Former world-class high diver, Portland resident, and 2-time winner of the city marathon’s hand cycle division, Tom Haig, will celebrate the release of his new book, “Global Nomad: My Travels Through Diving, Tragedy, and Rebirth,” on February 4, 2023, at the Oakshire Brew Hall, 5013 NE 42nd Ave, in Portland, Oregon, starting at 2:00 p.m. The event will include live music and a Q&A session with former Adidas CEO, Steve Wynne.

In 1996, Haig crashed headfirst into a truck and suddenly found himself living a very different life from a wheelchair. His recovery—mentally, physically, and emotionally—was excruciating. “I’d been in car accidents, fallen from water towers, and landed flat on my back from 70-foot multiple somersaulting dives. No crying. I used to swear, jump up and down, and tell jokes. Anything but cry. I was going to have to learn how to cry again, or I wasn’t going to survive. Then again, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to survive.”

An athlete and storyteller to the core, Haig reveals the most difficult aspects of his transition to a wheelchair, the relationships that mattered and why, and how his approach to life and his identity both changed and remained the same. He also shares about pushing limits, moving past boundaries, the risks and joys of traveling solo, and his international charitable work.

Since his spinal cord injury, Haig has won marathons, traveled solo in countries around the world, met the Dalai Lama, jammed with jazz great Oscar Klein, and started the charitable nonprofit International Rehabilitation Forum with his physician brother, Andy.

Watch a CBS news feature on Tom!