GIVING UP SHOULD NEVER BE A OPTION!
My name is Natalia Acevedo, I am 36 and I am from Mendoza, Argentina. Everything started twenty years ago when I was sixteen. A car accident on a highway changed my life completely. In the crash, I was abruptly expelled from the car which caused severe damages to my back. My spinal cord was crushed at the T7 and T 8 vertebrae levels. As a consequence, my legs got completely paralyzed. In just a few seconds my life had changed drastically. However, I had two options, either staying in bed grieving and complaining about the situation or living. I chose LIVING. My family and friends were fundamental, they were my big support. I must admit It was a long and hard process in which I had to learn to accept my new condition, to accept that I was never going to walk again. I had to get to know my body and feel like a woman again. In other words, it was like I had been born again. During the year, I had intensive rehab, then I got back to Malargue, my birthplace to conclude my studies. After this, I traveled to Mendoza city again to study Information Systems at the University. Finally, I stayed living there. At present, I work in a Software Company, I live alone and drive my own car. I really like training and driving my handbike. Actually, I´m working out for running a 10 km marathon! With my bike @3pimobility. I think we have to raise awareness and educate people so that they understand that people who have a disability also have dreams, desires. We fall in love, we have projects, we are HUMAN BEINGS. We should naturalize and normalize the behavior with any person who has suffered any kind of disability. My current projects are offering informative talks about motor disability and help those people that for some reason their lives started to depend on a wheel-chair. I really want to motivate them that despite the most difficult circumstances, they can be always happy.
