WELLINGTON, Fla. (WLFA) — It’s in Beatrice De Lavalette’s blood. Her entire family’s been competing in equestrian events for decades.
“I went to my first horse event as a 2-week-old baby. So, it kind of started from a very, very young age,” De Lavalette said.
“My mom rode from ages 5 to 55. Both my brothers rode and then my dad rode when he was younger, so it’s kind of part of the family,” she added.
However, she took riding to the next level, the highest one in sport an athlete can achieve.
She faced the best in the world in Tokyo. She placed fifth on the U.S. Para Dressage team in the 2020 Paralympic games with her horse, Clarc.
Now her focus is on Paris.
“My life right now is kind of just being an athlete,” De Lavalette said.
“She’s pretty much a ray of sunshine every day, and I’ll tell you what even when she’s in pain or hasn’t slept she deals with a lot of those things, and is some degree we all do, but it’s on a much larger scale,” dressage instructor Jennifer Baumert said.
De Lavalette’s days are different than most.
“I come to the barn, I get my boots on –– Jen, my trainer, will get on the horse and warm her up for about 15 minutes or so, and then we’ll come back here and then I’ll get on the lift, which was built by a good friend and it’s a hydraulic system, so I just push a button and it pulls me up,” De Lavalette shared.
“Beatrice is a huge inspiration to me. I mean considering what she has been through. I remember the day that I met her. I’m pretty sure I cried,” Jennifer Kahan, De Lavalette’s gym trainer, said.
“I remember the feeling of being lifted off the ground,” De Lavalette said. “I was very lucky I had so much adrenaline and shock going through my body. I didn’t feel any pain, which was good because I was messed up.”
De Lavalette was the most critically injured survivor of the Brussels Airport terrorist bombing in 2016.
She was 17 years old.
De Lavalette had just gotten off the phone with her brother while on her way home to see her family as she stood, unknowingly, just a few feet away from one of the two suicide bombers.
This attack would change and devastate many lives forever. Thirty-two victims from at least eight countries and more than 300 injured were killed in the attacks, authorities say. The victims spanned 40 nationalities.
De Lavalette was tagged red during the attack, which meant she was unlikely to survive and not a priority to save.
She found an ounce of strength to throw her hand in the air for help.
“The next words I heard was, ‘there’s one over here,’ and two seconds later they picked me up.”
She lost both her legs and suffered internal injuries, second and third-degree burns, plus a spinal cord injury.
Her survival and recovery forced her to face an entirely new challenge. She recalls not the attack, but that, being the darkest place she’s ever been.
Until her horse, DeeDee, gave her a glimpse of hope.
“She saw me with all the burns,” De Lavalette said. “No hair. Nothing. No legs. In a wheelchair. But she saw me, and that was the most incredible thing and I knew in that moment, I was going to be okay.”
“I would not be here like literally would not be here without DeDe. I would’ve never survived. I would’ve probably taken my life,” she continued.
Through years of therapy and battling challenges of mental health, Beatrice has already won a gold medal –– life’s gold medal.
“I think she’s overcome such adversity, and she really embraces her life as it is and lives as is and to the fullest,” Baumert said.
“I know there’s so much more that I can do and I know that I’m going to do it, it’s just gonna take time but I also know I’m gonna be on this planet for a long time,” De Lavalette said.