RBD fan loses his eyesight after strong emotions and becomes a judo champion
In 2006, Brenda Freitas was one of 50,000 people at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro who got as emotional as the RBD show. In the season, she was 11 years old and he had no idea that this turmoil would change his life forever.
After the show, Brenda, who was accompanied by her mother and sister, went home with a severe headache. When he woke up the next day he couldn’t see anything.
“I went straight into the kitchen, asked who was there and then my mother said: Oh, it’s me, my daughter. And then I said: Wow, mom, didn’t you turn on the light, are you in the kitchen, in the dark? You: No, the light is on. Then I said: Mom, I can’t see anything, I can’t see anything, everything is black,” he remembers.
Katia Souza, Brenda’s mother, took her daughter to the hospital, where she remained hospitalized for 27 days. She was trained by Dr. Mario Motta, a specialist in retina and pediatric ophthalmology.
“Brenda had an inflammation of the retina caused by the herpes virus, called acute retinal necrosis. Herpes in the retina is rare and, if left untreated, causes vision loss. When a person has weakened immunity due to something, such as stress or fatigue, the virus manifests itself,” explains the doctor.
Brenda has had five surgeries to try to save the vision. “The disease was cured, but the retina had already been so severely affected that there was no recovery of vision,” says doctor Mario Motta.
At this time, Brenda began researching martial arts for the visually impaired and discovered the Benjamin Constant Institute, the educational institution for people with visual impairments, in Urca, South Zone of Rio de Janeiro. There she got to know Professor Antonio Junior’s judo lessons.
“To my pleasant surprise, she came, started training and got involved. She was called up for a training phase for the Brazilian team and the first results were evident in international competitions,” says the professor.
Today, at 28 years old, she is First in the world rankings in the J1 category for completely blind people.
“There was a moment when I didn’t believe I was capable of doing this. Today Judo has given me independence in my life, I go and come back alone. I take the subway alone. Judo is my life”
But it’s not just judo that helps and encourages Brenda. RBD never leaves her memory.
“His songs and what they always taught us was that you should never give up on your dreams and that made me overcome a lot of things. That’s why I’m still in love with them because they represent that to me. I’m even emotional.”
Brenda wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to enjoy another band show. “I think just like it all started, I think this show is a new beginning for me too, but now in a different way, in a… good way.”
And this time it was something special: Brenda managed to get to know her idols up close.
1 of 2 Brenda with the members of RBD — Photo: Fantástico Brenda with the members of RBD — Photo: Fantástico 2 of 2 Brenda meets the RBD group — Photo: Fantástico Brenda meets the RBD group — Photo: Fantástico
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