All language subtitles for Allen.Zweifeln.Zum.Trotz.2022.720p.WEBRip.x264.AAC-[YTS.BZ]

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[sound of wind whooshing]

[intense music slowly building]

[cries out while jumping]

[splash]

[off-screen voice] [indistinct]

Yeah!

[sounds of splashing into water]

[intense music]

[music stops]

I asked the same question
that I did six years ago.

Why me?

But in a different sense now.

- OK.
- So you chose this spot so I can

actually look at the, the distance.

- Ready to rumble.
- It's more like.

Why did God choose me to
do this? Because of everything

that has happened the past six years

and the journey that it's
been, it's been very tough,

but it's extremely rewarding finally seeing

what my calling, and what my purpose is.

I can finally see
everything coming together.

I saw the bigger picture.

[calm music]

[calm music]

[chatter]

- Sure.
- Nice. [indistinct]

Alwyn, as a young boy? We
spend a lot of time together.

Obviously. My life was
centered around my two boys.

We spend a lot of weekends

doing adventure things.

I grew up in the Eastern
Cape, in a little town called St.

Francis Bay,
which is very close to the ocean.

And that's the way that
I grew up, you know,

playing by the ocean, in the in the field.

[chatter]

[emotional music]

He was very adventurous, loved
the outdoors, the sea, the farm.

Riding horse, riding bike, going camping.

I just wanted to be outside,
just play and just be happy.

And he wanted to be his own child.

We took him fishing as a little boy.

He must have been about
three or four years old

and he caught his first
fish. So we said, well,

it's such a tiny little thing, you
better throw it back into the sea.

No, no, no.

He sat in his little chair
in the car holding this fish,

went to bed with it, stank the whole

room out and wouldn't let go.

So he wanted that fish and that was it.

He knew exactly what he
wanted. And he wouldn't budge.

Alwyn, enjoyed his sport
and his outdoors forever.

I think the love for sport...

He was born with it
because he loved to play

with balls or bats or golfing gear.

At a young age I notice he's got,

he does have a lot of talent.

When he first went to
the little plays school,

the teacher came back to
me and she said she cannot

believe this child's motor
neuron and his ability

to coordinate that aspect,

you know, so well at such a young age.

He was very self-confident.

And my fondest memories
of Alwyn is he was just

always a loving child.

Suppose every mother would say that,

but he really didn't give
us any problems at all,

just being a normal little boy.

The things that I remember
the most about him.

He always had lots of friends.

Farm life was a big part
of his life. He'd like to hunt.

He'd like to invite us to go and do stuff,
and he was very active,

always something planned
and always something to do.

When I was at school,
I couldn't wait to get home on weekends

and just go with friends,
ride bikes, motorcycles,

go swimming, jumping off cliffs.

When I got to high school
we started picking up a camera,

and that's when it really
got fun, because now you,

know you've got an audience
to share this stuff with.

One, two, three.

Alwyn is to a degree an adrenaline junkie,

if there's a place we can
jump off into into the ocean,

he would be one of the guys starting it.

I would be the guy who would join,
but jump feet first.

Alwyn would be the guy
who jumps off head first.

You mustn't say what you're
going to be doing, surprise me.

Sideways salmon. Sideways
salmon. [off-screen]

[indistinct]

[upbeat music]

[sound of a garage opening]

[soft music]

At the end of grade nine, he actually said to
me, “Dad, I'm going to start playing rugby.”

At the end of Grade 10,
he said to me “Next year,

I'm going to be in the first team”. I said,
listen, yes,

it's still tough because it's only

the Grade 12's normally
that end up in the first team.

It was a big school in Humansdorp, their

rugby was at a good level.

He put his head down to
things and he would start training,

exercising. The next
year he played first team.

He was very driven,

focused on rugby it was a
big part of his life back then.

He would always
exercise. Gym is part of it.

He can't do something this
weekend there's a game coming up.

He canceled on quite a lot of plans,
because they played in the morning.

Can't do something
Friday. Very focused on that.

But that's him, he has always,
when he put his mind to it,

you won't get him to change it, you know.

And I've learnt over the
years, leave him he is heading

the right direction.

His father promoted his sport a lot.

He was also the one that always
supported me at my rugby games.

