(bright music) - I've always been very athletic, very active.

Bike riding, running, swimming.

I'm training hard for the triathlon.

I'm from Brazil and the Olympics, it's gonna be in Rio.

The dream of Rio 2016 motivates me to be a better athlete, a better person, and to inspire other people.

If I make it to Rio in 2016, it will be my biggest accomplishment in life.

(bright music) (gentle music) I'm from Brazil.

My passion's surfing.

I moved to Santa Barbara for the surf pretty much.

Why not live in the beach and have the surf at your disposal whenever you want?

Also, my brother was living here already.

He moved here two years before me.

He's my best friend and he's a good guy to be around.

- We're really close.

We grew up doing everything together.

We grew up as best friends, do sports together, surf, swim, everything.

Life's good here.

Life is here now.

Home is here.

It's been over a decade now.

- Karina and I were dating back then and she has never lived overseas, so it was a big change for her 'cause she didn't speak English.

Moving to a place where you don't speak the language, it's challenging.

But she decided she wanted to have this adventure with me.

So we're living here for the past nine years.

- Andre, he is an amazing person.

He always looking for the bright side on anything in life and it's so inspiring to be with him and do things that he is doing.

He's always been doing his sports and he always been surfing and so it's always exciting 'cause I can be in beautiful places with him and I am very thankful to have him in my life.

- When I had the accident in 2011, I was just working restaurants.

Even though I have a background in physical therapy, I just couldn't get my license here in the US.

That winter, we had this snowboard trip with my brother and that changed my whole life.

- [Lisa] In March, 2011, Andre and his brother took a snowboarding trip to Mammoth Mountain.

- I wanted to check out Mammoth with him and we were playing fall sea on the snowboard.

- On the very first run, I was going down, I went to do a top turn and something caught my rail and then I lost balance and I went straight to a wooden fence.

The fence, it was in an angle and it hit my femur right above the knee.

I had a pretty bad accident.

(dramatic music) - I got to rescue him right away.

He lost a lot of blood, enough to kill anyone.

Mammoth rescue team got him down to an ambulance.

We just thought it was a broken leg.

We didn't understand how severe it was.

- I was down in Brazil with my family.

I just got a call from his mom and she told me he had an accident and he was in the hospital.

Couldn't believe that that was happening.

I was able to talk to Andre and he started to explain what was going on.

I knew it was not a simple broken leg and I knew things were not looking good.

- [Lisa] Andre was in a coma for several days.

He suffered a compound fracture to his femur that severed his femoral artery, nearly killing him.

- And about five days later, I had to amputate my leg.

The first question I asked the doctor, if I was gonna be able to surf again, and he said, "Yes, totally."

And that's when I said, "Okay, let's do this.

Let's chop this leg."

You have to adapt, but that's what you do.

You accept the situation and adapt to it.

Once you accept it, it makes it easier.

But the feelings are not pretty when you lose a leg.

It's just so much going in your mind.

And you're on a lot of drugs still, so it doesn't really hit you super hard.

It's a lot of mixed feelings.

You don't know what to expect 'cause it changes everything.

But I could have died on that accident and I didn't, so I'm making the best out of it, living life at its fullest.

- [Lisa] After spending two weeks in the hospital and undergoing four surgeries, Andre is finally able to go back home to recover in Santa Barbara.

- [Andre] And I was thinking about how am I going around this situation and turn it into an advantage?

- It was a tremendous injury.

So it took about four to five months to be able to close it off, but as soon as he took the staples out, he was in the water.

- [Andre] I was just happy to be back in the water.

It was a big deal.

I was surfing before I was walking.

- He gets frustrated sometimes because he couldn't walk, but I knew all the support that he had from everybody in town, just unbelievable.

- This Santa Barbara community gave me a lot of support.

A place I used to work at held a big fundraiser called Tips for Andre.

All the staff's tips went for me.

People came to support strongly.

That's actually how I connected with Possibilities.

(gentle music) - [Lisa] Possibilities is a community outreach program based in Loma Linda, California, that provides those with physical disabilities support to stay active and healthy in life.

- I like it.

- So good so far?

- It's good.

- [Staff Member] All right.

- We heard about him in the local Santa Barbara paper just doing a little human interest piece and we thought, "Well, we need to contact this guy."

