# If you can't walk, try flying | David Mzee | TEDxHWZ Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_DavfaeD5Y Recap page: https://rapidrecap.app/video/M_DavfaeD5Y Generated: 2025-12-15T18:44:39.213+00:00 --- ## 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. ![Screenshot at 07:45: Speaker David Mzee on stage, displaying a slide summarizing his three core ingredients for progress: Perspective \(waterskiing\), Curiosity \(a photo with a friend\), and Courage \(a photo of a wheelchair rugby crash\).](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/M_DavfaeD5Y/00-07-45.png) **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. ### Introduction to Movement Philosophy - If you can't run, try flying - If you can't walk, try flying - Focus on what you can do, not what you cannot do - Power and flow are paramount. ### Sports History - Loved handball, basketball, soccer, skiing, and skating before the accident - Post-accident sports included wheelchair rugby (becoming co-captain) and adaptive kiteboarding. ### The Three Ingredients - Perspective (seen in water sports like kitesurfing) - Curiosity (seeking knowledge and connections, like meeting the scientist) - Courage (risking failure, as shown by wheelchair rugby crashes). ### Adaptive Innovation - Developed a custom hydrofoil seat attachment for kitesurfing using 3D-printed aluminum parts with help from ETH Zurich students. ### Rehabilitation Milestones - Regained some leg function to walk with a walker, but initially needed assistance for basic tasks like brushing teeth; blood pressure regulation was poor. ![Screenshot at 00:00: TEDxHWZ event title slide: "Rethink Humanity: A conversation about the future of humanity in an increasingly digitized world."](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/M_DavfaeD5Y/00-00-00.png) ![Screenshot at 01:15: Image displayed showing David Mzee's junior handball team, contrasting with his current reality.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/M_DavfaeD5Y/00-01-15.png) ![Screenshot at 03:26: Video clip showing an athlete performing parkour moves, illustrating the extreme physical feats Mzee was attempting before his injury.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/M_DavfaeD5Y/00-03-26.png) ![Screenshot at 08:09: Three images illustrating water sports challenges: falling while wakeboarding, being pulled behind a boat, and smiling while holding onto a flotation device.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/M_DavfaeD5Y/00-08-09.png) ![Screenshot at 10:58: Three-panel slide summarizing the core message: Perspective \(waterskiing/kitesurfing\), Curiosity \(photo with a friend\), and Courage \(wheelchair rugby crash\).](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/M_DavfaeD5Y/00-10-58.png)