Victor Assaf’s Surgeon Said, “Forget about CrossFit.” He didn’t listen.

Some background.

Victor Assaf started CrossFit at twenty-years-old when his brother finally convinced him to give it a go. He loved it, particularly the weightlifting component. He got really strong, really fast. He caught the competition bug immediately, making his sole purpose to qualify for the CrossFit Games.

An accident changes everything.

Driving home from a Strongman competition in which he had just podiumed, Victor lost control of his motorcycle on a bridge. His body slammed into a light pole, making impact at his right shoulder. The crash damaged three cervical vertebrae and put him in a coma.

After 10 hours of surgery, Victor emerged alive but permanently affected; He had lost motor function and sensation in his right arm. The surgeon told him to forget about CrossFit. “I started crying. I collapsed inside,” he said.

View this post on Instagram

. Y PARA QUE NO TE QUEDEN DUDAS, AQUÍ ME VAS A ENCONTRAR ! @kallpafitness . . CLASES DE 9 – 10 PM / Desde el 12 de Nov ! . . . CLASES PRIVADAS, info por Dm 📮📩 . . . #TEAMVICTERIE🦍 . . levantalacabezaysigue2018 . Repost from @kallpafitness using @RepostRegramApp – Le damos la bienvenida nuevamente a nuestro #KallpaCoach @victerie 💪 Encuentralo en la clase de 9 a 10pm desde este Lunes 12 de Noviembre #NoExcuses NADA COMO KALLPA. #kallpa#vhca#adaptiveathlete#crossfitadaptive#adaptive#kallpafamily#kallpartans#crossfit#crossfitter#motivation#inspiration#motivate#inspire#sports#crossfitgirls#instafit#instagood#fitness#fitnessmotivation#instadaily#fitspo#fitnesslifestyle#exercise#workout#strongertogether#getinthebox#levantalacabezaysigue2018

A post shared by victor Assaf (@victerie) on

Just seven months later, Victor decide he wouldn’t heed the doctor’s advice any longer and he returned to CrossFit. “I had to invent my own way of doing CrossFit so I wouldn’t get injured doing everything with one arm,” he said. But Victor figured it out, getting back into the swing of things and rekindling the fuel to compete too.

Competing again.

Victor just competed at Wodapalooza last weekend, placing sixth in the RX Men Adaptive Standing division. “I don’t consider the accident a bad thing…What happened that day made me see things more clearly and with a different perspective…with one arm I can reach a lot more people than I did with two.”

By Jessica Danger from Morning Chalk Up

By Ben Garves

Ben Garves is a digital product expert, author, entertainer, and activist. His portfolio of thought leadership in digital marketing and web experiences has included major clients like Microsoft, Google, Twitter, eBay, and Facebook. He’s also a freelance health and fitness journalist with over 400 stories written since 2018, a podcaster with 200 episodes to his name, and runs a YouTube channel with over 100 fitness and activism-oriented videos and live streams. Ben has founded the Fitness is for Everyone™ initiative to raise awareness about social injustice in both racial inequality and socioeconomic disparity in access to quality fitness and nutrition options around the globe.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.