When you are 14 years old, and spend most of your time in a wheelchair, then learning a new sport is a big undertaking. But Micaela Sarzosa has done just that.
The Chilean schoolgirl was born with Imperfect Osteogenesis, a disease that has a severe impact upon a sufferer’s mobility. Micaela explains: “I was born with this disease which weakens your bones because calcium is not absorbed normally. This means your bones break easily. I have used a wheelchair all of my life, but I am now beginning to learn how to stand-up and walk.”
Rather than let the disease beat her, Micaela is determined to do all she can to lead a normal and healthy life, which means incorporating exercise into her daily activities. “At first, I was going to participate in the Swimming Academy at my new school – the Amazing Grace English School of La Serena – this is an activity I knew about and had practiced before. But hockey is part of the curriculum at Amazing Grace and my teacher invited me to take part. I had never played before, but my friends were playing and the sport attracted me.”
The plucky schoolgirl is now a regular at the team practices and enjoying the game.
“I have been feeling really well since I took up hockey, and my family are happy for me to play, they can see how much good it does physically. I am completely aware of my limitations, but I know my inner strength. I would like to show others in my situation that this is possible. I have been integrated into hockey at my school and further integration in other sports is also possible.”
For now Micaela uses a standard wheelchair, but she hopes that as she develops her skills and improves at the game, she will be able to get a sport wheelchair. She explains that she cannot have an electric wheelchair as Chile is a seismic country, (making the power source prone to disruption), but a lightweight chair would make a big difference to her ability to manoeuvre and play the game at a higher speed.
“At the moment there is little help for people with special needs such as mine, but I hope through telling my story that more people will start to push their own physical boundaries and sport will become more accessible. I want to play this game for a long time and to the highest level possible. It would be great if it could be included in the Paralympics. In the meantime I will carry on playing and I also want to get into umpiring as well.”
