How A Quadriplegic Man Became A Pro Racecar Driver | Torsten Gross

The Checkup with Doctor Mike

DM Operations Inc.

Medicine, Health & Fitness

4.9 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 6 August 2025

⏱️ 116 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

I'll teach you how to become the media's go-to expert in your field. Enroll in The Professional's Media Academy now: https://www.professionalsmediaacademy.com/

Huge thanks to Torsten Gross for joining me! Follow him here and check out his new series on Amazon "Just Hands":

JUST HANDS: https://www.primevideo.com/detail/Just-Hands-For-the-Love-of-Racing/0SIUO0CPYS7RW5R6POZZ9XQ4ZF

DONATE: https://www.justhands.org/donate

IG: https://www.instagram.com/torstenfgross/?hl=en

00:00 Intro

01:14 His Death

9:46 His Motivation

13:11 Health Insurance

16:50 His Mother

21:30 Physical and Emotional Rehab

28:30 Hardest Challenges

35:10 US vs German Medical Care

45:25 "Disabled" and Representation

58:17 Inappropriate Assumptions

1:05:26 How He Races

1:12:05 How Other Drivers Feel

1:14:00 His Broken Foot

1:17:09 His Amazon Show

1:22:20 Meeting His Wife

1:28:05 Dating In A Wheelchair

1:32:55 Fame

1:35:17 Worst Assumptions

1:42:12 Just Hands Foundation

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Contact Email: [email protected]

Executive Producer: Doctor Mike

Production Director and Editor: Dan Owens

Managing Editor and Producer: Sam Bowers

Editor and Designer: Caroline Weigum

Editor: Juan Carlos Zuniga

* Select photos/videos provided by Getty Images *

** The information in this video is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. All content, including text, graphics, images, and information, contained in this video is for general information purposes only and does not replace a consultation with your own doctor/health professional **

Transcript

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0:00.0	It is the only sport on the planet that makes us equal to able-body people.
0:06.4	The freedom of that, the liberation of actually competing against everybody, not just a subsect of
0:13.6	humanity. I did 12 marathons in 12 months. I'm the only quadriplegic that's a rescue scuba diver.
0:18.2	I do a lot of fun stuff. This was the first time
0:21.4	where I was like, I'm equal. Today, I finally welcome a badass pro race car driver to the
0:31.4	checkup podcast with a really cool story to share. Torsten Groh suffered a life-altering injury
0:37.1	at just 15 years old and has spent
0:39.4	the last 30 years living with C6 quadriplegia. This means that he has no control over his lower
0:44.9	body and limited movement below his neck, so no pedals for this legend. Because of his drive to win
0:51.0	and a drive to drive, Torsten has become an icon in the racing world, documented
0:57.0	in a new series on Amazon called Just Hands.
1:00.4	On this episode, Torsen tells me all about that traumatic injury, the rigorous rehab he had
1:05.0	endured in the US and Germany, and how badly he'd kick my butt on a track when we race.
1:10.5	We'll see about that.
1:11.2	But please join me in welcoming Tourist and Gross to the Checkup podcast.
1:14.5	You're setting a lot of firsts for our podcast today.
1:18.4	First number one, our first race car driver on the channel, which is exciting, given I have a lot of passion for driving cars.
1:26.9	And you're also, I believe,
1:28.7	the first person on the podcast to have died, which is a miracle that you're here. It's, yeah,
1:36.4	or science. Or science. But let's talk about how we got here. Yeah. What was the situation
1:43.2	that culminated to you losing your life, being brought back to life,
1:48.1	and now sitting here chatting with us today?
	...

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