Grant Lottering was a dead man. While racing in Italy, the cyclist lost control on a mountain and propelled into a rock embankment. His heart stopped. Surgeons had to perform an emergency operation at the scene. When Lottering woke up in the ICU, unable to speak or move, he thought he was paralysed. “I broke 12 ribs, my femur, my hip, my back, my sternum, my shoulder was completely crushed, my lungs collapsed,” Lottering says. “It was horrible.” That was 2013. Doctors said he would never cycle again.
After multiple surgeries and rehabilitation, Lottering fought his way to recovery. One year later, he returned to the site of the accident to finish the race that nearly killed him. “I wasn’t going to lie down,” Lottering says. His comeback spurred his Im’possible Tours, a series of ultra-endurance cycles that took him across the world. As he embarked on these brutal races, Lottering faced further challenges, including more surgeries and cancer. But he never stopped moving. “Bones and blood are no match for the power of the mind,” Lottering says.
So far, he has completed five Im’possible Tours. In a recent non-stop ride across South Africa, he covered over 1 300 kilometres and climbed 17 mountains in 66 hours. Lottering’s extreme cycles have raised R2 million for the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. “One of my proudest moments is to look at kids and have them look at you and think, ‘If you can do it, I can do it,’” he says. Not only has Lottering walked away from death, but he’s turned his second chance into a feat of life.
Please sign in to leave a comment