FES / Functional Electrical Stimulation Bike Race

EMA

BrazilBrazil

About the Team

EMA stands for "Empowering Mobility and Autonomy". Ema is also the name of the South American Ostrich, a flightless bird that is one of the fastest bipedal animals on earth.

The collaboration of the University of Brasília with engineers and clinicians arose from the desire to develop FES rehabilitation technology that corresponds to both the technical and economic situation in Brazil. "CYBATHLON was an opportunity to motivate students and other stakeholders and to draw attention to us," explains team manager Roberto Baptista. The technicians and scientists are working closely with the pilot in order to consider new aspects of usability and comfort.

About the Pilot

"I was at a friend's birthday party. As I was walking to my car, a bullet hit me out of nowhere. It's been seven years since I can't walk anymore," says Estevão Carvalho Lopes. Later it turned out that the bullet came from a nearby shooting that had nothing to do with him or the party.

It soon became clear that the Brazilian had to continue his life as a paraplegic and he was faced with a decision: "Am I making something out of this new situation or will I be angry about it for the rest of my life?” Estevão chose the former. "To be honest, my life, my lifestyle, is now better than before. I got into sports, I have become a Paralympic athlete and I can live on it. But above all, I have discovered my mission to bring Paralympics and similar activities for the disabled to the outside world and to motivate others to do sports". He has been on the FES bike since 2016 and has already participated in the last CYBATHLON. "My wish is to be able to ride the bike in the future without help from others."

Videos

November 13th 2020, 12:00 am

EMA - Estevão Carvalho Lopes

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