Latest / Libro Abierto Interviews ENGLISH / I am paraplegic, and paraplegia does not define me. Alfredo Jiménez

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I am paraplegic, and paraplegia does not define me. Alfredo Jiménez · Libro Abierto Interviews ENGLISH

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: When I saw that wall right in front of me,
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: I thought, this is it. My spine broke. One of
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: the paramedics told me you're never going to walk again.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Then he added, you won't feel anything below your waist,
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: you won't have control over your body, and you won't
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: have intimacy either. I said, then just give me a gun.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: I think life gives you two choices. You either decide
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: to keep living no matter the circumstances, or you don't.
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: I'm still Alfredo. I'm still the same person I was
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: before the accident. It's that simple. If you'll feel like sinking,
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: go ahead, but tomorrow you get back up. That's life,
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: living every moment, the good and the bad. My name
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: is Alfredo Jimenez Martinez. I have another name, but I
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: won't say it out loud. I'm fifty years old, and
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: like anyone else, I love living. I love this thing
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: called life, enjoying it.
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: Tell us a bit about your childhood, teenage years, and
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: adult life before your accident.
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: This is going to be a bit complicated because I
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: don't have many memories. I wasn't a typical kid, not sporty,
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: not really doing everything everyone else did. In fact, sports
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: never caught my attention, but I tried them just to
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: hang out with my cousins and neighbors. I was always
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: the one left behind when we played games, you know
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: how they had always flip a coin or take turns
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: picking who'd be on each team. I was always the
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: one left at the end, the one who lost ended
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: up with me on their team. I wasn't good at
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: sports or at most activities. I was more of a
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: solitary person. I didn't interact much with people. When I did,
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: I'd get bored and go back to being alone. In
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: elementary and middle school, things didn't go well. Nowadays, they
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: call it bullying. I was the one being bullied. I
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: started school when I was four and a half, and
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: it was tough. I didn't have friends. I can't even
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: remember having a sense of friendship back then. I didn't
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: have any friends. Back then. I didn't even understand what
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: it meant to have one. Luckily, something came into my
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: life that changed everything. Music. I remember when I was
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: very very young, my mom had a system of rewards.
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: If we behaved well during the week, we could get
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: three prizes. My brother usually got all three. I rarely
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: got any. One week I did manage to earn a prize,
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: and we went to the store. I saw a record
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: with some weirdly painted people. I thought they were clowns,
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: and I decided to get it. When I got home
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: and played it, my mind blew. From that moment, music
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: became my constant companion. I went back home and pulled
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: out the record an LP. Back then, that's what we
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: used to listen to, just like they're back in style now.
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: And it turned out that those people in make up,
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: those clowns I saw through a child's eyes were actually
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: the band Kiss Kiss was the first band that blew
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: my mind. I thought, this is the best thing in
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: the world. It mattered more than playing or being part
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: of games with my cousins. I would just go off
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: and listen to music instead. Back then, my cousins, my
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: brother and I used to play these made up games
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: inspired by whatever TV show was popular at the time.
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: Each of us had a role. My brother was always
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: the smart one, the one who figured everything out. My
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: cousin was the charming one, the heart throb. The other
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: cousin would switch things up, taking on whatever role was left,
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: and me, I was always the dumb character. Of course,
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: I didn't like it. Even though it was just a game.
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: A part of me felt like there was some truth
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: hiding underneath that joke. But I never said anything. I
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: didn't argue, didn't try to change their minds. Instead, I'd
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: quietly step away, find a corner and put on my headphones.
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: Music became my way out, my escape. It was the
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: only place where I didn't have to play a part,
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: where I didn't feel small, where I could just be me.
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: But I was really happy just listening to music. Back then,
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: not much music made it to Mexico. The country was
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: in kind of a musical dark age. It was actually
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: worse than in Argentina or Chile, even though they were
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: under dictatorships. They had way more culture than we did.
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: But with the little that did make it through. Starting
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: with the band Kiss, I dove headfirst into the world
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: of rock. It wasn't just at home. At school, I
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: felt the same. I was different, older than some classmates,
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: not the popular or smart kid, never the first to
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: get a girlfriend. But music made me happy. I started
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: exploring it more, discovering rock, the classics like the Beatles,
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and later other bands. Elementary
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: and middle school were rough. I switched schools a couple
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: of times, never fitting in. During one of those times
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: of change, when I didn't really have any friends, things
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: went downhill for me at school. I failed a lot
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: of classes and ended up having to take several makeup exams.
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: It was bad, really bad. So my mom decided to
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: transfer me to another middle school, one that was rougher,
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: more from the neighborhood, you know, And once again I
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: found myself starting over. No friends, no familiar faith. But
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: this time might something different happened, something beautiful. Actually it
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: was nineteen eighty four, maybe nineteen eighty five, a time
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: that would end up changing everything for me. No friends,
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: low grades, but something incredible happened. I found kids who
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: shared my taste in music, from punk to Iron Maiden.
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: Music became my anchor, my life companion again. Then came
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: high school. C h Norcalpin. Music has always played that
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: role in my life, simple but constant. I didn't have friends,
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: but I had my music. It was enough to keep
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: me company when no one else did. Those middle school
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: years were tough. The bullying didn't stop, and there were
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: moments that got really hard to handle. But eventually it
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: all came to an end and the time came for
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: me to move on to high school. That's when everything shifted.
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: I transferred to CCH nor Kalpin, and during the break
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: before starting I began smoking. I still remember it clearly,
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: that first cigarette, the way it felt like some sort
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: of rebellion or maybe just a way to feel like
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: I belonged somewhere. But once I got to CCH, something
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: different happened, something that would change the direction of my
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: life in ways I could never imagined. People weren't cruel
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: to me. They treated me well, or at least ignored me.
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: The first semester, I was still trying to find my place.
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: Everything felt different. People treated me decently, and for the
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: first time I started to feel like I belonged. The
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: first semester at CCH didn't go well either. I got
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: to the point where I thought I don't want to
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: study anymore and considered dropping out out, but the school
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: convinced me. I don't remember exactly how maybe through some authority,
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: and they told me I had to repeat the semester.
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: The truth is, like most teenagers, I got swept up
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: in the change. For the first time in my life,
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: I had friends, real friends, and that alone felt like
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: everything I had been missing after so many years of loneliness,
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: I suddenly belonged somewhere, so I let go completely. Honestly,
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: I spent those three years doing absolutely nothing. School didn't
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: matter to me. I didn't study, I didn't care about grades.
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: What mattered was the feeling of having a family outside
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: my home, people who accepted me for who I was,
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: and in its own strange way, that became one of
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: the best periods of my life. Of course, with all
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: that came other things I was and just smoking anymore.
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: I started drinking, experimenting, getting into stuff I probably shouldn't have.
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: But I was happy, genuinely happy, and or at least
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: I thought I was. After a while, though, my mom
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: started noticing. She saw that I wasn't doing anything with
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: my life, that I had stopped caring about school completely,
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: and just like that, my little dream world at CCH
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: came to an end. Three years gone, three years of
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: doing absolutely nothing, but I was happy. Eventually my mom
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: found out and that phase ended. After a few years.
