Eleven years to the day after Andre Barbieri suffered a terrible accident while snowboarding, he was back on a board and competing in the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing, China.
The remarkable comeback after having his left leg amputated above the knee is a testament to Barbieri’s indomitable spirit, work ethic and great athleticism.
In addition to competing in the games, Barbieri received the honor of being Brazil’s flag bearer at the closing ceremonies in Beijing’s Bird Nest Stadium.
The Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table is honoring Barbieri as its 2022 Open Athlete of the Year.
Before representing his native Brazil and his adopted home of Santa Barbara in the Paralympics, Barbieri won silver and bronze medals at a 2022 World Cup event in Big White, British Columbia.
Barbieri took up para-triathlon and represented Brazil at the Para-Triathlon World Championships. He just missed qualifying for Brazil’s team for the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.
In 2018, he learned his triathlon category would not be featured at the 2020 Games in Tokyo. He then contacted the Brazilian Snow Sports Federation about taking up para-snowboard.
“It’s not surprise that I’m coming back to snowboarding, a sport I love so much and that cost me my leg,” he told the Napa Valley Register. “ I have been back to the mountain (Mammoth Mountain) where it happened, for closure, and it was a beautiful, very emotional trip. There are no traumas from the accident.
“The tough part for me is breaking the news to my parents. I hope they accept it, knowing this is something I love. Everything in life is risky. We’re here today, and we may not be here tomorrow. So let’s do what makes us happy.”
With the help of a new shock-absorbing prosthetic leg called the Moto Knee – created by U.S. Paralympic Gold Medalist Mike Shultz — Barbieri started training for snowboarding. He competed in snowboard cross and the banked slalom, and finished 13th in both events in China.
His background in surfing helped him transition to the sport.
“Snowboard is like surfing on the snow. Surfing is another one of my passions, so snowboard came as something natural,” he said in his biography on the Brazil Sports Federation website.
Barbieri has been a fixture on the Santa Barbara athletic scene since arriving 15 years ago. You could find him in the ocean swimming and surfing, or cycling and running on the local roads.
His life changed while on a snowboarding trip to Mammoth Mountain on March 11, 2011. While on a run, he clipped the end of a fence that was exposed due to melting snow. He lost control and slammed into a fence at mid-thigh height.
His brother, Diego, came to his aid and likely saved his life. Barbieri suffered a severed femoral artery and a compound fracture of the femur.
He was airlifted to a Reno hospital and had four surgeries. His medical team made the decision they had to amputate his leg above the knee.
He later threw himself into every sport he could do, with or without a prosthetic.
“I had it in my head that I had to turn this (his impairment) into an advantage for me. That was my motto,” he told Brazil’s Globoesport in 2017.
That drive ultimately led him to the experience of a lifetime.
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