Bruno Macedo was born with cerebral palsy and walks in a wheelchair. He has a hard time expressing himself, but he loves music and singing. In 2015, after seeing, with her mother, Alexandra Sousa, an adapted gymnastics soiree, with people with trisomy 21, I also wanted to try and fulfill a dream.
Today, at the service of Grupo Desportivo e Cultural do Enxerim, with her partner Jéssica Duarte, who has no disability, she performs, such as the weekend, in the Tournament for Initiation to Acrobatic Gymnastics, in Silves. Your wheelchair, which could even seem like a problem, is a fundamental element of the performance.
In a corner of the pavilion, Bruno and Jessica are about to spring into action. both wear jerseys black and white: the colors of the Enxerim. The music starts and the mattresses become your stage. Bruno is smiling, raising his arms, while Jessica uses the wheelchair as a support for the acrobatics.
On the benches, Bruno's mother, with tears in her eyes, films the performance. "I am always moved", he confesses to the Sul Informação. If the fact that Jessica makes the wheelchair one of the elements of the performance can be astonishing, the ending is no less surprising. The athlete takes Bruno from the chair, lays him down and, hugging her colleague, in a loving gesture, puts her head on his chest, while the music ends.
Even with a foot injury, Jessica didn't want to stop participating in the tournament. «I have learned a lot since I'm with Bruno», he said. Hugo Mendes, Enxerim's gym coach and mentor of the entire project, recalls the moment when Bruno and Jessica became partners.
After the club accepted that Alexandra Sousa's son would enter gymnastics, Hugo Mendes gathered all the athletes he already trained. “I sat them down and explained to them what was going to happen. Bruno arrived in the meantime and Jessica said: “I want to work with him!”», tells the coach to Sul Informação.
For Hugo, who was also a gymnast, training this class is an «incredible and very rewarding job». In his opinion, «we created something that is even better than inclusion, as we joined disabled athletes with the so-called normal ones. This was an exponential evolution!».
The idea of creating an adapted gymnastics class, which also brings together, in the Enxerim, athletes with trisomy 21 or autism, was not born in this club in the municipality of Silves, but in the Algarve Association of Parents and Friends of Mentally Diminished Children (AAPACDM), in Faro, where Hugo works and also trains adapted gymnastics.
Therefore, the coach of both clubs does not stop giving indications to these (also) their athletes, who participate equally in the tournament. At the judges' table, Hugo gestures, gives directions, but also smiles – and a lot – at his pupils.
At Enxerim, this former gymnast points out a problem: «Fissul, where we train, does not have the ideal conditions».
Even so, there are two or three workouts a week. Carina Fernandes plays an important role so that everything goes well for athletes in adapted gymnastics. «I work at the level of psychomotricity. I help with the choreographies to keep the balance. In tournaments, there is a lot of confusion and they can easily forget about the layouts and where to position themselves», he explains.
The competition morning is almost over. In category F, in mixed pair, Bruno and Jessica were in 2nd place.
After the awards ceremony, the athletes embrace coach Hugo Mendes. “I remember how, at the beginning of all this, I was afraid. I was the one making it difficult…», he concludes, smiling.
Photos: Pedro Lemos|Sul Informação
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