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: Joking around, I started working with my cousins, who were
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: just a couple of years older than me. They had
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: stopped studying early and became entrepreneurs at a young age.
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: Working with them brought another big change, young people with money,
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: big opportunities. I was part of that world, even if
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: it wasn't technically mine. Music became important again. Through my
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: cousins and the dear friend Allan, I discovered a whole
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: new scene, talking heads, Susie, the Gothic movement, Bauhaus, Sisters
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: of Mercy. Music became magical once more in my life.
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: I spent several years working with my cousins, living a
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: wild life young with access to money, clothes, nights out, concerts, everything.
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: For the first time in my life, I had Levi's
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: pants bought by my cousins. I experienced industrial music, rock,
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: night life, a life of excess, exciting, but eventually it
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: started to bore me. I realized I wasn't in control.
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: I could have anything I wanted, clothes, food, clubs, and
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: but I didn't even have money in my pocket. It
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: was kind of like being a companion, really like living
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: someone else's life. It was wild, unpredictable, and in many
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: ways fascinating. There was money, parties, good food, clubs, excess,
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: everything a young guy could dream of. On the surface,
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: it looked like I was living the dream, but deep
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: down I started to realize something important. None of it
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: was mine, none of it belonged to me. I wasn't
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: earning a salary, I wasn't building anything for myself. Everything
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: I had depended on what my cousins decided to give me.
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: And even though they treated me well, the truth was
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: I was just their helper, their sidekick, their shadow. It
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: looked like freedom, but it wasn't. It was borrowed happiness,
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: and one day I finally saw it for what it
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: really was. So I decided to go back to studying.
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: I joined high school again and it was fun. The
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: teachers were around my age. One even became my girlfriend
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: just fifteen days in. Of course, I started having relationships
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: and flings. Even recently, I reflected on how I've always
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: sabotaged myself in love. I'd rather be with friends than
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: a partner, always finding excuses. I think it comes from
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: a past where I didn't learn to trust anyone. I
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: went through high school, then university, evolving and maturing, but
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: always searching. I worked as an apprentice at CNI even
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: during the strike, than at Teleformula. So I started working
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: at Teleformamula in the mornings. It was something steady, something
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: that gave a bit of structure to my days. But
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: as the afternoons came around, I couldn't stand the feeling
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: of having nothing to do, and honestly, I needed the money.
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: I didn't want to go back to depending on anyone else.
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: I needed to earn something of my own, even if
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: it was small. So I began looking for another job,
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: something to fill that empty space in my days, and
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: maybe in a way to fill that emptiness I still
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: carried inside mornings at Formula, afternoons at my cousin's cafe,
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: I was happy in contact with people living day to day.
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: Walking for me had a special meaning. It wasn't just
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: moving from point A to B. It was pleasure being
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: with myself at Formula. I'd finish at three, take the metro,
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: then walk from Hidalgo to Tecuba, carrying my little case,
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: my walkman, a cigarette. Just exploring that was magical. Besides,
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: it was important for me to do it, not just
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: for the money, but for what it represented, you know
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: what I mean. That was my life back then, that
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: was my rhythm, my way of existing, having something to do,
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: earning my own cash, feeling like I was moving, even
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: if just a little, that meant everything to me, A
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: deeply important daily ritual, and that was my lifestyle until
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: the accident. It happened in February. Most people don't believe me,
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: but I think it was February ninth. And I say
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: I think because unlike most people who go through an accident,
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: and I've met many over the years, I don't really
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: remember the exact date anymore. I used to market every year,
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: but now it's so irrelevant that I sometimes forget. That day.
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: I was coming back from work. I was driving my
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: dad's car. He used to be a taxi driver, and
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: sometimes he lent me his car so I could work
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: nights as a cab driver too. Whenever I needed extra
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: cash or just wanted to go out, i'd take it,
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: pick people up from clubs and drive them home. That night,
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: I was heading back after dropping off some passengers when
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: a passenger bus hit me from behind. The car spun out,
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: slammed into the guard rail, and that's when I blacked out.
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: The only thing I clearly remember is gripping the steering
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: wheel tight and thinking this is it. I was driving
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: down Mario Colline Avenue near Askaputsalko, just ten minutes away
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: from my home in Clan Nepantlas. When I woke up,
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: fire fighters were pulling me out of the car. I
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: never saw the crash scene, but they told me the
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: car had spun several times. It hit and it turned,
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: It hit and it turned. I was wearing my seat belt,
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: but somehow it either broke or came loose. My feet
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: were still on the driver's side, but my head had
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: ended up on the passenger side, wedged in. They broke
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: the window, pulled me out, and put me on a stretcher.
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: I asked them to call my brother. Then I told
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: them I can't feel my legs, their numb just tingling.
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: One of the paramedics looked at me and said, you're
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: never going to walk again. They loaded me into the
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: ambulance and took me to the hospital in Levilla. I
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: was still trying to process those words you'll never walk again.
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: I wasn't completely sure about what was going on because
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: I was still really shaken from the accident. When I
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: finally arrived at the hospital, they just told me in
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: a very calm and direct way, that I was going
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: to need surgery. No explanations no details, just that simple.
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: It all felt surreal, like everything was happening too fast
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: for me to even process. At the hospital, doctors thought
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: I had internal bleeding, so they operated on my stomach.
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: They left me with a big scar from what I
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: call a free surgery because nothing was actually wrong there.
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: When I woke up, I was in the trauma area
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: and handcuffed. It was a car accident, so there was
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: a legal investigation. To this day, I don't know why
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: they handcuffed me if I couldn't even move. Looking back,
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: it's almost funny now. My cousin, Oscar, who I'll always
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: be grateful to, was the director at another hospital. He
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: sent an ambulance to transfer me to Magdalena Hospital where
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: they could operate properly. I stayed a couple of days
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: in the emergency room until they got the right equipment.
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: Then came the real surgery. They placed metal rods in
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: my spine to stabilize it. That was the main consequence
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: of the crash, because physically I had no cuts, no bruises,
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: not even a drop of blood, just a burn mark
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: from the seat belt. But my spine was broken at
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: the thoracic level T seven and T eight, and with
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: that my spinal cord was completely severed. They needed to
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: stabilize my spine. That bot made sense, but of course,
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: if the spinal cord was already damaged, that means there
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: is no longer a connection between my brain and the
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: rest of my body. From that point down, there's no control.
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: If I try to move a toe, nothing happens. And
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: it's not just movement, it's sensation too. I can touch
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: my legs and feel nothing. I can't sense heat or cold.
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: There's no control over basic body functions. You have to
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: learn new ways to manage all that. And when you
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: hear that from the doctor's edda that you'll never walk,
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: never feel again, it hits you hard. Well. The situation
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: became much more complicated. It was one of those moments
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: where reality slowly sinks in and you start to understand
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: that things might not return to how they were before.
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: Every thing around me felt quiet, almost too quiet, as
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: they explained what they could. After three days, they finally
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: came in and told me the news. They explained that
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: I wouldn't be able to walk again because there's simply
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: no way to reconnect everything that had been affected. Then
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: they add you won't have control of your body anymore.
