Marcelo's road to the Paralympics

33 year old Marcelo has never been much of a sports enthusiast. Now, 6 years after the horrific motor vehicle accident that caused his amputation, just being active is no longer enough.

Winning a life

Marcelo’s story began 6 years ago when he was driving to another part of Ecuador. Actually, Marcelo is not even able to recall exactly what happened. All he knows is that he woke up from his coma two weeks after the crash. He was told that he had a mere 10 % chance of surviving the ordeal.

“Many people ask me what it felt like to lose my leg. I always answer that the question doesn’t make sense to me because I didn’t lose a leg: I won a life. So why not just keep smiling and keep moving?”

Later Marcelo wrote a book about his experiences following the accident.

A birthday miracle

Marcelo wasn’t much into running prior to the accident. As a matter of fact, staying active wasn’t a priority at all.

“Many people think it’s funny that I didn’t have an active life before my accident, and now that I’m missing a leg, I just really want to run.”

Before finally getting his hands on a running blade, Marcelo had decide that now was the time. It was finally time for him to actually get a running blade – one way or another. However, getting your hands on an affordable running blade is nearly impossible. A regular blade costs around 6.000 USD in Ecuador – and that’s a lot of money to most people. Even for a working engineer like Marcelo.

“I was very frustrated because I wanted a running blade so badly, but finding that kind of money is impossible for me. Getting my Levitate running blade was a true birthday miracle. I thought it was a scam at first because of its affordability.”

Marcelo has found joy in running.
The sky's the limit

We can’t wait to follow Marcelo on his journey to the Paralympics. Want to read more stories like his? Check out the rest below.