This manga was produced thanks to the support of France’s Paralympic Sports Committee and in collaboration with the athlete Sonia Heckel (boccia).
“The French Paralympic and Sports Committee (CPSF) leads France’s Paralympic team to the Games. Paralympic manga are a unique opportunity to discover and learn more about sports that are still mostly unknown. And, through an original medium, linking the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games with those of Paris 2024, along with all Paralympic athletes.”
Marie-Amélie Le Fur (President of the French Paralympic and Sports Committee)
Suffering from a rare degenerative disease which gradually paralyzes her, our heroine finds her strength in the sport of boccia – providing her with the will to fight and always surpass herself in order to reach the top by completing the Paralympic Games.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
At the age of 20, Céline Gaudet decided to transform her passion for manga into a profession. She left Montreal to take courses under the direction of a Japanese manga teacher, at AAA-Ecole de Manga. She writes under the pseudonym Reptilian.
In collaboration with Sonia Heckel, a 31 year old athlete from Nancy, France, who has myopathy. This genetic disease prevents her muscles from regenerating, which, since the age of 13, has required use of an electric wheelchair. Sonia has been practicing Boccia since she was 18. She immediately fell in love with having to fight to “score a point” and quickly understood that this sport suited her perfectly. To date, she is a triple French Champion, with her sports assistant, Florent Brachet, and European Team Champion. In parallel to her sporting career, Sonia is an Accounting Secretary at Vandoeuvre Nancy Volley Ball.