Àngels Roca: “It’s windy, it’s a good day for sailing.”

There are companies in which the true method is a certain and careful disorder.

Moby Dick, Herman Melville

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At some point in the conversation, in the cafeteria of the Barcelona International Sailing Center (BISC), Àngels Roca (35) stops, looks back at the Mediterranean, which is offered out there, and says:

–Who would have thought it? Just today, as I was gathering up the laundry, I was thinking, 'It's windy, it would be a good day for sailing.'

–Would you have ever considered it at another time, I mean before the accident?

–In my parents' garden, there's a ceramic tile. The tile has a drawing of the Rose of the Winds (it represents the cardinal points and orientation; it shows us the course when sailing, but also in everyday life). The Rose of the Winds has always been there, in my parents' garden (Miquel and Montserrat), but I'd never noticed it. However, now I understand it, and I know how to interpret it, and I know, for example, where the garbí comes from. By the way, what day is it today?

–May 20.

(Now, his gaze darkens.)

–My accident happened on May 29, 2022. It will soon be three years.

The commentary brings us to the moment .

It's my turn to ask you what happened to you.

I ask him if he wants to talk about it.

He says yes, of course.

(He suffers from D4 paraplegia: an injury to the spinal cord, at the level of dorsal 4, paralyzes his legs and feet. From the chest down, Àngels Roca feels neither cold nor heat.)

I spent three weeks between consciousness and unconsciousness. Sometimes I wondered, 'Why don't I have hair?'" Angels Roca Sailor

That day, almost three years ago, Àngels Roca, an engineer at Seat, and three other friends had attended a climbing course in the Barranco de la Corva, in Ribes de Freser. Something went wrong, and Àngels Roca fell twelve meters down.

She hit her back. She broke many ribs. The vertebrae occupied space in her spinal cord. She also hit her head. She was evacuated by helicopter. She was put into an induced coma. She woke up three days later in Vall d'Hebron. Her head had been shaved, and she had a tangle of wires on her back: to hold it in place, they added titanium.

Read also We all have disabilities Sergio Heredia

At times, she would wake up. Nil, her boyfriend, was beside her. The doctors asked her questions:

–Do you recognize him?

–Sure, it’s a jambo .

–And who are you?

–A jamb .

(For Àngels Roca, a jambo and a jamba are nothing, just two words invented in his childhood. He hadn't said them since then; that's how capricious memory is.)

–I spent three weeks moving between consciousness and unconsciousness. Sometimes I wondered, 'Why don't I have hair?'

He spent three months at Vall d'Hebron and another three at the Guttmann Institute. Rehabilitation was an ordeal. They found a 30-centimeter blood clot very close to his heart. When it was removed, he had so many tubes that he couldn't speak. To communicate, he used a Vileda whiteboard.

Today he still has the blackboard. He uses it for training and navigation. He draws instructions and boats on it.

Who would have told you this, once upon a time?

A couple of weeks ago, Àngels Roca competed in the Spanish Cup for adapted sailing in Almería, in the Hansa category, and between June 16 and 21, she will compete in the Kakapo Open Race in Barcelona (organized by the Catalan Sailing Federation, Barcelona Capital Náutica, and My Àlex Foundation).

He had discovered the sea during his rehabilitation. He had gone from one contact to another until he found himself in L'Escala, sailing his Hansa.

By then, I'd mastered my body's mechanisms. I went from needing help loading my chair into the car to navigating a boat on my own. Now I'm the one who accompanies sailors with disabilities. For example, sailors who don't have hands.

–And how do you get along on a day-to-day basis? How did you get here from your home in Premià de Dalt?

–In my adapted Cupra. I steer it with just my hands. I never sit still, you know? I do some sport every day. I sail on Tuesdays and weekends. Other days I swim at the Mataró Swimming Centre. I spend hours getting dressed, inserting my tubes. I stand for an hour a day in the standing chair. It's essential for my digestive system and bones. I spend hours with my parents, enjoying their dogs. I hug my three grandparents. I found my great-grandmother's birth certificate; it's from 1905. I'm researching my family.