So when I used to play,

I always used to look out
for him next to the field.

Rugby, cricket whatever
sport he wanted to partake in,

he always 100 percent behind him. You know,

I always say he's like
one of my best friends.

There's a really tight bond
between me and my dad.

In, Noah sit! Sit! Sit. Sit.

Sit.

Sit.

Sit, sit!

Something that I love to
do in my off time is just,

it can be anything where I
can go outside because I really

love spending time in nature.

So I'm not someone
that loves to sit at home

and watch movies or series.
I'd far more just go outside,

take my dogs with, go for a walk.

So that's something that's
really close to my heart.

Following on his year
after completing his school,

he did the one year at
Sharks Academy that did

him really well.

He then went to Stellenbosch to study.

When I got to Stellenbosch
coming from the Sharks Academy,

you've built up quite an ego.
And when I got there, I thought,

I'm going to get a royal
invite to play for Maties.

I went through first year all the while

I was waiting for this
call or someone to say,

you must come and practice with Maties,

but that just never happened.

One day I just actually packed
up my training kit and I went

to practice and I just fell
in line and I just started

training with. Because I thought,

you know what, if I'm not good enough,

then they'll just let me go.

So the last time that I was up

on this mountain, it's probably a good six,

seven years ago.

Being back on this mountain,

it's very nostalgic and
really brings back good

memories for me.

I really enjoyed playing rugby,
I really loved my sport here

and it's almost like that love
really grew in Stellenbosch.

That's kind of where the fire got reignited

and coming back here I'm
just reliving all of that emotion,

all of that, that feeling that I have,
being back in this town.

[chill music]

Alwyn, he was always very humble,

good mannered, always on time determined,

hardworking, but a very serious kid.

I wouldn't say that Alwyn
in the beginning stood out

in the position that he played
because South Africa is quite

known to have very,
very good loose forwards.

But what I do remember

is that he was very hard.

Really put his body on the line.

What I can remember
from playing with with Alwyn

is that he was a very
physical guy, big in stature,

quite a bulky guy and a fit guy.

Hell of a pleasure to play with that guy

because he's always
supportive on the rugby field.

Very, very intelligent rugby player,

which meant that he was a very big

asset in playing for the
rugby teams at Stellenbosch.

Playing first team for Maties
and getting on that field...

It was everything that you
ever wanted at that age.

You couldn't wait for the week just to get

past quick enough so you can,

get back on the pitch and play rugby.

Getting there was quite a
journey and quite a process

and it's so rewarding. You know,

it took me four years just to
move up through these ranks

and get there.

When I look at the field,
I really feel, you know,

a sense of a journey,

a really long and hard
journey to get there.

It's almost like climbing a mountain.

It's so rewarding when you get to the top

and you just look over everything.

[soft music]

I was studying engineering

and that was quite

stressful for me, you know,

balancing a very demanding
engineering course and then also

playing for Maties, which
is also quite demanding.

Lots of training times.
And then in that time,

I developed kind of like a stomach ulcer.

The doctors discovered that his eyes got

ulcerative colitis.

Which is like small
ulcers inside of your thick

intestine or your colon.

Which is quite dangerous.
If you leave it untreated,

it could turn into cancer.

Made me sick for
probably around six months.

I couldn't do any sports
and I had to go out

of residence and basically
my whole life just stopped.

Everything just stopped completely.

So eventually,

the decision was made
to remove his whole colon

and they did a reconstruction
of his small intestines to help

work as a colon function.

But that was horrendously
painful and a long,

long recovery period.

I got the word from the doctor that,

you'll never have a normal life again

in terms of like a bowel
routine and all of these things.

At the age of twenty one,
you don't want to hear that.

Went through six months of rehabilitation

getting used to this new life, essentially.

And that was just a
very difficult time for me.

His second year at varsity,

the next thing that I heard
that he is playing rugby again.

I started to feel good again and healthy.

I started training again
and I felt healthy enough

to go back and play rugby.

The interesting part is the doctors,

the specialist thereafter,

whenever a patient had to
go through those operations,

they would refer to Alwyn as an example,

but look at this man.

He did the operations and
today he is playing rugby again.

It's almost like I'll show
you what's possible and

what's impossible. And that
you can't tell me what I can

do and can't do in that sense.

