Disabled and Proud

As you probably know, the Paralympic Games are about to begin. On the sixth of March, the traditional opening ceremony will take place at the Arena di Verona in Italy. Among the first announced artists are Stewart Copeland, legendary drummer of The Police, and Meduza, global ambassadors of house music.

Director Maria Laura Lascone presented the creative themes of the ceremonies together with Alfredo Accatino and Angelo Bonello, who will bring this spectacle to audiences in Italy and around the world.

The title of the ceremony is Life in Motion, a tribute to life as change and transformation. It is inspired by the language of art and its unique ability to interpret our ever-changing contemporary reality. This approach aims to redefine the concept of disability through a new harmony between people and the environment. I can’t wait for the spectacle that has been promised!

If you want to know more about the event, you can visit the website of the International Paralympic Committee by clicking on the link down below.

Lara Lima is an amazing 18 year old paralympic weightlifter from Uberlândia, a city in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais.

Lara has been a wheelchair user for all her life as she was born with both spina bifida myelomeningocele and arthrogryposis. Myelomeningocele is a condition in which there grows a malformation in the spine during pregnancy. This consequentially causes damage to various parts of the spinal column, including the spinal cord. As Lara’s spinal cord was completely severed, she never had any feeling in her legs and has been completely paralyzed from her waist down her entire life. Besides that, her legs couldn’t move around freely during her time in the womb. This resulted in arthrogryposis, meaning that most of the joints in Lara’s legs have stood in a completely fixed and often bent position for all her life.

Lara always had a very active and athletic character. During her time in primary school she started trying out different sports to find out what suited her best. She especially liked swimming and wheelchair dancing and decided to join a dance group and an athletic club to bring her game to a higher level.

As a child, Lara loved to walk on her hands or move around the house using only the strength of her arms. She also didn't shy away from climbing the stairs at her friends' houses and was even surprisingly good at it.

Things like these didn’t go unnoticed by the people around her and at the age of 10, a friend suggested her that she should try out the sport of powerlifting. While she really liked swimming and dancing, she immediately knew that powerlifting would become her ultimate passion!

At CDDU, the athletic club where she joined the powerlifting team, Lara still holds the record of youngest weightlifter to compete in an official tournament!

Lara made her international debut in 2017 and now competes in tournaments all over the world. In 2019, she won a silver medal at the junior competition of the World Championships in Dubai, UAE. In May this year, she booked her biggest success as of now by winning gold in the junior competition and bronze in the adult competition of the World Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Lara will also represent her country at the 2020 Paralympic Games which will start in just a few days!

Feel free to check out Lara’s Instagram page if you'd like to see more of her athletic endeavours!

Tamara Abdalla Puia is a stunning 29 year old model from Indaiatuba, a city in the Brazilian state of São Paulo.

Tamara was born with spina bifida myelomeningocele. This is a condition in which there grows a malformation in the spine during pregnancy that causes damage to various parts of the spinal column, including the spinal cord. As Tamara’s spinal cord was completely severed, she never had any feeling in her legs and has been paralyzed from the waist down her entire life.

As long as everyone around her can remember, Tamara always loved photography. She really liked taking pictures but also loved being in the spotlights herself. Tamara always got lots of compliments on the photos she shared on her social media and slowly but surely she started doing more and more modeling jobs. She now shares lots of her projects on Instagram where she now almost has 3000 followers. If you're interested, feel free to check out the link down below!

Besides photography and modeling, Tamara often spends time with friends and family, loves a day at the beach and really likes to swim. She also loves dancing, listening to music and regularly goes to concerts.

Tamara really doesn’t mind living with spina bifida. She's capable of doing whatever she wants and lives completely independent from others. She never really talks about her disability but did remark that —even if she had the choice— she wouldn't choose to live her life any other way!

Melaica Tuinfort is a 31 year old paralympic weightlifter who was born in Paramaribo, the capital of Suriname.

Melaica’s legs are very short and severely malformed due to a Congenital Longitudinal Central Reduction Defect. Because of this, she never had any muscle function below her knees and has been a wheelchair user her entire life.

When she was 15 years old, Melaica's parents decided to move to The Netherlands with Melaica, her brother and her sister.

