{"id":799679,"date":"2019-09-22T19:16:26","date_gmt":"2019-09-23T01:16:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/?p=371932"},"modified":"2019-09-22T19:16:26","modified_gmt":"2019-09-23T01:16:26","slug":"olivero-aspiring-paralympic-snowboarder-brett-botelho-of-dillon-inspires-us-to-own-lifes-uncomfortable-realities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/olivero-aspiring-paralympic-snowboarder-brett-botelho-of-dillon-inspires-us-to-own-lifes-uncomfortable-realities\/","title":{"rendered":"Olivero: Aspiring Paralympic snowboarder Brett Botelho of Dillon inspires us to own life\u2019s uncomfortable realities"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

<\/p>

Summit County local Brett Botelho made the decision to amputate his left leg beneath the knee and has made the best of his life since.<\/strong>
Courtesy Brett Botelho<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

FRISCO \u2014 There is an amazing way how the stories of certain athlete\u2019s life-changing moments of standing up to fear and getting the best of it can put crucial elements of our own lives into proper perspective.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, Brett Botelho\u2019s perspective on the most jarring moment of his life crystalized to me why it\u2019s so important to confront our own uncomfortable realities in order to move forward. When you do, as Brett\u2019s story attests to, you can then open up unexpected opportunities in the life you created for yourself.<\/p>\n

In a recreation and outdoors-loving sports community like Summit County, each of us, more often than not, rise up to attack each day\u2019s challenges. But \u2014 though there truly are some sporting supermen and superwomen here in Summit \u2014 none of us are perfect. There are the tasks we never quite put at the top of the day\u2019s priorities. There is the conversation we envision for another day and situation. There are the realities we carry with us like a shadow that we don\u2019t acknowledge.<\/p>\n

Some of these unresolved tasks and moments of opportunity in our lives are more consequential than others. In all cases, however, letting them fester can result in burden.<\/p>\n

Saturday afternoon during a reading of his book \u201cStanding My Own Ground\u201d at Next Page Books and Nosh in Frisco, Brett described how he overcame his life\u2019s many burdens.<\/p>\n

Brett said starting at the age of 7-and-a-half he\u2019s faced one physical challenge after another, some created via a difficult domino effect. First, Brett was put in a body cast for three months after surgery to help a situation where his right hip wasn\u2019t receiving enough of a blood supply. As a young boy, a full-body cast for three months in the Southern California heat is quite the burden to wake up to every day.<\/p>\n

But, he came out of it strong. About a year later, Brett learned he had an auto-immune disorder that resulted in his body\u2019s immune system attacking his nervous system. The disorder, chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, altered Brett\u2019s life forever, paralyzing him for two years from the neck down.<\/p>\n

But one day at a time and \u2014 quite literally \u2014 one step at a time, Brett recovered to the point of not only being able to walk again, but to take up his life\u2019s calling: snowboarding.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

<\/p>

Summit County local Brett Botelho trains with his goal of competing in banked slalom competitions in the lower-leg 2 division of para-snowboarding at the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing.<\/strong>
Courtesy Brett Botelho<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

As Brett grew older, he continued to have chronic physical conditions, namely affecting his feet. After several surgeries, as Brett\u2019s childhood evolved into his adulthood, he faced his life\u2019s burden: whether or not to amputate his left leg below the knee to live a better, more comfortable life.<\/p>\n

Looking back now, Brett wishes he\u2019d had the surgery years earlier. But at the time, even after the surgery was a success, Brett was reluctant to acknowledge his new life. After surgery, the deal he made with the doctors and those around him was that he\u2019d cover up his leg until he was ready to see it.<\/p>\n

Like so many elements in life, the course of reality had other plans. While transitioning from the hospital to transport home, the pillow and blankets covering Brett\u2019s leg fell and he suddenly saw what his leg was now like.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

<\/p>

Brett Botelho last spring achieved a lifelong dream when he dropped into a para-snowboarding banked slalom competition at the USASA Nationals at Copper Mountain Resort.<\/strong>
Courtesy Brett Botelho<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI cried out,\u201d Botelho said during the Saturday\u2019s reading, \u2018What the f*** did I just do?\u2019 The next words out of my dad\u2019s mouth were said perfectly and at the right time, \u2018You made this right decision, your life is going to be better. There is no looking back now.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing more needed to be said,\u201d Brett continued, \u201cIt hit me, and it hit me hard. My dad was never too hard on me and when certain things needed to be said, they were. That\u2019s what I had to tell myself that day and every day for the rest of my life. \u2018This was my chance, and it was up to me to make a difference in my life.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Brett certainly has done that since. He realized his dream of moving to Summit County to train with Adaptive Action Sports at Copper Mountain Resort. Last spring, he competed in his first para-snowboarding competitions of his life, earning a pair of silver medals in the lower-limb 2 division at USASA Nationals. In three years he hopes to represent the United States competing in banked slalom at the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing, China. <\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

<\/p>

Summit County local and aspiring Paralympic snowboarder Brett Botelho has made the most of his life since amputating his left leg below the knee. Here he is riding pow at one of his favorite places at Copper Mountain, lesser-trafficked runs near the resort\u2019s western boundary.<\/strong>
Courtesy Brett Botelho<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

He believes he will be there thanks to his dedication and belief in himself. It\u2019s that belief that put in him in the situation where, working with Adaptive Action Sports, he would be ready if and when advancements in technology could aid his snowboarding. That happened recently when Brett acquired the Versafoot 2, a state-of-the-art prosthetic developed by U.S. para-snowboarding legend Mike Schultz.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t had an ankle for 20 years,\u201d Brett said. \u201cAnd when I stepped on that I was literally blown away.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n