When we're young, we're innocently brave, and we fearlessly dream about what our lives might be like. Maybe you wanted to be an astronaut or a rocket scientist. Maybe you dreamed of traveling to every continent. Since I was very young, I dreamed of working for the United Nations in some of the most difficult countries in the world. And thanks to a lot of courage that dream came true.
Cando somos novos, somos valentes de forma inocente, e soñamos sen medo sobre como serán as nosas vidas. Quizais queredes ser un astronauta ou un enxeñeiro aeroespacial. Quizais soñabas con viaxar a cada continente. Dende que era moi nova, eu soñaba con traballar para as Nacións Unidas nalgúns dos países con máis dificultades do mundo. E grazas a unha gran coraxe ese soño volveuse realidade.
But here's the thing about courage: it doesn't just appear whenever we need it. It's the result of tough reflection and real work, involving the balance between fear and bravery. Without fear, we'll do foolish things. And without courage, we'll never step into the unknown. The balance of the two is where the magic lies, and it's a balance we all deal with every day.
Pero hai que mencionar algo sobre a coraxe: non aparece simplemente cando a necesitamos. É o resultado dun duro traballo e de reflexión, que implica un equilibrio entre medo e valentía. Sen medo fariamos estupideces. Sen valentía nunca sairiamos da nosa zona de comfort. O equilibrio entre ambos é onde reside a maxia, e é un equilibrio co que tratamos cada día.
First, a word about my fancy wheels. I haven't always used a wheelchair. I grew up like many of you, running, jumping and dancing. I love to dance. However, in my mid-twenties, I began to experience a series of inexplicable falls. And a few years later, I was diagnosed with a recessive genetic condition called hereditary inclusion body myopathy, or HIBM. It's a progressive muscle wasting disease that affects all of my muscles from head to toe. HIBM is very rare. In the United States there are less than 200 people diagnosed. To date, there is no proved treatment or cure, and within 10 to 15 years of its onset, HIBM typically leads to quadriplegia, which is why I now use a wheelchair.
Primeiro, unha verba sobre as miñas rodas. Non sempre estiven nunha cadeira de rodas. Crecín coma moitos de vós, correndo, choutando e bailando. Encántame bailar. Pero, aos vinte e pico comecei a caerme de forma inexplicable. E uns anos despois, diagnosticáronme unha enfermidade xénetica recesiva chamada miopatía corporal de inclusión hereditaria ou tamén MCIH. É unha enfermidade dexenerativa dos músculos e afecta a todos dende a cabeza ata os pés. MCIH é unha enfermidade rara. Nos Estados Unidos hai menos de 200 persoas diagnosticadas. Ata hoxe, non hai tratamento probado ou cura, e entre 10 ou 15 anos dende o comezo, O MCIH leva a cuadriplexia, que é a razón pola que agora utilizo unha cadeira de rodas.
When I was first diagnosed, everything changed. It was frightening news because I had no experience with chronic illness or disabilities. And I had no idea how the disease might progress. But what was most disheartening was to listen to other people advise me to limit my ambitions and dreams, and to change my expectations of what to expect from life. "You should quit your international career." "No one will marry you this way." "You would be selfish to have children." The fact that someone who wasn't me was putting limitations on my dreams and ambitions was preposterous. And unacceptable. So I ignored them.
Cando mo diagnosticaron, todo cambiou. Estaba moi asustada porque non tiña ningunha experiencia con enfermidades crónicas ou discapacidades. E non tiña nin idea de como ía progresar a enfermidade. Pero o máis descorazonador foi escoitar a xente aconsellándome que limitase as miñas ambicións e soños, e que cambiase as miñas expectivas na vida. "Deberías abandonar a túa carreira internacional." "Ningúen quererá casar contigo desta maneira." "Sería egoísta que tiveses fillos." O feito de que alguén ademáis de min puxese limitacións aos meus soños e ambicións era irracional. E inaceptable. Así que os ignorei.
(Cheers and applause)
(hurras e aplausos)
I did get married. And I decided for myself not to have children. And I continued my career with the United Nations after my diagnosis, going to work for two years in Angola, a country recovering from 27 years of brutal civil war. However, it would be another five years until I officially declared my diagnosis to my employer. Because I was afraid that they would question my capacity to manage and I'd lose my job. I was working in countries where polio had been common, so when I overheard someone say that they thought I might have survived polio, I thought my secret was safe. No one asked why I was limping. So I didn't say anything.
