In 2008, Stig Pryds was diagnosed with something called psoriatic arthritis. Things were so bad that he could barely walk and he lost his business. For nearly five years, Pryds swallowed the pills the doctors prescribed and went through the motions he was told to go through, only to find that his pain was worsening and his quality of life was just rapidly going downhill.
Realizing he had to do something drastic, he took a leap of faith: he quit all the drugs cold turkey, overhauled his diet, and picked up yoga and freediving with a passion. Lo and behold, things started getting better. In a few short months, his mobility significantly improved and was able to move around without a cane—and that was just the beginning.
Within a year, Stig had become one of the best freedivers in the world. He was setting Danish records, traveling the world to dive, and perhaps most importantly, telling people his story. He found that diving in warmer water and traveling to different training places worked far better than any drugs ever did. His story is one of self-recovery, self-motivation, and a drive to simply feel good every day.
Then, something happened that threw a wrench in things. The insurance company that paid his disability check cut him off—he was, after all, doing things that a person with a disability shouldn’t be able to do. Pryds’ argument, however, was that those things were what was making him better. According to Pryds the insurance company wasn’t buying it, and it not only upheld its decision but threatened to sue him, as well.
“We shot this video in January, the hardest month for Stig, where he had to figure out how to proceed,” wrote the creators of the video you see above, which was shot in Nemo 33, a diving training center in Belgium. “We talked about how life can keep dealing you blow after blow, and how you know that you’ll be okay anyway. But it still sucks that you have to deal with the blows, and have to go through that uncertainty of what comes next. Stig has decided to focus on his new breathing program, in which he teaches people how to breathe properly to deal with stress and disease, together with yoga and diet. He might not be able to compete much this year, but he’s getting back up and doing his best to be of use to others.”
