Birth of the Un pas de plus association
How a personal ordeal became a collective fight
Before it was an association, Un pas de plus was a personal story: mine. The ASBL was officially created on 1 July 2025 and today I am announcing it to you. I would like to tell you where it comes from, and why it carries this name.
In August 2020, an accident turned my life upside down. Overnight, everything I took for granted became a challenge: getting around, looking after myself, imagining what came next. I had to learn to live differently, with a body that no longer responded as before.
Rehabilitation was a physical and emotional ordeal. Repeated effort, exhaustion, tiny steps forward followed by moments of doubt: you move ahead, you fall back, and above all you learn patience. Every small victory is won at the cost of an energy you did not know you had.
On top of that came another battle, less visible but just as exhausting: paperwork. Files to put together, endless delays, multiple contacts, complex rules that nobody takes the time to explain. When all your energy already goes into rebuilding yourself, having to find your way alone through the Belgian system is an enormous burden. What was missing was a human presence to help me through it.
Fortunately, I did not go through all this alone.
Fiorella Maltempi
Barbara has been my friend for over 15 years. She supported me throughout this ordeal, with a loyalty and gentleness I will never forget.
Very often, she came with me to my many medical appointments: a reassuring presence in the waiting room, a second pair of ears to remember the explanations, someone to make me smile on the way out.
It was while going through all this that the idea of Un pas de plus took shape. What if this experience could help others? What if nobody had to face rehabilitation, paperwork and unanswered questions alone?
When the time came to set up the association, one thing was obvious: Barbara had to be by my side. Quite naturally, I asked her to become vice-president, and she accepted with the same commitment she has always shown me. Today she is also the association's volunteer secretary.
Our ASBL is officially born. It exists so that those who go through what I went through find what I sometimes lacked: human support, clear answers, adapted equipment, and the certainty of not being alone. Every step counts, and this one is only the first.
If you recognise yourself in this story, whether you are in rehabilitation, close to an amputee or simply moved by our cause, you are welcome. For the next chapter of the adventure, discover our first running blades.
Fiorella Maltempi
Founder and president of Un pas de plus