Si que casei. E decidín por min mesma non ter fillos E seguín coa miña carreira coas Nacións Unidas despois do diagnóstico, ir traballar durante dous anos a Angola, un país en recuperación tras 27 anos de terrible guerra civil. Pero pasaron cinco anos máis ata que lle dixen ó meu xefe o meu diagnóstico. Porque tiña eu medo de que cuestionasen a miña capacidade de xestión e perdería o meu traballo. Traballaba en países nos que o polio fora común, polo que cando oía a alguén dicir que pensaban que eu sobrevivira á polio, Pensaba que o meu segredo estaba a salvo. Ninguén preguntaba por que coxeaba. Polo que eu non dicía ren.
It took me over a decade to internalize the severity of HIBM, even as basic tasks and functions became increasingly difficult. Yet, I continued to pursue my dream of working all over the world, and was even appointed as a disability focal point for UNICEF in Haiti, where I served for two years after the devastating 2010 earthquake. And then my work brought me to the United States. And even as the disease progressed significantly and I needed leg braces and a walker to get around, I still longed for adventure. And this time, I started dreaming of a grand outdoor adventure. And what's more grand than the Grand Canyon?
Levoume case unha década interiorizar a severidade do MCIH, incluso as tarefas cotiás tornáronse cada vez máis difíciles. Pero, continuei co meu soño de traballar por todo o mundo, e incluso fun nomeada coma contacto cos discapacitados por UNICEF en Haití, one traballei durante dous anos tralo terremoto devastador de 2010. E logo o meu traballo levoume aos Estados Unidos. E aínda que a enfermidade progresaba de forma significativa e eu necesitaba reforzos nas pernas e un andador, aínda desexaba vivir aventuras. Neste momento, comecei a soñar cunha gran aventura ao aire libre. E, que é máis grande ca O Gran Canón?
Did you know that for every five million people who visit the Rim only one percent go down to the canyon's base? I wanted to be a part of that one percent. The only thing is --
Sabiades que por cada cinco millóns de persoas que visitan o Rim só unha porcentaxe baixa ata o fondo do canón? Eu quería ser parte dese un por cento. O único problema é --
(Applause)
(Aplausos)
The only thing is that the Grand Canyon isn't exactly accessible. I was going to need some assistance to get down the 5,000-foot descent of vertical loose terrain. Now, when I face obstacles, fear doesn't necessarily immediately set in because I assume that one way or another, I'll figure it out. And in this case, my thought was, well, if I can't walk down, I could learn to ride a horse. So that's what I did.
O único problema é que o Gran Canón non é moi accesible. Necesitaría axuda para baixar cinco mil pés de descenso vertical en terreo solto. Cando me enfronto ós obstáculos, o medo non chega de súpeto porque sei que dunha forma ou doutra, conseguireino Neste caso, o meu pensamento foi que se non podo baixar camiñando. Podería aprender a montar a cabalo. E iso foi o que fixen.
And with that fateful decision began a four-year commitment, tossing back and forth between fear and courage to undertake a 12-day expedition. Four days on horseback to cross Grand Canyon rim to rim, and eight days rafting 150 miles of the Colorado River, all with a film crew in tow. Spoiler alert -- we made it. But not without showing me how my deepest fear can somehow manifest a mirror response of equal courage. On April 13, 2018, sitting eight feet above the ground, riding a mustang horse named Sheriff, my first impression of Grand Canyon was one of shock and terror. Who knew I had a fear of heights.
E con esa decisión pouco acertada comezou un compromiso de catro anos, entre o medo e a valentía para levar a cabo unha expedición de 12 días. Catro días e cabalo para cruzar o Gran Canón de cabo a rabo, e oito días facendo 150 millas do río Colorado, cun equipo de rodaxe. Spoiler -- conseguímolo. Pero non sen ensinarme como o maior medo pode manifestarse como unha resposta de igual valentía. O 13 de abril de 2018, a oito pés do chan, montada sobre un cabalo chamado Sheriff, a miña primeira impresión do Gran Canón foi de horror e medo. Quen podería saber que tiña medo ás alturas.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
But there was no giving up now. I mustered up every ounce of courage inside me to not let my fear get the best of me. Embarking on the South Rim, all I could do to keep myself composed was to breathe deeply, stare up into the clouds and focus on my team's voices. But then, in the first hour, disaster struck. Unable to hold myself upright in the saddle, going down an oversized step, I flung forward and smacked my face on the back of the horse's head. There was panic, my head hurt fiercely, but the path was too narrow for us to dismount. Only at the halfway point at 2,300 feet, at least another two hours down, could we stop and remove my helmet and see the egg-sized bump protruding from my forehead. For all of that planning and gear, how is it that we didn't even have an ice pack?
