Man who had to learn to walk again after being hit by stolen car breaks deadlift record

Liam Beville’s comeback story is worthy of a Hollywood movie.

The Irish dad-of-two had to learn how to walk again after he was mowed down by a stolen car when he was 18.

He worked so hard on rebuilding himself that he ended up becoming a national powerlifting champion and breaking the world record for heaviest deadlift (male) (MP4).

He was 57 years old when, on 5 February 2022, he lifted an incredible 285 kg (628.31 lb) at the IrishPO National Single Lift Championships in Limerick, Ireland.

For context, that's heavier than the weight of an adult male alligator, a vending machine or a baby grand piano.

MP4 is an impairment classification which refers to the inability to generate full force for movement through the arms and legs.

Liam didn’t start weight training until after his accident, and despite his disability, he has only ever competed in able-bodied competitions.

Liam being pushed in a pram after his accident

In fact, he was the only disabled participant at the event where he broke his record, and organizers gave him the Best Lifter award.

“It felt like vindication,” he said. “For the pain, the perseverance, and the years of quiet work when nobody was watching.

“I’ve had a hip replacement, a full knee replacement, and long-term disability, but I never let that define me. Standing there with the weight in my hands, knowing Guinness World Records would one day certify it — that was the moment I reclaimed every part of myself.”

It was on 3 June 1983 that Liam was struck by a stolen car in a head-on collision while he was walking on a footpath in Limerick.

He explained: “Both of my legs were catastrophically injured — open compound fractures, massive trauma, and long-term structural damage.

“I spent a year in plaster casts, six months in a wheelchair, and underwent multiple surgeries. I had to relearn how to walk. My rehabilitation started with me entering a gym while still on crutches, and from there, I rebuilt myself physically and mentally, eventually becoming a national champion in powerlifting.”

Liam on crutches in 1984, pictured with his friend Tony

Liam, who worked in technology before retiring due to his disability, started weight training after his accident to help with his rehabilitation, but it soon became his passion.

Just three years after the crash, he won the Limerick Powerlifting Championships and was awarded Best Lifter.

In 1988, he broke his first national deadlift record. In 1992, he broke the Irish Powerlifting total and broke the Irish and Celtic Nations Deadlift record.

Liam, who has also run a successful self-taught web development and digital marketing business, said: “I wasn’t interested in sympathy or special categories — I wanted to compete on my own terms. I saw that no disabled lifter had ever officially broken the barrier I knew I was capable of, and I wanted to prove to myself — and others — that I still had more to give.

“I set the goal to become the strongest disabled deadlifter ever recorded.”

Liam trained alone for his record, doing things like box squats, band work and progressive deadlift cycles to get himself ready. It took him about three years to reach the world record weight.

When asked what message he was hoping to send with his world record, Liam said: “That adversity doesn’t end you — it refines you. I want people to understand that disability doesn’t mean inability.

“I never competed in a disabled category because I didn’t want my achievements to be diminished or doubted. You can be broken — but not defeated. That’s why my favourite quote has always been, ‘It is what it is.’ Accept what you can’t change, and fight like hell for what you can.”