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: But then they added something that hit even harder. They
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: said the most important part was that I wouldn't be
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: able to feel anything from that area down. I remember
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: just staring at them, trying to understand if they were serious.
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: I even asked seriously because it didn't feel real. It
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: was one of those conversations where the words reach your ears,
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: but your mind needs time to catch up, and you
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: won't have intimacy either. At that point, I thought, just
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: give me a gun, because it felt like everything was gone. Fortunately,
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: something almost magical happened after my surgery in Magdalena. While
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: I was in bed with a catheter and all the complications,
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: a group of friends from my previous work at CNI
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: Channel forty came to visit me. Among them was Juan Manuel,
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: one of the producers. He told me Ciro says, don't worry,
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: your job is still there. You won't be going back
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: to formula, but you'll join the new Millennio project. Around
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: that time, Millennio Television was about to launch as a
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: new project, and I was supposed to be part of it.
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: Something shifted inside my mind when I remembered that I
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: don't know exactly how to explain it, but that idea
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: gave me focus, like a small anchor I could hold
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: on to while everything else felt uncertain. I started my
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: rehabilitation right there in the Magdalena Hospital, doing everything I
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: could with the resources they had. After that, I was
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: transferred for a full month to the Colonia Hospital, a
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: rehabilitation center from the public health system located in the
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: Sullivan neighborhood. It was a completely different environment, but I
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: tried to adapt and stay disciplined. When I finished there,
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: I moved on to the National Rehabilitation Institute, this time
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: staying as an impatient again so I could continue learning, improving,
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: and understanding more about how to manage my new reality.
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: Every place taught me something different, and all of it
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: became part of the Johnny I didn't expect to take,
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: but had no choice but to face. So I went
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: to get my very first wheelchair, and that moment felt
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: bigger than I expected. It was like holding a symbol
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: of everything that had changed in my life. Little by little,
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: I learned how to use it, how to move, turn
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: and navigate different spaces without overwhelming myself in the process.
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: It took patience and a lot of practice, but eventually
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: it became a part of my daily routine, something that
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: felt natural instead of intimidating. Family handled it in different ways.
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: For my mother it was especially difficult. She had already
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: spent years caring for my sister, who has an intellectual disability,
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: taking her to the hospital every day. When she was young.
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: She fought for my sister to thrive despite the doctor's predictions.
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: My mom had already fought so much in her life.
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: When my sister was born. The doctors told her a
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: long list of difficult things she would supposedly face, and
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: my mom refused to accept any of it. She pushed,
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: she worked, she cared with everything she had, and in
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: the end, none of those predictions came true. And then,
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: after all those years of fighting for my sister's well being,
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: suddenly she has a son who goes through a life
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: changing accident. I think that even now, she hasn't processed
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: it the way I have. I've had to learn to
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: accept this new version of my life. But for her,
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: it's something she still carries heavily. She continues to live it,
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: to feel it, almost as if the wound is still fresh.
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: Now she faced another challenge with me She's still protective
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: even today. My brother, on the other hand, took a
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: very different approach, letting me do things on my own.
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: My dad also supports me, but in practical ways. For example,
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: he holds the wheelchair in tricky situations, but I do
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: as much independently as possible. There are things I ask
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: for help with and I do, but I strive for
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: independence wherever I can. Try so hard to stay independent
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: that sometimes it bothers me a little when people step
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: in to help, although I don't usually say anything. For example,
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: my dad is always there, ready to support me, and
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: I'm genuinely grateful for that. There are many things where
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: I truly do need assistance, and I ask for it
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: when it's necessary, But there are also a lot of
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: things I can handle on my own, so I've learned
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: to tell them calmly and clearly. If I don't ask
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: for help, please don't jump in. It's not about pride.
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: It's just part of adjusting to a completely new way
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: of living. And speaking of adjusting, even the city itself
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: becomes a whole different experience. It's almost like facing a
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: new kind of architecture everywhere you go. How can I
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: put it? The world feels redesigned, and I have to
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: learn how to navigate it all over again. And besides,
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: most people don't really have the full picture. When someone
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: in a family goes through a major disability, it can
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: even create distance or separation. If you're fortunate, you end
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: up in a hospital where they give you a lot
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: of medical instructions, how to do a catheterization, how to
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: handle certain routines, how to take care of yourself, and
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: once they finish explaining all that, it's basically all right,
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: good luck, and that's it. Then you go back home
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: and the reality hits you. You think, I never imagine this. Honestly,
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: nobody spends their life thinking that someday they might end
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: up with a disability. And I'll share something many people
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: don't like to talk about. If we live long enough,
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: sooner or later, almost everyone experiences some kind of limitation
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: or condition. Adjusting to disability also involves learning about the environment.
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: Most people don't think about accessibility until they need it.
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: You need to learn about spaces, how to move around,
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: what equipment you need. I was privileged to afford a
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: proper wheelchair, a small elevator and adaptor bathroom. Not everyone
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: can do that. Returning to life, I started going out
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: with friends and family again. My cousins encouraged me to
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: do things on my own without being coddled. It worked beautifully.
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: Instead of into self pity, I learned to trust myself
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: to take charge of my life. That fact alone should
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: create a sense of understanding and compassion, but strangely, it
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: often doesn't. Whether it happens because of an accident, age,
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: or an illness, all of us will eventually experience some
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: kind of limitation in life. It's simply part of being human.
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: The only other path is while not being here anymore.
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: When you think about it that way, it becomes clear
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: that these changes are not something strange or distant. They're
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: part of the journey we all walk, and understanding that
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: should make us more considerate with one another, more aware
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: that anyone can face challenges like these at any moment.
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: There are people in my family, like my mom and
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: dad Dad who still see me as someone they need
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: to help all the time. Their intention comes from love,
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: of course, but that mindset is hard to change. Thankfully,
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: there are others who understand that this chip has to shift,
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: that I'm still capable, still responsible for my own life
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: and me just like any other human being, I want
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: the chance to make my own choices.
• 30:27
  Speaker 2: At any point, did you go through moments of deep
• 30:30
  Speaker 2: emotional struggle. Could you share with us in detail how
• 30:33
  Speaker 2: your journey of understanding and acceptance began?
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: Well, really thinking of not living. It's been a journey
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: of understanding and acceptance, sometimes tough, sometimes enlightening. And even
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: when I did think about it, it was just a
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: passing thought, but ultimately it shaped the way I live
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: my life today. When I had my accident, I never
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: really thought about ending my life. Maybe at other points
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: in my life that idea crossed my mind, but not then.
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: I've always been someone who genuinely enjoys life. When the
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: accident happened and everything changed so suddenly, I found myself
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: facing two possible outlooks. One was to keep going, adapting
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: to the circumstances life placed in front of me. The
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: other was to give up on the idea of truly living,
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: and I chose to live fully and intentionally. Deep down,
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: I've always had a strong love for life. Even when
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: things get complicated, that feeling eventually rises again and reminds
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: me why I keep moving forward. Life is so wonderful that.
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: I often compare it to a little kid diving into
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: their birthday cake, eating with joy, with absolute delight, not
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: worrying about the mess. To me, that's what life is.
