EUSA Insider:
Ewa Harapin
Ewa Harapin – a professional athlete, blogger, motivational speaker, a role model for many doubtful girls, once was such herself. At the age of 12 her life split into before and after, when she was diagnosed with a sarcoma. In a desperate fight for life, she lost her leg, but not the spirit.
Published 30.10.2023
Ewa Harapin recalls:
I remember the beginning of this story very well. It began with a simple collision. I had been waiting for a long time to get diagnosed. For 2 months doctors couldn’t find anything. They thought it was a bruise. But I didn’t feel good and the treatment they were giving me wouldn’t work. When I finally found myself at the oncological department, I was shocked that a simple pain in the leg can result in cancer. I was terrified to see bald children, weak and pale. Then I started my painful fight for life.
First chemo didn’t work. Doctors said they could do nothing. Then my mom started looking for more experts. Their methods appeared to be more efficient, yet not painless. I had a tumour in my leg, and because of it my leg got broken. As a 12-year-old kid I had to spend 7 months in gypsum. After so many months of vigorous treatment they decided on an amputation. This news crushed me. I wasn’t prepared for it. Initially I hoped I would just recover. But I had to accept the amputation as the lesser evil – they were saving my life.
1. After this despair when was the moment, you held your head up?
Straight after the operation I was depressed. I couldn’t see my life without a leg. I wanted my normal life back. But then I saw other teens at hospital with amputated limbs, saw their prosthesis and I thought: “If they manage, I also can”. However, school years were the crucial time in my life. Teens always have some problems with the way they look. I had these thoughts as well, and my missing leg didn’t help to overcome this thinking. I was considering a suicide as I didn’t expect anything good in my life. It was only at university that I started to see some joy in life, and my disability took backseat. I started to accept myself and tried to leave home without the prosthesis. I began writing a blog, meeting with youth and telling them my story.
2. You got your disability as a kid, now being an adult, do you see any changes in dealing with people with disabilities?
Before I became one of them, I never thought of such people. Then, I started to notice things, I didn’t use to pay attention to. E.g.: the biggest problem for me was the looks of other people. At the beginning I didn’t accept myself and then those looks made it even worse. People were asking me why I don’t have a leg. Now, I don’t care about it anymore. What annoys me is the people that park on the lots for the disabled or too close to them. People with disabilities, alongside with pregnant women, are not always let to jump the line. For the rest, I cannot recall a discriminative attitude talking with people.
3. When did your journey with sport start?
It was by chance. I wanted to try something new and went to the gym. A coach approached me and offered me to try. I was excited – I wouldn’t dare do it alone, but I wanted to, and the gym was just round the corner of my place. I started to train, and I got addicted to it. I like to learn even more exercises and one day I touched the weights. The coach so my abilities and suggested to run for a bench press championship.
At the Polish National Championship for the disabled I won a bronze. That gave me the feeling that I can achieve something in sport. In 2022 I was the 4th at the European Championships. In 2023 I became the Polish Champion in bench press for the disabled. My result was 84kg.
4. Yet, you didn’t stop at bench press, and you took up powerlifting. Haven’t you heard it’s a tough sport?
It is a new path for me. Bench press seemed easy, so I tried deadlift. I lifted 65kg with 1 leg, which I believe is a good result. Only squat is left. If I take part in a powerlifting competition this year, it will be another challenge completed. I like to broaden my boundaries and see what I can do without a leg. It seems one can do quite a lot, if they really want it. As for the weights, I don’t say my sport is the best. I just do what I like. I think with a good coach any sport can do good.
5. You take part in both regular competitions and those for people with disabilities. What are the challenges for para-athletes?
First of all, para-athletes cannot take up any sport. However, the Polish Association of Para-sport offers a variety of disciplines to practice. One will surely find a sport for themselves. When I compete with regular athletes, I do it for myself, and I want to motivate other people to do sport.
6. You are a motivational speaker for youth as well. Tell us about this job.
The moment when my life changed inalterably, I realized, I cannot live like others. And I don’t want to. My experience is worthwhile, and I feel the need of sharing it. I chose pedagogics as my major. Then I found a job at a foundation Cape Hope (helping children with oncology – TA). I was very excited. I could finally help somebody. Being a teacher has always been hard, but with such children it is even harder. Such places as Cape Hope couldn’t do without volunteers to reach to all the children. There were times when I felt hopeless – I was worrying about the state of children, and those thoughts were haunting me even at home. I started to come to work later to avoid the daily briefings with health reports. However, later I was asking about them anyway. Now I meet school children and tell them my story. There are many children nowadays that suffer from depression. I want to give them hope.
7. You also encourage women to be more active and bolder.
When I lost my leg I thought I cannot be a 100 % woman anymore. I wore loose sweatshirts, jeans and sneakers. I was sure a 1-leg woman cannot be attractive. But time heals and I learnt that femininity or masculinity doesn’t depend on this. There are different life circumstances that overwhelm us. Hard days don’t exempt you from taking care of yourself physically and mentally. E.g.: being a mother doesn’t mean you can neglect yourself. Being poor doesn’t stop you from caring for yourself. It is up to you how you feel, it is all in your mind. It is ok to reach the bottom but then you should bounce back to the things you like doing. I unveiled femininity once again and started wearing high hills. I love dresses and make up. All this wasn’t important for me in the past. However, I have noticed that my outfit gives me confidence and I feel better. Likewise, I gather women and we go hiking. They can meet and talk, share their thoughts. Some of them need this new experience to break their gloomy routine.
8. Being such a positive and strong person, where do you personally get the motivation from?
When I started to broaden my boundaries, it seemed so unreal to me. But my small achievements made me feel better and better. I wanted to do more, because I realized that being passive and shrinking in myself is losing my time. Life goes on and I want to catch up. The moment I find something interesting, I try it. I don’t hesitate. This gives me the motivation to discover and move on.
This article was prepared by a Member of the EUSA Inclusion and Diversity Commission, Ms Tatsiana Andrushka.