ISIS suicide bomb survivor chases Paralympic gold

Meet the victim of an ISIS suicide bomb attack who was left for dead – and is now riding for Paralympic glory in Tokyo.

USA's Beatrice de Lavalette, a survivor of 2016 Brussles airport bombings, riding Clarc competes in the equestrian dressage individual test grade II during the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games at Equestrian Park in Tokyo on August 26, 2021. (Photo by Behrouz MEHRI / AFP)

Not every competitor at the Paralympics gets a medal but everyone’s still a winner.

Just getting to the Paralympics is a triumph in itself because it doesn’t just require raw athletic ability, it also requires overcoming extreme adversity.

No two athletes have taken the same journey. Some are missing legs and arms. Others can’t walk, or can’t see. Some have intellectual disabilities that no-one else can see.

Some were born with impairments. Others acquired them through illness, accidents and sometimes sabotage.

American equestrian rider Beatrice de Lavalette’s path to the Paralympics came about unexpectedly, without any warning.

She was just 17 and on a break in Europe, talking to her brother on the phone from the departure hall at Brussels airport before getting ready to board a plane home.

What she didn’t know was that the man standing right next to her was an ISIS suicide bomber, with a suitcase packed with nails and shrapnel that he was about detonate.

“The next thing, I remember waking up in the airport, lying down, seeing ash, dust, smoke, fire and darkness and seeing the light literally coming through from the entrance of the departure hall,” de Lavalette said.

USA Paralympian Beatrice de Lavalette is a survivor of 2016 Brussels airport bombings. Picture: AFP

“I knew that to survive, I needed to get past that door, but I couldn’t move. I couldn‘t see my left leg, but it was still there. My right leg was at a right angle.”

Her injuries were so horrific that the first responders gave her up for dead, listing her as a category red patient, for people they didn’t think would survive.

“They saw me ,but left me behind, because I was bleeding out. There was nothing I could do until I saw a fireman, and I remember him saying, ‘There‘s one over here,’ because I threw my hand up as high as I could.”

She suffered severe internal injuries, including second and third degree burns and a spinal cord injury, and both lower legs were amputated. But she was lucky to live. Thirty-two other people didn’t.

A few months later, when she was still in intensive care, she watched the Rio Paralympics on television.

It was another life-changing moment, But a better one.

She had been riding horses all her life, and was pretty good, so visitors began encouraging her to think about the next games in Tokyo, initially to lift her hopes, then more seriously once she got back in the saddle.

“We started looking up the dates for Tokyo and I was like, ‘I can do that.’ she said.

“So I’ve had my goal of being here, from the very, very beginning. I was crushed when the postponement happened last year because I was so ready to go. It was like literally hitting a brick wall.”

De Lavalette is a strong medal chance in Tokyo. Picture: AFP

De Lavalette finished fifth in the Grade II individual test last week but is riding again in the freestyle competition on Monday. She has a good chance of a medal but knows she’s already won anyway by being there.

“I have flashbacks to what happened all the time, but they don‘t bother me,” she said.

“I‘ve made my peace with it a long time ago. My whole life even prior to the accident I knew that there was a purpose in my life, but I could never figure it out. I do now. ”

Originally published as ISIS suicide bomb survivor chases Paralympic gold