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: You get covered in sweetness and sometimes in the not
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: so sweet parts too. It's a mix of everything. You
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: end up smeared with cake, with challenges, with surprises, all
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: of it at once, and somehow you learn to enjoy it,
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: to laugh, to embrace the whole experience. That's life, messy, colorful, unpredictable,
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: and absolutely worth savoring. I'll be honest. There have been
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: moments when I felt down, when the sadness or the
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: frustration made everything feel heavier than usual. In those moments,
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: I wondered what my life would look like if things
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: were different, if I didn't have to face so many
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: challenges at once. But those thoughts come and go quickly,
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: like brief shadows passing by. Of course, I had to
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: go through a morning stage, but it was short. I've
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: heard stories of people who take years to accept their disability,
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: who still see it as a punishment, but I didn't.
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: From very early on, I understood that this was just
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: my reality, my condition. I'm still Alfredo the same Alfredo
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: I was before the accident. There was one day after
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: leaving the hospital that I remember clearly. I threw myself
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: on the floor in my living room and cried hard.
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: I said, I hated life, I hated everything, but it
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: was just that one day.
• 33:47
  Speaker 2: Why do you think you took it so well?
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: I've always had this philosophy. When I fall, I let
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: myself fall completely, cry, break down, feel it all in it.
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: But after three days I get up and move forward.
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: That's how it's always been for me. Why did I
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: handle it with so much strength? I'm not sure. Maybe
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: it's faith, maybe it's just how I'm wired. I don't
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: know if God exists, but I do believe there's something greater,
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: a creator, a force behind everything. I simply enjoy being alive.
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: It's fun, it's intense, it's real. Living means being able
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: to feel. And that brings me back to what I've
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: been saying from the very beginning. Music. What a miracle
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: it is to listen to music, to let it take
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: you somewhere else, to let it move you in ways
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: you don't expect. There are moments when you're just listening
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: and suddenly you realize you're tearing up because the song
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: is speaking to you, stirring something deep inside. That's life,
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: that incredible, intense life. It's there in every moment, in
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: the beautiful ones and in the difficult ones too. All
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: of it is part of the experience of being alive.
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: Life hits you hard, sometimes really hard. You go through
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: those moments where everything feels overwhelming and you just have
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: to endure it. But then the next day you get
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: up again, and that's what life is all about, living
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: each moment, the good ones and the difficult ones. For me,
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: living with disability hasn't been the complicated part. Sure, there
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: are medical and physical aspects that I have to manage,
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: but not walking is simply part of my reality now.
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: It's one piece of who I am, and just like
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: anyone else, I have good days and bad days. That's
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: part of being human, no more, no less living every
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: single moment. For me, the real change came when I
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: realized something important that in the world of disability, I
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: was actually privileged. I went back to work before the accident,
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: I was already paying for my own car. After the crash,
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: the insurance gave me a replacement and I installed the
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: hand controls my brother offered to drive it for me,
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: but I said no, I didn't want to be afraid
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: of driving, So I got in drove it as if
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: nothing had changed. And that's how I approached life. At first,
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: I thought that's just how life work. But then I
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: started hearing about the rights of people with disabilities, the
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: right to education, to work, to dignify transportation, and so
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: many other rights. And suddenly I realized most people with
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: a disability don't live like I do. I was privileged.
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: Not everyone has the same rights as any other citizen.
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: And that's when I understood something crucial. That's when my
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: life changed again. I realized that living with a disability
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: often makes you feel like a second class citizen. That's
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: when I said something needs to change.
• 37:50
  Speaker 2: What do you miss the most about your life before
• 37:53
  Speaker 2: the accident? What hurts you the most about your current situ.
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: Of course, there are things I miss from my life
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: before the accident. For example, the sense of touch. I
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: can feel with my fingertips, but nowhere else. That simple
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: thing affects so many parts of life. I'm not just
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: talking about sensation. I'm talking about intimacy, which society rarely
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: talks about for people with disabilities. We're often seen as angelic, pitiful,
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: or heroic. Both extremes are ridiculous. It's frustrating for many people.
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: We're seen almost as if we weren't fully human in
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: that part of life, as if we weren't allowed to
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: have a partner or to build a meaningful romantic relationship.
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: There's this unfair idea that we don't have the right
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: to enjoy a complete, dignified and loving connection with someone,
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: and that mindset hurts because emotional and romantic experiences are
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: part of being human, regardless of physical circumstances. Many assume
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: we don't have the same emotional or physical needs as
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: anyone else. I've done okay, but I do miss that part.
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: It's also frustrating living in a world that doesn't accommodate you.
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: People parking spaces meant for disabled individuals just because they
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: need five minutes. Meanwhile, I've spent over an hour and
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: a half just trying to find a spot where I
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: can park and actually open my wheelchair. There are more
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: parking spaces, yes, but they're useless if I can't access
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: them safely. People don't see that. Ironically, the the biggest
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: challenges of living with the disability aren't about me. I
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: understand my condition, I know my reality, and I know
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: what I want. But when the world creates obstacles I
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: can't control, that's when it gets difficult. There are moments
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: when you look around and think this world can be
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: incredibly harsh and you feel completely powerless to change it,
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: And that's exactly where everything becomes complicated. First of all,
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: we shouldn't even be saying the world of disability ADUNISSI.
• 40:35
  Speaker 2: Why please educate us?
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: Disability isn't a separate world. We're not aliens. We're not
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: from another multiverse where people just living with different conditions.
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: But society treats us as others, and those others aren't
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: all the same. We simply have a different condition. So
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: I don't think it should be described that way. But
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: in a strict structural sense, that idea still exists because
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: we're often treated as the others, and that's exactly what
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: shouldn't happen. But within that label of the others, there
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: are many smaller worlds because there are so many different
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: types of conditions, and each one creates a unique experience.
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: It isn't a single group or a single story. It's
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: a wide spectrum of realities that people don't always see
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: or understand. A person with a motor disability is seen
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: differently than someone with an intellectual disability or someone with
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: an invisible disability. The world of disability is incredibly diverse,
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: yet people often try to separate, isolate, or stigmatize anyone
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: who is different. That's a complete failure of understanding. For example,
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: there's no safe facility in Mexico for people with intellectual
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: disabilities where they are fully protected from abuse. These are
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: the kinds of realities people live with. Even communities within
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: the disability world face their own challenges. The deaf community,
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: for instance, uses Mexican sign language to communicate, but public spaces, stores,
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: or cinemas often aren't accessible. The media, communication, and society
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: at large don't account for them, and that makes everyday
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: life a constant struggle. Suddenly people say they want to help,
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: but that's not true. How many programs actually provide sign
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: language interpretation or audio description for blind people? Some news
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: shows have started, but really the world doesn't care. How
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: many shows actually include sign language interpretation or audio description
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: for people who are blind? Even though things are slowly
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: starting to change, the truth is that most of the time,
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: it still doesn't seem to matter to them. Accessibility is
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: treated like an optional feature instead of a basic part
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: of communication, and that's why so many people remain excluded
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: from something as simple as enjoying a program. I'm convinced
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: that some people, even in the government, would prefer the
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: most extreme outcome for people with disabilities just to avoid
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: dealing with us. That's how poorly society treats us, where
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: like second class citizens.