Because we've been involved with Loma Linda through Challenge Athletes Foundation and we met and I said, "Well, here's what we gotta do, we gotta get you a walking leg."

- I'll never forget that you just gave me a lot of hope.

- Andre told me about this group of people in Loma Linda that they help others with prosthetic legs and I'm gonna go talk to them.

We'll see what happens.

- It all happened so fast.

Karina and I came down to Loma Linda.

We met Possibilities.

They embraced me like a family.

It was overwhelming.

- [Lisa] The organization helped fit Andre with a walking leg and encouraged him to continue his sporting pursuits.

- It's just inspiring.

I'm part of something bigger than myself.

- When we got back from the meeting, he never felt that he couldn't do things that he was doing before the accident.

He was always like looking forward to do sports in his life.

- Possibilities make you feel like there's no limits.

They're opening multiple doors that maybe wouldn't open otherwise.

We went to San Diego for the San Diego Triathlon Challenge and Possibilities has a relay every year.

On that relay, I did the swim part and I did pretty well.

From there, it just escalated.

A dream was born.

I learned that Rio was gonna have Paratriathlon for the first time, and I thought, "I have a chance."

I love biking.

I somewhat like running and swimming was just natural, so why not give it a try and try and be a Paralympian?

Maybe I have a chance if I work hard.

(crowd chattering) Feeling good.

Feeling good.

Hopefully I'll be able to finish the whole three mile without having to rest in between.

Hopefully to the podium after that.

- [Lisa] It's April, 2013, and Andre is competing in his very first triathlon.

It's also the farthest distance he's running on his new prosthetic leg, five kilometers.

- First time I did the triathlon was in Loma Linda.

It's a very inspiring event.

There's a lot of athletes with disabilities.

- We always been doing things together and so to be with him doing triathlon for the first time, makes me very happy.

- [Lisa] This race will give him a taste of the sport of triathlon and define whether Andre will train the next three years to pursue the Paralympics.

- My brother, he's got a lot of drive.

Losing a leg did not stop him.

It's really nice to see where he is right now.

- [Andre] It was a lot of fun.

It was easier than I thought it was gonna be.

The running went well.

I've only had their running leg for five months.

Didn't have to stop, not even once.

Was just getting the energy from everyone around me.

- High five.

- She's my strongest supporter and fan.

(bright music) - [Lisa] Possibilities sponsors Andre as a paratriathlete with the hopes that he would make it to Rio for the 2016 Paralympics.

- Since he's starting training for the Paralympics, Possibilities gave him the leg that he need for running.

He was getting the bike that he need for biking.

It's just very exciting.

- They've been a blessing in my life.

They fuel my dreams.

If I make it to Rio in 2016, it will be my biggest accomplishment in life.

That's how much it means.

- [Lisa] Andre's competition is steep.

Being a rookie to the sport, Andre will be racing against athletes who have several years of training under their belts.

In order to make the Paralympics, he has to rank in the top 10 in his category out of 50 athletes worldwide.

- I received a call from Loma Linda, asking me if I was interested in training one of their athletes.

Andre and I met, one of his first questions was, would he have ruined my training programs for him to go surfing?

And I said, "Of course."

Always my belief that when athlete's training and training hard and staying focused, he needs some diversion.

- The coach is really nice that he told me that, "All the hard work you put in and the discipline you learn, that's gonna pay many times over in your life."

I'm training so hard for this 'cause the level of competition is just insane.

If you're not on top of your training, giving your absolute best, you don't even deserve to be there.

- [Lisa] Andre trains hard to get ahead of the curve, and in just two years, he ranks number one in Brazil, and eighth in the world, qualifying for the world championships.

- I always have so much fun on those races.

As tense as it is also on race day and racing with the top guys, it's a lot of fun to be there, involved with all that.

- It is our pinnacle event in terms of the best of the best are here.

- [Lisa] Just finishing this race alone will give him hundreds of points, easily keeping him in the top 10.

This competition gives him the best chance to qualify for the Paralympics that are just one year away.

- Unfortunately, Andre missed key points at the World Championships in Chicago, he was disqualified.

(somber music) - That was hard to digest.

There was a penalty and he didn't see his number on the board and we lost some points on that.

