Who Is This Crazy Guy?

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Warrior, devoted father, extreme athlete, artist, storyteller

Paul is a man of many facets. A former soldier in the South African army, undercover police officer in special operations, he has accomplished many feats that have tested his determination and resilience to the absolute limit. 

From the octane-charged world of auto racing, to running 130-mile mountain trail races over the Rockies or driving across the African continent, Shippey’s colorful life of adventure has encompassed a great diversity of adrenaline filled experiences. It has also resulted in some great life lessons.

This is man who has served as a soldier, a police officer, firefighter and more. During this life of adventure, he witnessed great tragedy and suffering in Africa, evaded Libyan intelligence in the Sahara desert, was crazy enough to drive Smart cars across the arctic, and engage in gun battles with bad guys in the slums of South Africa.

Skydiver, scuba-diver, pro-level triathlete, marathon runner, mountain climber, summer and winter biathlete, race car driver, competitive cyclist, rock climber, mountain biker, extreme runner - to name a few.

Certified wild-land and structure firefighter. Graduate of police and firefighter academies, graduate of university with an honors in political science. Graduate of several survival courses yet undergraduate of life...

Get the idea... this man has played life on the very edge. He has learned to improvise to survive, learned to dig very deep to finish much of what he has started - whether it be on the start line of an extreme trail race, or the terrifying smoky innards of a burn-building during structure fire training. 

I find myself slowing down and calming down when the shit hits the fan. It’s like I have the ability to hit the slo-mo button when others around me are freaking out or falling apart. This has kept me alive over the years. I recall a gun battle in Alexandra township where a Zulu sniper, holed up in the Inkatha hostel, was firing an AK at our police team as we exited a Casspir armored vehicle in response to a savage battle between the feuding factions. 

One of the sergeants near me took a bullet in the shoulder, and went down like sack of potatoes with a loud grunt. Death was in the air... the smell, the sound, all tinged with the pungent smell of cordite as our team fired volleys from our R4s back in anger at the darkened window. At times the 4th floor room would illuminate with AK muzzle flash as the sniper pulled the trigger. Clack. clack. clack - bullets whizzed by and hit the metal shack which served as our only cover...

It’s in moments like this that a survival instinct kicks in like no other.

We surprisingly all have the innate ability to tap into this primeval state of being,

which is why humans are able to perform amazing feats and show resilience in the face of grave danger - whether it be rescuing a fellow human in danger or charging an enemy position on the battlefield while under fire.