It was just mind-blowing that they can

just overcome it and just do it, you know?

And that was my first taste
of defying the impossible.

[wind blowing]

So we come here about twice

a week to to swim in the cold water over

here in Cape Town and the other
four times a week,

I usually just swim in the swimming pool.

But you need this cold
water exposure if you're

going to do an event like I'm
going to do in a few days time.

The date isn't confirmed yet,

so we still don't know when it is.

But this cold water exposure is extremely

important for swimming.

Because of all the movement.

So every time I go swimming,

I put on these leg splints,

and all that basically
does is just keep my legs

straight because that's the one
thing I can't do while swimming.

When I swam here

for the first time, I just
jumped in the water,

I didn't know about
thermal gear or like a thermal

wetsuit or anything.

And I remember swimming
like one mile around the island,

and I came back I was so disorientated

and confused.

And that was like borderline hypothermia.

So this thermal gear is
going to make a big difference.

If I can just keep my
head warm then my core

temperature will stay, you know,

stay warm throughout
the whole event as well.

[chatter]

No, like one, two...

Yeah...
Ok. One, two

Three, okay.

- Cold?
- Fresh!

Is it fresh?

[indistinct]

Oh, yes.

[upbeat music]

[music]

That was good.

When I swim,

I just keep on imagining
how it's going to be when I do

the Robben Island crossing. Water is water, hey,

so it just all feels the same.

Trying to get that familiar feeling in my

mind when I'm actually doing it.

With not knowing

when the event's going to be,

it's almost like in training
you keep on holding back

because you want to save yourself.

You want to save your, you know,

your body for when it's actually

going to happen.

You don't want to tire
yourself in in training.

But the reality is you can keep on doing

that for two weeks. And
then you'll lose fitness.

So it's a fine balance
between pushing in training,

mentally. But also saving and
reserving yourself for that actual day.

I'll be ready

for it and it'll happen

exactly when it should happen.

I have this picture in my
mind how it's going to be,

and I just keep on reliving
that picture. Just as I said,

when I swim, I try and
imagine how it is on that day

that I'm going to do it. At some point,

my faith and my belief
will start, you know,

merge with the reality.

[indistinct]

I'm going to walk that way.

OK, see you.

Hey, hey. I need help!

Ok Alwyn, bye.

Guys, c'mon!

So when I was finished studying,
I went and worked with my dad.

Getting experience for going into the
fruit industry, and while I was doing that,

I also played rugby for
Helderberg rugby club,

which is in Somerset West.

We actually played against Maties one day, and it was
in Stellenbosch in the famous Danie Craven Stadium.

It was a big build-up to
that game cos the previous

year we played for Maties.

So it was kind of a grudge game for us.

And I got injured in that game. Ironically,
the scores were actually level at halftime.

Alwyn came on the field and he hit a ruck.

And as I was lying on the ground,

my arm was stretched out and someone came

with their knee and fell
directly on this shoulder.

The pain was excruciating,
but basically what happened,

I tore the muscles from my peck and my bicep
tore completely out of out of my shoulder.

That was the first injury
I ever had in rugby,

the first serious injury I ever had.

It took two operations,
reconstructive operations to fix that.

And at that stage, that's when I knew,

ok I think I'm finished with rugby now.

I'm just going to focus on my
career and building my life from there.

[pensive music]

He started working for my company.

He came to visit during
the December holidays.

I got a text from the girl
I was seeing at the time.

And we had plans to
spend the weekend together,

but impulsively we actually decided to go
through that night, to where she lived.

He left late afternoon and
more or less an hour later,

a man called me and he said to me,

Do you have a son, Alwyn? I
said, yes… What about him?

He said, well, he's
been hurt in an accident.

So I remember on the
way there I was driving,

I was in a bit of a hurry
and I was skipping music

on my phone and I put it
down on the middle console

of the car and it just slipped
down to the passenger's side's feet.

I took my eyes off the
road because I reached down

for my phone and I just
wanted to pick it up off the floor.

But in that moment, the roads
are very narrow there and there's no

yellow line section to
drive in. And at that time,

I was only driving about
70 to 80 kilometers per hour.

