Pauline Déroulède's life changed in October 2018. A 90-year-old driver mows her at 80 km / h in front of a flower shop in the 15th arrondissement of Paris.

She loses her left leg.

The 31-year-old had to rebuild herself.

It is tennis that allows her to rebuild herself: "We had to get up. I knew that sport was going to be a key tool in my reconstruction", she explains on the set of France 24. She is moving then towards tennis, practiced standing in leisure during her young years, but which she discovered the practice in a wheelchair in the disabled sports..

From now on, she devotes a large part of her time to it "between three and four hours a day".

The results are not expected.

She joined the French team in March 2021 and was crowned French champion in stride.

Today, she is the French n°2 and the 23rd player in the world.

A committed athlete

Pauline Déroulède has since embarked on another battle to prevent the tragedy that affected her from happening again: "It's crazy that in France, you can drive all your life without control. I'm campaigning for the establishment of visits compulsory medical treatments that would take place regularly throughout life," she explains.

"If the test is faulty, we would test the skills in real conditions in a driving school. This is what happened to me after my accident."

The athlete launched an awareness campaign which received the support of the Minister responsible for Transport, Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, and the doctor Michel Cymes.

A kitty is also open.

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In parallel, his career continues.

At the end of March, the French women's wheelchair tennis team qualified for the next Team World Cup in early May, thanks to their 2/1 victory against Thailand in the qualifying semi-finals.

In Portugal, the young woman and her team are aiming for "at least a podium".

But Pauline Déroulède is looking further ahead: the Paris Olympics are fast approaching.

"It's a dream," she says.

"That's goal number one. The countdown has started."

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