There comes a time in our lives when we need to look back and say WOW, can you believe that i have accomplished the impossible! The name Diana Nyad comes to mind, a true icon in every right. In the 70's she was The Worlds Greatest Long Distance Swimmer, has been inducted into the International Woman's Hall of Fame, and has broken so very many world records. At 62 years old Diana has in my opinion accomplished her dream and had the courage to do something we can only dream about. Swimming from the shores of Cuba to Key West. Do we have any idea how scary that is? I don't think so. Imagine being in the middle of the ocean........sharks, Box Jellyfish, and Mother Nature herself standing over you. The elements alone are hard enough. The deadly stings of box jellyfish are excruciating. You have to keep swimming through the pain no matter what. There is no place to stand, sit , or curl up and deal with the pain. You just have to swim through it. Box Jellyfish are not something you want to run into while swimming. Here is a quote from National Geographics "Their venom is considered to be among the most deadly in the world, containing toxins that attack the heart, nervous system, and skin cells. It is so overpoweringly painful, human victims have been known to go into shock and drown or die of heart failure before even reaching shore. Survivors can experience considerable pain for weeks and often have significant scarring where the tentacles made contact".
Then of course there are the sharks to deal with. Diana would have been the first swimmer to make it and not use a shark cage. Instead she had shark repellent and shark divers to patrol around her to try and keep the sharks at a distance. Now that is an extreme job don't you think?
She then had the elements to deal with....... Mother Nature, whom we all know is the Boss Lady! Well it seems that The Lady of the Earth was not favorable towards this quest. The lighting and white caps forced Diana and her crew to make the decision to stop the expedition
It was life threatening for Diana's crew as well as herself.
This woman who is turning 63, has taught us all that no matter what age you can follow your dreams. She did get back in the water and swim to the shores of Key West a winner in all our hearts
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