His home is submerged beneath floodwater, and all his belongings are in his car as he tries to qualify for the Paralympics in two major events.
PORTO ALEGRE, RS — Vanderson Chaves has faced many challenges in more than a decade as a Paralympic fencer, but none as fearsome as the massive floods in Brazil’s Rio Grande do Sul state.
The waters washed away his equipment, dozens of medals, his passport — and might have even thwarted his chances of reaching the Paris Games in September.
Chaves’ ground-floor apartment, ideal for his wheelchair, lies in an elevated area of state capital Porto Alegre. Still, that didn’t spare him from becoming one of the 230,000 people displaced by the floodwaters.
Days later, his home remains submerged, his few remaining belongings fit in a car, and it’s affecting his mental health ahead of two key competitions next week for him to secure …
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