eilmer of malmesbury: my new hero
My new hero is Eilmer of Malmesbury. He was an eleventh century Benedictine monk who attempted to copy Daedalus by fashioning a set of wings and jumping off the roof of the abbey, gliding 200 metres.
Sadly, he neglected a tail for equilibrium, cocked up the landing and broke both legs, leaving him lame for life. So what does he do? Despite being crippled he starts planning another go, although sadly his abbot wouldn’t let him.
I would argue that Eilmer was in fact pretty far from lame — Eilmer was awesome.