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Our next hero also gropes the limits of human capabilities.
Some commentators reproach "Pealtnägija"
about having become "soft" because every now and then we make positive stories.
We liked it so much that we decided to start
an unofficial soft-section, for we refuse to accept that there is only worry
and trouble in life, there are also people
to be delighted about and to be taken as role models.
The first star of the section is Hegert Mölder
who can be called an adrenalin junkie in a wheel chair.
Skydiving and benji-jumping,
flying on a hang glider
and catapulting
are just a few examples of the extreme actions that take up the free time
of 38-year-old IT-businessman and father Hegert Mölder.
Seems unbelievable that the man
seemingly a daredevil just like Batman
has actually been in the wheelchair for the last 18 years.
It was a beautiful summer day. We were by the lake with the boys from school.
As usual, we mess around, swim, throw each other into water.
So it happened that a pretty girl pushed me into water from the bridge.
I had only a moment to choose whether to jump legs first or head first.
I chose the latter and so it went.
Today Hegert is completely paralyzed from the neck down.
He can move his arms, but not the fingers.
What makes the story more tragic is that up till the accident the young man, 20 at that time,
was an excellent 400 meters runner and race walker,
he was the Estonian champion in the latter. The physically fit student of the Luua forestry school
also dreamt of becoming a forester.
My life changed 100%. I used to have definite plans in my life,
I knew I wanted to be involved in forestry, but I won't go logging in this chair.
But as we know, life tends to make its own corrections and today we can see
the highest rewards of Estonian advertising on the wall of Hegert's office.
The Golden Egg awards for
his remarkable deeds in the IT-world. As a web architect, Hegert has created
award-winning home pages for several recognized Estonian companies
and also for TV-series, for example "Kelgukoerad" and "Pilvede all".
How do you work when your fingers are not moving?
Working on a computer implies quite a lot of typing?
I don't know, it has never been a problem for me.
You grab the mouse with two hands and type the same way.
Tip with your finger with one hand and my speed, I think, is very good.
When peeking at the screen of Hegert's computer, a mysterious icon
named "Wished experiences" catches the eye.
I'm working in home office and doing creative work. There comes a time when you feel
you're at this dead point, everything becomes exhausted
or turns into a rut. You feel like ants are crawling, you're restless.
Then you realize you have to open the list,
get a boost of energy or restart everything.
The file named "Wished experiences" is a continuously complemented list
of extreme sports experiences that Hegert, paralyzed for 18 years,
dreams of and steadily carries out item by item,
defying his fear of height and the prejudice
that being paralyzed means writing off from active life.
What comes to skydiving in particular, I did insist.
I wrote and called many times and didn't lose my grit.
Since I'm paralyzed from shoulders down, the fingers are not working,
then I'm of no help in the jump.
I'm like a 60-kilo bag of flour
whom he has to jump down with and who is attached to his chest.
I support him very much and go to watch as often as possible.
I cheer and the last time I was afraid too.
So far, Hegert has been able to cross off
12 different extreme sports on his wishlist. He has done the parachute jump,
the benji-jump both with and without the wheel chair and also the ride with a real bob-sledge
that surprisingly turned out to be the most nervetickling experience of the list.
When we went to ride the bob in the winter,
the instructors took everything very simply there, they sat me down.
I told them to tape me, but they thought it was not needed.
I also thought I won't be going anywhere from that bath.
My friend Andrus sat behind me and had to hold me with one hand
and himself with the other.
The speed of the bob in the winter is about 110 km/h and when it rushes into a curve...
if Andrus hadn't been behind my back,
I would probably have dropped out after a few curves.
The first rule of Hegert's trials is that
he will not repeat any sport he has already tried, for he believes you cannot beat the first impression
and you should not.
He also follows the principle that everything that has been written in the wishes
must be kept a secret until the last minute.
When it is certain that we're going, then, of course, I will tell.
I'll show my daughter a video about how it will be
so that she wouldn't be scared that daddy will go and jump or fly.
How does he prepare or is he somehow different from the usual then?
A little excited. And glad.
And what is he like after the jumps?
Happy.
I think he then feels better that he is alive.
Naturally, being in the wheel chair or that my fingers are not working
restrict some things,
but you must find the right solution and everything can be done.
I don't feel that I'm chained to the wheel chair.
This expression is only in the people's heads.