• 43:49
  Speaker 2: Why are you so convinced of that?
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: Simply because of the way we're treated, right, it often
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: feels as if we were placed on the lowest tier,
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: as if we didn't have the same rights or the
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: same consideration as everyone else. It becomes very clear in
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: the way institutions respond, in the way society is structured,
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: and in the everyday situations that remind you that you're
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: not being seen as an equal. That's why I'm so convinced.
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: Look at the streets. How many have ramps of the
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: few that exist, how many are built properly. How many
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: people respect those spaces and don't park there. How many
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: schools are truly accessible, not just architecturally, but with braille
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: books or sign language interpreters. For deaf students. We could
• 44:40
  Speaker 1: go topic by topic, education, sexuality, leisure, tourism, and in
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: each case, people with disabilities are often excluded. Sometimes we
• 44:52
  Speaker 1: even get in the way. That's why some people might
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: think it would be better if we disappeared. But the
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: the world simply isn't made for people who don't fit
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: the perfect mold. Unless you fight for it, you're left behind.
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: I've met people who say the best thing that happened
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: to me was acquiring a disability. I don't know if
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: I would say that. I can't imagine what Alfredo would
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: be like today if the accident hadn't happened. Maybe I'd
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: be dead, maybe my life would look better. I just
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: don't know. What I do know is that this is
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: my life. This is who I am today, and I
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: enjoy it. I have good days, bad days, days when
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: life hits hard, and that's normal. Many things I've done
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: in the last few years wouldn't have happened without my disability.
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: I wouldn't have gotten involved in activism or fought for rights.
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: But if I hadn't been disabled, maybe I would have
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: met a princess in the metro and married her. Who
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: knows what I do know is that the most beautiful
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: thing is how I enjoy being alive. I've loved life
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: since I was a kid. I really can't know, and honestly,
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: I think spending energy wondering about something that has no
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: clear answer would just wear me down for no reason.
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: And instead of getting lost in what ifs, the life
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: I live now is the life I have.
• 46:44
  Speaker 2: Has something happened that made you discover a new kind
• 46:47
  Speaker 2: of beauty in life, something truly meaningful or unexpectedly beautiful.
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: Maybe what has changed the most is how deeply she
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: ate simply being alive, something that had been growing in
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: me long before the accident. When I was a kid
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: and even through middle school, I carried a strong fear
• 47:14
  Speaker 1: of the idea of not being here someday. I suppose
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: that had to do with possibly because when I was four,
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: my six year old cousin died. I remember it vividly.
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: I remember something very vividly during my cousin's funeral. My
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: aunt was so overwhelmed with grief that she almost collapsed
• 47:41
  Speaker 1: towards the grave site. That image stayed with me for years.
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: Because of that, I grew up with a deep fear
• 47:49
  Speaker 1: of death. There were nights when I would suddenly wake
• 47:52
  Speaker 1: up crying, saying that I didn't want anything to happen
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: to me, that I wanted to keep living. So the
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: change in how I see death today isn't only the
• 48:05
  Speaker 1: result of the accident. I'm sure it also has to
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: do with the people I've lost along the way, with
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: the fact that I carry my memories of them, and
• 48:16
  Speaker 1: that they've shaped the way I understand life and its fragility.
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: Over time, my relationship with life and death changed. I've
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: lost many loved ones, my cousin Enrique, my grandmother, and
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: so many others. It's like that Gloria Trevi song and
• 48:36
  Speaker 1: Elrequento de los Danos. Sometimes it feels as if I
• 48:40
  Speaker 1: already have more people on the other side than here
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: with me. And when you think about it that way,
• 48:47
  Speaker 1: the idea of death stops feeling so frightening. You almost
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: feel like you've got more friends waiting over there than
• 48:55
  Speaker 1: around you right now, you know. So maybe it's that combinet,
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: the way life has unfolded, the losses I've lived through
• 49:08
  Speaker 1: and the accident that has changed the way I look
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: at the subject. And beyond all that, there's the simple truth.
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: It's part of life. It will come sooner or later,
• 49:19
  Speaker 1: whether we want it to or non Accepting that has
• 49:23
  Speaker 1: helped me appreciate the time I do have in a
• 49:26
  Speaker 1: completely different way. That makes death a little easier to accept.
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: Life is to be lived fully every moment, like enjoying
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: cake at a birthday party. I've carried that joy from
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: music into everything else. E Meal's cigarettes, everyday moments I
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: live passionately and I enjoy life. Think I've tried to
• 49:50
  Speaker 1: bring that perspective into everything I do in my life.
• 49:54
  Speaker 1: You know that cliche about living with passion, Well, I've
• 49:58
  Speaker 1: taken it seriously. It's about giving. You're all pushing through
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: challenges and showing up with determination no matter what life
• 50:07
  Speaker 1: throws your way. That mindset has shaped the way I
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: move forward, the way I work, and the way I
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: try to enjoy every moment I can. Yes, people admire me,
• 50:20
  Speaker 1: but that admiration is the same as pity, whether they
• 50:24
  Speaker 1: see me as a hero or someone to feel sorry for.
• 50:28
  Speaker 1: It's cultural. Our society still sees disability as less than
• 50:34
  Speaker 1: That's the way we were raised, and that's the way
• 50:37
  Speaker 1: the world works. We grow up absorbing those ideas, those expectations,
• 50:43
  Speaker 1: until they almost feel like the natural order of things.
• 50:48
  Speaker 1: The paradigm of disability has evolved over the years from invalid, useless,
• 50:54
  Speaker 1: or broken to a more modern understanding. We are people
• 50:59
  Speaker 1: with the same rights and responsibilities, but many forget that
• 51:03
  Speaker 1: rights come with obligations. If we fight for inclusion, we
• 51:08
  Speaker 1: also contribute to society. I've learned to live with that.
• 51:13
  Speaker 1: We have to understand that rights come with responsibilities. It's
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: not something that works only in our favor. It also
• 51:22
  Speaker 1: has to go both ways. We need to contribute to society,
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: especially if we're fighting to be fully included in it.
• 51:31
  Speaker 1: It has to be reciprocal, because if it isn't, then
• 51:34
  Speaker 1: things aren't balanced. Then what you end up having is
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: not equality. It's privilege. True belonging comes from that exchange,
• 51:45
  Speaker 1: from giving and receiving in equal measure. People may admire me,
• 51:52
  Speaker 1: but I don't mind. I often go out alone, enjoy
• 51:56
  Speaker 1: a bar by myself, and sometimes meet great friends. We
• 52:00
  Speaker 1: need to educate new generations. Inclusive education is key. If
• 52:05
  Speaker 1: special education exists, fine, but into great students into common
• 52:11
  Speaker 1: spaces too. Let them play, interact and grow together. It
• 52:17
  Speaker 1: is possible to make a real change with the younger generations.
