Carlos Tatay was 20 years old and had been dating for only 8 months when he entered an operating room without knowing whether he would ever walk again.
It was July 2, 2023, at the Portimão circuit in Portugal, during a European Moto2 Championship race. He was thrown from his motorcycle at more than 260 km/h. Fractures, a traumatic brain injury, and a spinal cord injury that took away mobility in his legs forever.
Before he underwent surgery, he told his girlfriend the phrase that sums up this entire story today: “If I leave the operating room and you’re not there, I’ll understand, my love.” He didn’t want her to bear a future she had not chosen.
When he woke up, she was there. They spent five months at the National Hospital for Paraplegics in Toledo, far from home: he in rehabilitation every day, she working and not missing a single session.
Today, at 23, Carlos still cannot walk without assistance, but he keeps trying every day. And she is still by his side.