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But swimming has rehabilitated him and he now aspires to be crowned at the Cycling Paralympic Games.
“I have never seen myself as an athlete. My dream has always been to be a soldier, ever since I was a child“This award-winning athlete in butterfly swimming and now as a pilot says smiling at AFP.
His life had two important turning points: when the FARC guerrillas forcibly recruited him and the day he was paralyzed after a bomb went off aimed at his mother, victim of extortion by guerrillas.
At 38, Juan José is one of the 30 youngest cyclists in the world with a C1 ranking – the one that distinguishes athletes with the greatest disability – and the only Colombian in his condition certified by the International Cycling Union.
“Among those in my category, I’m the most messed up, the most amputated of all“He adds, used to laughing at himself, triumphantly raising his mutilated arms.
Proud of the nickname “Mochoman” that his followers gave himRide every morning in the municipality of Granada (Meta), through the eastern plains of the Llanos.
Child forcibly recruited by the Farc
An aura of sadness covers the gaze of his one good eye when he remembers a night in 1997, when some FARC guerrillas appeared.
“My older brother went to the army. If a child was given to the government, according to them, one had to be given to the revolution“He adds what was one of 6,068 children forcibly recruited by that Marxist guerrilla, according to the National Center for Historical Memory.
The conflict, which has ravaged Colombia for more than half a century, raged in the region. “At night, I watched the bullet tracks. They were our fireworks“He was less than 15 years old.
At least one in four rebel or paramilitary fighters was a minor, says a report by the NGO Human Rights Watch.
After nine months in the FARC and more than 300km from home, fled and surrendered to the military. At the age of 18 he joined the army.
On July 12, 2011, while on leave at his mother’s home, reluctant to pay extortion by guerrillas, Juan José came across an explosive package in front of the house.
“We went out to go downtown to buy hamburgers. With the tip of my eye I looked at a bag. I crouched down. I don’t know if I pressed it. I moved it Those moments were erased from my mind. Part of the house was ignited and destroyed ”.
His skin was smoking. Juan José does not feel his arms or his right leg.
“I told my brother to take out the rifle and to shoot me in the head. Fortunately this was not the case!“, He exclaims now that he sees in that bomb a” gift of life “.
This was followed by twelve days of coma, multiple operations, a year of physical rehabilitation and even more time to overcome the trauma. During the process, learn about the Paralympic Games and the pleasure of swimming.
“I swallowed water, quite a lot. But I wanted to get on a podium“He says showing his first gold medal obtained in 2013 in Minneapolis, United States.
Four years after the explosion, Juan José withdrew from military forces.
Tokyo Olympics; if not, paris
Dozens of other medals decorate the “tree of triumph” carved in floating wood by his older brother. Cycling trophies won in the last three years, since their first World Cup in the Netherlands.
With more chances of winning in cycling than swimming, he adapted a bicycle. Air Force engineers designed carbon fiber supports for the elbow and knee stumps. Juan José changes gear with his mouth and brakes with his thigh.
Despite the pandemic has deprived him of the income from conferences and trade fairs, the postponement of the Olympics to 2021 suits him.
“I gained another year of training (…) And if it’s not Tokyo, it will be Paris!“He is enthusiastic, he hopes to score points at the World Championships in May and the Road World Championships in June.
In his little house reunites with his partner and coach Angie Garcés and his three-year-old son. “I learned from Juan José not to say ‘I can’t’, to go on,” explains the woman.
Business Administration Student, This 22-year-old also runs her own sports equipment brand Mochomán. The logo: an M that is born from the “flame of life”, underlines Juan José, “not from the bomb” which earned him a “second birth”.
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