“The consequences of my accident made me a champion. My life would not have been better, but it is not ordinary”
, this is the message that Michaël Jérémiasz wanted to convey by participating this January 28 in “A Sunday in the Country” on France 2.
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Surrounded by singer Patrick Fiori and gastronomic critic Julie Andrieu, the tennis champion, quadruple Paralympic medalist, spoke with Frédéric Lopez of the terrible accident which left him paraplegic.
Also readMichaël Jérémiasz, a life in the service of others
Every year he goes to the mountains with his family.
“I have always been the daredevil of the family
,” he explains before recounting that it was a fall during a jumping competition with his brother that broke his legs:
“I climb so fast , I reach 10 meters in height and I land on a patch of ice.
I only remember a white wall
.
Sport, a tool for autonomy
Both femurs are broken and he suffers from spinal cord compression.
After a phase of denial, he was only 18 years old and began his rehabilitation which lasted 9 months.
And it's a reaction from his body that gives him the strength to fight.
“After 3 weeks, I had my first erection since the accident.
And it becomes an obsession for me to be able to please.
Stories, adventures with nurses, caregivers, my physiotherapist, a patient..."
, lists Michaël Jérémiasz.
Seduction is an engine that restores his self-confidence.
Then sport came back into his life.
“A tool for autonomy to go from your armchair to your bed, from your armchair to the bathroom”
, gives Michaël Jérémiasz as an example.
He has lost more than 20 kilos and is still very weak.
The slightest movement causes fatigue.
His mother brought him his tennis racket to the hospital, a discipline in which he had excelled since the age of 5.
He first throws the yellow ball against the wall of his room then he discovers wheelchair tennis.
Supported by his family, he began his Paralympic career to become the champion we know today and the man committed to helping people with disabilities.