The inspiring reason this video has been watched over 47 million times
Meet Cliff Devries, who was once a nationally-ranked driver who dreamed of going to the Olympics. But in his early 20s, Devries was diagnosed with cancer and the 13-hour surgery to remove a 6-inch long tumour left him with the right side of his body paralysed.
It brought his sporting aspirations to a halt, but the diving lover continued his dream as a diving coach at Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York.
Each year Devries celebrates his birthday by diving in the school’s pool and this year, for his 44th birthday, the inspirational moment was finally captured on video.
The video has been viewed more than 47 million times and is still racking up views.
“I’ve never really seen it as an inspirational thing. It’s just a lot of fun for me to get up on the board and be back in the water,” Devries told Deseret News. “The fact that it has blown up to be a large thing where a lot of people can say this is something that is good and helped them, that’s just an extra bonus for me.”
"It's been an amazing few days," he said. I'm just happy that everybody is seeing something that they can take from it and that it has been a positive video for everybody."
In the video, Devries walks to the edge of a three-meter diving board before he "falls" into the water.
His 20-year-old son Corey, also a diver at Monroe Community College, spotted his father on the board, catching hid dad when he lost his balance.
"I wanted one more inch, so as I dove my feet wouldn't scrape the board," Devries said. "That's when my leg locked up and I fell back onto Corey. I was pretty scared there for a moment. A whole bunch of scenarios were going through my head."
"Corey had me and as soon as I was back up, I was set to go, and I did," he said.
Viewers of the video were particularly captivated by Devries’ daughter’s reaction. The video shows five-year-old Grace cheering for her father from the pool deck and hugging him as soon as she climbs out of the water.
What Devries said he loves most about the video is that it simply shows his routine on the pool deck.
"The people around me see me as normal," he said. "I walk through on deck and nobody's staring at me. Nobody thinks its special. It's just Cliff going up on the board doing his annual dive."
"There are a lot of people who walk differently, who talk differently and who look differently," he said. "If we can take on thing away from this (video) it's that we need to embrace that."
"I'd love to do a back dive one of these years," he said with a laugh. "But I'm just not that ambitious."