Pablo is a 16 year old boy who lives in Barcelona with his family. He has kindly shared his story with Spex Seating distributor, Rehagirona.
Pablo was born five weeks prematurely, and when he was six months old, he was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy due to congenital Cytomegalovirus. His family were told that he would be deaf, blind and immobile; however, he is now a feisty 16-year-old boy with almost perfect sight, hearing and cognition.
Pablo’s mobility has been affected by his condition and he has very pronounced scoliosis and lordosis. Good posture is essential for him, since if he is not sitting properly, it’s more difficult for him to manipulate things with his hands and develop other skills.
Pablo has always been very curious and eager to learn in depth about many different things. At the age of four he became interested in the world of classical music; even at this early age, he knew many melodies and could guess who the composer was! Pablo once said that his dream was to conduct an orchestra with Beethoven’s Symphony, and you can see him doing it here!
He also loves going to museums and knows all the most important works of art; but, like a lot of kids, he has an adventurous and daring side to him too – one of his favourite things is to visit the local amusement park, Port Aventura and ride the attractions!
At the age of nine, Pablo discovered adapted hockey thanks to Comkedem, a non-profit association in Barcelona which organises all kinds of leisure and sports activities for young people with and without disabilities. He rarely misses a weekly training session or match – you can bet he’ll be there every Saturday giving it his all! He also gets involved in social activities such as bowling, go-karting, paintball, summer activities and camps. Pablo has recently discovered a new passion in Powerchair Football! After only four sessions he scored his first goal for his team!
Watch Pablo play Powerchair Football in the video below:
As Pablo’s mobility is affected by his Cerebral Palsy, he does a lot of physiotherapy to keep his body moving. In 2016, he suffered from a dislocated hip and currently he has a lot of scoliosis. He goes to the pool and does music therapy a few times a week, where he composed his football team’s anthem – watch the video here!
Pablo is more aligned with the Spex SuperShape Back Support; he does not lean so much towards his most hypotonic side and he can lie his back on a surface which is completely adapted to his needs.
“Pablo is a very active person, who likes to play hockey, soccer and participate in all kinds of activities. The safer he is in his wheelchair, the more freedom he has to do everything he wants and likes!”
Spex Seating enables Pablo to have a better quality of life, allows him to participate in all the activities he loves and sit in a better position throughout the day.