Pero non podía renderme agora. Recollín toda a valentía que tiña e non deixei que o medo se apoderase de min. Comezamos polo sur, todo o que podía facer para controlar o medo era respirar profundamente e mirar as nubes e concentrarme nas voces do meu equipo. Pero na primeira hora ocurreu un desastre. Non podía manterme na montura do cabalo, baixando a un paso longo, lanceime cara diante e golpeei a cara coa cabeza do cabalo. Houbo pánico, doíame a cabeza, pero o camiño era demaisado estreito como para desmontar. Na metade do camiño a 2300 pés, cando quedaban algo máis de dúas horas de descenso, paramos e quitáronme o casco para ver o pote xigantesco que me saíra na testa Con tanta planificación, como é que non tiñamos unha bolsa de xeo?
(Laughter)
(Risas)
Luckily for all of us, the swelling came outwards, and would drain into my face as two fantastic black eyes which is an amazing way to look in a documentary film.
Por sorte para nós, a inchazón descendeu e deu lugar a dous ollos ennegrecidos unha imaxe ideal para aparecer nun documental.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
(Applause and cheers)
(Hurras e aplausos)
This was not an easy, peaceful journey, and yet, that was exactly the point. Even though I was afraid to get back into the saddle, I got back in. The descent alone to the canyon floor took a total of 10 hours and that was just day one of four riding.
Non foi unha viaxe fácil e sinxela, pero esa era a cuestión. Aínda que tiña medo de caer da sela, Volvín subir a ela. O descenso ata o chan do cañón levounos un total de 10 horas E era só o primeiro día de catro montando a cabalo
Next came the mighty rapids. The Colorado River in the Grand Canyon has some of the highest white water in the country. And just to be prepared in case we should capsize, we'd practice having me swim through a smaller rapid. And it's safe to say it wasn't glamorous.
O próximo foron os rápidos. O río Colorado no Gran Canón ten algún dos saltos de auga máis altos do país. E para estar preparados ante cada peligro, practicara nadando nun rápido pequeno. É pode dicirse que non foi nada glamuroso.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
I took my breath in the wrong part of the wave, choked on river water and was unable to steer myself. Yes, it was scary, but it was also fantastic. Waterfalls, slick canyons and a couple billion years of bedrock that seemed to change color throughout the day. The Grand Canyon is true wilderness and worthy of all of its accolades.
Collín aire cando tiña enriba a auga, afoguei coa auga do río e non era capaz de guiarme. Sí, daba medo, pero tamén foi fantástico. Fervenzas, canóns escorregadizos e billóns de anos de sedimentos que parecían cambiar de cor durante o día. O Gran Canón é verdadeira natureza e merecedor de todos os eloxios.
(Applause)
(Aplausos)
The expedition, all that planning and the trip itself, showed me a level of fear I had never experienced before. But more importantly, it showed me how boldly courageous I can be. My Grand Canyon journey was not easy. This was not a vision of an Amazonian woman effortlessly making her way through epic scenery. This was me crying, exhausted and beat up with two black eyes. It was scary, it was stressful, it was exhilarating.
A expedición, toda esa planificación e a propia viaxe, mostroume un nivel de medo que nunca experimentara antes. Pero o que é máis importante, aprendeume o ousada que pode ser a afouteza. A miña viaxe polo Gran Canón non foi doada. Non era unha visión dunha amazona viaxando sen esforzos por unha paisaxe épica. Fíxome chorar, esgotada e mazada con dous ollos ennegrecidos. Tiven medo, estiven estresada, foi esgotador.
Now that the trip is over, it's easy to be blasé about what we achieved. I know I want to raft the river again. This time, all 277 miles of it.
Agora que a viaxe terminou, é fácil parecer aburrida tras todo o que conseguimos. Sei que quero descender o río outra vez. Esta vez, todas as 277 millas.
(Applause)
(Aplauso)
But I also know that I would never do the horseback-riding part again.
Pero tamén sei que non repetiría a parte montada a cabalo.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
It's just too dangerous. And that's my real point. I'm not just here to show you my film footage. I'm here to remind us all that life is really just a lesson in finding the balance between fear and courage. And understanding what is and what isn't a good idea.
Era demasiado perigoso. E esa era a intención. Non estou aquí para amosar o documental. Estou aquí para lembrarnos a todos que a vida é unha lección de procura do equilibrio entre o medo e a coraxe. Entender o que é ou non é unha boa idea.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
Life is already scary, so for our dreams to come true, we need to be brave. In facing my fears and finding the courage to push through them, I swear my life has been extraordinary. So live big and try to let your courage outweigh your fear. You never know where it might take you.
A vida xa dá medo, e para cumprir os nosos soños, temos que ser valentes. Ó enfrontarme ós meus medos e encontrar a afouteza para loitar contra eles, xuro que a miña vida foi extraordinaria. Así que vive plenamente e intenta que a túa coraxe sexa maior có teu medo. Nunca saberás onde te pode levar.
Thank you.
Grazas.
(Applause and cheers)
(Aplausos e hurras)