• 52:21
  Speaker 1: We have to start talking seriously about inclusive education. There's
• 52:26
  Speaker 1: a huge debate among parents and specialists on whether special
• 52:30
  Speaker 1: education schools are the best approach or whether full inclusion
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: is the way to go. Many people defend one side,
• 52:39
  Speaker 1: many defend the other. I don't get too deep into
• 52:43
  Speaker 1: that discussion because I'm not an expert on the subject.
• 52:47
  Speaker 1: But what I do know is that the conversation needs
• 52:50
  Speaker 1: to happen, and it needs to happen now. But I
• 52:55
  Speaker 1: do think it can be brought down to something very
• 52:58
  Speaker 1: simple like shared space. If you want special education programs
• 53:03
  Speaker 1: to exist, that's fine. Let them exist, And if kids
• 53:07
  Speaker 1: with disabilities want to pursue primary or secondary education, let
• 53:13
  Speaker 1: that happen too. The point is where it happens. Those
• 53:17
  Speaker 1: programs shouldn't be isolated or pushed far away from everyone else,
• 53:22
  Speaker 1: hidden in places nobody sees. Instead, they should take place
• 53:27
  Speaker 1: in the same spaces where students in traditional education are
• 53:33
  Speaker 1: the same halls, the same classrooms, the same school environment.
• 53:37
  Speaker 1: When everyone grows up together sharing the same surroundings, inclusion
• 53:42
  Speaker 1: becomes natural. Not enoughter thought. They need to understand why
• 53:48
  Speaker 1: there's an interpreter or why there's a book in Braille.
• 53:51
  Speaker 1: Once they understand the purpose behind it. It becomes something
• 53:56
  Speaker 1: normal to them, just another part of how people learn
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: and communicate. That's how inclusion stops being a concept and
• 54:05
  Speaker 1: becomes everyday life. My nephews see me. My disability isn't
• 54:11
  Speaker 1: an issue, and it shouldn't be. My five year old nephew,
• 54:18
  Speaker 1: jose Manuel, once asked me why don't you walk? I
• 54:22
  Speaker 1: explained it to him in simple words, and from that
• 54:26
  Speaker 1: moment on he never asked again. It stopped being a
• 54:30
  Speaker 1: mystery for him. And more importantly, he has never treated
• 54:34
  Speaker 1: me differently. To him, this is just the way I am,
• 54:38
  Speaker 1: because that's how he grew up and how he's always
• 54:41
  Speaker 1: known me. And that's the beauty of it. When children
• 54:45
  Speaker 1: grow up with inclusion, acceptance becomes completely natural. Unfortunately, most
• 54:53
  Speaker 1: adults won't change their mindset because society simply doesn't care.
• 54:58
  Speaker 1: Twenty years go by and incredibly fast, and in twenty years,
• 55:02
  Speaker 1: we could completely change the way society sees us if
• 55:07
  Speaker 1: there were even the slightest interest in doing so.
• 55:10
  Speaker 2: What is inclusion and exclusion? Alfredo? People don't understand, So what.
• 55:16
  Speaker 1: Is inclusion and what is exclusion? Inclusion means a world
• 55:24
  Speaker 1: where everyone fits. That's simple, a world where you can
• 55:29
  Speaker 1: go anywhere, and there's the structure, the technology, and the
• 55:34
  Speaker 1: human openness to welcome everyone. Doesn't matter if you walk
• 55:39
  Speaker 1: or don't, if you see or don't, if you hear
• 55:43
  Speaker 1: or don't, if you're a man, a woman, gay, straight, black, white,
• 55:48
  Speaker 1: religious or not. It shouldn't matter. Everyone should share the
• 55:53
  Speaker 1: same space without facing physical, cultural, or ideological barriers, anything
• 56:02
  Speaker 1: that keeps you from being in that space. We're in
• 56:05
  Speaker 1: that sense, we're all equal. We're all equal in rights,
• 56:10
  Speaker 1: not identical in body or mind, but equal in dignity.
• 56:15
  Speaker 1: We're equal when it comes to our rights, aren't we.
• 56:20
  Speaker 1: I mean, at the very least, that's how it should be,
• 56:23
  Speaker 1: that in the space where we all coexist, everyone stands
• 56:28
  Speaker 1: on the same ground when it comes to what we're
• 56:31
  Speaker 1: entitled to as human beings. People confuse equality with sameness.
• 56:36
  Speaker 1: We're different, and that's exactly what makes inclusion necessary. People
• 56:42
  Speaker 1: often confuse equality with the idea that we all have
• 56:46
  Speaker 1: to be identical, as if everyone automatically fit into the
• 56:50
  Speaker 1: same mold. But that's not what it means at all.
• 56:56
  Speaker 1: We're obviously part of a diverse world, different backgrounds, different
• 57:01
  Speaker 1: ways of thinking, different beliefs. Equality isn't about erasing those differences.
• 57:07
  Speaker 1: It's about making sure that despite them, everyone has the
• 57:11
  Speaker 1: same value in the same place in society. An inclusive
• 57:17
  Speaker 1: world is one where all that diversity coexists with respect,
• 57:23
  Speaker 1: where thinking differently doesn't mean you'll be a for me.
• 57:30
  Speaker 1: The ideal inclusive world is one where we stop creating
• 57:34
  Speaker 1: labels altogether. I honestly think one of humanity's biggest mistakes
• 57:40
  Speaker 1: is this constant need to sort people into categories. People
• 57:45
  Speaker 1: with disabilities, people who are gay, people who are this,
• 57:50
  Speaker 1: people who are that, different races, different religions. We slap
• 57:56
  Speaker 1: labels on everyone, and the truth is that so much
• 58:00
  Speaker 1: of our lives comes down to luck, to where you
• 58:04
  Speaker 1: were born, the circumstances you landed in the place you
• 58:08
  Speaker 1: occupied in that social food chain. You either end up
• 58:13
  Speaker 1: with certain privileges or you end up struggling. That's really
• 58:17
  Speaker 1: all it is. In an ideal world, inclusion would start
• 58:21
  Speaker 1: by letting go of those labels and just seeing each
• 58:25
  Speaker 1: other as human beings, nothing more and nothing less. If
• 58:29
  Speaker 1: you're a straight white man, you automatically start at the
• 58:33
  Speaker 1: top of this social food chain. If you're a person
• 58:36
  Speaker 1: with a disability, you immediately get pushed further down. And
• 58:40
  Speaker 1: if you're a person with a disability who's also gay,
• 58:44
  Speaker 1: you get pushed even lower. And if, on top of that,
• 58:50
  Speaker 1: you're someone with a disability who's gay and black or indigenous,
• 58:55
  Speaker 1: then society pushes you so far down that it feels
• 59:00
  Speaker 1: like there's no space left for you at all, like
• 59:04
  Speaker 1: the world simply wasn't built with you in mind. That's
• 59:09
  Speaker 1: the harsh reality. The more labels people stack on you,
• 59:13
  Speaker 1: the harder it becomes to find your place in a
• 59:16
  Speaker 1: world that keeps telling you you don't belong. We're all
• 59:20
  Speaker 1: just people, and the real fight is to get rid
• 59:23
  Speaker 1: of every label that separates us.
