By Carola Rico
«Despite not having my legs, I am a complete woman.»
There is no doubt that today we have made progress on the issue of women’s rights. Some joint actions have given guidelines to balance gender equality, but there are other worlds, other sectors left unaddressed. One of those is women with disabilities.
In Mexico we celebrated the National Day of Women with Disabilities on September 12. The date was enacted in the Senate of the Republic in 2020 in order help women with disabilities, who experience another form of discrimination.
I first heard of Laura Rodríguez through a radio interview, and we contacted her via the host of that program. I described our media outlet and the readers we reach, and she was excited, because her story would reach beyond borders and could be one more step to making a difference. Rodríguez, from León, spoke exclusively to Atención San Miguel.
A warm, attentive, and educated woman, this is Rodríguez’s story. It started on January 1, 2010. Rodríguez related that she was visiting her sister in Irapuato, it was around 4am, and they had just finished the family dinner ushering in the new year. Rodríguez says that she went to sleep, but her sister woke her to ask for help in looking for her son, who had not come home. Rodríguez was one of four people who offered to take the son’s girlfriend home. On the road, Rodríguez suddenly saw a light above her, and woke up a month later, not understanding what had happened. Days passed and finally she was told that she had lost her legs.
Rodríguez described this shocking news and said she felt that the world was crashing down on her. At the time she was 20 years old. Still, from the beginning her mindset was positive and she knew that crying in bed would not make her legs grow. “Yes, the road is very hard, but my desire to stay alive was greater,” she commented.
Rodríguez’s recovery was very painful. She was hospitalized for six months, and her extensive wounds required numerous surgeries. The doctors anesthetized her so she could heal. The desire to “throw in the towel” passed through her mind, but she always reminded herself, “I have a purpose in this life and I have to continue.»
Then came day-to-day life. Rodríguez said that she has experienced a lot of discrimination due to her disability, even from her own family. «On the street you get glances and whispers,” she says.
Rodríguez had met her husband-to-be when she was 14. While much of her recovery after the accident was in Irapuato, she eventually returned to León and was reunited with him. They now they have a six-year-old girl and a two-year-old boy. Rodríguez remembers that when her daughter was born, many people would visit her and ask, “Hey, Lau, but your daughter has legs, she was born right.” And Rodríguez answered, «I was born right too, and I’m fine.’
Rodríguez currently works at a school, where she sells snacks. She is also a housewife, and irons, washes dishes, and shares in the care of her children with her husband.
Rodríguez only asks for more respect and inclusion of people with disabilities. She asks that the public put itself in her place for a second and recognize her needs, such as well-designed ramps, adapted establishments, and endless other things. Her life goal is to walk again, and continue modeling. What better role model for her children than to be able to say, “my Mom could do it.” “Today I want to tell everyone going through a situation of disability not to let themselves be defeated, to continue with their goals, with their dreams, that everything is possible with a little effort. Wake up with that desire to continue, to continue with life despite the adversities that we have to live through,” said Rodríguez.
I asked Rodríguez what she needed in her life, and she replied that regardless of the fact that she lacks legs, she feels like a complete woman.
