It’s curious how some of the smallest things can have the biggest impact. A couple inches here or a few degrees there can mean the difference between an everyday occurrence and a life-altering event. Charlie, a former Marine and Strongman competitor, learned this lesson first-hand three years ago.
Enjoying a warm summer day on a boat with his fiancé and three daughters, Charlie dove off the bow into the tepid waters off the Gulf of Mexico. It was a dive he had made a dozen times before, however the smallest difference in perhaps inches or degrees made this one tragically different.
Charlie’s head hit the ocean floor with the full force that his 260-pound weightlifter’s frame brought with it. After a definitive ‘pop’, Charlie floated to the surface. A day before the dive, Charlie set a personal best by completing a 325-pound overhead press in a Strongman competition. Now, struggling to float, Charlie couldn’t lift a finger. In fact, he was having trouble feeling anything at all.