44,000 runners are expected on March 1 at the start of the Paris half-marathon at Gare d'Austerlitz. A large majority of these athletes will cross the finish line at the François Mitterrand Library. Among them, we hope, will be a competitor not quite like the others: Anthony Estève has been paraplegic since 2014 after a violent fall of almost 15 meters high when he was only 22 years old.
Three years after his accident, the young man was able to test a prototype exoskeleton, the ReWalk, manufactured by a company specializing in equipment, Harmonie Medical Service. His equipment, which reproduces the movements of the hip and the knee, allowed him to reconnect during his rehabilitation with walking. Ambassador of the company, Anthony Estève has regained some mobility. Again "active", he lost 10 kg and, thanks to active verticalization and muscle stimulation, he even observed a revival of sensations.
On March 1, Anthony Estève will cover the last 500 meters of the course, carried by his ReWalk and using crutches and an assistant to help him get dressed. To fulfill this objective, he continues his training for several hours a day at the Tour de Gassies rehabilitation center in Bordeaux. His message? "Prove that a paraplegic person can also participate in a running race by walking and independently, and above all raise their heads!"
A race for the French Handisport Championships this year
For the first time in its history, the Anthony Estève attempt's half-marathon will host the French Handisport Championships race. Wheelchair elites will benefit from an early departure. Standing disabled sports athletes (visually impaired, hard of hearing, amputees, etc.) will start at the heart of the peloton in airlocks corresponding to their chronometric objectives in order to share the same experience as able-bodied athletes.
Read also
- Frédéric Sausset's 24 Hours of Madness
