Never Part of the Plan with Mike Shaw (ep. 546)

With a love for extreme sports and adventure, Mike spent his childhood taking on any sport that would push his personal limits. After finding his passion in freestyle skiing, Mike began performing professionally at international levels.

After numerous injuries, Mike was forced to shift his plan and began coaching the British Columbia Freestyle Ski Team which allowed him to continue skiing the best competition venues imaginable.

During a seemingly normal practice, though, life as Mike knew it changed in an instant. While demonstrating stunts to his athletes, he suffered a ‘scorpion-like’ crash, dislocating and breaking his neck and leaving him paralyzed from the neck down.

Determined to not only walk again, but to ski, Mike set down a new path riddled with hardship and seemingly insurmountable challenges.

My friends, today’s conversation reminds us that others cannot define your possibilities and even when things don’t go to plan, we can still achieve great things.