So really not fast, but the my left
front wheel left the road and it hit

some gravel and I got a
fright when that happened

and I jerked the steering wheel.

Before I knew it,
I didn't have control over my car anymore.

It swerved over the
road to the right first,

and then I plucked the
steering wheel again,

trying to compensate
for this. But at that stage,

I could already feel that I
have no control over the car.

It just had too much momentum.

And then I remember
going through the thoughts,

going through my mind that I'm
going to have a car accident now.

And I knew it was going
to be bad because I knew

I was heading for a tree and there was also
a concrete slab next to the side of the road.

And I just remember my
car heading towards that.

My safety belt wasn't on
because I had a sling on my

shoulder from that rugby
injury, which is not an excuse,

but I wasn't wearing a safety belt.

And then I remember going
towards the passenger window.

And it's such a vivid memory
that the ground is coming closer.

And then I realised
that the car's not on its

four wheels anymore,
that the cars flipping.

There's a sound that I'll never forget,

is the screeching of the tires
of the car leaving the road.

And then just a dead silence.

And I saw the ground coming closer.

Then I just heard this
big, loud crash.

Went face first through the passenger window.

I cracked my neck.

And I woke up next to the side of the road.

With someone touching
my shoulder and his first

words were, who should I call?

I was actually on my way
to take a walk with the dogs

that afternoon, so I still had
my sandals on, shorts, T-shirt.

And the call came through
and he already at that point

in time conveyed to me he did call
the ambulance, they are on their way.

I tried to get up,
but I just felt this immense pain in my

back and my legs were ice
cold, that I couldn't get up.

At first, I just thought it was shock,

that I'm unable to stand
and I'm just in shock.

But I knew something was seriously wrong,
so I just lay still.

He was able to tell me,
OK, the ambulance are there,

they've arrived and
they're busy stabilizing him

and they are taking him to the hospital.

[emotional music]

He didn't actually say where he was from or
what he was doing there.

He told me his name was Hosea,
and I had a look what it means,

and Hosea means he saves and he helps.

And that's exactly what he did on that day.

Did you have any contact
with him afterwards?

I saw him once afterwards
in rehabilitation. He came,

he checked in on me.
See if everything's OK.

And then I didn't see him again.

[calm music]

So I'm just going to pick up my mom now,

and we haven't seen
each other in, you know,

over a year. So I'm
very excited about this.

Hello.

Surprise.
- Yes!

I knew she was going to cry.

No, it is very good.
Yeah, it's good to see her.

It's always difficult
because their house

is like a three-story house,

and it's not that accessible
for me to get there.

So it's always difficult,
you know. And also,

I'm obviously busy, they are busy, and

it's not just a quick
drive to see each other.

So yeah, it's quite special.

The next morning I woke
up, I was so confused,

I didn't know what happened or where I
am, what the date is, who's around me.

The first thought that I had
was I lost my legs, so I reached

down, but I felt my legs
were still there and that really

confused me.

He was bruised and blue.

You just saw this broken
body lying on the bed.

He was very scared because then soon

they had to do the operation
on his back to fuse his vertebrae.

I knew, I knew something
was seriously wrong,

but it's almost like no one said it.

No one spoke about it.

And I just couldn't
understand what's going on.

I actually asked the doctor, please,

can we just sit down and discuss this,

you know what, what is
the extent of the injury?

And at that point in time
you, you still think, OK,

it's a bad accident. But
the operation went well.

I just broke my back.
It can't be that serious.

I asked the specialist that did
the operation, that difficult question.

Is my son going to be able to walk again?

In my mind, I thought I was
going to get an operation and I'm

going to rehabilitate and
I'm going to walk out of there.

That was my belief and I
had to deal with that reality

that they don't know if I'll
ever be able to walk again.

[sad pensive music]

At that moment, life
stops. It becomes unreal.

This is a dream. It's not real.

The whole world is turned upside down.

It's like you're caught up in a nightmare
and you don't want to face the realities.

You struggle with this thing in your head,
you have a,

a son at the age of twenty five,

and he's paralyzed. And what now?

He was very, very scared.

He didn't know what was
going to happen to him.

He never sort of asked us,

please feel sorry for me or anything.

He was he just wanted his
family to be there with him

and not leave him alone.
He was afraid. Very afraid.

