Matilde doesn't speak and walks with difficulty, but she 'flies' high. It was from a height of 50 meters, on the cliff of Fonte da Telha, that the young woman with cerebral palsy paraglided and landed in the same place . The 30-minute flight, in pairs with Hugo Gaudêncio, paragliding pilot since 2016, TAP pilot and winner of the Capa Men's Health competition in 2015, moved the 20-year-old's mother, who, with the help of the pilot and his wife , organized the event for her daughter.

"The initiative for Matilde's flight came from Ana (Matilde's mother). Ana, after seeing my post about the flight with Marcelo (who uses a wheelchair and has cognitive limitations), got in touch with me", he tells us Hugo, adding that "Ana told me about Matilde's special characteristics [cerebral palsy and refractory epilepsy - intractable - with daily seizures] and her great desire to provide her with these types of experiences".

Hugo's first flight of this kind was with Filipe Mondim, who does Adapted Surfing and has spinal cord compression: "It was through Filipe that I was contacted by Sara (quadriplegic) who collaborates with the Salvador Association.

Sara gave me the challenge of flying with these special passengers" , he recalls.

But it's not that simple. These flights require favorable weather conditions and some assistance during the take-off and landing phase. As for the pilot, it requires extreme skill to ensure "perfect" takeoff and landing.

In this case, Matilde took off and landed while sitting in the paragliding chair . The seat used is the normal chair for this type of flight. The only difference is that normally the passenger and pilot take off and land standing up. In this case, the pilot took off standing up and landed sitting down to "support" Matilde's landing with his legs.

The passenger preparation part is extremely important to generate confidence and relaxation, which is essential for the passenger to make the most of it . The team also collaborates in collecting images and videos that will immortalize the experience.

"These videos and images are extremely important for the entire universe of 'special' people as they give them hope and motivation ... They show them that despite their limitations, life is worth living", reflects Hugo.

For Ana, Matilde's mother, "that smile at the end of the flight was the best ever – and has been throughout all these years"

According to the pilot, "Matilde had countless expressions of joy during and after the flight, which prove that it was a unique and positive experience . Although her ability to interact is limited, Ana, who knows her well, testified that this experience was fantastic for Matilde".

"What Matilde has is not limiting.

We don't have to look at epilepsy as something that has to be hidden. We have to keep living, we can keep doing things. We can do it, we have to make the people around her feel good too.

People's involvement also helps them learn" , says the young woman's mother.

For Hugo, this may not have been the first time doing this type of flight, but still, "these flights represent an enormous personal challenge" , he says, adding that "total concentration is necessary throughout the process of preparing and carrying out the flight, which only ends after a successful landing. After landing, the feeling of duty accomplished (ordeal overcome) is extremely rewarding. The possibility of providing these moments to people who would hardly have access to this type of experience is a reason. of great pride."

On the other hand, for Hugo, these flights represent an "opportunity to make a difference in these people's lives , to publicize the sport, an opportunity to send a message of hope to all people with limitations, to motivate everyone to do do whatever you can to help minimize the impact that these limitations have on people's lives."

The pilot also reveals to us that he has a project underway:

"I have a project underway to hold an event with the Salvador association . The main difficulty is getting these people to the take-off location. In this sense, I am in contact with the operations officer of the Setúbal PSP command to try to obtain collaboration by PSP, GNR and ICNF to facilitate the opening of the gates of "Mata dos Medos" - Fonte da Telha and transport by vehicle".

But that's not all. Hugo Gaudêncio also wants to open the doors to these people through "special sponsors": "I would like to hold these events regularly in a model of "sponsorship" by public figures or "sponsors" . In the "sponsorship" model the idea was invite a public figure per event who would be part of the support team for the flight. This godfather would also carry out the Paragliding Baptism, help with operations, be a publicity vehicle and interact with the participants, providing them with the experience. paragliding as well as spending time with the godfather".

For Hugo, the objective is to make this experience accessible to people with limitations (children and adults). Ana goes to meet him and says that "this is proof that we can do everything".