«I lost my sight but not the desire to do what I love. When I resumed skating, I was born a second time»- Corriere.it

«Sometimes it seems to me that life has given me a second chance to experience things with more enthusiasm. I lost my sight, but I found the will to do. I was just a guy like many others, I really liked skating, my whole life revolved around that. I remember the day I took back the board as one of the happiest of my life, it was like
be born a second time».

Marcelo Lusardi is 25 years old, a passion for music and skateboarding, a lot of will to live and a
Leber’s optic neuropathy, a degenerative disease that in 2015 took away his sight within a few months. It all started one evening in June, when Marcelo and his friends wanted to enjoy the fires and bonfires of the San Juan festival: that’s where Marcelo began to see those somewhat blurry lights. “As if there were dots,” he says. “At the time, I didn’t give it much importance.”

And then what happened?

«I began to experience severe discomfort with the artificial lights and hospitalizations and tests began, but no one could tell me what was wrong. In November, I realized that I could no longer read, and went to the hospital again. I did a lot of tests to be able to get a diagnosis: brain tumor, multiple sclerosis, many hypotheses but never an answer, I was afraid of going crazy. Then I met an ophthalmologist who realized I might have a genetic disease. Finally got my diagnosis, had a name,
I knew what was happening».

How did your friends react to the news?

“They didn’t know until I lost my sight completely. At the beginning, after the diagnosis, I saw blurred shapes, but I didn’t use the cane, I was ashamed. The disease progresses differently from person to person, no one expected all of this in such a short time. One day they saw me coming with the stick, and I told them that I had totally lost my sight, that I no longer knew what to do with my life… It wasn’t easy»

When did you realize that going back to skateboarding was the right thing?

«I didn’t want to feel left out anymore, it’s something I’ve always loved. One day I went to my parents and said “I want to go back to skating”. They saw how bad I was and told me to do as I felt. When I took the board back and went to the track, I cried with happiness”

What was it like relearning to skate without being able to see?

“Complicated. I had to find a new balance. Sounds have helped me a lot: the noises of the cars, the children playing in the park. Also thanks to this I can have a perception of the slopes»

And the moment you resumed, what was it like?

“It’s as if I’ve found a courage I didn’t have before. I did jumps that I would never have done before, I took the plunge and it was incredible. I learned to overcome myself, I had the desire to dare».

A new but more special courage…

«Yes, it motivates me to think that I don’t practice an adapted sport, but that I have adapted to a sport. When I started again I didn’t know anyone, there was no guide, it was total chaos. Now I rely a lot on the indications of my friends and on memory. Three months ago I started using the stick to skate, it helps me a lot to have references»

How does it feel to think of being an example to so many people in your situation, who are afraid to start doing what they love again?

“Well, being an example is sometimes weird. I know I can be a positive influence, but I didn’t choose to be an “inspiration.” I decided to open my profile
“The Blind Rider”
just to share my passion, what I love. The people who motivate me the most are those dear to me, who knew me before totally losing their sight: they saw a twenty-year-old who no longer knew what to do with his life take matters into his own hands and go back to doing what he loves, paradoxically with less fear and more motivation»

If you could talk to that Marcelo from the past, scared and unaware of what’s about to happen, what would you tell him?

«I would tell him not to sit still, to take advantage of all the time he has. Since I lost my sight it’s clear that there are things I can no longer do, but I use all the time I have to play the guitar, to skate, to appreciate what really matters.”

And what would you say to Marcelo of the future?

“To keep improving. I feel accomplished but I still want to grow and contribute to the world of
paralympic skate: at the moment we are 5/6 worldwide, and I want this reality to become more and more accessible. People are prejudiced against disability, but my case is emblematic: I thought I’d never go back on a skate and instead now I do it better than before, with a mad desire to do more and more. Without wanting to, just doing what makes me feel good, I tell those who observe me that you can do more things than you think, that we set the real limit for ourselves. Anyone like me who has a disability should not be judged, because we are capable of doing more than one might think».