It's quite funny when I
look back at the photos

of the accident, I went
through the passenger window,

no other door or window
could open or was broken,

but I ended up on the
driver's side of the car.

You know, 30, 40 metres
into a field, in a fetal position.

So just looking back at these
photos a day or two afterwards,

just trying to wrap
my mind around it, like,

how did I even survive
this? How is this possible?

Because the car flipped head
over toe and tumbled a few

times and I fell out on impact.

There's no way that I should be alive.

And anyone that sees the photos
will tell you that there is no way

that you should be here.

[upbeat music]

[knocking]
[indistinct]

Yeah, you can come in.

Hey Stefan! No good,
can't complain. What's up?

Okay, so we got a
little bit of the situation,

I got a message from Derrick Frazier.

- OK?
- So you know, we've been back and forth.

You know, then the swim is going to
happen then it's not going to happen.

Yeah.

So.

Kind of used to this by now.

I know. I mean,

I don't want you to go out and you know,

and then be disappointed.

But listen to this and then
we'll take it from there.

I was out at Robben Island

this morning, and it's thirteen point six.

It's not going to be warm enough for Alwyn.

I've got no idea whether it's going to warm
up properly tomorrow.

You guys are welcome to come out,

take a chance but if he,
if it's thirteen point six when he starts,

I'm certainly going to
recommend he doesn't start.

I don't think that it's
warm enough for him.

Sure... Hmm...

I don't know what you want to do?

Well, I didn't come this
far to to stop right now.

I want to go and stare
this giant in the eye.

I need to go there.

At that point hearing that news,

things happened very fast
because he was released

from hospital and went to rehab.

It's an in-house rehabilitation program

which is really just
building the foundation

of what then has to take place afterwards.

When I first went in there,

I thought it was actually to get
me walking and rehabilitate me,

and I had the believe that
I'm going to walk out of there.

So the spinal cord is a bit like
a plug on a kettle, and the cord.

So the plug going into the wall into your
electrical outlet is your brain.

The cord taking the current to the kettle
to make it boil is your spinal cord,

and the spinal cord
obviously is covered by a series

of coverings to protect the nerves, like the
protective covering on an electrical cable.

So if you were to get a heavy,
sharp object and drop it on your cable,

the cable would be damaged
and your kettle wouldn't work.

And that's much the same
with spinal cord injuries.

In Alwyn's case, T8 is
a sort of mid chest area.

Eighth thoracic vertebra, basically a
spinal cord function ceases to produce any

connection between brain and spinal cord.

So from mid chest, there is no preserved motor
function and no preserved sensation at all.

[impactful music]

[indistinct]

As an inpatient in rehabilitation,

you usually stay anything
between four and eight weeks.

Obviously, it takes a bit of time to adapt

and to learn how to become
independent in a wheelchair.

There are therapists that
help you with the physical stuff.

There is also someone that helps
you on the mental side of things.

But as stubborn as I am, I didn't,

I didn't want anything to do with that.

I just didn't want to accept what happened.

And the thing with paraplegia is that,

a lot of it is between the ears.

You know, a patient once said
to me, and I'll never forget this,

when you have a spinal cord injury,

you'll never accept the fact
that you can't walk again.

But you have to learn to live with it.

As I came to the end of my stay there,
which was a few months,

I realised that it's only to equip
you to live a life in a wheelchair,

to teach you how to get
dressed, how to sit up straight,

how to do basic life things again.

Because soon after your accident,
you're not even able to sit up straight

because you don't have the core muscle,
you don't have the balance.

Your whole equilibrium is thrown off.

So even the most basic tasks
like putting on pants is difficult.

But when I was in
rehabilitation, there were friends,

family every single day.

He was daily swamped by so
many people standing outside

of his room at visiting hours to
come and say hello and see him.

I kind of had to tell them some days,

I need some time alone now.

That's when depression and anxiety
is kind of hiding behind the scenes.

The day I went home,
everyone went back to work.

My friends went back
to university or their jobs.

That's when it took a
hold of me because then all

the filters were down
and all the walls were down

and it was just me and my own thoughts.

And that's when it really gripped me.

I just thought I'm just going to end it.

Why do I have to wake up
every day with a struggle?

Every single day I used
to relive the accident.