Melaica always had a great passion for athletics and she was particularly gifted in the sport of powerlifting. She often amazed people when they saw her lifting unbelievable amounts of weight and at a young age Melaica already knew that she wanted to make her sport out of this.

Melaica made her international debut in 2009 but it took some time for her to achieve the success she wanted. In 2014, Melaica won a bronze medal at the World Championships in Dubai. Her greatest achievement though was winning a bronze medal at the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016!

Unfortunately, Melaica hasn't been selected for the Paralympic Games in Tokyo this year. She isn't giving up on her paralympic dream though and now put herself to training for the 2024 Paralympics in Paris, France.

Melaica recently graduated in Tax Law and Economics at the University of Rotterdam and has had a part-time job at Wittepoel for years now. This is the specialized orthopaedic shoe company that designed the shoes Melaica wears during most competitions. In one of her blog posts, Melaica wrote that in the past several companies tried to design shoes for her. None of these ever really succeeded at this though because of the special shape of her feet. Wittepoel was the first to manage in designing comfortable and good looking shoes for Melaica and she is very happy with Wittepoel as employer and sponsor!

Besides her busy schedule, Melaica regularly visits Suriname and loves shopping, dining or going out with her friends.

If you'd like to know more about Melaica, you can visit her website. Also, feel free to follow her on Instagram or Facebook!

Clara Pereira is a stunning, 18 year old, model and blogger from Garanhuns, a city in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco.

Clara was born with spina bifida myelomeningocele. This is a spinal malformation which damages the spinal cord in varying degrees of severity. Because Clara's spinal cord was completely severed, she never had any feeling in her legs and has been completely paralyzed from the waist down her entire life. As the muscles in her legs didn’t develop properly, she also has some very slight deformities in her feet. Luckily, Clara’s upper body wasn’t affected at all and she never had any serious health issues.

Clara states she really doesn’t mind being in a wheelchair. She always strives to live life to the fullest and emphasizes that even if she had the choice, she wouldn’t want to live her life in any other way.

Next to her studies, Clara is often surrounded by friends with whom she loves to go shopping, check out movies at the cinema or have a day out at an amusement park. Besides that, she can often be found at the beach and loves to swim.

Clara has always been very interested in fashion and was never shy about having her picture taken. Inspired by models on social media and encouraged by her friends and parents, she now regularly poses in photo shoots!

Clara has her own Instagram page where she gives a cool insight in her life and where you can also see some of her work!

Nursina Galieva is a 27 year old wheelchair dancer and model from Moscow, the Russian capital.

She was born with spina bifida myelomeningocele. This is a condition in which there grows a malformation in the spine during pregnancy that causes damage to various parts of the spinal column, including the spinal cord. It can range from mild to severe, depending on the shape, size, and location of the malformation. In Nursina’s case, the spinal cord became completely severed. Because of this she never had any feeling in her legs and she has been paralyzed from the waist down for all her life.

Nursina always had a very positive outlook on life and she’s always been known for her spontaneous and outgoing character. As a child, she had lots of friends with whom she loved to play and hang out with. As Nursina grew older she also developed a growing interest for music, and at parties she was never shy to dance along with everyone else.

In 2011, a friend suggested that Nursina should try the sport of wheelchair dancing. “Right away I understood that I wanted to take it up. Everything came together for me, and I found a partner practically right away.” It didn’t take long before she decided to start dancing competively and she now dances in tournaments throughout Russia and Europe. Her biggest achievement as of today was winning a bronze medal at the 2019 World Dancing Championships in Bonn, Germany.

While dancing always comes first for Nursina she also loves fashion, modeling and photography. She was crowned Miss Independence in 2013 and won the “Pearl of Tatarstan” beauty contest, held in the Russian city of Kazan!

Besides all this, Nursina loves to play pool, swimming, going to the beach or go on road trips with her car. She is also an avid traveler and doesn't shy back for the more extreme activities like skydiving, which she has already done for three times!

Josie Aslakson is a 25 year old paralympic wheelchair basketball player for Team USA.