• 59:28
  Speaker 2: What is it you hate most of you and you
• 59:30
  Speaker 2: just can't change it.
• 59:32
  Speaker 1: I think the thing I like the least about myself
• 59:35
  Speaker 1: is that so many times I end up sabotaging myself.
• 59:41
  Speaker 1: I mentioned it earlier when we talked about relationships. It's
• 59:45
  Speaker 1: always happened to me. I'd come up with excuses, little
• 59:49
  Speaker 1: things that would slowly ruin whatever I had, or I'd
• 59:54
  Speaker 1: act in ways that hurt the connection without even realizing it.
• 1:00:01
  Speaker 1: And it doesn't just happen in love. It shows up
• 1:00:04
  Speaker 1: in other parts of my life too. It's like there's
• 1:00:07
  Speaker 1: this cultural weight inside me, something I grew up with
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 1: that makes it hard for me to believe certain things
• 1:00:15
  Speaker 1: about myself, to believe I deserve good things, or that
• 1:00:20
  Speaker 1: I'm capable of more So, even when I'm on the
• 1:00:24
  Speaker 1: right path, even when everything is lining up and I'm
• 1:00:27
  Speaker 1: close to achieving something meaningful, I somehow find a way
• 1:00:32
  Speaker 1: to trip myself up. It's like an old habit that's
• 1:00:36
  Speaker 1: hard to shake, a shadow that still follows me no
• 1:00:39
  Speaker 1: matter how much I've grown. But yeah, sooner or later,
• 1:00:44
  Speaker 1: I'll end up doing something that messes it all up.
• 1:00:47
  Speaker 1: And I think something must have happened during my childhood
• 1:00:50
  Speaker 1: or my teenage years that made me believe this idea
• 1:00:54
  Speaker 1: that not all of us deserve everything, that some people
• 1:00:59
  Speaker 1: just aren't meant to reach certain things.
• 1:01:03
  Speaker 2: What do you admire the most about yourself?
• 1:01:09
  Speaker 1: I don't know if admiration is exactly the right word,
• 1:01:13
  Speaker 1: but I do like my philosophy about life, the way
• 1:01:19
  Speaker 1: I choose to live it. I like the person I've become,
• 1:01:23
  Speaker 1: the version of myself I've built over the years, the
• 1:01:27
  Speaker 1: alfredo I've managed to shape. A lot of people find
• 1:01:31
  Speaker 1: something appealing in me as a human being, and I
• 1:01:34
  Speaker 1: think that comes from the fact that ever since I
• 1:01:38
  Speaker 1: was a kid, I've been drawn to things like knowledge,
• 1:01:42
  Speaker 1: culture ideas. I'm not saying I'm some kind of genius,
• 1:01:46
  Speaker 1: but I definitely don't see myself as someone who's clueless either,
• 1:01:53
  Speaker 1: and that's something I genuinely appreciate about myself. I'm always
• 1:01:57
  Speaker 1: looking for things that bring me joy, experiences that spark
• 1:02:02
  Speaker 1: something inside me, that search, that curiosity. That's what I
• 1:02:07
  Speaker 1: truly like about who I am. I love music and
• 1:02:11
  Speaker 1: the way it teaches you about emotions. I love film
• 1:02:15
  Speaker 1: how it lets you learn about the world without moving
• 1:02:18
  Speaker 1: from your seat. I like feeding myself with things that
• 1:02:22
  Speaker 1: make me think or feel.
• 1:02:25
  Speaker 2: What can you tell us about your romantic life in
• 1:02:29
  Speaker 2: the past, in the present, and how you imagine it
• 1:02:33
  Speaker 2: in the future.
• 1:02:36
  Speaker 1: My romantic life, well, I think I mentioned earlier that
• 1:02:41
  Speaker 1: back in elementary school and even in middle school, nobody
• 1:02:45
  Speaker 1: really paid attention to me. There was some bullying, and
• 1:02:49
  Speaker 1: that definitely shaped the way I related to people. I
• 1:02:53
  Speaker 1: remember there was a girl in my neighborhood I really liked.
• 1:02:58
  Speaker 1: I had absolutely no idea how any of this worked,
• 1:03:02
  Speaker 1: but I gathered some courage and asked her out. I
• 1:03:05
  Speaker 1: told her I liked her straight up, she was a
• 1:03:08
  Speaker 1: smart girl, and her answer was very gentle, very thoughtful.
• 1:03:13
  Speaker 1: She said, think about it carefully, and if you still
• 1:03:17
  Speaker 1: feel that way, you can tell me again later. As
• 1:03:27
  Speaker 1: I grew older, I realize something about myself. I can
• 1:03:32
  Speaker 1: be a good seducer. Not in a superficial way, but
• 1:03:36
  Speaker 1: in the sense that when there's real chemistry and interest,
• 1:03:40
  Speaker 1: I know how to show who I am and connect
• 1:03:43
  Speaker 1: with someone. I think I've been able to make people
• 1:03:46
  Speaker 1: fall in love with me. The problem is that in
• 1:03:49
  Speaker 1: the end, I'm the one who ruins it. Somehow I
• 1:03:53
  Speaker 1: find a way to break what could have been something good.
• 1:03:56
  Speaker 1: In the last few years, casual encounters have simply worked
• 1:04:00
  Speaker 1: better for me. Not paid or anything like that, just
• 1:04:05
  Speaker 1: the kind of situations where I go to a bar,
• 1:04:08
  Speaker 1: meet someone and with the warmth of the music and
• 1:04:11
  Speaker 1: a couple of drinks, things start to flow naturally. Some
• 1:04:16
  Speaker 1: of those brief connections have even turned into really good friendships.
• 1:04:20
  Speaker 1: But once you bring disability into the equation, everything becomes
• 1:04:25
  Speaker 1: more challenging. A lot of people assume we don't have
• 1:04:29
  Speaker 1: the same romantic pull, that we can't be seen as
• 1:04:34
  Speaker 1: attractive or desirable, and when people don't even consider you
• 1:04:38
  Speaker 1: in that way, it makes things tough right from the start.
• 1:04:42
  Speaker 1: And the truth is, the few times I have met
• 1:04:46
  Speaker 1: someone who was genuinely interested in me, something eventually went wrong.
• 1:04:52
  Speaker 1: Either I found a way to mess it up, or
• 1:04:55
  Speaker 1: they did one way or another. Things just haven't lasted.
• 1:05:00
  Speaker 1: Even though I'm a solitary person and I genuinely enjoy
• 1:05:05
  Speaker 1: being in my own space, listening to music, having my quiet,
• 1:05:10
  Speaker 1: loneliness still hits, just like it does for anyone else.
• 1:05:14
  Speaker 1: We all need some kind of connection, some kind of
• 1:05:18
  Speaker 1: closeness with another human being. And of course you think
• 1:05:24
  Speaker 1: about what it would feel like to be close to
• 1:05:27
  Speaker 1: someone again, to share that warmth, to feel that excitement
• 1:05:31
  Speaker 1: that comes from being with another person. That's a very
• 1:05:35
  Speaker 1: human longing. But when I think about it carefully, I
• 1:05:39
  Speaker 1: realize it's not something tied only to disability. I know
• 1:05:44
  Speaker 1: there are thousands of people out there right now feeling
• 1:05:48
  Speaker 1: exactly the same way. A wondering about connection, wondering about closeness,
• 1:05:53
  Speaker 1: wondering if they'll find that spark again. It's just part
• 1:05:57
  Speaker 1: of being human, and I feel it too.