I used to go to bed looking at photos.

I was so stuck in the past.

That was all that was consuming
my mind every single day.

I just saw the wheelchair.
That's all that I saw.

I didn't see any possibilities.

I love hunting, and I had a
lot of rifles. I thought one day

while I was cleaning my
guns, I'm just going to end it.

I can just take this pistol,
and just end it right here.

Until I had a moment when... when God actually
told me, but I still have plans with you.

And that really gripped
me because I thought but,

how can You still have plans for me?

The thoughts went through
my mind that, so if I look

at my life, as I look back on it right now,

what are people going to remember?

What is this story that
my life is going to tell?

That I was this good
sportsman successful at school,

university. Then I had the
accident and I couldn't deal with it.

I couldn't move past that.

And something just ticked

inside of me that I can't,
I can't let this end there.

I can't let that be the story.

[driving upbeat music]

And that's when I
started writing a new story.

A story that, that I want
people to remember.

A story of redemption, a story of resurrection
and getting out of that situation.

And I think during that time,
he started making up his mind,

that: "I'm not going to sit back."

This is what happened to me,
and I'm going to sort it out from here.

"This is not a handicap,
it's just a condition."

Soon after his discharge

from Aurora, we got him his
car, got it changed for mobility.

That is kind of where the journey
started to get independent again.

Once I got driving and I can

go places on my own
again. That was amazing.

That was just incredible.

I discovered this whole new
life that laid in front of me.

When I slowly, but surely discovered

these new things that I can do,

I'm not even talking about para sport.

I'm just talking about
getting back to life again,

doing things with my friends
and being able to enjoy,

you know, going out with my,
my dog and in the mountains and stuff.

I got a new lease on life.

[music]

The wheelchair is never really... It's
not something you notice during the day.

It's not something that
ever gets in his way.

It's not something that's a problem.

I'm sure he's aware of the wheelchair.

It never seems that it bothers
him in his daily life. I mean,

it's such an extension
of him like, he also,

he speaks about it in the
way [indistinct], he's with it every day.

It's sort of like an extra
limb that he's used to having.

It has certain limitations to
it, but it's part of his life now.

So I don't think it's in his way.

Through this whole depression
slump and getting back

into life a bit it gave me the mental
edge that if I can overcome paralysis,

then what else can I do?

I then ended up getting a hand cycle,

which a friend and I built
from a few parts that we got

from a friend of mine,
professional hand cyclist and wheelchair

racer Ernst Van Dyk. One
of the best in the world.

And he gave me this hand
cycle, but I had to adapt it first.

So we made a hand cycle
that was suitable for me.

And then the bug bit me about cycling.

It's an adrenaline rush, there's
speed involved, and it's extremely hard.

Once I got into cycling,
I started swimming,

figuring out how to swim
without the use of my legs.

[indistinct]

The first day I met Alwyn on pool deck,

he put his suit on and I
was like, Alwyn, you know,

we need to get in the
pool, otherwise we're not,

we're not going to finish
the session. I mean, he's like,

"Yeah, but I need to put my
wetsuit on and my cap and goggles."

And it took some time and I
realised if we're swimming for an hour,

it needs to be an hour and a half.

Three...

I had a look at him, and I just said go
four lengths let me see what you can do.

And he swam and I was like,
Okay, there's, there's some serious

work to be done here if we want
to achieve what his dreams are.

[soft music]

I said to him, "Alwyn, you know",

it's going to take a lot of
commitment " and he said, " Well,

anything you need. What do I need to do?

"Can we do this?"

I took him for some stroke correction,

I think that was our
basis point of starting just

really focusing on technique.

I got him to swim more efficiently

and then starting to
introduce him to a little

bit more longer swims, shorter intervals,

the rest period, you know, aerobic phase,

anaerobic phase some sprint work.

And I've seen.

Alwyn change so much.
It's fantastic to see.

He had a really big block
to conquer in this past,

I want to say a month to two
months before this crossing.

One day we went out to Signal Hill.

Just overlooking the ocean sunset,

and we started talking
about the Robben Island

because you can see it from there.

And the vast distance to
Eden on the bay to Blouberg.

And then someone spoke about
ja but people actually swim it.

