“A man is stronger than his destiny up until that point when he gives up.”

Six years ago Likuna Chachibaia accidentally fell down from the ninth floor. It was a miracle that she survived, I think you must be really lucky to survive in that case.

She was in a coma for 3 days, it was necessary to amputate her hand because it would have gangrened. So after three days when Likuna woke up, she realized she was tied to the bed because the news about her hand could have made her mad.

At first, it was really hard for her to get accustomed to this situation, she was always irritated in the street when people were staring at her, but now she feels very normal. She once told me that when she leaves Georgia and no one stares at her in the streets (it is always like this here in Georgia. If something is “wrong” with you, or if they think you are different, you are in the center of attention, even when you have piercing, tattoos, or when you are a boy and have an earring) she doesn’t feel herself at all.

I met Likuna several months ago when I accompanied my photographer friend as a translator. Exactly that day she asked me to take pictures of her because she knew my photos from facebook where we’ve been longtime friends. Likuna told me she wanted all these photos to be concentrated on her arm because she knows many people who are in the same condition and sometimes they write to her they want to die that they are really desperate about it. So she doesn’t feel ashamed or sad about it and feels free to express herself.

I knew many things about her from her interviews and I was really amazed when I realized that she was quite different from my views. She is one of the most cheerful people I know so far. She explained that every time she is interviewed everyone is asking her to show some drama (because things are more interesting for people this way) is it really like this? She always smiles and thinks that this accident helped her to see herself strong, she found what she needed to get back to normal life, she started swimming and she is a member of Georgian Para-Taekwondo Federation. Likuna remarked that she wouldn’t do this if something like this wouldn’t have happened to her and she added that when you want to get something big from the life you also need to give it something in return.

After losing a hand Likuna wanted to find something that would make her life happy again to overcome her struggle after the accident, so she decided to start swimming which then became the main part of her life. This way she proved that nothing is impossible, that she can still live a normal life.

Today she lives alone, independently but the problem is that she has no help from the government. They rent the house for her and she has only 200 GEL (75$) every month and that’s not enough to live. The government gave her a hand prosthesis which is useless and the last time I saw her she told me that her coach of swimming is not paid anymore so she left without all these training courses.

She is one of the strongest people I know who never lose their hope for the future and believe that “a man is stronger than his destiny up until that point when he gives up.”

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