Béatrice (23) is the first to testify at the Zaventem attack: “I lost both legs and was in a coma for a month, but made it to the Paralympics”

Béatrice (23) is the first to testify at the Zaventem attack: “I lost both legs and was in a coma for a month, but made it to the Paralympics”

The first victim testified at the trial of the attacks in Brussels Airport and Maalbeek metro station. Béatrice de Lavalette (23) talked about her difficult fight back after losing both legs. The French-American athlete was in a coma for a month and underwent dozens of surgeries, but finally managed to compete in the Tokyo Paralympics five years later. Today, she is doing well. “I worked hard on the mental side.”

Beatrice (24) lost both legs in an attack in Zaventem: “I was labeled 'red'. No priority, little chance of survival”

Last week, she participated in an equestrian competition in Doha. Next year, she hopes to compete at the Paris Olympics. Beatrice de Lavalette (24) is so much more than “a victim of the attack on Zaventem”. That's exactly what she wanted to show on Monday, as the first witness in a long line of victims. That they didn't take her life. That she is the winner.