And my first reaction was,
it's crazy. It's just crazy.

Because if you look at the distance, it's,
it's incredible.

But there's something
about an event or a challenge,

if it scares me enough or it's so big,

then I always ask myself,
Is it possible? Can I do this?

And then I started researching
and finding out more about it.

No paraplegic has done it before,

and that excited me that
really, really got me excited,

that you have a chance to make history.

And I started training for
this, this beast of a of an event.

[upbeat music]

[music continues]

I don't know, it's interesting, I'm not...

I wouldn't say I'm nervous.
But there is some anticipation.

But I think once I get in the
water and I get swimming,

because you know, before its people,
its cameras, its mics, it's everything.

But when you put your face in that water,
it's dead silence.

[zippers snap, rustling of material]

This is a bit tiring.

[soft music]

Okay, let's go.

The man of the next couple of hours.

[indistinct]

Yeah good.

Yeah, it's all done now.

[indistinct]

Looking forward to it.

Yes, but the weather is perfect.

On point hey?

If it's cold outside the
water temperatures warmer.

The winds are blowing absolutely perfect.

This is going to be a big day.

Looking forward to it.
Yeah. It's here, you're here,

we're all here, let's do it.

Finally. Spiritually the
preparation was quite big.

I knew I had to to pray
a lot about this event,

pray for the weather, pray for the conditions,

pray for the crew coming with me.

With an event like this
you are at the mercy

of nature and the circumstances,

and there are so many moving parts.

It's not just me showing up on the day.

There are so many things
that need to go right.

We are gathered today, in front of you.

Lord on this brisk, cool morning,

Father where we know
that we are in your hands [indistinct]

I'm a little bit worried about
him swimming the crossing,

especially for all the
stuff we can't predict,

water temperature, you know what
the wind is doing, that type of thing.

Are we going in the right direction.

It's not in our hands,
it's not in Alwyn's hands,

it's not in my hands,
so we need to trust the process and trust

the people that's on
on the boat leading him

into the right direction.

One, two, three, Alwyn.

So having any spinal cord
injury severely impacts your

capacity to exercise. For example,

in a swim like this, he
wouldn't be able to kick.

So he's not able to
propel his body forward,

which is, which creates a
lot of power in swimming,

he wouldn't have his core
muscles to keep his legs afloat.

So he's going to have a lot
more resistance with a drag

behind him and then has a current
pushing against them.

When it comes to cold water
and swimming, you know,

the Robben Island swim
we're talking probably about 13,

14 maybe tops 17 degrees.
That's pretty cold water.

[crew talking]

He's more susceptible
than an able-bodied person

in terms of becoming hypothermic
and that he needs to be very aware

of and consider.

[upbeat music]

I think when it gets to that stage where,
where it gets serious,

there will be protocols in place to to try

and test some... some stuff, to know if he at
that stage is going into hypothermia, or not.

If we start getting to a feeling where,

where Alwyn can't handle the cold anymore,

then we cancel the swim. And
we, we get it on on a different day.

But I don't think it's
a thing that's concerns

me at this stage, I think he should be,
he should be fine.

[speaking in foreign language]

Vitals...

I think we good yes.

Keep it close to the boat Alwyn! One
and a half metres, two metres max.

It might be a bit big to start otherwise.

Come across onto here
and drop him really close.

[calm music]

[indistinct]

I'm really happy with
the water temperature!

This is amazing! Did you did you test it?

I have measured it yes, I
wont tell you but I'm happy.

Ok cool.

If you guys ready we can go.

Let's do this.

[calm music]

[indistinct] Three...

So in the beginning of the
swim, when I jumped in the water,

I immediately got a bit of a wake up call
because of the cold,

and I haven't been in such
cold water in about a week or so.

When I started to swim, it was, of course,

a fear of what's underneath me. You know,

for the first 100 metres or so,

I saw some sand below me and some kelp.

And then it just started getting dark.

And you just looked into this, this abyss.

I remember for the first 30 minutes,

I got a bit overwhelmed
because of the current,

and there's always the fear
that is it going to get worse?

And when I encountered
that in the first 30 minutes,

I really thought I'm in for a long day.

I remember just, it was
going through my mind,

just get through the first 30 minutes

and you can have a break and you can have

something to eat, something to
drink and you can just, you know,

recuperate a little bit and
have a chat to to my coach.