- When you come to transition on the bike, there's a rack for the bike with a slot where you're supposed to put the wheel.

So I didn't put the wheel of the bike on that slot, I just placed the bike against the rack.

That was the penalty.

We're supposed to look at the penalty board and if your number is there, you stop there for 10 seconds without moving and when you don't pay a penalty, you're automatically disqualified.

It ended up costing me the race.

- [Lisa] As a consequence of getting disqualified, Andre missed out on hundreds of points and fell below the top 10 rankings.

He had to make a choice whether he would still pursue the Paralympics.

- Just dealing with it, it's not easy.

It's not the end of the world, no one's dying.

It's just, I train really hard.

I don't know what's next, but life goes on, you adapt.

- We never really thought of the possibility of not being there.

That was pretty devastating at first.

He's been working for the last three years to be part of this huge dream of being part of the Olympics.

- I thought about the accident that almost took my life, and the support of all of those around me.

That was reason enough for me to keep training and to make all of them proud.

- [Lisa] From then on, the training became more intense.

- The run was a limiter and that's what we worked on.

He ran a mile in 10 minutes and 10 seconds, and a good runner needs to put in hours on the road and he just couldn't because of his blistering.

It was all about the prosthesis.

So I tried to fine tune his running gate, but it was this AlterG machine, which is an anti-gravity machine, which takes weight off him when he runs, was a lifesaver.

He can average now under eight minute for eight miles.

He has come a long way.

- [Andre] Cryotherapy chamber helps with recovery to systemic reaction, so your whole body benefits from it.

It's more pleasant than an ice bath.

Chill in here.

- For Andre, it's tough because he works at night, so he'll work till four or five o'clock in the morning and only get maybe six hours of sleep.

We would communicate a lot.

If he was just tired, then I'd let him be tired and take the day off.

(gentle music) - [Lisa] During the day, Andre trained hard to achieve his dream, but he still needed to make a living.

- I had to find a job that was flexible enough where I could take time away as needed.

I worked nights.

I start at like five or 6:00 PM, drive a cab.

Sometimes working until 5:00 AM and then the next day you wake up, I wake up at noon and you're just so tired.

You're just lacking energy.

It's like you have a hangover.

And then having to train on that mindset and just so drained from last night's work, it's far from ideal.

I just stay with it for so long because I had a good schedule going of training and traveling and competing.

This job allowed that flexibility.

At this point in my life, it allowed me to have that lifestyle of training to be a Paralympian.

I'm not a professional athlete that gets paid to train, so I did what I could as best as I could.

On my days off work, I'll have double training.

I'll train 20 to 25 hours a week and that's how it goes.

It's my routine.

The dream of Rio 2016, it was looming in the horizon.

It's a selfish life, but you have to be somewhat selfish if you wanna get to that level.

- [Karina] It's very difficult to be focused every single day on training and competing and not having time to do other things in life that he likes to do.

- I actually was thinking about rescuing an amputee dog, a three-legged pup, and Paul would just seem like the nicest guy ever.

(somber music) Just stole our heart.

- I always felt that the home was the most important part of training.

So with Andre, I always made a point on Sunday that he has time with Karina.

- We go bike together on Sundays.

So that's like his schedule is, "Bike ride with Karina."

I thought it was super nice of his coach, figure out his schedule, so usually on Sundays we're able to be together.

- This place is pretty magical.

It's pretty special to us.

We got married at Henry's beach down there during sunset.

(gentle music) Almost a year ago now.

- [Karina] We kind of like knew each other a little bit from being in the same school.

We were going to physiotherapy school together.

But I never thought of like one day dating him.

I always thought that he was a nice-looking guy, doing his thing and have a good time in life.

- I always thought she was pretty hot.

That was my first impression.

- It was always like PT school.

There was a lot of girls and he was always like kind of famous between the girls.

- She sent me an email, that was the first contact asking about my thesis, and I sent her a kiss at the end of the email because you deserve it.

- One night we had a big party for PT school and the story starts from there.

So far it's been an amazing adventure.

Whenever he had a dream of like doing something, go forward.

- [Lisa] After being disqualified at the World Championships, Andre tried to make up the points he lost by competing in more races all over the world to help get him to a top 10 ranking in order to qualify for the Paralympics.