• 1:06:03
  Speaker 2: What can you tell us about your plans for when
• 1:06:05
  Speaker 2: you reach old age.
• 1:06:16
  Speaker 1: Honestly, I don't like thinking about the future. I don't
• 1:06:22
  Speaker 1: picture myself in twenty years because it feels like an
• 1:06:26
  Speaker 1: unnecessary wear and tear on the mind. You can't know
• 1:06:30
  Speaker 1: what's coming, you don't know if you'll get there or
• 1:06:33
  Speaker 1: how so thinking too much about the future is exhausting.
• 1:06:38
  Speaker 1: Sure people say it's good to plan, especially financially, but
• 1:06:43
  Speaker 1: I don't do it. I like living in the moment,
• 1:06:46
  Speaker 1: day by day. The truth is, I like living in
• 1:06:49
  Speaker 1: the moment. I like taking things one day at a
• 1:06:52
  Speaker 1: time without trying to predict a future I can't control.
• 1:06:57
  Speaker 1: That's honestly how I function best, waking up, seeing what
• 1:07:01
  Speaker 1: the day brings and focusing on what I can actually
• 1:07:05
  Speaker 1: feel an experience right now. I've learned that life shifts
• 1:07:09
  Speaker 1: so quickly that planning too far ahead sometimes just adds pressure.
• 1:07:14
  Speaker 1: So I try to stay present, enjoy what's in front
• 1:07:18
  Speaker 1: of me, and let the future unfold when it has to.
• 1:07:24
  Speaker 1: Maybe that's why I've lived a little on the edge. Yes,
• 1:07:28
  Speaker 1: I smoked, drank, did all sorts of things. They'll like
• 1:07:32
  Speaker 1: that song by Jose Jose says, I did it all
• 1:07:35
  Speaker 1: without measure I take life as it comes. Of course,
• 1:07:40
  Speaker 1: I have savings and precautions, and I visualize my ideal
• 1:07:44
  Speaker 1: not just for me, but globally. For example, I have
• 1:07:48
  Speaker 1: a project, an accessible tourism plan for retirement, But thinking
• 1:07:53
  Speaker 1: about my personal future, partner, kids, where I'll be at fifty,
• 1:07:58
  Speaker 1: it's pointless. I don't know if I'll have a partner
• 1:08:01
  Speaker 1: or if I won't. I don't know if I'll ever
• 1:08:04
  Speaker 1: have kids or if that won't be part of my life,
• 1:08:07
  Speaker 1: And honestly, trying to predict all of that doesn't make
• 1:08:11
  Speaker 1: much sense to me. Life is too unpredictable, too full
• 1:08:15
  Speaker 1: of twists, And I've learned that imagining every possible future
• 1:08:19
  Speaker 1: only leads to frustration.
• 1:08:23
  Speaker 2: Do you have any dreams you still haven't fulfilled?
• 1:08:28
  Speaker 1: So I just accept that I don't have those answers,
• 1:08:31
  Speaker 1: and I'm okay with that. As my grandmother said, you
• 1:08:36
  Speaker 1: can plan, but tomorrow might hit you with the smallest thing,
• 1:08:41
  Speaker 1: even a flies kick. Today, what I really want is
• 1:08:46
  Speaker 1: to dedicate myself a hundred percent to inclusion, changing the
• 1:08:51
  Speaker 1: way people see disability. I'm especially passionate about culture and art.
• 1:08:57
  Speaker 1: There just aren't enough opportunities for people in that situation,
• 1:09:02
  Speaker 1: and it's something that frustrates me deeply. I would love
• 1:09:06
  Speaker 1: to be able to create real change, to help open doors,
• 1:09:11
  Speaker 1: to build spaces where people with disabilities can actually grow, work,
• 1:09:17
  Speaker 1: dream and be seen the way they deserve. If there's
• 1:09:21
  Speaker 1: a dream I still carry, it's that.
• 1:09:27
  Speaker 2: Tell us about the activism you do.
• 1:09:32
  Speaker 1: In terms of activism, that's exactly what I do. I
• 1:09:35
  Speaker 1: have a project called connect a nique nik in Mayan
• 1:09:40
  Speaker 1: means seed. I merge connect with the idea of planting, germinating,
• 1:09:48
  Speaker 1: growing something new. I hope to one day hold the
• 1:09:52
  Speaker 1: first one hundred percent inclusive festival, artists with and without
• 1:09:57
  Speaker 1: disabilities performing together. And not only that, the audience space
• 1:10:03
  Speaker 1: must be fully accessible. A blind person should enjoy it,
• 1:10:08
  Speaker 1: a deaf person, someone with artism, someone with down syndrome,
• 1:10:13
  Speaker 1: anyone should experience culture and art fully. The idea is that,
• 1:10:18
  Speaker 1: architecturally and in every practical sense, a cultural event should
• 1:10:22
  Speaker 1: be designed for everyone, for any person with or without
• 1:10:27
  Speaker 1: a disability. The whole point is to experience culture and
• 1:10:31
  Speaker 1: art together, to take it in and to truly enjoy it.
• 1:10:35
  Speaker 1: Space is where nobody is left out and where art
• 1:10:38
  Speaker 1: becomes something we can all share.
• 1:10:42
  Speaker 2: Alfredo. We all have an opinion. From your perspective, what
• 1:10:46
  Speaker 2: do we need to change as a society.
• 1:10:51
  Speaker 1: From my perspective, the big change society needs is this.
• 1:10:56
  Speaker 1: We must stop labeling people. We must stop thinking excess
• 1:11:00
  Speaker 1: is being rich, white, or wearing designer clothes. All those
• 1:11:05
  Speaker 1: measures of value. We need to rethink them. Society needs
• 1:11:10
  Speaker 1: to see every human being equally, recognize rights and responsibilities.
• 1:11:15
  Speaker 1: And there's one right that doesn't exist formerly yet, but
• 1:11:19
  Speaker 1: I believe should the right to be happy. That's it.
• 1:11:23
  Speaker 1: But I think all of that really comes down to
• 1:11:26
  Speaker 1: one simple idea, something I mentioned earlier. Society needs to
• 1:11:31
  Speaker 1: change the way it looks at us and the way
• 1:11:35
  Speaker 1: we look at ourselves. We all need to start seeing
• 1:11:38
  Speaker 1: each other as human beings, plain and simple, as people
• 1:11:43
  Speaker 1: who have rights, who have responsibilities, who belong in the
• 1:11:47
  Speaker 1: same world and deserve to stand on the same ground.
• 1:11:53
  Speaker 1: If we could make that shift, just that everything else
• 1:11:58
  Speaker 1: would start to fall into place. The right is this,
• 1:12:02
  Speaker 1: Any person who is born should have the chance to
• 1:12:06
  Speaker 1: be happy. That's it.