‘Lucky To Be Alive’: Greg Norman Had a Life-Threatening Incident That Prompted Him To Take Up Golf, He Revealed in a Conversation Once

Personality is a collection of all the experiences that we go through in life. Every strong personality has one or more life shaping experiences. One such human is our very own LIV Golf chief, Greg Norman; the man has built himself from scratch. Greg has built a brand for himself after beginning small. The ‘Shark’ has built an empire worth $400 million, and has proven to be a force not just on the course but also off it. In his book ’The Way of the Shark: Lessons on Golf, Business, and Life,’ Greg talked about an incident that changed his entire perspective towards life and made him who he is today. Back in 2006, in an interview with Today, Norman revealed details about his close encounter with death!

A near death experience for Greg Norman

‘The Shark,’ while discussing his book in an interview, talked about how there is always an experience in life that completely changes your outlook, and completely alters your approach to life. He cited an incident that took place when his family moved to Brisbane. A major cyclone swept along the course. Norman, being his daredevil self, saw this as an opportunity to watch the biggest wave possible. He got into his gear and went body surfing. Little did he know that a life-changing experience was waiting in store for him.

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Narrating the story, he said, “Instead of catching a breaker I could easily ride into the beach, I found myself in an uncontrollable dumper that quickly sucked me down, bounced me hard on the sandy bottom, and rolled me around like a rag doll.”

He described his whole body as being inside a washing machine. However, only Norman could describe this experience as terrifying yet humbling. He further said, “Until then, I thought I was bulletproof. But when it was actually taking place, I had this inner calm come over me.”

One thing that his fans know about him is that he excels under pressure. This is exactly what happened with ‘the Shark.’ While experiencing his near-death experience, he became calmer. All he could think about was saving himself from the wrath of the cyclone. According to an article by Today, Norman said, “For me it has always been that way: I take stock of the situation and analyze the best way to deal with it.” Finally, to his luck, he was released from the grip of the wave, and he crawled his way back to the surface.

How the near-death experience shaped Norman?

The first gasp of air felt like a blessing in disguise to the young Greg as he successfully crawled back to the surface. That very moment, he realized that there was nothing bigger than the gift of life. But that was not the end of the struggle to save his life; he was still half a mile from the beach. Narrating the story, he said, “The only thing I could do was swim against the tide, which violates all the rules of safety in the ocean. But it was my only option.”

Young Greg was completely exhausted but thankfully safe and alive. Thinking about the incident the very next day, he said to himself, “Oh, man, what an ordeal, I’m really lucky to be alive. Surely, there must be something I can do that isn’t quite as dangerous.” That day, Norman actually realized the limitations of a man. That was the moment when he decided to completely dedicate himself to golf.

What have been the life changing experiences in your life? Share your experiences with us in our comments section below.

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