The Outlook Podcast Archive - Why I dive on my birthday

Cliff Devries was a talented young diver hoping to make the US Olympic team when he discovered he had a life threatening tumour on his spinal cord. He was given less than a year to live. He opted to try an experimental and risky surgery, and when he woke up he was paralysed from the neck down. But he realised that his diving training had prepared him for the gruelling recovery, and eventually enabled him to walk again, become a coach to new young divers and dive each year to celebrate his birthday.

Presenter: Rajan Datar
Producer: Alice Gioia

Picture: Cliff Devries on the diving board
Credit: ESPN

Published on Tuesday, 14th April 2020.

Available Podcasts from The Outlook Podcast Archive

Subscribe to The Outlook Podcast Archive

We are not the BBC, we only list available podcasts. To find out more about the programme including episodes available on BBC iPlayer, go to the The Outlook Podcast Archive webpage.