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If the eyes are the mirror of the soul, theirs reflect a history of overcoming without limits. She, laughing, defines them as "bizarre" and if we continue with that meaning it is clear, they are something out of the ordinary, as atypical as their owner and protagonist of this story that, clichés aside, faces life with optimism and gratitude.

Marta Bustos lost her vision during a domestic accident, while making soap, something she did regularly. But by twists of fate, that day something went wrong, and she had to be transferred to the emergency hospital with a diagnosis not encouraging. Today, she has partially recovered her sight and with the support of her loved ones and followers (more than 200,000 on Instagram and 170,000 on TikTok), she shares day by day what it is like to live with a disability. Something that is also reflected in her book 'When I lost my brown eyes' (Editorial Lunwerg), which collects the process lived by the young woman and has already captured the attention of Queen Letizia herself.

When you lost your vision you were only 24 years old, how did you experience it? Was he really aware of what had just happened to him? In the moment, when something like this happens to you, it is impossible for your brain to be fully aware of what is happening. It gives you the information by droppers, but the survival instinct also comes into action in its purest state and it is as if your body tells you what you have to do to stay here. Although the eyes took the brunt of it, it exploded in my mouth and entered my nose, I could have ingested the soda. I thought, "Martha don't swallow, go to the sink and pour water on yourself." I felt such a pain in my eyes that the worry about what was going to happen was relegated to the background. I assumed I had gone blind for life, I believed it was impossible for my eyes to survive something like this. Even in a state of shock, he showed a great capacity for reaction. Yes, but more than a capacity I think it is something that comes from within, without thinking. This happened to him in 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, and at that time he was living in the US. How did being away from home affect you in such a situation? The truth is that we are facing a very dramatic situation. Covid was latent, in the US the situation was somewhat more relaxed than in Spain, but my mother could not come to see me until three months had passed and neither could my sister. I don't have children, but if I put myself in their place, being away has to be very hard. For my part, I missed them very much and wanted to see them, but with the perspective that the passage of time offers, I realize that it was good for me to be alone with my husband and his family. I wanted to be strong in front of my parents, I didn't want to make them suffer and it was also a matter of acceptance. If they saw me being blind, that would mean it had really happened. It was hard but I think everything happened at the time it had to happen. I understand that at first it was his followers who allowed him to finance the treatment, which was very expensive given the American health system. I was in the process of immigration in the US so I could not access health insurance and even if I could have done so, the clauses there are super limited. We were desperate because we didn't know if there was a treatment and every minute that passed meant thousands and thousands of euros. In fact, the bill that arrived after a few months was exorbitant. So four days after I was admitted, we decided to make a video and organize a fundraising campaign. It was incredible, we got almost 250,000 euros in Spain, with which we could start paying for medical procedures. I had 600 followers, I was an ordinary person, nothing known. It is also true that in the video we shared, even though I looked dejected, I showed the value I give to life. Let's just say I was a little 'spiritually high' because I could only think how good, I'm alive. People were excited about that, to see someone like that giving encouragement or hope. After that, those who had donated to the campaign were curious to see how my eyes evolved. Then I started writing, something I've always liked, and with the help ofa from my sister I posted it all on Instagram. That's when my profile started to grow and I decided to use it to tell what it was like to lose a sense overnight and enter the world of disability. And a sense like sight, I would say had to be 'reprogrammed'. Yes, it takes away a lot of independence, but it's amazing what both mind and body are capable of. Of course you have to put a lot on your part but everything adapts and regulates itself. The optimism with which he copes with disability is very inspiring. As he demonstrates in his Instagram profile in which he writes: "It's not to ruin your day, but everything will be fine." Is it always easy to maintain that attitude? Are there hard moments? It is true that I am an optimistic person, I have always been, but that is something that can also be worked on. When people tell me I'm very lucky to be like that, I tell them to practice to get it. Just as we exercise the body by going to the gym, we can shape our brain and modify our beliefs. It is called neuroplasticity. You know the typical phrase that says that life is 90% attitude and 10% what happens to you, because I always thought it was bullshit. Until it was my turn to face a tough situation, then it made sense. I could have stayed depressed on the couch or changed my attitude. I opted for the second. But the story doesn't end like that. In July 2021 he underwent an operation that allowed him to partially recover his sight. How did it feel to be able to see again? Right now I see from one eye thanks to a keratoprosthesis from Boston. The result was spectacular, especially if we take into account that in the US they had given it up for lost. But it is true that I do not see as a normal person besides that every day I have to use a million drops, wash my eye a thousand times, clean the prosthesis and if I blink everything can be blurry ... I'm fine, I'm optimistic, but I'm clear that it's something I'm going to have to fight every day as if it were a chronic disease. So yes, of course I have hard moments, but like everyone. I imagine that throughout this process the help of his family and loved ones will have been fundamental. Her book, When I Lost My Brown Eyes, revolves around the love story she has shared with her husband. In the book I make many jumps to the past that, without making it messy or complicated, allow us to understand what my present is like. My husband has been a fundamental support, if a love story to use already tends to have its bumps, imagine with something like that in between. I think it's nice to teach people that love beyond appearances exists, so 'When I lost my brown eyes' is a story of overcoming in which life is shown without seeing.

