Vincenzo finished an Ironman after losing his leg. He now wants to climb Everest

Lying in a hospital bed after losing his right leg in a devastating traffic accident, Vincenzo Garofalo made himself a series of promises that would ensure the injury would not define the rest of his life.

Four years later, the 32-year-old Neapolitan has ticked off two of his biggest goals by walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain and completing an Ironman in France – and he’s only just getting started, as more promises and goals are now unfolding.

“Step by step, slowly, slowly we can do everything. Believe in your dream and don’t listen to anyone. I was told it would take me two or three years to do an Ironman, which I did after nine months from starting training,” he says, adding that he is now hoping to find a sponsor who can help him buy the specialist prosthetics he needs for future races and challenges.

Originally from Naples, Vincenzo had moved to Malta in January 2021 for a one-year internship after completing a master’s degree in marine engineering.

He had planned to travel the world once the internship ended, but his life changed dramatically just weeks before he was due to leave.

Believe in your dream and don’t listen to anyone

Vincenzo lost his leg in a traffic accident after being thrown from his bike and then run over by a car, leaving him with life-threatening injuries.

He and a friend had been on their way home to Mosta on December 5, 2021, when the incident happened near the PAMA Shopping Village at around 4am.

He woke from a 10-day coma to discover he had lost his right leg. It was then that the former football referee decided to adopt a positive mindset and set himself a series of promises – goals that would give him something to work towards.

He vowed that he would walk the Camino de Santiago – a network of ancient pilgrimage routes across Europe leading to the shrine of the apostle St James in Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

He also committed to take part in the Paralympics, and one day reach Mount Everest Base Camp.

Vincenzo woke from a 10-day coma to discover he had lost his right leg.

After six months in hospital, he continued his rehabilitation and, when he was ready, began training so he could fulfil those promises one by one.

“Any improvement is a challenge. When I woke up from the coma, even standing from the bed was a challenge. My life is a challenge right now, but in a good way, because with this challenge I can improve myself and try to do everything better and better,” he said.

Eight months after leaving the hospital, Vincenzo was already determined to push towards his goals, and his friends had set up a crowdfunding page to support him.

So far, he has used the money collected for rehabilitation and other medical-related expenses.

Last summer, he completed the Camino de Santiago in 40 days. He was forced to stop for four days after developing an infection in his leg, but continued walking using his prosthetic leg and crutches. When he ran out of money along the route, he carried a sign on his back asking for help, and strangers supported him throughout the journey.

Vincenzo last year completed the Camino de Santiago in 40 days.

During the Camino, he realised that competing at the Paralympics was not yet realistic because he did not have the specialist running prosthesis he would need. Instead, he shifted his goal to completing an Ironman.

He embarked on a demanding training routine, waking up early every morning. It was not easy.

“If I don’t train, the day does not start well. I love to train to test my limits. I wake up very early and start to train – swim, bike or gym,” he says.

In June this year he completed the Ironman in France. Without specialist prosthetics for each discipline, he adapted. He swam without a prosthetic, relying entirely on his arms; cycled using an orthopaedic prosthetic; and completed the run using an older prosthetic while using a wheelchair between stages.

Now his future ambitions depend on access to the right equipment.

'I want to reach the summit'

“My dream is to find a sponsor to be able to buy prostheses to run. It’s not a one-time purchase. They last about 600km, so I will have to change them at least once a year, which costs €6,000 a year... For a piece of my freedom – to be free to run.”

This year Vincenzo completed the Ironman challenge in France.

With the right prosthetics, he believes he could realistically aim for the Paralympics and fulfil another of the promises he made to himself by reaching Everest Base Camp. That dream has since grown into something even bigger.

“I want to reach the summit,” he says.

Beyond that, he has his sights set on taking part in the Race Across America (RAAM), one of the world’s toughest endurance cycling events.

Such ambitions come at a high cost. Vincenzo only recently began working again after becoming self-employed as a Lego reseller.

Until then, he has no intention of slowing down. He is preparing to take part in the Lifecycle Challenge in September – a 2,000km ride across Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda to raise funds for kidney disease research and awareness. He might suffer from kidney problems in future since he is diabetic.

Vincenzo training on his bike.

His training can be followed on social media, where one clip even shows his prosthetic leg flying off during a run before a passing stranger stops to help. He chooses to laugh rather than dwell on moments like these.

“I cannot say everything is perfect. Sometimes I am sad. People on social media with many kinds of disability give me a lot of motivation. I am lucky – I have one leg.

“I always try to smile, but I’m not always like this. Sometimes I have sad moments. When I’m in these moments, I think: Vincenzo, do you want to cry or fight and find a solution to this problem? And I decide to fight every day because if I cry, I’m just losing energy in a bad way. What will happen? Nothing. The leg won’t grow. Better to work at my dreams... It’s always hard, but always with a smile because life is amazing, guys.”