Come back to life and love it

The famous German photographer Dirk Gelbrecht invited a Russian girl Nastya Belkovskaya to shoot for the magazine. It would be an ordinary, unremarkable story, if not for one "but". Dirk was not attracted by Nastya's appearance at all.

We decided to share this difficult story about how creativity helped Nastya to love life when she did not want to live at all.

More than ten years ago, Nastya had a full-fledged happy life. From the age of 10, Nastya was fond of fashion design and for two years in a row took first place in the competition of young fashion designers. But in one minute her life turned 180 degrees.

On December 19, 2008, Nastya got into a car accident, lost both legs, lay in a coma for 40 days, miraculously survived.

1. Nastya Belkovskaya before and after the accident.

It happened on the Third Transport Ring of Moscow — Nastya's car stalled.

— My daughter called us, warned us that she would be late, asked us not to worry, they say, nothing terrible happened, — recalls Dad Igor Belkovsky.

When the traffic thinned, Nastya went out on the road to install an emergency stop sign, but did not have time. She was hit by some reckless driver in a BMW at a speed of 120 kilometers per hour.

Only two hours later, a girl slowed down at the scene of the accident. She called an ambulance, then from Nastya's mobile phone called her mother and called Belkovsky the number of the hospital where their daughter was taken. There, both her legs were completely amputated immediately.

The culprit of the accident, Alexei Guskov, was sent to a colony for two years, and a difficult time began for a 25-year-old girl.

Nastya lay in a coma for a month, and when it became clear that the girl had survived, Express Gazeta published the number of the donation account — Nastya needed complex and therefore very expensive prostheses. The collected money was still not enough. The case helped: the famous artist Vladimir Vinokur told the story of Nastya to Joseph Kobzon, who had just been discharged from the hospital. The famous singer immediately contributed the amount necessary to pay for prosthetics in Germany.

In Berlin, Nastya was waiting for a long and difficult rehabilitation: exercises, swimming, stretching — all through pain and tears.

2. With tears under a 40-kilogram bag. This is necessary to remove the curvature.

A few days later, the famous German photographer Dirk Gelbrecht read in a local newspaper a story about a poor Russian beauty without legs and, captivated by her charm, decided to do a photo shoot for a glossy magazine.

— Such amputation of limbs, like Nastya Belkovskaya's, is a rare case in Germany, not like on the covers of glossy magazines, even on the street without a special chair, not all disabled people can get, — says Dirk Gelbrecht. — German orthopedists help the girl "get on her feet", even if they are made of iron. And I decided to try to restore her confidence in her abilities. Nastya has every chance to become a magazine star, believe my rich experience. I will be happy if, using the example of Nastya and other girls in trouble, they understand that disability is not a hindrance even for a modeling career. The main thing in a woman is the ability to please others with her positive attitude and charming smile.

3. First Nastya's photos were published in the Brigitte women's magazine, and then the German magazine Zille Berlin put her on the cover and released a photo shoot called "Model without Legs". Nastya's mother also participated in the project — these are the most touching pictures from the whole series.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13. With a film crew in Berlin.

14. And a few months later, Nastya performed at the All-Russian parafitness competitions and took first place. Then there was the world Championship in Austria. Nastya Belkovskaya was the only one who took the stage without prostheses and a wheelchair. And she won again.

Natalia Belkovskaya believes that Nastya will not only succeed in business (her daughter sells winter accessories online), but also happiness in her personal life. She registered her daughter on a dating site, where she honestly told her story. Nastya says this about herself:

— I am a leader because I was able to withstand the ordeal that fate sent me. Having lost both legs, I was able not only to return to life, but also to love it.