Climbing the Himalayas with his modified bike and his feat hit Netflix
The story of Jean Magee is touching, as this 58-year-old from Cordoba suffers from a disability that he overcomes day in and day out with accomplishments such as riding the world’s highest road on a modified bike, an achievement reflected in a Netflix documentary, at the same time he prepares to travel into space and help with his organization so that others gain the mobility he was able to achieve.
“The Infinite Limit,” the documentary produced by Juan Jose Campanella that tells the story of overcoming a man who contracted polio shortly after his birth, summarizes what Maggie’s life was like after suffering a heart attack at the age of 37.
Everything that came after that episode changed his story forever.
In an interview with Tellam, Maggie described how it was when she overcame that heart attack and all the health issues she had to get involved in the world of sports, as Run 11 marathons of 42 km (plus several shorter races) and maxed out by reaching the end of the highest track in the world.
It was at Kardingla Point, the highest point on the planet located in the Himalayas, in India, 5359 meters above sea level, where it can be reached on wheels.
But her extensive sports career goes beyond athletics and extreme activities, because Maggie is also Half Iron Man ran, represented by Argentina in Paralympic sky in the snow -The first time the country participated in the 2010 Winter Paralympic Games in Vancouver, Canada- and Play basketball, tennis and golfAlways in a wheelchair.
He arrived on horseback in 2016 in the Valley of Tears, the place where a plane with Uruguayan rugby players went down in the Andes in 1972, and Overtake those peaks in 2018 with Gustavo Zerbinosurvivor of that tragedy.
But in addition to his development as an athlete, he also tended to help others fit in.
“When I started the Foundation, I talked about integrating people with disabilities into sports, but later I realized that they don’t necessarily have to be athletes, because there was a boy who went to school with a bike or another that he used to do the cadetria. I converted it from integrating them into sports by moving” All those who can get their bikes modified, Jane Tellame explained.
The Jean Magee Foundation is a private non-profit organization, created in 2016, that produces bicycles on a large scale to be donated, and there are workers with disabilities who have found a form of economic living.
“Movement serves as an excellent tool for inclusion as the individual can develop athletically, personally and socially. Both achievements and sacrifices are quickly transferred into daily life to contribute to well-being”Jean Magee
When in 2018 she received a request from the San Juan government to donate 50 bikes for the Vuelta de San Juan – a professional cycling competition – that she couldn’t fulfill because she was only 15, Maggie decided to institutionalize the foundation and put together a project with Young people who are able to work but who have not because of a disability.
“We consider movement as an excellent tool for inclusion where the individual can develop athletically, personally and socially. Both achievements and sacrifices are quickly transferred into everyday life to contribute to the well-being of people with disabilities, their families, and their environment.”
Maggie is tireless. On Sunday, November 7, he participated in the New York Marathon and next week through his foundation It will deliver 1,000 adapted bikes to people all over the countryOn Friday, December 3, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities is celebrated.
The Kordofan athlete is also preparing for his journey into space. “I want to go to space and come back. There are companies that will take civilians soon. It’s another dream turned into a plan.”
A few months ago he was in Philadelphia, USA, where he did auditions and training at NASTAR to graduate as a civilian astronaut and fulfill that other dream.
“This basically tests you on a G-Force. I also simulated zero gravity with parabolic flight,” he told Télam.
Trailer “Infinite Limit”
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After the release of “Infinite Limit”, statistics showed that the documentary in the Netherlands took the second place in terms of the number of copies by broadcast, so Maggie sent a message to Queen Maxima Zuriguetawho replied.
“Dear Mr. Maggie, with this message I would like to congratulate you on your successful preparation for your journey into space. I have been particularly moved by the Space Travel and Leap Project. Your efforts are a source of hope, courage and inspiration to all people, with or without career diversity. You have shown that with willpower and a lot of patience Dreams are limitless and, at the same time, within reach,” Zuriguita wrote.
The letter, signed by Her Majesty Queen Maxima and shown by Maggie to Tellam, concluded: “I wish you a satisfying journey into space, as well as much success with your Jean Magee Foundation, reaching more and more children of career diversity. To help them through sport and thus contribute to an inclusive society.”
Their efforts are a source of hope, courage and inspiration for all people, with or without career diversity. You have shown that with willpower and a lot of patience, dreams have no limits.”Queen Maxima Zurigueta
The athlete, who had the opportunity to visit many countries, pointed out that Cordoba “The Impossible City, a 9 or 10 year old boy in a wheelchair at home, is an innocent prisonerBecause if you don’t have a corner ramp and the modified bus doesn’t pass you through the door, you won’t be able to get out. The center directly is impossible, even by car, because there is not a single handicapped parking lot, it is crazy.”
Conversely He highlighted progress on the US annexation and stressed that it is a “very inclusive” country., while acknowledging that, too I really liked the ‘Canada concept’.
“It gives you possibilities but it puts you in the same situation as other people. For example, you go into a parking lot and there is a handicapped place far and near the door, but the place near the door is more expensive not because you have a disability. You have the privilege of first row.”
“They give you an adaptive city, and you have the possibility to work, earn money and be able to pay for parking, which is a very interesting concept, because that’s better than nothing because there are no resources. We feel more inclusive because he said about his experience in Canada.”
Ultra adaptive trailer – same dream partners
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Wednesday December 1 Preview will be for “Super Fit, same dream partners”, also by Campanella, an acronym showing the unique bicycle factory created by the Jean Magee Foundation in Córdoba.
The short film was nominated by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for the 2021 Suncoast Emmy Awards in the “Human Attention” category.
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