Published on: 04/22/2022 – 12:23 Pauline Déroulède, French number 2 in wheelchair tennis, is preparing to compete in the world championships in Portugal in May. At the same time, she is leading an awareness campaign in favor of road safety so that the tragedy which cost her her left leg does not happen again. Interview on France 24. Pauline Déroulède’s life changed in October 2018. A 90-year-old driver mows her at 80 km / h in front of a flower shop in the 15th arrondissement of Paris. She loses her left leg. The 31-year-old had to rebuild herself. It’s tennis that allows her to rebuild herself: “We had to get up. I knew that sport was going to be a key tool in my reconstruction,” she explains. on the set of France 24. She then turns to tennis, practiced standing in leisure during her young years, but which she discovers the practice in wheelchairs in disabled sports.. From now on, she devotes a large part of her time to it ” between three and four hours a day. The results are not expected. She joined the French team in March 2021 and was crowned French champion in stride. Today, she is the French n°2 and the 23rd player in the world. A committed athlete Pauline Déroulède has since embarked on another battle to prevent the tragedy that affected her from happening again: “It is crazy France, you can drive all your life without control. I am campaigning for the establishment of compulsory medical visits which would take place regularly throughout life, “she explains. “If the test is faulty, we would test the skills in real conditions in a driving school. This is what happened to me after my accident.” The athlete launched an awareness campaign which received the support the Minister in charge of Transport, Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, and the doctor Michel Cymes. A kitty is also open. In parallel, his career continues. At the end of March, the French women’s wheelchair tennis team qualified for the next Team World Cup in early May, thanks to their 2/1 victory against Thailand in the qualifying semi-finals. In Portugal, the young woman and her team are aiming for “at least a podium”. But Pauline Déroulède is looking further: the Paris Olympics are fast approaching. “It’s a dream,” she says. “That’s goal number one. The countdown has started.”