He is the guardian angel of the athlete who has already won two medals. He accompanies her to all training sessions: “It’s not a sacrifice”
pavia
Monica Boggioni has a guardian angel. Without the wings, but the driver’s license. Mattia, the elder brother, has in fact accompanied her every evening for years to the swimming pool in Lodi, where the Paralympic athlete from Pavia (already two bronze medals won in Tokyo) trains.
However, Monica started swimming when she was three, on the advice of the doctors of the ASL of Pavia. «He learned at the Folperti pool first by following the ASL courses and then with the Stella Swimming Pool – explains Mattia, 24 – Where did that competitive spirit develop? I played basketball in the Pgs Domino at the Maria Ausiliatrice Institute and she came to see my games and did not understand why she could not play competitions and confront someone, while I did. He never stopped swimming and when Davide Bellingeri of Aics Pavia created the “Swim with us” project to allow people with disabilities to compete, he joined immediately, also becoming very close friends with Giulia, Davide’s daughter, a friendship that still lasts today. The Paralympic swimming team from Pavia allowed her to compete and level up to the national team and to Tokyo ».
The relationship between Mattia and Monica is solid. «Despite the age difference, Monica is one year younger than me – continues Mattia – we have always been close. She trains in Lodi, in the 50-meter swimming pool La Faustina every evening and I am one of her first taxi drivers. We start from Città Giardino, the neighborhood where we live, well in advance to get to Lodi. I wait for my sister to finish training and then we return. Since I have to stay in the car waiting even three hours, I organized myself, so, since I am about to conquer the master’s degree in agriculture in Milan, over time I have brought the books, the PC to work and now to prepare the thesis. It is absolutely not a sacrifice, mind you, because I love her very much ».
hand in hand to school
Mattia has always accompanied his sister even to school, from elementary school to Pascoli to middle school to Angelini. Since she was born Monica has suffered from a disease of which little is known. «She is followed by many doctors – explains Mattia – including those of the Neurological Institute of Milan who cannot exactly tell her what it is and what it is due to and cannot even say whether it will degenerate or not. Her first problems forced her to walk on tiptoe because the tendons in her legs did not stretch. After a few surgeries, he seemed to be getting better, so much so that he had even started walking, despite some stability problems. She was safer if she moved on someone’s arm or in the wheelchair, as she does now. For some years, however, spastic movements in the arms have appeared and it is not clear whether they are connected to the rest. Water, despite everything, seems to be its natural element. The movements that she is unable to make out of the water become natural for her in the pool ».
a tenacity rating 100
Monica’s gift is stubbornness. «He crowned his dream by going to the Paralympics – adds his brother – his motto is that if I work hard I can get anywhere. You often say that if you compete with me, who am able-bodied, you have lost at the start, even if it is to be seen because it puts many in a row, but if you compete with others like you, you can always win. About her determination I remember that Monica, when at the Foscolo high school in Pavia they told her that she could not go out with the highest marks and swim at a high level, she replied by winning the world championships and graduating with 100. Not only that: she graduated with full marks in Biotechnology and is now attending a master’s degree ».
Mattia with his parents Anna and Marco and his grandmother Maria, widow of grandfather Angelo whom Monica always remembers, followed the races together while the other grandparents Giuseppe and Anna on their own. And everyone risked a heart attack in the final of the 100, when he won the bronze for six cents with a great comeback in the second pool.
«Now there are three races left to conclude her Paralympics – Mattia closes – she is always serene and calm and this gives us hope for other medals. At home we are waiting for you on Sunday 5th September ». –