Adam Campbell delivers inspirational speech after life-changing mountain running accident

After recovering from a life-changing mountain running accident this past summer, Adam Campbell is counting his blessings. 

The avid ultra and mountain runner recently delivered a speech at a Ted X Canmore event explaining his deadly accident that occurred on Aug. 31, 2016. Though Campbell was posted up in the hospital with serious injuries and had to re-learn the most basic movements (imagine having to learn how to stand and walk again…), the focus of his talk was on all the positives things that came out of his near-death experience. 

RELATED: Canadian runner Adam Campbell involved in nearly fatal accident

It has just been less than six months since Campbell took a serious fall when mountain running on Rogers Pass. While he could be bitter about having had to re-learn how to use his body or for having to take time away from all the activities he loves, Campbell recounts the experience placing emphasis on every positive aspect that came from the accident. 

The runner, who has been an athlete all his life and has been on five different national teams (including mountain and ultra running) has competed in 100-milers, run peaks along mountain ranges in Colorado and taken on mounds as high as 66,000 feet. 

“I took one step too far over the edge,” he says referring to his accident. He was holding on to loose rock when he felt it come loose. Suddenly, he was upside-down falling down the rocky incline. “It was such certainty in my mind: I knew I was a dead man,” said Campbell. 

He says he was surprised to have had survived the fall. He was airlifted to hospital and he began his painful recovery. 

During his talk, Campbell reads from his journal an entry from early on in the recovery. (Dated Sept. 5.)

“I can’t sleep from pain, I am lying here sore and bruised. I have metal rods holding my back and hip together, I have drying scabs across my body. I feel a deep stabbing pain with every gentle movement,” he wrote. “People around me are happy and by circumstance, I am happy. My family has been brought together by my accident in a way I couldn’t have seen in years. It’s a feeling I didn’t think I’d ever get to feel again. I’ve been forced to face personal demons, that I’ve used as a crutch for far too long.”

Though he had to recover from an incredibly serious accident and work on his endurance to make it from his bed to the bathroom, Campbell describes the positives like his parents reconnecting after 20 years and his family coming from all over the globe. He has also since gotten engaged to his girlfriend. 

If you watch any inspirational video today, it should be Campbell’s. This 16-minute clip will serve to remind that there are positive in any given situation.