Josie was born in Edina, a small city in the state of Minnesota. While born able-bodied, she sustained a complete spinal cord injury in a car accident at the age of 5. Despite receiving excellent hospital care, this meant she would be completely paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of her life and that she would never have any feeling in her legs again.

Fortunately, the accident didn’t cause any other medical issues and Josie grew up in excellent health. Obviously, growing up as a wheelchair user comes with some challenges from time to time, but while however she sometimes felt sorry that she couldn’t participate in everything her friends and classmates did, Josie always stood out with her extremely positive attitude!

At the age of 13, Josie was practicing at one of her archery lessons, and the basketball coach(who was training at the same time) pushed her to try basketball. The coach immediately spotted that Josie had quite some talent and encouraged her to give it a go.

In the beginning Josie played together with the ‘regular’ basketball team of Jordan High School, which she attended and contrary to what you might expect, she matched the level of her teammates very well and even turned out as one of the top players of the team!

After high school, Josie switched to the womens wheelchair basketball team of the the University of Texas at Arlington, the Lady Movin’ Mavs. This is where her talent fully blossomed and in 2014, she was selected for the World Wheelchair Basketball Championship in Incheon, South Korea where she and her teammates finished second(after Australia). In 2018, she then played for Team USA in the World Championships in Hamburg, Germany, where she finished 6’th.

Now, Josie is preparing for her first ever Paralympic Games, which will start in a couple of weeks in Tokyo, Japan! Good luck Josie 💪

If you're interested, you can check out Josie's Instagram page. I can also really recommend the great interview Josie recently had with Palms to Pines Parasports 📺⬇️

Raissa Rocha Machado is an amazing, 25 year old track and field athlete from Salvador, the capital of the Brazilian state of Bahia.

Raissa has been a wheelchair user for all her life because of Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita(AMC). This is a congenital condition which causes joint contractures, stiffness and muscle weakness in some or all of one’s limbs. Fortunately, only Raissa’s lower limbs were affected, albeit in a pretty serious manner. She has never been able to use her legs in any way and also has some slight malformations in both her feet.

In her early childhood, Raissa didn’t accept herself because of her condition and felt excluded from her classmates.

When Raissa was 11 years old, her mother and her teacher encouraged her to try out gymnastics and wheelchair dancing. At first, this was quite a challenge for her, but as time grew on, she started to like it more and more.

At the age of 13, Raissa started to practice athletics. This proved to be exactly what she wanted with her life. She even turned out to have a huge talent, especially for the javelin throw. Furthermore, her parents, teachers and classmates did a tremendous job in supporting her! She started to compete more and more in some smaller regional tournaments and at age 15, she played her first major tournament; the Brazilian Championships in São Paulo.

Raissa has booked some major successes in the previous years. In 2015, she won a bronze medal in the Parapan-American Games in Toronto. In 2016, she competed in the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, and in 2019, she won the gold medal at the Parapan-American Games in Lima! She was also runner-up in the 2015 World Athletics Championship in Doha.

Now, Raissa has been selected to represent her country at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo, which will start in just a few weeks. Good luck Raissa!

If you’d like, you can visit Raissa on Instagram or you can check out her Facebook page by clicking the link down below!

Geovana Luiza is a stunning 21 year old model, blogger and vlogger from Brasilia, the capital of Brazil.

Geovana was born with spina bifida myelomeningocele. This is a congenital condition in which there grows a malformation in the spine during pregnancy causing damage to the spinal cord. In Geovana’s case, her spinal cord was completely severed and she was diagnosed with a complete spinal cord injury. Because of this, she has been paralysed from her waist down for all her life and never had any feeling in her lower limbs. She also has a serious degree of both scoliosis and kyphosis(an unnatural sideways and front-to-back curvature of the spine).

Besides this, she also has a condition called hydrocephalus, meaning that there was an abnormal buildup of fluid in her brain. This could luckily be solved by the placing of a tube that drains the excess amount of liquid(also known as a shunt).

Because of the excellent treatment she received in the hospital, Geovana grew up in perfect health. Nonetheless, she often noticed she was looked at in a different way because of her wheelchair. For example, people often think she needs help with practically anything and there have even been cases where she was approached as if she was mentally disabled because of her wheelchair!

