If you can't walk, try flying | David Mzee | TEDxHWZ

Quick Overview

David Mzee, a wheelchair user, shares his journey of embracing life's limitations by reframing them as new possibilities, using sports like wheelchair rugby and kitesurfing as metaphors for finding strength, courage, and flow, ultimately advocating for shifting perspective from what is impossible to what is achievable through curiosity and courage.

Key Points: Mzee emphasizes the idea that if you cannot run, walk, or crawl, you should try to fly, metaphorically encouraging finding alternative paths forward. He recounts his past involvement in sports like handball, basketball, soccer, skiing, and skating before his accident, which left him with limited mobility. After his spinal cord injury at the neck level, which resulted in paralysis of his arms and legs and poor blood pressure regulation, he had to learn fundamental self-care tasks like brushing his teeth with assistance. He developed an aluminum hydrofoil seat attachment for kitesurfing with the help of friends from ETH Zurich, allowing him to participate in the sport by attaching the rig to his harness. Mzee highlights the three core ingredients for moving forward: Perspective (as shown by waterskiing/kitesurfing), Curiosity (seeking new knowledge/experiences), and Courage (as shown by a wheelchair rugby crash). He successfully participated in wheelchair rugby, even becoming a co-captain, and was able to walk with a walker after rehabilitation, although he still needed assistance for basic tasks like brushing his teeth initially.

Context: David Mzee delivers a TEDx talk focused on overcoming physical limitations and reframing challenges through mindset shifts, particularly using his personal journey following a spinal cord injury that left him dependent on a wheelchair. The talk centers on the importance of perspective, curiosity, and courage in finding new ways to achieve goals, illustrated by his engagement in various adaptive sports.

Detailed Analysis

David Mzee opens by challenging the conventional view of movement limitations, proposing that if one cannot walk, they should try to fly, metaphorically. He details his active life before his accident, involving handball, basketball, soccer, skiing, and skating. Following his accident, which caused a neck-level injury resulting in paralysis of his limbs and poor blood pressure regulation, he faced immense difficulty, initially needing assistance even for brushing his teeth. He emphasizes that the first training session after the injury was focused on basic functions like sitting upright. Mzee then pivots to his pursuit of sports as a way to overcome these limitations, showcasing images of him water skiing/wakeboarding and kiteboarding using custom equipment he developed with help from ETH Zurich friends, including a 3D-printed aluminum hydrofoil seat attachment. He frames his philosophy around three key ingredients: Perspective (seeing possibilities where others see limitations, like on the water), Curiosity (the drive to explore new solutions, exemplified by meeting an encouraging scientist), and Courage (the willingness to risk failure, illustrated by a dramatic wheelchair rugby crash). He notes that while he achieved success in wheelchair rugby, reaching the national team and winning championships, the journey required immense courage to embrace these risks. Mzee concludes by encouraging the audience to adopt these principles—perspective, curiosity, and courage—to find what is possible within themselves, regardless of external limitations.