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It's okay that there are testimonies like yours that reflect how a disability is experienced. Yes, because people are afraid to ask. They worry about saying something bad, some word that is not supposed to be right. I think it is important that they are curious and that we, from the other side, treat everything with respect instead of being scandalized. If someone calls me disabled I cannot get angry, because perhaps that person is not aware that it is better to say disabled. Little by little. In this sense, do you think that people with disabilities are supported in Spain? For example, with respect to the US. I think in general it's something we still have a lot of stigmas with. There is a tendency to infantilize people with disabilities. I was blind and, although it was hard at times, I was happy. However, when I walked down the street with the cane, sometimes I heard someone say "oh, poor thing", and I couldn't help but think "but I'm great" (laughs). But within what needs to be improved in this country, we have the ONCE, for me the best organization in the world, which being so powerful makes disability much more accepted; The disabled are in society. And so much that they are. What's it like to be the girl of the moment? I refer to his meeting with Queen Letizia that has caused quite a stir. It was pretty surreal. I knew she was going to be there and I took the book just in case, but I didn't think I could give it to her, let alone dedicate it. She walked by, greeting everybody. My eyes look quite out of the ordinary, my family and friends are very used to it but they are actually quite bizarre (laughs) and I think that may have caught his attention. When he shook my hand, I thought, "This is my chance." I told her that I knew she was a great reader and that I would love to give her the book she had just written; He asked me what it was about and I replied that it was my own story. With the title of the book it is easy to guess where the shots are going... Yes, it is a title that addresses loss, but in reality it is a hymn to life. Yes, but 'When I lost my brown eyes' is a statement that raises questions, the color of the eyes does not change you like that of hair or skin. And although she is the Queen, she must also be curious. When he asked me to dedicate it to him, I was amazed. I thought, ugh, with the bad handwriting I have, and what do I put on it, Letizia, Doña, her majesty, friend ...? And the repera was when I told her that I gave it to her companion and she asked me to deliver it personally. Well, luckily I had a pen with rubber, because at the beginning I wrote: "For Letizia"; but the person I was with told me that I could feel offended and I put something like His Majesty, Doña Letizia, but the truth is that now I regret it. I think I should have just put Letizia. I was a little nervous and I don't remember it exactly, but the dedication said something like "life is dreams and this book for me is one". The video has become very viral on social networks, where many users also share content on how to make cosmetics and even homemade cleaning products. Given your experience, what do you think of this? To begin with, the geEveryone who is on TikTok or any social network should have an age and a reasoning ability. However, there are many ways to make cosmetics and most of the time it is not with dangerous products. I also don't want to scare anyone with what happened to me, actually I had done it many other times and I wore both glasses and gloves. Sometimes accidents happen and we can't get stuck in the past, torturing ourselves.

Marta BustosCourtesy Marta Bustos

I tremble every time a "what if" appears, but sometimes it's inevitable, do you never regret it? Don't you think about what would have happened if you had done things differently? I don't know if it's because it was 'written' (although it sounds very corny), but guilt has never disturbed me. Of course, sometimes I get a little sad when I think about what has happened to me, but I do not torture myself and I appreciate it. Enough negative feelings come to you when something like this happens to you, then one less, better. His life has changed radically. Of course, when you have gone through such dramatic moments it is inevitable to feel differently. It is not necessary to go through an accident to have these feelings, but we can try to reproduce it, practice, enter this path of self-knowledge either by going to therapy, through meditation ... I don't want to romanticize it, having a disability is a chore, but when this happened to me I took it as something transitory and even tried to enjoy it. Not everyone can say they have been blind. With everything we've talked about, what advice would you give to people who are going through a rough patch? I would tell them that everything comes out, everything has an end. Just as all good things end, so does bad. There are many ways to live, and when I say live, I mean to do it fully. There is not just one set path and that includes not having all five senses or all four limbs. It is not easy, but we must try to find those incentives that push us to live.

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