An Atlanta man will soon travel to London to go head to head with some the world's best swimmers. Curtis Lovejoy was named to the U.S. Paralympics team last month at the age of 55.
"Normally you don't have a swimmer this old competing, but I think I'm going up against a Russian kid who is like 15 years old," said Lovejoy.
Lovejoy was nearly killed in a car accident 25 years ago.
"I was paralyzed from the neck down, couldn't feel anything at all," he said.
Ironically, the crash that would drive this man to become a legendary U.S. swimmer began when he drove his car over water, hydroplaned and slammed into a guard rail.
He broke bones in his spinal cord, his neck and his wrist and he had no sensation in his legs.
"I went from 175 and lost 95 pounds in five days," said Lovejoy.
Surgeons at the Shepherd Center and Lovejoy's own incredible optimism allowed him to take an extraordinary step, just 45 days later.
"I ended up at the parallel bars, and got out of the wheelchair, and started walking in between the parallel bars. That's when the miracle started," said Lovejoy.
The man who had never gone swimming in his life, turned to the water. He got a coach and just nine years later became an elite swimmer.
"I set my first world record in 1995 at Georgia Tech, right before the '96 Games," he said.
He's appeared in every Paralympics since. He's won several medals and holds 11 world records.
His story in, and out of the water, is an inspiration in strength.
"I'll probably swim until the day I die because I love swimming. I have a lot of freedom in the water," said Lovejoy.
The Paralympics will be held in London two weeks after the Olympic Games.
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Curtis Lovejoy was named to the U.S. Paralympics team last month at the age of 55.