These prejudices couldn’t be further from the truth though. Of course, changing a lightbulb would be very difficult for her, but outside these kind of things, she lives completely independent from others and does everything by herself.

To get rid of these kinds of prejudices and to educate people about the life of people with disabilities, Geovana started a YouTube channel where she talks about her life as a wheelchair user. If you're interested, just check out the link down here ⬇️

Also, feel free to follow Geovana on Instagram or to visit her Facebook page by clicking the link down below ⬇️

Wesley Vinícius dos Santos is an amazing 23 year old wheelchair racer and paraskiier from Jundiaí, a city in the Brazilian state of São Paulo.

Wesley has been a wheelchair user for all his life because of spina bifida myelomeningocele. Myelomeningocele is a congenital condition in which there grows a malformation in the spine during pregnancy, causing damage to the spinal cord. This left Wesley completely paralyzed from his waist down for all his life and he never had any feeling whatsoever in his legs.

As in his own words, Wesley considered himself lucky that he never knew what it was like to walk, stand or use his legs in any way. He was a very sociable kid and always had lots of friends. The fact he had to use a wheelchair to get around never really bothered him, nor his surroundings.

Wesley had a very active and energetic personality and around the age 12, he started wheelchair racing. Ever since his first time on the track, he immediately loved it and by now, he gathered an impressive amount of medals and trophies in the sport!

Around the age of 18, Wesley was introduced to para-skiing by Cristian Westemaier Ribera, a good friend of his whom I featured earlier on in my blog. Wesley really got a kick out of skiing and now regularly trains on slopes all over the world with Cristian and with female athlete Aline Rocha!

Unfortunately, Wesley hasn't been selected for the Paralympic Games in Tokyo later this year, but he has a good chance of competing in Winter Paralympics in Beijing, China in 2022!

Junior França is an amazing 25 year old paralympic weightlifter from Brazil. Junior was born and raised in the city of Natal, in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Norte.

Junior has been a wheelchair user for all his life because of Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita(AMC). This is a congenital condition which causes joint contractures, stiffness and muscle weakness in some or all of one’s limbs. Fortunately, only Junior’s lower limbs were affected, albeit in a very serious way. Junior has never been able to use his legs in any way and because his knees and ankles have always stood in a completely fixed position, he has some slight deformations in both his legs. Moreover, his leg muscles eventually completely wasted away and the bones in his legs became severely weakened, a condition also known as muscular atrophy.

As Natal has always been poorly accessible, Junior’s youth often had its challenges. Public transportation wasn’t adjusted for wheelchair users, sidewalks were often tough to navigate and buildings only seldom were equipped with elevators. Frustrating as it sometimes was, the tough streets Junior conquered with his wheelchair and the stairs he regularly had to climb with only the use of his arms made his upper body unbelievably strong!

Junior started weightlifting at the age of 18 after being encouraged by a good friend and after only two years, he already represented Brazil in the Paralympic Games of 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. Now, his goal is set for getting some great results at the 2021 Paralympic Games in Tokyo, for which he has recently been selected!

Besides his athletic aspirations, Junior graduated from a degree in law school two years ago and last year, the love of his life and fellow paralympian Maria Clementino gave birth to a beautiful son!

If you’d like, you can follow Junior on Instagram or you can visit his official Facebook page by clicking the link down below!

Shannon Kelly is a 27 year old journalist, writer and travel blogger who wrote lots of articles and stories about her trips around the world!

When Shannon was just 2 years old, she was diagnosed with a spinal tumor. Fortunately, the tumor could be completely removed. Nevertheless, her spinal cord was damaged in such extent that it left her completely paralyzed from her waist down.

Ever since Shannon was young, she had an adventurous spirit, a passion for nature and a huge love for animals. After graduating from high school, Shannon wanted to get out of her comfort zone and travel abroad before starting college; “I was 17, in a wheelchair, and a newbie to international travel, but I didn’t want to let any of these things stop me from having the adventure of a lifetime”, She says about the beginning of her very first trip to Costa Rica. This turned out to be such a success that she has made many more since then! If you’d like to know more about all of Shannon’s travels, I can really recommend you to read the story she wrote for HuffPost! ⬇️

Shannon soon felt that all the great experiences she had during her travels were worth sharing with the rest of the world. That's why she started writing a blog, and it didn't take long before some of her stories were published in various newspapers and magazines!

