Being awakened in a hospital bed, belonging to the Rehabilitation section of the S. Matteo Hospital, where she worked as a nurse for 18 years. Luisa Pasini, 46, was the victim of a dramatic “destiny” in the spring of 2013 following a terrible road accident.
The diagnosis, for a healthcare worker, was immediately ruthless: complete cervical spinal cord injury, immobile and inert limbs.
Luisa, passionate about cycling (racing and mountain biking), the mountains and walking, understood that sport can compensate for traditional medical therapies and started an eight-month long rehabilitation process.
“The first difficult task is to accept the new condition. Subsequently I understood, also by observing other young people, what potential I still had ahead of me and what psychological, social and relational benefits the resumption of sporting activity entailed”.
With special aids and adaptations, Luisa was able to return to various sports: table tennis, gymnastics, archery, swimming and rifle shooting.
But enlightenment manifested itself with the handbike, synonymous with running, bike and wind in the face.
Thanks to Team Equa and Fabrizio Cornegliani (a young tetraplegic who practices the same discipline), Luisa has managed to get back to pedaling both on rollers and on the road. Fabrizio became her instructor, consultant, motivator and mechanic, while Lorenzo Spada completed the adaptations with an electronic gearbox and elbow-operated brake levers. And so the first competition arrived, a stage of the handbike Giro d’Italia in Pavia, with the presence of an exceptional godmother like Giusy Versace.
The first place in her category was the first revenge and the beginning of an extraordinary adventure with unexpected results (pink jersey at the Giro d’Italia, tricolor jersey at the Italian Championships).
Starting again and not giving up: this is the mantra of Luisa Pasini, who has combined the road races with a return to S. Matteo, as a trainer for new hires.
It is a circle that closes, and the medal is its shape.