Dan Skinstad captured the hearts of guests at the annual Breast Cancer Breakfast for ladies last week with his inspiring speech about his decision to live life to the full, overcoming his rare form of cerebral palsy known as spastic diplegia.
Dan Skinstad captured the hearts of guests at the annual Breast Cancer Breakfast for ladies last week with his inspiring speech about his decision to live life to the full, overcoming his rare form of cerebral palsy known as spastic diplegia.
For some the mere thought of taking an epic journey to Iceland is unimaginable. Now imagine doing this in a kayak. For the Old Andrean, this was an opportunity to show that with determination and courage the impossible and unimaginable can be realized.
Skinstad's condition was as a result of his having been born 10 weeks premature.
His decision to join Riaan Manser’s journey to Iceland was a personal mission to test his mental and physical limits and become an inspiration to others. “Medically and legally speaking I shouldn’t have done it. Thinking back on it, it was a bit silly,” said Skinstad jovially.
Skinstad and Manser took five months to complete their adventure and became the first South Africans to complete the odyssey. The adventurers had a camera crew accompanying them who would shadow them and only intervene if there was a medical emergency.
The ultimate message Skinstad delivered to guests at the breakfast: “We are human, we have problems and we have blessings, but what can change situations is your attitude.”
