Any One of Us HBO Documentary

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Any One of Us HBO Documentary

On October 29, HBO will premiereAny One of Us, the documentary chronicling pro mountain biker Paul Basagoitia’s harrowing spinal cord injury (SCI) at the 2015 Red Bull Rampage and his determination on the road to recovery. According to Basagoitia, 100 percent of the film’s proceeds will be donated to spinal cord injury research.

Produced by Red Bull Films, the documentary also features the stories of others who have suffered SCIs. The intent of the film is to illustrate the daily challenges that SCI patients face and how they have remained hopeful in the face of a life-changing prognosis.

Before his injury, Basagoitia was at the top of his game, having already won Crankworx in 2004 and 2005. Among other accomplishments, he was the first mountain biker to successfully land a 720. He soon became a regular at Red Bull Rampage—competing in 2008, 2013, and 2014—and he was invited back to compete in 2015.

Basagoitia’s first run that year went terribly wrong: A rough landing after a 40-foot drop sent him off-course, causing him to crash. Landing on his back, the impact ended up partially severing his spinal cord and resulting in a burst-fracture of his 12th vertebrae. The spinal cord injury left him paralyzed from the waist down.

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But he was determined to walk again, despite the slim odds. Over the course of the months that followed, from the hospital to physical therapy to his new life at home, Basagoitia put in six hours a day working to overcome his paralysis—and he captured a lot of it on video.

Around nine months into his recovery, Basagoitia reached out to Red Bull Media House with the idea of creating the documentary. The film will feature a lot of this personal footage.

Basagoitia is now able to walk with a cane, and is able to hit his local trails with an electric mountain bike.

After its release on October 29 at 9 p.m. EST, the film will be available to view on demand starting October 30.

Service and News Editor

When she’s not out riding her mountain bike, Jessica is an editor for Popular Mechanics. She was previously an editor for Bicycling magazine.