“I’ve made the best I could with what I had,” Beatrice De Lavalette shared with EssentiallySports. Now competing in her second Paralympics as a dressage rider and alternate for Team USA, Beatrice’s journey in equestrian sports is unique. Raised in a family where horses were integral to daily life—she attended her first rodeo at just two weeks old and both parents were avid riders – she was practically born into the saddle. Although she started life as a typical child, a life-altering event in 2016 led her to the Paralympics. But what exactly happened to her?

Well, most recently, Beatrice opened up about her experiences with EssentiallySports and our Paris correspondent in Paris, Shreya Verma, shedding light on her journey so far, which is full of ups and downs. Verma and Beatrice were at the Team USA house, where Beatrice had been training for months. When Verma asked, “So tell us a bit about your journey,” Beatrice replied, “It’s a long one.”

She then recounted a pivotal moment from eight and a half years ago at the Brussels airport bombing, where she was standing right next to the “first bomber.” The attack resulted in the , “lost my both lower legs”, spinal cord injury, burns from head to toe, and various other injuries sustained over the course of her recovery. Beatrice De Lavalette further added, “But I mean, I’ve made the best I could with what I had. yeah. I mean, I wouldn’t say I’d take it back because I’ve had so much good come out of the bad.”

So, this all happened on March 22, 2016, when her life changed forever. She was just a few feet from a su****e bomber at Brussels Airport in Zaventem, Belgium. What began as a typical travel day for then 17-year-old, who was heading to Florida to help her parents settle into a new house, quickly turned into a nightmare. “I was a total teenager walking through the airport; skateboard in one hand, phone in the other, and my headphones in,” Beatrice recalled.

“I had just gotten off the phone with my brother, who was in Utah at the time, and told him it was 3 a.m. and he needed to go to bed. Moments later, the bomb went off.” The explosion knocked her unconscious, and when she came to, she found herself in a dark, smoky scene, with her right leg at an odd angle and her left leg still perceptible despite not being visible.

As rescuers triaged the victims, Beatrice De Lavalette was tagged red and deemed unlikely to survive. Despite her dire condition, she managed to help a woman with her hair on fire before calling for assistance. “I know I’m in bad shape, but I’m going to survive this,” she said. When rescuers evacuated her from the airport, she was exhausted and wanted to sleep. Despite their warnings to stay awake, she eventually lost consciousness and fell into a coma. Beatrice remained in a coma for a month before waking up and beginning her long road to recovery. But then Verma further asked her, “When did you decide that equestrian is your call?

She replied, “I’ve been riding my horses since birth, basically. But after my accident, I wasn’t able to play soccer or run track anymore. So I continued with the horses.” Despite her longstanding passion for horses, she had a notable athletic background. During her time, in middle school track and field, she achieved success by winning a gold medal in jump at a championship. Transitioning to school she developed a passion for soccer and then excelled as a goalkeeper for the varsity team. You may wonder about her journey, to the Tokyo Olympics, what path did she take to get there?

Influences behind Beatrice De Lavalette’s Paralympic aspirations

Beatrice De Lavalette revealed with EssentiallySports, “When I was in the hospital, I made the decision to go to Tokyo. That was my goal over the next four or five years.” well, behind this is a long story. She was influenced by American Ambassador to Belgium Denise Campbell Bauer, who visited Beatrice twice—once while she was in a coma and again after she had awakened. Denise’s encouragement and her introduction to the Paralympics inspired Beatrice to aim for the Tokyo 2020 Games. Since then, this goal has become her central motivation which motivated her to recover. And she did!

In Tokyo, Beatrice achieved remarkable results, finishing 5th in the Individual Championship Test and 6th in the Individual Freestyle. However, when asked about her family. She replied, “Families scattered all over the world? Okay. My brothers are both in San Diego. My parents are half the time in Florida, half the time here  in Paris.”Her parents, Nicolas and Elizabeth, have certainly been a big part of her journey. Curious about more facts about her? Here it goes:

EssentiallySports asked, “Your favorite sports athlete? Who’s your favorite athlete?”

Beatrice De Lavalette replied, “Usain Bolt? UsainBolt. Because as a kid, I idolized him. Because I was a sprinter. I’m a good one. But he was, and he still is the coolest dude ever. “

EssentiallySports asked,  “Any special message for all the Paralympics fans around?”

Beatrice De Lavalette replied, “Make sure to tune in because even though it’s not the Olympics, it’s still the best athletes in the whole wide world with disabilities. And it’s absolutely incredible to watch. We do the same things,  but we’re just missing a leg sometimes. But we still are the best in the world.”

Her journey, though challenging, turned out to be a blessing in disguise, and she truly turned adversity into triumph. For more exclusive insights into athletes’ stories and achievements, make sure to tune in to Essentiallysports, where you’ll get the inside scoop and witness how they hit the ground running.