Cival Mills - The Busiest Immobile Person On Earth?

26-Year old Cival Mills was a classic over-achiever, excelling at everything he did - whether it was playing sports or academics. Then, on December 8th, 2000, just five days before completing his hospital internship, the recently graduated doctor, was struck by a tragic event.

An automobile accident left the young South African with 'Locked-In-Syndrome', a condition that essentially paralysis or shuts down all the body muscles, except those that control eye movement. This meant that while his brain worked perfectly, he could not communicate his thoughts, nor move any part of his body. While a setback like this would devastate any normal person, Cival was anything but normal.

After a tough few months of hoping his condition would go away, the young man decided to stop wallowing in self-pity and get his life back together. His first challenge was to communicate to his family that he could hear and understand everything that was going on around him.

He caught their attention by laughing at a cartoon his sister put in front of him. A few weeks later, he somehow managed to spell 'Love You Mum', on a spelling board, an effort that took him 20 minutes and left him exhausted, but opened up communications with the world around him.

After spending four months in the hospital's intensive care unit, he was transferred to the Spinal ward for 22 months, where he managed to regain some movement in his thumb. This was enough for him to start writing an award-winning book. Entitled 'This Too Will Pass', it talked about his past experiences, as well as, future hope that his life would some day get back to the way it was before the accident - Something he strongly believes to this day, almost a decade after the tragic event.

Since then, Cival has gone through a number of experimental surgeries, which have been successful in tiny increments - He can now lift and turn his head, move his left arm and hand and even, has a little movement in his legs.

Meanwhile though, he hasn't wasted much time - achieving more than most able-bodied people. In the last ten years, he has not only completed a 350-mile trek across South Africa riding a specially adapted quad bike, but also, written a book about his adventures. The now 36-year old who travels extensively giving motivational speeches, has recently also taken up scuba diving.

Cival who calls himself the busiest immobile man on earth, believes that one should never lose hope and most importantly, never take life and good health for granted - Something we should all keep in mind at this special time of the year, as we celebrate Turkey day with all our loved ones. To read more about this amazing man, check out his website - www.civalmills.co.za.

Happy Thanksgiving!

sources: civilmills.co.za, dailymail.co.uk