- The reality of Paratriathlon is that it has really grown very fast, obviously with the expectations to make the debut at the Rio 2016 Paralympic games for the first time.

The sport that has really taken that strive towards eliteness that maybe years ago was not so present.

- As far as the ratings were going, the top 10 Paratriathletes qualified for the Paralympics through the ranking.

I was not anywhere ready to be at that level to go competing in the Paralympics, but as it got closer, the hope just got bigger and I really been busy traveling, all the racing, and training.

- He raced in Florida and finished in the top three.

Flew to Buffalo City, Africa, then he had to race that weekends, and that race didn't go well at all.

He was just tired.

From Africa, he went to Australia and he had a race there, scored much better.

- And we raced Japan.

I did good in Japan, but not as good as I should have to secure my spot.

- For Andre, his category has 10 slots and there are more than 30 athletes ranked worldwide.

So it's difficult to get into the top level racing, many other athletes just getting better and better and raising the bar.

You have to be pretty up there to make it.

- Andre is a natural athlete.

He has a lot of motivation to qualify for the Olympics.

He's one of the first swimmers out of the water.

His bike times are right up with the winning bike times.

Andre has a good chance of making the Paralympics.

- I'm in that position where I'm almost there, but I'm not.

This whole paralympic idea, it's not a small goal, it was really a big challenge and I knew it was gonna be a lot of work and I was also ready to not be frustrated if I didn't make the team.

They won't be disappointed if I don't make it, my family or my friends, because from what happened to me to where I'm at this point, they know I've done a lot already.

It's about the journey and after a few years, I finally understand that, but I hope I get there.

(upbeat music) - My brother is training so hard for the Paralympics.

He's accomplished so much.

Most people would just fold in a situation like his.

He's got the heart of a lion, but if he doesn't make it to the Olympics, we'll carry on.

He's overcome bigger obstacles in life.

- [Karina] The whole experience of traveling, and competing and going to different countries, and meeting different people, and the struggling of training every single day, and pushing himself to the limit, and he's really trying his best.

- [Lisa] Ultimately, Andre couldn't overcome the loss of points from last year's World Championships and was not able to qualify for the 2016 Paralympics in his home country.

- When I first heard the news that I was not in the Paralympics, I was so angry.

Angry at all the time that I spent training, all the effort I put into it.

I feel like I had everything in my hand to get there and I didn't provide.

I am very frustrated now that I didn't get into the top 10 and then to Paralympics, but I am dealing with it.

(somber music) - [Lisa] Despite the upset, Andre received an invitation to race in the 2016 World Championships held in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

This is the next biggest race of the year to the Paralympics.

- [Andre] I train so hard and feel like I deserve to be here.

It is the grand final, just like it was Chicago last year, where I did that big mistake that ended up costing me the Olympics.

Don't wanna do the same mistake again in the finals.

(audience cheering) (announcer speaking in foreign language) (race trumpet blowing) (bright music) I don't know what's next, but to be in this position and to have all the support that I do.

From there, a dream was born.

- [Diego] From when he started to where he is today is just absolutely incredible.

- [Jack] That's what amazes me about Andre, that he always have the hope.

- I'm so proud of my brother, so proud.

- [Andre] If I had to do all over again, even knowing I wouldn't get to participate in the next Olympics, I would do it in a heartbeat.

- [Karina] I always told him, "You are already a champion for us."

(announcer speaking in foreign language) - [Andre] I finished.

I didn't get qualified.

It was my best race, so I'm happy.

I didn't fall on the bike.

That's all that matters.

- [Jack] He could help so many other amputees out.

And to me, that's the Olympics 10 times over.

(upbeat music) - [Lisa] Andre still finds himself traveling to his home country.

A Brazilian government agency invites Andre to speak at their conference and share his inspiring story of overcoming.

- The way I turned things around from the accident to now almost getting to the Paralympics in five years.

I'm inspired.

I know from where I started that I came a long way.

I just transformed that accident into an opportunity.

With all the triathlon training, I learned it's not every race that you win, but you always learn a lot when you lose.

So I'm really happy to be in my home country, my home space, telling my story.

If I can help and inspire others, I'm happy.

That's what I live for.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) - [Narrator] This program was made possible by Ed and Ann Zinke, Versacare, George and Joan Harding.