David Lega - Handsfree (2009)

"David is someone who gives others faith in life - as a gift and a fantastic oppurtunity. Someone who himself shows what we can do when we, with the help of others, start believing in ourselves."

The Outstanding Young Person of the World Award

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“I have traveled around the world, yet I can’t even take a tram without assistance to board.

I’m considered one of Sweden’s greatest athletes, but I still haven’t figured out how to throw darts with my mouth.

I hold fourteen world records in swimming, but I still need help putting on my swim trunks. I am David Lega. I am one of the most physically challenged individuals you will ever meet. This is my story.”

In the 1990s, he was one of our greatest athletes, and by the 2000s, he became one of Sweden’s most sought-after speakers. In 2010, he entered the political arena, and since 2012, surveys from the SOM Institute have found him to be Gothenburg’s most popular politician.

This is the translated edition of Petter Karlsson’s book about David Lega, a story about the joy of life and what can be achieved with determination, ambition, and the right mindset. Confined to a wheelchair, almost completely paralyzed, with bent, unusable arms and legs, he refuses to feel disabled. In the book, he shares, in a close and vivid way, his extraordinary life and his journey to be seen and accepted for who he truly is.