“I’ve won three gold medals in the 2018 Parasport Open Games of Santa Catarina, four gold medals in the same championship in 2019, and two silver medals in the Brazilian Deaflympics Championship in 2021, which literally changed my life. I gained more confidence and also performed better, which inspired me to dream bigger.” (Photo courtesy of Mariana de Andrade)

As a baby, Mariana de Andrade was diagnosed with hearing loss in both ears. Today, she is a swimming medalist and studies speech therapy to help children overcome the challenges of hearing loss.

This article was written in collaboration with Cochlear Implants.

I was born prematurely — at only 6 months and 879 grams (1.9 pounds) — due to my mother’s health issues. For almost 3 months, I stayed in an incubator and had several complications, including a hemorrhage in my lung that caused bleeding, and cardiac arrests. When it seemed I was getting better, I had a generalised infection. The doctors told my mother that I had a chance of surviving, but the antibiotics I was taking could make me blind and deaf. My mother just replied: “I want my daughter alive!”

When I left the hospital, I started wearing glasses. A BERA hearing examination, one the most advanced examinations at that time to identify hearing loss, indicated I was deaf on both ears. But most importantly, I fought to live, and then the real rush began.

At 6 months old, I took a test with a hearing aid in a medical centre in the countryside of São Paulo. At one year old, I got a cochlear implant, a small electronic device that provided me with a better sense of sound. Eighteen years ago, there was almost no information about cochlear implants and they were quite big and heavy. It is a box which was connected to my ears through long cables. My mom attached that box to a bra, so that it would not fall easily and I could still run and play around.

From then on, my life started becoming colourful and full of sounds. Thanks to God, the cochlear implant, my family and many professionals, everything worked out. I was able to attend school normally, but it was not easy. I had extreme difficulty interpreting texts and had to sit very close to the teacher to be able to read their lips. School had many ups and downs. I did not have many friends, but I made it through that period.

“My dream is to help children who do not have access to speech therapy by sharing my life experience and telling them that we can achieve our dreams by just believing in ourselves. ”

— Mariana de Andrade

Today, I am a swimming athlete. I’ve won three gold medals in the 2018 Parasport Open Games of Santa Catarina, four gold medals in the same championship in 2019, and two silver medals in the Brazilian Deaflympics Championship in 2021, which literally changed my life. I gained more confidence and also performed better, which inspired me to dream bigger.

In 2022, I won five silver medals and one gold medal in the Loterias Caixa Brazilian Swimming Championship. And in 2023, I finally went global. I participated in the 6th World Deaf Swimming Championship in Argentina and reached the semifinals. In December 2023, I will join three other competitions, one of them in Ecuador.

Today, I can speak well. I use a cochlear implant only on the left side. I no longer wear glasses. I am a member of the Paralympic Association of Joinville (APJ), which always looks for athletes with disabilities to practice sports.

My life has changed tremendously and I’m grateful to be able to tell my story. Before becoming an athlete, I had the dream of being a speech therapist. So, in 2022, I started studying speech therapy at a university in Joinville. I also work as a swimming instructor for children. My dream is to help children who do not have access to speech therapy by sharing my life experience and telling them that we can achieve our dreams by just believing in ourselves.

Mariana de Andrade

(she/her) is a 20-year-old, medal-winning Olympic swimmer from Brazil. She was born deaf in both ears and now uses her life experiences to empower children through speech therapy.