Orphaned at 15, wheelchair-bound at 19, and a heroine for 23 years

Therese Perales (Zaragoza1975) never loses her smile. She is always grateful for all the successes that life has brought her even though she had to grit her teeth many times to move forward. She feels lucky. Not everyone in her situation would have thought the same.

Her story is full of moments of improvement and we are not just talking about the successful sports career that led her to become an athlete as rewarded as Phelps with 28 medals at the Games. It goes much further. An example on a personal level and a reference for people with disabilities.

Perales had a quiet childhood in his native Zaragoza. No surprise compared to the rest of the people his age. His dream was to study medicine with the intention of leaving as a missionary after graduation. Until then, yesOr an altruistic and supportive vocation begins to blossom. However, in five years, he has suffered two very hard blows that have completely changed his life.

At 15 he lost his father and at 19 A nervous system disease (neuropathy) that worsened without remission, affecting his mobility from the waist down until he lost the ability to walk in May 1995. In the blink of an eye, just before entering college, Teresa Perales’ life changed forever.

On many occasions he remembered the last time he was able to walk. “He was celebrating a goal by Zaragoza Cup Winners’ Cup. With that goal, it was the last time I went out in a conventional way. It was the last time I was able to jump and run, and from that moment on, when I returned home, the first symptoms of my illness appeared,” he said in an interview several years ago.

It wasn’t easy to digest the situation in the first few months. She left her boyfriend because she “was ashamed that I was acting strangely and falling.” He was afraid to go out and meet acquaintances; their condescension and pitying looks overwhelmed him. It wasn’t easy for her to leave the house either: the building where she lived was not licensed and the neighbors voted against installing a ramp, forcing her to exit through the garage.

The pillars of your life

Teresa Perales received the unconditional support of her entire family. This helped her overcome the first months of anguish. After a time of adaptation and acceptance of the new situation, she found life again. One day, in Saloujumped into the pool with a life jacket. His brother on one side and his uncle on the other. The water was like an emotional firewall. There he feels free.

Without realizing it, this was the beginning of what would later become a very successful career. A career in which he won world and Paralympic medals until becoming, alongside Michael Phelpsthe most successful athlete in the history of the Games. An impeccable path that he has never traveled alone. His family, his husband and his son have been and continue to be essential pillars in his life.

The wheelchair has been part of Teresa Perales’ life since she was 19 years old and “thanks to it”, as she confessed, she met the love of her life. It was on her return from Sydney Games. Her now husband, Mariano Minorwas a television producer and had called her several times to interview her during the Games. They married in January 2005, and Perales walked down the aisle on her own two feet, supported by her brother’s arm.

Four years later, his son was born. Older brotherthe most important thing in his life and for which he also had to learn to reconcile his job with his family life. The two remain very close and have confessed on many occasions how their son discovered his disability.

“He was quite old, about 2 years old, when he realised I was in a wheelchair. I remember vividly, coming out of the shower, we had both showered together, when I picked up the towel I accidentally knocked the chair, which had left it unrestrained. I said to her, ‘Honey, my chair is gone, can you bring it to me?’ Then she looks at me and says, ‘Oh, Mom, that’s right, you’re not walking.

Beyond sport

Teresa Perales has become a reference. She has been decorated on numerous occasions thanks to her sporting successes, with special importance being given to the 2021 Princess of Asturias Award. She was the first Paralympic athlete to obtain this award and did not miss the opportunity to leave a message of motivation to the youngest. : “No “We have to wait for someone to tell us what is going to happen or what we have to do. You have to think about it or dream about it. You decide what you want and go for it.

In addition, he wanted to capture his story through his books “My Life on Wheels” and “The Power of a Dream”. In the latter, he teaches the enormous transformative force hidden behind the expression “where there’s a will, there’s a way”. Teresa Perales is a speaker for people with disabilities and also speaks regularly at conferences and seminars in Spain and other countries in Europe and Latin America.

Teresa Perales is a woman who loves to step out of her comfort zone. Capture your life away from the pool and even He lived a stage of his life where he dedicated himself to Aragonese politics. In 2003, she was elected deputy of the Aragonese Party (PAR) for Zaragoza in the Cortes of Aragon.

Three years later, she assumed the General Directorate of Care of Dependencies of Aragon and the following year, she was presented by the PAR as head of the list for the general elections of Zaragoza of 2008 and in June of the same year, she was elected president of the youth of the Aragonese Party. His last participation in the political world dates back to the legislative elections of November 20, 2011, where he was ranked number 7 on the lists of the Congress of Deputies of the PP-PAR coalition.

At 44, Teresa Perales has already accomplished everything. She is a legendary athlete, she has raised a family and has managed to be an example for thousands of people. She continues to reinvent herself and the next chapter of her life will surely not leave anyone indifferent.