A circus acrobat, Valentin took a bad fall and broke his back when he was seventeen. Dikul said no to the wheel-chair and painstakingly rehabilitated himself, largely with the help of his trusted kettlebells. But he did not stop there. He proceeded to become a great circus strongman juggling 80kg kettlebells and a powerlifter with mind-boggling lifts at sixty-something years of age!
More on Dikul here: http://www.rusnet.nl/news/2004/03/03/report02.shtml