www.gipsverband.de
The wind on my face français  deutsch
She had a riding accident in June 2019 in Salvador, on the east coast of Brazil. The horse and she fell. It landed on her right leg and caused several fractures.

She remembers: "I had this good feeling on the horse. The wind on my face and the flying hair, floating as if it were the best moment of the day. I thought of nothing else, a moment of happiness. At high speed, the horse suddenly made a sharp turn. I pulled the reins so as not to fall, and he swayed. At that moment my mood changed to panic. We fell to the ground together. All his weight fell on my leg and my foot was trapped in the stirrup. In a few seconds he got up and I lay on the ground."
Video
MP4 2.3 MB
She describes the situation afterwards: "I didn't feel my leg and cried endlessly like never before. I prayed and said to God: 'Don't let me be paraplegic!' And he did! A horse with more than 200 kg fell on me and did not hurt the spine, not the head, not the arms, only the end of my leg. I can't describe the pain of breaking three bones, but the Lord knows how strong I am and he never left me".

She was in hospital for 11 days. When the swelling disappeared after two days, she underwent surgery several times. An external fixator was used to hold the bone parts in place. In addition, her foot became inflamed for a few days.
When she was discharged from the hospital she said: "It gets better, the pain is not the same as before. I never complained or asked God why. He saved me from what I had feared before: that I could no longer walk. And today I am happy to be able to go home. There are so many feelings, but the greatest is thankfulness. Nothing happens in our lives by chance, and if I was already strong, I have become even stronger now".
With the fixator she was very restricted, lay in bed most of the time and couldn't move much. "Every hour is an eternity and it seems that the moments of relief will slowly come." She was operated again for the final correction of several fractures. In mid-July she received an orthosis after the fixator and a cast. She was not allowed to put any weight on her leg for the next six weeks and could only walk with crutches. She had to wear the orthosis for three months.

"During these days someone said: 'You are very happy that your leg is broken'. And I thought about it. Of course my situation is not the best and happiest. I feel pain, I can't do many things that I like. But still I have a life, I have reason to smile and be grateful. I have hope, I have strength. The problem is present, the difficulties are there. There is nothing you can do to undo it. We only can decide how we react to it."
Physiotherapy started at the beginning of August and she felt the progress. "I can't explain the feeling. About two weeks ago I was in hospital again and could hardly walk. The day when I could walk normally again seemed so far away. It wasn't easy to get used to 20 days in bed, but it passes. No matter how bad the situation is, while you are experiencing it, the solution seems to be far away. It seems like it will never go away. It hurts and this pain seems to consume us ... but little by little you feel peace, renewal, and the improvement comes. The small successes happen, even if you hardly notice them. Every day is an overcoming! I remember the nights in hospital when I closed my eyes and imagined doing everything I had done before. Sometimes I cried, it was difficult, sometimes I thought: 'The worst is over'. And so I accepted my recovery with faith in God that everything would be all right again".