A South African man who was impaled on a crowbar in a 2015 mining accident has qualified to run in the Comrades ultramarathon on Sunday.

Daniel de Wet lost a kidney and suffered other internal injuries when the 1.8-meter (5.9-foot) metal rod entered his groin area and exited his back just below a shoulder blade.

The 37-year-old says he was "given a second chance" in life and that he looks forward to the 89-kilometer (55-mile) Comrades run between the South African cities of Pietermaritzburg and Durban. He ran in the ultramarathon six times before the accident.

Cheryl Winn, who chairs the Comrades Marathon Association, says the run is about "the power of the human spirit."