path that would inspire everyone around him and lead to a very well received book.
He was only 19 years old when he dove into a swimming pool and hit the bottom of the pool, breaking his neck. The break left him paralysed instantly. He used his love for his mother to push through the early days of recovery.
“This was a very hard time for my mom and I because just a few months before my accident my father had been shot and killed. I didn’t want to die and leave my mom alone,”
At the time of his’s accident, his future was looking promising. The accident could have been a setback but instead, he used it as a whole new platform.
“On the way to the hospital, I lapsed into a week-long coma. When I awoke, I made a conscious choice from the beginning that I need to make the best of my situation, but it’s a daily choice and daily struggle.”
Victor is considered the joker amongst his friends decided to become a motivational speaker at the age of 23.
“My friends told me that I motivate them daily and I should use that to my advantage to motivate others. I started out by talking to a youth group at a church and that was basically the start of my career,”
He has travelled all over South Africa as well as America and Canada, inspiring others with his talks. He was also able to write his own book, titled The Victor Within, which released in 2000 and sold 75 000 copies.
” I definitely don’t have all the answers. I had to work through a lot and find myself too. I always tell people that it’s not a problem if it can be fixed. Hopefully, that allows them to look at things differently,”
“I hope I can keep making a difference in others’ lives and make people smile,”
Vermeulen is now a motivational speaker and counsellor for Flight Centre, and as Disability Awareness Month is honoured in December, it allows the brand to contemplate his role over the past few months in creating a very special and unique role for himself, assisting his colleagues.
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