An Intimate Look at Paul Basagoitia’s Spinal Cord Injury Recovery

As one of the top professional mountain bikers in the industry, Paul Basagoitia was living his wildest dream. A day on the bike consisted of flipping in front of roaring crowds and launching off cliffs as tall as buildings. His career was marked by prestigious accolades: first to win Red Bull Joyride, first to throw a 720, and first to land a double backflip at Red Bull Rampage. But then at the 2015 Red Bull Rampage, everything changed in an instant. 

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A clipped pedal sent Basagoitia tumbling, and when the dust settled horror washed over him: he couldn't feel his legs. The crash resulted in a burst fracture of his T12 vertebra, which damaged his spinal cord (SCI). The doctor would later inform him that he had a five percent chance of feeling anything waist down or being able to walk more than 10 feet with a cane. But Basagoitia refused to accept these odds, and instead he went to work relearning how to walk. Any One of Us follows this journey, as well as the incredible stories of other people living and persevering with SCI. The film premieres on HBO Tuesday, October 29th.