Many of Shannon’s articles are about her own experiences as a traveler in a wheelchair, which are packed with useful tips and tricks for people with disabilities! Nonetheless, she also wrote some great stuff for the 'general' traveler like sightseeing ideas and 'things to do'. If you're interested in reading some of Shannon’s work, you can visit her website, where you'll find a portfolio with references to everything she wrote! ⬇️

Elizabeth Becker is a very talented 21 year old wheelchair basketball player from Charlotte, North Carolina.

Elizabeth has been a wheelchair user for all her life because of spina bifida myelomeningocele. Myelomeningocele is a congenital condition in which there grows a malformation in the spine during pregnancy, causing damage to the spinal cord. Because of this, Elizabeth has been paralyzed from her waist down for all her life and she never had any feeling in her legs. She also has a slight degree of scoliosis.

As a child, Elizabeth came into contact with a woman who asked her if she had ever played wheelchair basketball and if she might be interest in giving it a try. At first, she wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about this idea, but after some encouragement from her parents, Elizabeth visited a training of their local team, the Charlotte Rolling Hornets. Totally unexpected, she immediately loved it and it soon became apparent that she even had quite a bit of talent for it.

After graduating from high school, Elizabeth went on to follow a study in Broadcasting at the University of Texas at Arlington, where she had the opportunity to join their collegiate wheelchair basketball team, the Lady Movin’ Mavericks.

In 2019, Elizabeth represented the National U25 Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Team. Later that year, she and her team became world champion in the IWBF’s Women’s U25 Wheelchair Basketball World Championships in Thailand!

Elizabeth’s great performances in the U25 team eventually contributed to a place for her in Team USA, and if all goes well, she will represent her country in the upcoming Paralympic Games in Tokyo later this year!

If you're interested, you should absolutely check out this great interview Elizabeth had with the "Women in Sports" podcast, where she talks about the sport of wheelchair basketball and what it means to her;

Jeremie Thomas is an amazing, 32 year old, wheelchair basketball player and musician from Pompano Beach, a city in the Southern part of Florida.

Before he was born, his mother was involved in a car accident. As a result of this, Jeremie was born prematurely, weighing just two pounds and eight ounces. After delivery, he was diagnosed with both spina bifida and Cerebral Palsy. Because of this, Jeremie has been completely paralyzed from his waist down for all his life and he never had any feeling in his legs.

Despite his premature birth, Jeremie grew up in excellent health and his upper body developed exceptionally well.

Jeremie never let his disability stop him and he developed an interest in sports and music at an early age.

Jeremie always liked to play all kinds of games with his friends and he didn’t shy away from a game of American football in the local park. Around the age of 12, Jeremie was picked to play on a friend’s team and scored the game-winning “hail mary” (long pass) touchdown. In awe of what they had all witnessed, his friends cheered in excitement and chanted “WHEELCHAIR MOSS, WHEELCHAIR MOSS…”, referring to Jeremie’s favorite football player, Randy Moss.

Around the age of 18, Jeremie started playing wheelchair basketball for the Miami Heat Wheels. Already at the first training, he impressed the coach with his ability to move in his chair along with the ball. He also recognized his speed, toughness, and aggressive defense. After playing Division III wheelchair basketball for three years (and loving every minute of it), he was recruited by the Oklahoma State University Spokes , giving him the opportunity to take his game to the Collegiate level. After playing for two years in Oklahoma, Jeremie returned to his home team, the Miami Heat Wheels, for whom he competed ever since.

In 2016, Jeremie was also featured in the award-winning documentary "The Rebound - A Wheelchair Basketball Story," which portrays "his" team, the Miami Heat Wheels.

Besides his activities on the basketball court, Jeremie is an aspiring musician who writes catchy, witty rap songs and regularly performs at a local nightclub.

If you'd like to know more about Jeremie, you can check out his Instagram page right here or you can visit his Facebook page by clicking the link down below ⬇️