Published on Oct 9, 2023 at 10:30 a.m.
“Tennis is a family passion. At the time, my brother was a top player. And I, since high school, have been giving lessons and competing. In terms of studies, I went to business school then I worked in a company selling language training. In 2006, I joined the company Vediorbis search as a recruitment consultant. I am then 27 years old, I am married, and for those who know the tennis rankings, I am ranked 15, which is a good level.
In August 2007, I was in the middle of a divorce, and during my vacation, I fell off my horse. One of my vertebrae explodes in my spinal cord, I am 28 years old and I become paraplegic.
The diagnosis is clear: I will no longer walk. I am also told that if there is to be progress, everything will be decided in the first six months. Beyond that, what has not evolved will no longer evolve. I then told myself one thing: it’s better to wait six months before getting depressed. And basically, I look at my situation and I add it up: I’m getting divorced, I no longer have an apartment and no legs, what’s the worst that can happen to me? Something great is bound to happen! And I tell myself that I’m going to find a man who will agree to carry me for the rest of his life (laughs).
“Again, I’m lucky”
I stay in intensive care for 15 days then I join a center in the mountains. When I arrived, I was introduced to the only young person in the department who was quadriplegic (all four limbs paralyzed). By comparing myself, I tell myself that I am still lucky and that everything is fine! In hindsight, I think I was in denial of reality.
Then one day something happens. First imperceptible movements in my legs. Weeks later, I can still stand and even do some movements. Something totally unexpected. On the other hand, my feet no longer work.
In February 2008, I left the rehabilitation center in a walker and on crutches. It’s hard but I remember that I wasn’t supposed to walk anymore. Once again, I tell myself that I am lucky. And since a good thing never happens alone, at that time I met a man who would subsequently become my husband (and who still is 15 years later).
Le tennis miss and standby
As soon as my accident occurred, my employer guaranteed me my place in the company and asked me to simply concentrate on my rehabilitation. A chance ! I returned to the company in September 2008, a year after the accident. Work then resumed almost normally, with a more comfortable seat and a company car with steering wheel controls for which I had to retake my driving license.
At the same time, I have two children. Pregnancies should theoretically take place in bed but everything is going so well that I can move around. Naturally, with all this, tennis is put aside. I had spoken to the doctors at the rehabilitation center about it but they didn’t really push me on this subject. I’m trying yoga and archery but it’s boring…I want to sweat!
“The sound, the smell, the terrain, everything comes back”
My children and my husband play a lot of sports, including tennis. I live this passion vicariously. One day when I was in their club, I saw posters of wheelchair athletes in front of me. A friend encouraged me to get in touch, and a few weeks later, I sat in my first sports chair. I hit the first ball of my new life.
The sound, the smell, the terrain, everything comes back. I then feel that I am putting my two lives together. But very quickly, frustration wins. We have to relearn everything, my able-bodied reflexes are not the right ones for this new sport.
The training times also no longer correspond with my life as an employee and especially as a mother, because I have become accustomed to managing everything at home. Not that my husband doesn’t want to participate, but I have a certain pride in seeing that I can be a super wife and a super mother while being paraplegic.
In February 2019, I decided to take up tennis seriously. In May, I played my first tournament but I was immediately eliminated. I then only train two hours a week. It’s not much but I’m making progress. In July, second tournament and this time I won it against… the 7th Frenchwoman. I then become aware of my potential and I tell myself that with more intensive training, anything is possible. And I know I have 25 years of tennis under my belt.
A complete detachment in return for media representation
Over the months, I joined the French Top 10. But I lead this career in parallel with my work at Randstad Search (my company was bought) where I am an executive recruitment consultant, what is more commonly called a headhunter. And I know it, doing both at the same time is no longer compatible if I want to break into tennis.
That’s when the pandemic broke out. Our new CEO speaks to employees via video every week and emphasizes the importance of seeing the positive side of things. I take this opportunity to ask him about my case: I would like to know how the company could help me combine my job and high-level sport. He was touched by my situation and decided to make Randstad my sponsor. He gives me part-time from September 2021. I work in the morning and train in the afternoon.
Right away, the results are there: in 2021, I finished 3rd in the French championship and I joined the world Top 100. The tennis federation encourages me to do more and reminds me that other players train 6 to 7 hours a day but it is incompatible with my professional and family life.
In September 2022, I obtained a complete secondment from Randstad, with maintenance of my fixed salary and my company vehicle and coverage of all my costs linked to the paratennis activity. In return, I must make myself available for the company at internal or external events, and respond to media requests. This detachment also means that in the event of an injury, I get my job back. Not having financial pressure when you are an athlete is an incredible opportunity.
“I am 44 years old when my opponents are 20 or 30”
Since September 2023, I have joined the All-in Academy, a tennis establishment set up by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga near Lyon, to train in an even more professional setting. And it changes my life. Until now, I drove 184 km round trip – every day – to train with my coach, on a field located between Lyon and Dijon (where the latter lives). So there is improvement, but I still do not benefit from the level of supervision of the players at the national center, in the Paris region. It’s a disadvantage, I know, but my life is in the Lyon region. I have children and they are a priority. Besides, I never do more than two tournaments per month to save time for them.
Today, I am training hard to qualify for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. To do this, I must enter the Top 25 in the world and the top 4 in France, and be selected for a World Cup.
I am currently 38th and 6th. Is the objective achievable? Impossible to know at this stage but I’m progressing every day so I want to believe it! I am so new to this sport… and I often meet young opponents (20-30 years old) but as long as the field of possibilities remains open, I will fight. Verdict next July. »
To note
If you also have a beautiful (or less beautiful) story to tell, do not hesitate to contact us: [email protected]
And to read other inspiring testimonies, it’s HERE.
2023-10-09 08:22:44
#years #active #tennis #qualify #Paris #Paralympic #Games
