Cape Town - He overcame his challenges and realised that determination is everything in life.
Alwyn Uys is the focus of a documentary entitled Against all Odds: The Alwyn Uys Story, which is set to screen for local audiences in April.
His inspirational story covers a number of things such as his career as a rugby player, his autobiography, battling colon cancer, depression and suicidal thoughts, a motor vehicle accident, which left him paralysed and almost killed him.
Some of Uys’ achievements include being one of the first South African paraplegic athletes to complete the Full Iron Man Triathlon last year and the Robben Island crossing in 2020.
Uys said he received a vision to write a book and make a movie of his testimony back in 2014 after he was almost killed in a motor vehicle accident.
The Stellenbosch resident was travelling to a love interest at the time when he lost control of his vehicle. The car flipped and he was thrown out the window. He broke his neck, back, ribs, shoulder and shattered his T8 vertebrae. He was paralysed from the chest down.
Uys said: “It had such a huge impact on my life and perspective that I simply had to tell the story to the world in the hope that it will help people who are going through tough times in life.
“Fast forward six years since my accident, and all the while carrying this vision in my heart, I posted a video on my YouTube and Nelis Engelbrecht, a Cape Town videographer and photographer, made contact with me. He told me that we need to get my story out there and he wanted to be a part of it.
“We became very good friends after a while, started planning this documentary and that was also when we called in some help from mutual friends. This includes award-winning director Stefan Enslin and Willem le Grange who helped us tremendously with the set-up and planning,” he said.
Uys is currently gearing up for the Comrades Marathon in August.
“I think it will be one of the toughest things I’ve ever endeavoured to do in my life. It won’t be an easy task but I am expecting a good fight. It’s still a dream to climb mountains again so I’m hoping to figure out how we will be doing that and attempt to climb Mount Kilimanjaro sometime soon,” he added.
Writer, director and producer of the film Stefan Enslin, said he feels inspired by Uys.
“Most people would give up being paralysed but not Alwyn. He is extremely resilient, determined and focused. Once he sets his sights on something he won’t give up until he reaches his goal. His faith is also something that is very inspirational as he does nothing without God. Alwyn is an example to many,” he said.
Weekend Argus