Three remarkable people to know
To motivate ourselves to achieve more in our lives, sometimes all we have to do is look to others and learn about their personal stories.
Here are three remarkable people who triumphed over adversity and took control of their lives to achieve amazing feats.
David Smith
David was 650 pounds, friendless, and hopeless. He had felt this way for most of his life. Kids at school would pick on him, throw things at him, and call him names. It got so bad that at 17 he had to drop out of school because he couldn’t take it anymore.
After leaving school, he sought refuge in his home, but he couldn’t escape pain. His mother was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. She passed away after fighting the disease for five years and David took this very hard. He kept eating and eating to suppress his heartache and kept gaining weight until he weighed 650 pounds.
This brought him to the brink. He wanted to die. He planned of traveling out to the desert and committing suicide by setting himself on fire. But just before he wanted to end it, he started a new beginning.
He contacted a local fitness expert, Chris Powell for help after David saw him on a news program. Chris initially hesitated because he didn’t know if he could help David lose weight. After further consideration, he decided to take David on.
After over two years of hard work, David lost a remarkable 410 pounds.
It’s a remarkable story that shows we are the ones in control of our lives and it shows that with hard work and persistence, amazing things can be accomplished.
To learn more about David’s story visit here.
Don Meyer
Don Meyer is a college basketball coach at Northern State University who has had great success on the court.
On September 5, 2008 Don was driving down a highway, when a terrible accident happened. He was hit by semi-truck and sustained severe injuries. He was rushed to the hospital and into the operating room.
While performing surgery doctors discovered that Don had cancer in two parts of his body. He had eight surgeries, doctors amputated his leg below the knee, and he was stuck in the hospital for weeks.
When he got out, he was right back on the court with his team even when the pain was excruciating. He didn’t want to give up on this basketball team or on life.
Coach Meyer was recently awarded the Jimmy V Award at the Espy Awards for his passion and persistence.
To learn more about his story visit Espn.com or Sports Illustrated.
Zac Sunderland
Zac began a solo sailing trip around the world 13 months ago. He just finished his journey on July 16, 2009 in Marina del Rey, Ca. He’s also 17 years old.
He is now the youngest person to ever sail solo around the world. He didn’t let age stop him and he encourages other young people to push themselves further as well. Here’s what he said at a press conference after his trip:
“I think society puts young people in a box, people 15, 16, 17 and does not expect them to do much but go to high school and play football and stuff like that. This just shows they can do a lot more with some strong ambition and desire. My advice is to get out there and do your thing with all you got.”
To learn more about Zac’s story and journey visit LATimes.com.
Photo by Ian Agrimis
6 Responses to “Three remarkable people to know”
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It’s important to be reminded from time to time that these kind of odds can be overcome and are being overcome ACTIVELY every day, by every day people. It’s easy to get into a mindset where we feel we’ve reached our peak…it’s rarely true. These short bios are awesome. thanks for taking the time to share em!
Hey Christian – no problem.
A lot of “ordinary” people are actually very extraordinary. And it shows that each of us have it in us we just need to coax it out.
-Andrew
Hi Andrew,
They are great examples. We have to pick an idol to inspire us always. My favorite is Don Meyer.
Thanks for sharing, Andrew.
Arswino
Hey – glad you liked their stories!
Don’s is really amazing. I can’t imagine being in a major accident then finding out you have cancer in two parts of your body. However, Don said the car crash was one of the greatest things to happen to him because it saved his life. Without it, he wouldn’t have known about his cancer until it was too late.
-Andrew
[...] Three remarkable people to know | LyvedDon Meyer is a college basketball coach at Northern State University who has had great success on the court. On September 5, 2008 Don was driving down a highway, when a terrible accident happened. He was hit by semi-truck and sustained …Read More [...]
Having been hit by lymphoma, this was good to read. Thank you for this.