1992 - Today
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At 16, suffering from depression, Chilean Macarena Cabrillana jumped out of a building to take her own life. She survived, but with a back injury that left her in a wheelchair. She started playing tennis as part of the Telethon therapy program, and since then it has become her career and passion: Cabrillana is in the Top 20 of wheelchair tennis, and she was the first Chilean to play a Grand Slam in that category in Australia in 2021, where she reached the quarterfinals. Cabrillana was not a fan of the sport before her injury; in fact, she didn't practice much at all. It was in rehabilitation that she found inspiration, started attending a tennis workshop with the aim of learning to move in her chair and ended up hooked after her first championship. Also during this and other therapies she realized that it was possible to be happy and fulfilled with a disability. Today, the outstanding athlete has made an enormous journey, becoming top 9 in the ITF ranking in 2021. In addition, she has been committed to sharing her life experience and learning, being a spokesperson for the importance of mental health and fighting depression as a disease. Defender of inclusion, she has also played for Roland Garros, and is the number 1 Paralympic tennis player from Chile, who will represent the country at the ParapanAmerican Games.
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