[indistinct]

Stroke improved so much we're actually swimming much faster

than we thought so things
are going really really well.

Doing well under two minutes, really really well.

Traveling 3.2 km an hour now,

two minutes is 3 km an hour we are going at

155 per hundred at the moment.

[soft music]

That stop that I had after 30 minutes,

that was about after one point five km's,

I thought I was going to have a bit of a
breather, just exchange a word or two.

But it was literally a few seconds.

I just had time to drink something.

In my mind, I told myself,

just get to the halfway mark
and then reassess your strategy,

are you going to swim faster,
slower? I think around 2.5 km,

that's about an hour of swimming.

I just looked at my watch and from then on,

time really went by slowly.

It really, it felt like I stood still,

and that's obviously when the current
really picked up.

I really hit a wall there, mentally,

because then I started
counting down the metres

to the end, very vaguely
started seeing the land.

In my mind, I thought, OK,
it's close. It's only, you know,

2.5 to 3 km left.

I've done that many times
before. That's a swim set.

Not even.

And that's a mistake that I made.

So I think we're getting
to the point now where

it actually becomes the most difficult

part because he's kind of, I guess,

about two thirds of the way now.

And I know from
previously chatting to Alwyn,

this is kind of the bit where
he starts struggling a bit

mentally because you're you starting to see

that you're almost there,
but you're not yet there.

Your brain protects you the whole time,

so when you're doing
an ultra distance events

like an ultra-marathon or something,

it's constantly telling you, you know,

don't push it too hard, don't
push it too hard, you might die.

And then when you start
getting closer to the end,

so when he gets closer to the end here,

you're you basically
override that and you're like,

OK, well,

I'm almost there and I can suddenly sprint,

which physiologically makes no
sense because you shouldn't be

able to suddenly just sprint,

but your brain takes
over and it's like, OK,

you're almost there,
you're not going to die.

You can do this.

So it'll be interesting to
see if that happens here.

[electronic music]

I was extremely tired mentally.

You know you are so close, but
it's just like it's not coming any closer.

Around 5 km, 6 km. I really struggled.

And that's why I started
having some serious

conversations in my mind about fighting

for what I've worked for and I really

had to fight for it.

I really, really had to
work hard at that point

because you're tired and the
current is just pushing you so hard.

But there was never a thought

that I was not going to finish,
that I wasn't going to make it.

It was almost like I
just I would not accept it.

There's just no way that I'm going to allow

this to not happen.
After waiting all this time,

I felt the weight of those
two years just hanging on me,

actually the past six years.

In that one moment that it all
came down to that one moment.

[dramatic music]

And when you feel that weight of everything

that you've worked for,
all the struggle, all the pain,

it's almost like I saw
everything in front of my

eyes and there was just no
way that I'm giving that up.

There's no way that I'm
letting that moment go.

[screams]

Well done Alwyn.

[indistinct]

[crowd cheering]

[indistinct]

[crowd cheering]

[crowd cheering]

[soft music]

[soft music]

[indistinct]

I was, I was so thirsty that last km.

And way back there I
had to crawl... Yeah... On the boat,

what were they doing on the boat?

They were two people on the boat.

You know, before doing this swim,

I thought everything is
coming together for this event.

But then after doing it and
seeing what has happened and,

you know, all of the
support and everything.

It's just the beginning. And
there is so much left in me.

And this is just firing me up for everything
that the Lord is going to ask me to do next.

[heartfelt soft music]

A few years after his accident,

it would probably be
my my biggest concern...

Will he be OK in life?

Whatever we've dreamt
about is has been ripped away.

It's changed.

Will he be OK?

Today, I look at him differently.

He is is writing his own
future and his own history.

And he's fine, I don't
need to worry about him.

He's good.

[indistinct]

See you in a few days time.
[indistinct]

[gentle music]

My special wish for you Alwyn
is always be the person you are.

Never change.

Sorry...

We love you the way you are.

You're Inspiration to us and you're deep,

deep in all our hearts. Just stay there.

We love you.

To come back to that book.

You write your story. You write your book.

I want my book to be an extraordinary book,

and this is only a chapter in that book.

[soft music]