Cliff Devries once had dreams of being an Olympic diver. But after his life changed when he was just a young man, he thought he’d never dive again.
Now, several years on, and Cliff still manages to perform an annual birthday dive, though it’s a big challenge for him, as he’s paralysed on one side of his body.
Still, Cliff gives it his absolute all, and pulls off an impressive dive from quite a height. It must be incredibly nerve-wracking, but with his daughter, Grace, cheering him on from the sidelines, he has the motivation to push through.
As a young college student, Cliff was incredibly talented and passionate about diving – but little did he know that something was about to put his aspirations on hold forever.
In an interview with ESPN, Cliff said that he “couldn’t remember” a time when he hadn’t loved diving. He was the New York State Empire State Games champion in high school, and was elected as one of the All Americans in his junior and senior year.
He recalled:
“I had that Olympic dream, and with my increasing skills and the rate at which I was improving, I thought I had a chance.”
But then Cliff started to experience mobility problems with one of his shoulders, and one MRI scan later, he discovered he had a 6-inch tumour that was pressing up against his spinal cord. He was just 21.
Cliff was told that he was paralysed on the right side of his body, and would be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. But he had other plans. He said:
“I think at that point, I was tired of hearing that I wasn’t going to be be able to do this, I wasn’t going to be able to do that. I said, ‘I’m tired of hearing this stuff. I’m going to walk again. I’m going to make it happen.'”
Not only that, but Cliff vowed that he’d make something out of his life.
He returned to his school, where he became a diving coach, before moving onto managing the diving programme at RIT in New York.
Then, on October 30th, 2018, Cliff decided to push himself that little bit further. He missed diving immensely, and with his birthday coming up, he decided he was going to set himself a challenge: to do a dive.
Cliff was supported by his whole family on the day, including his son, Corey, who was right behind him on the steps leading up to the board. But the person no-one could take their eyes off was Cliff’s daughter, Grace.
Grace watched excitedly from the edge of the pool as her dad reached the top of the diving board. This little girl had no doubt in her mind that her dad would pull off a spectacular dive.
As Cliff dived into the water, Grace clapped ecstatically and jumped up and down. And when Cliff climbed out of the pool, Grace was the first one there to give him a big congratulatory cuddle.
To Grace, her dad is clearly her biggest superhero. Cliff won’t have had it easy at all over his years of adjusting to his new way of living, but we’re sure Grace is the shining light he needs in his darker days.
Take a look at the adorable video of Grace cheering her dad on just below.
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