Greeting! My name is Alice Yanina Vivas Varela, I am (23) years old.
And I want to share with you all the 3 main keys in my life, which led me to a life without limits ...
For those who do not know me and do not know my story, at my (22) years of age I lost my right leg, but before I tell you more in depth, I want to express that I love the reaction in children, yes in children! Every time I go to the store, or on the street, everyone stares at me, but the children's reaction is funny, many of them come up and touch my Stump, or they pass by and say to their parents “look, mom What happened to her leg ”many look at me with fear, it will be that if I touch her she will bite. but to gain the confidence I laugh with them, and little by little they approach me.
You will see, I will tell you a little about my life, I am characterized by being a person of integrity, humble extrovert, fun and with many more qualities that if I say them I would never end (hahaha), the point is that among so many qualities I was very lazy. It was a little exercise, I did not like to walk, being more clear I did not leave my house, my daily routine was.
• From home to work
• From work to college
• And from the university to my house.
As many see a schedule a little tight but boring, I had every chance of getting a little more interested in myself, but on many occasions, I did not fix myself, I felt like a normal person, without many possibilities, I just made an effort to study, to perform in my job to pay for college, I missed a lot of opportunities, back then, and all I did was get sick.
How is it possible for a complete person like me, with a whole world ahead of her? Didn't I have the ability to see a little beyond my possibilities and expectations, did I live in my closed world, and this is the date and I don't understand why? I could not focus more, unfortunately, we as human beings, we wait for things to happen to us so we can learn from them.
On May 16, 2015, something unexpected happened that changed my life completely, after an accident occurred which left me in a coma for two weeks, without knowing what was happening around me, in that fatal accident I not only lost my right leg but unfortunately, my brother also lost his life, many thought that when I woke up from the coma I could not deal with all these things that just happened to me, it is not easy for anyone to go through something like this, from that moment my life changed, for my loved ones and friends, it was difficult for all of them, not knowing what to say to me, how to speak to me without saying something incoherent that affected me, at the time I did not understand many things and so far there are many things that I do not remember, I was upset with me myself, with God, because at that time I didn't understand what plan he had for me, why did my brother and not me? I asked myself countless questions daily, it bothered me when people looked at me, it bothered me to be in wheelchairs, I felt useless, I couldn't believe how much my life had changed in the blink of an eye, how I had gone from being a whole person to be a disabled person.
Many told me "Alice" look at this athlete, look at this dancer they don't have a leg and everything they do, look they are professionals.
-But you wonder? How much did it take for them to adjust to their new life to get to where they are? To be professional athletes or dancers.
-I even felt like the ugliest woman, I said how someone will like me, how they will see me as pretty if I'm like this "without a leg."
A lot of things went through my head, which is definitely to go crazy.
But I tried to see through the eyes of each person who encouraged me, I tried to put myself in the place of my family, to see what was happening to me from another perspective and I really tried every day, I decided to improve myself, to get ahead because not only It was about me, I had many people around me that affected them as much as I did, and this is where I say again, that “you have to wait for things to happen to learn to value life a little more, value more your loved ones, because life does not wait, at the moment we least realize it, it is unfairly gone.
So I started from scratch, if I had a new opportunity, why not do things differently? Exercise, to strengthen myself, both physically and emotionally, to see the good side of things. And at that moment you look at things in-depth, and you realize that there are people in worse conditions than you, without arms without legs, children with terminal illnesses and yet they smile and show life that they still have hope to live, breathe deep and ask yourself if they can because I can't.
It is impressive how your attitude and your way of being, it can brighten the lives of many people, the simple fact of smiling, when faced with a problem, changes the perspective of everything ... I wanted my family to feel proud of me and especially my sisters, that they see that if I can they too.
I knew it would not be easy, but not impossible either, I just had to put in a bit of my part and continue with my life, it was an accident where I could easily lose my life, and for things in life I am still here, telling my story to all of you.
One afternoon I was leaving my work on my way home, and a Mr. (Rodolfo Zúñiga, the director of the Táchira state sports clinic) approached and introduced himself, he told me, on several occasions I have seen you, but had not had the opportunity to talk to you, I would like you to train "cycling" and represent Venezuela in the Paralympic games "
I really wanted to laugh, I thought he was playing a prank on me, but as I continued talking I realized that the thing was serious and I said yes, I would like to train, but without first making it clear that never in my life, I was trained at any sports and hardly knew riding a bicycle.
And the truth is I still had my doubts, I did not know if it was real or it was some crazy person who wanted to joke, a month passed when I received a message from Mr. Rodolfo, telling me that I had to appear at the sports clinic to perform a medical circuit and for the moment still I was not so convinced. since, in the course of that month, I had been fired from my job and I did not have money to buy all the necessary equipment to train. but I have to be grateful to someone, it is with God that I reward myself with unique people around me, who have never left me alone and have always been by my side supporting me.
At the time of saying "I will train cycling" some did not think the idea as they were afraid, cycling is a strong sport and it is not for everyone, it is not simple to get on a bicycle and pedal uncontrollably, it requires practice and in my condition, I needed more balance, strength, endurance and many other things and to be honest at the time I was terrified I was afraid to ride a bicycle ...
But I am fortunate to have one of the best coaches Mr. (Arlex Méndez) and to belong to one of the best cycling teams in the city (Venezuela Country of the future) who made sure that i had a good physical preparation and thanks to that to be able to have the best performance.
Friends this was not easy, when I started I did not know anything, I did not even have balance, it scared me and at the same time it excited me, seeing my companions rolling, the speed at which they were going, how they performed each exercise, every day I tried to demand more of myself That the day before, I repeat it was not easy, but not impossible.
I dedicated myself to training every day, I learned to get on public transport in order to go to training every day and every day I fell more in love with cycling, the passion and dedication I felt towards this sport was more and more. Seeing all that I had progressed, all the support I had, and seeing how the guys who train with me encourage me and help me improve, the confidence they have in me, they inspire me every day to improve more and more.
Seeing how little by little I was leaving behind everything negative and seeing the possibilities I have to get ahead, how I receive the support and affection of people, I wanted to seek help for my prosthesis, I wanted to walk again, after looking for so many places without any answer, God illuminated me with a ray.
An uncle saw on television a program where my friends from the bionic zone were talking, I decided to look for them on social networks and communicate with them, I was not sure if they would answer me, but I explained my case and in a matter of hours they answered my messages and Thanks to them today I have my prosthesis and thanks to them I can walk today.
I had a lot of help from people present here in carrying out various projects to be able to get my prosthesis, and that's how I got it, I didn't believe that in such a short time I had evolved so much ...
Nothing in this life is impossible, you just have to believe in yourself, see the good side to all the obstacles that are presented to us and understand that everything happens because of something, that even an accident has direction and purpose in life, that today we are and Tomorrow we don't know, and that's why we have to enjoy life to the fullest, complain less and enjoy more.
FRIENDS if I jump rope, do exercises like anyone else, study, train cycling and continue my life like any of you. Why not you?
"Our destiny is within us, we just have to be brave to see it."
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