He survived a plane crash and moved on: 'I respect what happened to me, but I don't dedicate my life to it'

Luciana Fava

07/17/2021 5:11 PM

• Clarín.com

• Society

Updated 7/17/2021 10:03 PM

A

Paula Buery

one

plane crash in the Rio de la Plata

led her to confirm that your choice was right

" to

choose where to

stand"

and start from there his

recovery story

.

“

I decided not to stay with the woman who got on the plane

.

My decision was to accept that the body I had

- without a prosthesis

- was not going to come back again, that it had a cycle, it lasted 39 years.

Another moment began

”, He tells in the talk with

Clarín

.

On the morning of May 2014 of her

before and after, 

Paula had a meeting scheduled in Uruguay for her work as an event organizer.

“We went with a group by plane to Carmelo.

That plane did not reach its destination.

I was very hurt,

”she remembers.

Paula chose the acceptance of her body with prosthetics and that after the accident another stage in her life began.

Photo Juan Manuel Foglia

Weather on alert

They followed

two weeks in intensive care and 25 operations in 15 days

for fractures in some of the ribs, the spine, the pelvis, the right leg and the clavicle.

In addition to lung involvement.

The following month was with encouraging progress and the beginning of a

home stay

at her parents' home.

Later, with his sister -pregnant with their second child-, his brother-in-law and his niece who was 11 years old.

“The recovery was going to take six months.

At the end of that time, they found a necrosis in the hip.

Then came septicemia - a generalized infection.

I was hospitalized again for almost two months.

During that time, I had a hip replacement.

I ended up living in bed for two years

. "

"I was always asking how can I move so I don't get hurt," Paula says of her recovery.

Photo Juan Manuel Foglia

In the upward direction

With the last operations, he began the stage with the expected meaning and the certainty that

something

of his new well-being was in his hands.

As his body was very fragile, the rehabilitation had to be meticulously controlled: "Very little by little and gradually, I had to strengthen the muscles."

His unbeatable rule was to ask what he had to do to reverse what was happening to him.

“

I was not focusing on the bad.

It said, 'OK, this is my situation;

So how do I move so I don't get hurt? '

”.

Later, the recommendation was to start with kinesiology sessions twice a week.

Paula redoubled the bet

and asked if the exercises could be from Monday to Friday, in the morning and in the afternoon, and thus shorten the path.

“

I was always looking for what other alternative there was and trying

.

My frailty was high and I had severe pain.

Sometimes I overworked myself and had to slow down, he says.

With cold, heat, storm, I got up early and went up to the remís that came to look for me.

At the last minute a kinesiologist would come to my house.

It demanded determination.

It is not the same when you feel good ”.

In each of these decisions there was the affectionate accompaniment of Felipe Lanari, his traumatologist and now general practitioner.

“Other doctors fell by the wayside.

He put his heart to the whole journey

.

He always spoke to me, he looked me in the face.

The body, in short, is mine.

He got engaged in very difficult times.

In addition, he put together a team with the same values ​​”.

Within three years of the accident, Paula was able to fend for herself

.

Paula Buery had 25 operations in 15 days.

PhotoJuan Manuel Foglia

Future purchases

One of those very long days Paula

bought online a bright and very colorful wallet from a brand that she likes

.

"I asked my brother to go find her and he was a little surprised with my idea."

The premiere of its

acquisition

 was not immediate, although it did happen.

“It is very striking.

It was not enough to go to the kinesiologist.

But I knew I was going to use it. "

The wallet is still in your closet.

Now more worn.

"

It seemed better to me to dedicate myself to buying than to google bad odds,

" she says amused.

Paula Buery, in 2016, spoke for the first time about the accident Photo Mario Quinteros / Archive.

The approach that adds

One of Paula's essential and almost innate mottos is

always seek the best possible perspective.

“From there, the reality may not change, but you will be better.

I had a serious accident, my body is what I have.

My decision is how to live it.

That does change me

”.

In the talk with

Clarín

, he clarifies that some moments of this section were darker.

“It made me mad and it still happens to me.

I wish the accident didn't happen.

I am human.

I have my emotions and I allow them.

But I don't stay there either.

I also went through pain and cried, of course ”.

In addition, he always understood that it was an accident: “It happened on a plane as it could have been in a car, a motorcycle or on foot.

We are exposed just by waking up and going out every morning

. "

Spirituality is a strong interest for her.

"I drink.

But I am not extreme.

Nor, a raised or enlightened being who is affected by nothing.

In addition, I apply tools that are available to everyone.

I have no special preparation.

Buddha did not knock on my door.

I am aware that we are finite and I do not lose sight of it

”.

Add miles back

At one point, Paula had to rethink how she would go about her day and

whether she was going to get on a plane again

.

“Not only did I do it, but I didn't get off any more.

I like the world.

It defines me to travel.

It does not matter where, if it is near or far, or by what means of transport.

I don't want to miss that part of happiness. "

His work area is another of the worlds he maintained.

"I love organizing events and I prepared for this."

His cares, however, continue,

with a chain of attentions.

“I exercise so that the prostheses are good.

In addition, I take care of my diet to protect my bones and have the strength for my practices ”.

Her yoga classes are among her unavoidable routines.

“I was already very attached.

I was able to continue, when everything indicated that it was not going to be like that.

I put in tenacity not to lose that space and I was very obedient to the instructions ”.

"Although I had a process of three different years,

with a lot of work, I returned to my normal life

."

Paula Buery, in 2016, two years after the accident and in full recovery Photo Mario Quinteros / Archive

Count it to spread

With the recent accident, Paula could not imagine collecting her feelings in a note or in group talks - something that they tend to ask her more and more frequently.

“It never crossed my mind that someone could be of any use to him.

I didn't realize it because I was rearming myself ”.

The interest of people close or not so prompted her to be encouraged to share her experience.

“Many people ask me how I managed to get out and I think it was not for something extraordinary.

I am not a super woman.

I had a goal.

I wanted to heal myself.

Nobody claimed otherwise and I kept going

”.

On the other hand, if she stayed in the negative, she thinks, the main victim would be her: "About this, many tell me that it helps them to adopt or that they had not thought about it."

If you could forget what you went through, it is a question that is often asked.

Your answer is "no."

“And it's not in my plans to get there.

It was a chapter, like so many others, good and bad.

I respect the accident.

But I don't dedicate my life to him

”.

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