The Beauty Industry Needs More Faces Like Mine

Things are finally changing for the more inclusive, for the better and I'm proud to be a part of it.

- BEBE VIO GRANDIS and LAUREN BALSAMO

I was born in Venice, Italy, on March 4, 1997, as an able-bodied person. In 2008, I was reborn with a disability and became the unluckiest person in the world. But also, it turns out, the luckiest person in the world.

When I was 11 years old, I contracted acute meningitis, a rare but deadly bacterial infection. It left me with severe scarring on my face and body; to save my life, doctors had to amputate my limbs past the knees and elbows. I spent what felt like an eternity alone in a hospital, afraid of what my life would be like without arms and legs. Afraid of being different from everyone else. Afraid of never again being able to fence-a sport I had loved and practiced since the age of 5.

But after a year of intense rehab and then getting special prosthetics for my arms and legs, I was able to go back to fencing. A few months later, I won my first wheelchair fencing competition as a part of the Italian Paralympic team.

My triumph was largely because of my family. They are the ones who taught me to view my disability as a rebirth, as something that makes me uniquely me. With their help, I gained an entire new appreciation for my sport, my body. And if I could come back after something tragic, I thought, others should have the same chance.