Marian Veith’s healing journey after avalanche accident which claimed his leg [VIDEO]

It is normal for a person to be engrossed with a sense of survivor’s guilt and regret after experiencing a life-changing event.  

Professionals say this psychological phenomenon can be associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety disorders, and complicated grief.

For 34-year-old German extreme sports enthusiast Marian Veith, who lost his leg in a skiing accident in 2022, the sense of regret or guilt was far away from him.

“Not really, luckily,” Veith tells The Citizen.

“If you have been on the brink of death and you got away somehow, it’s easier to be grateful than bitter.”

Raised in the Alps as the great-grandson of a pioneering skier, Veith’s life changed after an avalanche three years ago. He admits that things weren’t as seamless as they might appear.

“The first couple of months were hard, obviously, being tied to the bed for almost two months, nobody wants to go through that,” said the skier.

Veith said he faced the uncertainty of whether he’d be able to fully recover from an accident like that, figuratively speaking.

“But things started to brighten up again when I got the first prosthetic leg and could finally start moving again about four months after the accident, it was refreshing.”

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Documenting healing journey

Veith was open to the idea from a childhood friend of documenting his healing journey.

“My good friend Niclas, who filmed the series, happened to meet people from Ottobock, the global prostheses company, at a trade fair and they started talking, telling the story of my accident shortly after it happened,” shared Veith.

He and Niclas have known each other since Veith was 16 years old and previously shot footage together.  “When he asked me if I wanna do it, I didn’t have to think twice,” said Veith.

They have packaged the docuseries in four episodes titled New Boundaries.

“I would be happy if people take New Boundaries as an inspiration to not hold themselves back no matter the state they are in,” he said.

“People are often too shy to try something new, because they are afraid of the initial failure that necessarily comes with trying new things even if it means learning to walk without one leg. If people think ‘ok that guy can learn how to snowboard with one leg, why can’t I do it!’ that would be great,” he continued.

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Support structure

The docuseries not only shows Veith’s determination to move on after the accident but also highlights the importance of his family’s support.

“They have been a huge help of course. I am super grateful for all of their support.”

“Ultimately though,” concedes Veith, “I think it has been an internal process for me, since first and foremost, you have to accept that you have turned over a new chapter of your life, and this is the ‘new you’,” he said.

In the first episode of New Boundaries, Veith’s girlfriend said the extreme sports enthusiast viewed the accident rationally.

“I think I’ve always been like that,” he says.  

“It’s just my way of thinking and looking at life. I probably got it from my parents who have always been objective thinkers when it came to family, finances, or life in general.”

Through the accident, Veith has built comradery and brotherhood with other athletes who lost their legs.

In mid-October, Ottobock hosted a live YouTube talk, where Veith was joined by two-time Paralympian Noah Elliot who lost his leg to cancer and South African actor and shark bite survivor Caleb Swanepoel where they discussed how they’ve broken barriers and redefined their goals.

“They are an inspiration and a motivation for me,” Veith said of the aforementioned pair who respectively lost their legs.

“Noah is an amazing snowboarder. Some people use the term para snowboarder, but I don’t use it, because it takes away attention from the fact that he is an amazing snowboarder regardless of his physique.”

Veith is now returning to the mountains, learning to snowboard with a prosthetic leg, and aiming to represent Germany in the Paralympics.

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