There are thoughts, actions, but also simple phrases that with their strength can change the world in which we live. The experience of Bebe Vio, all his sporting and human path, is here to testify. The young Paralympic fencing champion is a figure of woman and sportswoman capable of inspiring and motivating the new generations – but not only – to never give up in the face of difficulties, obstacles or illnesses.
“If it seems impossible, then it can be done! It is important to be able to make others understand that your weak point can become the one you are most proud of. I can do everything I want to do”, repeats the champion with the stubbornness that distinguishes it. Since, at the age of eleven, she fell ill with meningitis B and was forced to stop the sport, which she resumed until she competed again in 2010, in a wheelchair. In 2011 she joined the Paralympic fencing national team and since 2014 she has won all the main international competitions: the Europeans, the World Championships, the World Cup and the Paralympics.
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Last summer in Tokyo, at his second Paralympics, he obtained another fantastic result, an individual gold and a team silver, making all of Italy rejoice. Also because after the victory he said that it was a great achievement first of all to be able to participate. In April she had fallen ill from a serious infection, even risking death.
Traveling alone with a visual impairment
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“The first diagnosis was amputation within two weeks of the left arm, and death within a short time – revealed Bebe Vio at the Paralympic Games – I’m happy, that’s why I cried so much. This medal is for the orthopedist and his staff who did a miracle”.
After receiving accolades and applause everywhere for her sporting feat in Tokyo – including those of Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, who in a plenary session of the European Parliament, in attendance at Vio, defined her as the soul of the Europe and its future – the athlete dedicated herself to the “WEmbrace Sport” sporting event. On 25 October at the Allianz Cloud in Milan, for the first time, Olympic and Paralympic athletes compete together in one evening, two mixed teams and four sports, all in their Paralympic version: fencing, football, volleyball and basketball.
The complete interview in the monthly Salute on newsstands with the newspapers of the Gedi group on October 28th
Maris method: the ‘braille of painting’ that shows art even to the visually impaired
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