Paralympic hero Ebba Årsjö’s brave decision – shows off her leg for the first time: “I want to help others”

Ebba Årsjö kept her function variation a secret for a long time.
Now, for the first time, she is showing off her leg – to help others.
– I have thought for over a year that I want to do it, she says to TT.

Ebba Årsjö came to this year’s Paralympics with enormous expectations – and talk about delivering when it matters most. She won two gold and one bronze, and was hugely praised for her incredible fighting efforts – not least when she won gold in slalom just the day after she crashed in the giant slalom.

Shows the leg

Ebba Årsjö has a muscle loss in her right leg, which is a side effect of Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome, with which she was born. For a long time, Årsjö kept its functional variation a secret. But today she often talks about it, and she has become a role model for many.

Now, for the first time, she also shares a picture of what the leg looks like. On Instagram, she posts a picture from Mallorca, with the text: “Yeah, corner, this is me. Do not forget to like yourself. ”

To TT, she explains why she chooses to share the picture.

– I have thought for over a year that I want to do it. All this year, I have counted down the months until I have to take some nice pictures and upload, she says, and continues:

– I’m talking about being that role model, talking about everything to do, but I myself have not shown the leg yet.

“Hope it can be helpful”

Ebba Årsjö says that she wants to help others in a similar situation.

– I hope this can be of extra help to others. I feel that I can really influence people and when you hear that you have been a help, then you become really happy in the whole body. All individual athletes are very “ego”, thinking only of themselves and winning. Here I get something else on the purchase, do something bigger.

However, Ebba Årsjö also believes that she has changed her way of thinking about her functional variation, and that today it strengthens her, rather than the other way around.

– I’m not me but this leg. In recent years, it has become like an identity. I make money because of the leg, I have made a lot of new friends, I have a lot of goals and I am happy with the leg, she says.

– Previously, it affected me more negatively. It has depressed me, been a burden and I have felt hatred. It’s still a burden due to pain and medical problems, but it’s something I’m used to dealing with.

In conclusion, Årsjö says:

– I urge others to dare to be themselves, regardless of whether they have a functional variation or not.