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Pursuit of a Paralympic Dream

By SwimSwam, 02/14/19, 12:00PM PST

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Throughout the years I’ve continued to swim with my team, training six days a week, at the same level of training as the rest of my teammates, none of which have a disability. 

I was born on May 10, 1998, in Madrid, Spain, even though I have dual U.S. and Spanish citizenship. I was diagnosed with a brain hemorrhage at 3 days old, hydrocephalus a few days later.  I had my first shunt placed on the right side of the brain at the age of four months. Due to my body rejecting the shunt, at eight months a new shunt was inserted on the left side of the brain.

At the age of three, the peritoneal catheter got obstructed and I was taken immediately to the emergency room. When I woke up from surgery my mom realized I was blind because I was not naming my toys right (each figure had a name).  The surgeon confirmed to my mother that there were clear indications that the optical nerve was damaged from the severe pressure for the 10 days between having had an MRI and the emergency surgery.