Victor Vermeulen

A natural communicator, Victor Vermeulen message is a universal one, that it is possible, no matter what the difficulties, to achieve your goals and fulfill your ambitions.

"Victor felt as if his mind was being held prisoner in an immobile shell and I'd become frozen inside my skin. I couldn't do much, but I had made my choice. I wasn't going to just give up and die.

I decided that my life was worth living and I was going to make the most of it; one breath at a time and one day at a time. I've never been a person who gives up. I decided to fight!"

Victor had it all! From a very early age, he'd excelled at both academics and sports and boasted an expansive list of bursaries and awards.

He could have represented his country at any number of sports but his first love was always cricket.

At 19 he'd already played with a young South African team at Lords the famous English test ground and was settling into a career with Transvaal.

It was really just a matter of time, it was felt, before he would be given the opportunity to go in and bat for South Africa.

Then, a freak accident left him paralysed from the neck down with little apparently to look forward to, only memories of a dazzling past and thoughts of what might have been!

Victor however, as his name implies, is made of sterner stuff! He didn't dwell on the past, but looked at the positive aspects of his situation and with his mother Isabels support and encouragement, set off down a new path as a motivational speaker.

His extraordinary story of courage, optimism and sheer determination is told in his best-selling book 'The Victor Within' (Tenacity Publications) which has the following forewords by Nelson Mandela (Mentioned Above) and the late Christopher Reeve.

Book:

The Victor Within: A story of optimism, tenacity and sheer determination.

At nineteen, Victor Vermeulen was a multi-talented athelete and scholar with an exceptionally bright future as a world-class cricketer.

Then he broke his neck in a tragic accident. Instead of dwelling on what might have been, he assessed the positive side of his situation and with the unwavering support of his mother, Isabella, has now established himself as one of South Africa’s most inspirational and sought-after motivational speakers. This is his story – one of optimism, tenacity and sheer determination.