Philippe Croizon
Philippe Croizon (born 1967 or 1968) is a French athlete and the first quadruple amputee to swim the English Channel.[1]
Accident
His amputations were required due to a severe electric shock accident which occurred in March 1994.[2] At the time, Croizon was employed as a steelworker at Fonderie du Poitou,[3] 26 years old and married, with one son; his wife was expecting a second child.[3] At his home in Saint-Rémy-sur-Creuse, Vienne, while standing on a metal ladder on the roof to work on a television antenna, Croizon received a severe electric shock from a high-voltage power line which earthed through the ladder,[2][3] to which he became adhered. Twenty minutes passed before a neighbour could raise the alarm. He was hospitalized in Tours, where doctors removed his left arm above the elbow, his right arm below the elbow, then his right leg above the knee. Surgeons had thought that the left leg could be saved, but when that also required removal, Croizon reported feeling "despair."[3]
Challenge
- Preparations
During his recuperation in the hospital, he saw a television programme about a female channel-swimmer, who Croizon said inspired him.[2][4] He began a regimen of swimming, training for over five hours per day with the Maritime Gendarmerie, the French marine police, in the sea near La Rochelle.[3] He experimented with different prosthetic limbs designed for swimming, with fins attached to the stumps of his legs.[3] One set of specially designed prosthetics cost €12,000, and are made from carbon and titanium.[4][5]
He wrote a book entitled J'ai décidé de vivre (I decided to live), using a speech-to-text computer system.[2] He also made a parachute jump.[2]
Croizon's preparations for the channel-swim attempt took 35 hours per week for two years; throughout the training period, he received letters of support from national politicians, including French president Nicolas Sarkozy.[6] It was during this period that he completed a swim from Noirmoutier to Pornic in less than five hours.[6]
- Event
On Saturday, 18 September 2010, at the age of 42, he swam across the English Channel in less than 14 hours.[7] He set off from Folkestone at 06:45, arriving at Cap Gris Nez at 20:13, a distance of 21 miles (34 km).[8][9] He reported feeling pain during the crossing, but said he was confident that he would complete it.[1]
References
- ^ a b Limbless man completes Channel swim, The Press Association (UKPA), 19 September 2010, retrieved 2010-09-19
- ^ a b c d e
Amputé des 4 membres, il va traverser la Manche à la nage (in French), Le Telegram, 20 November 2009
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link) - ^ a b c d e f Handisport. défi. Amputé des quatre membres, il veut traverser la Manche à la nage (in French), LaDépêche, 23 November 2009, retrieved 2010-09-19
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link) - ^ a b Virginia Enee (11 July 2010), Philippe Croizon, premier amputé à traverser la Manche à la nage ?, La Voix du Nord, retrieved 2010-09-19
- ^ Fabienne Beranger (20 August 2010), Un aller-retour réussi pour Philippe Croizon, France 3 Ouest, retrieved 2010-09-19
- ^ a b Laura Roberts (10 September 2010), Limbless man, Philippe Croizon, to swim the English Channel - Telegraph, Telegraph, retrieved 2010-09-19
- ^ Limbless French swimmer makes Channel crossing, TVNZ, 19 September 2010, retrieved 2010-09-19
- ^ "Frenchman with amputated limbs completes Channel swim". BBC News. 19 September 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-19.
- ^ John Lichfield (20 September 2010), Four amputations, 13 hours – one extraordinary swim, The Independant, retrieved 2010-09-19
External links
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