Mending North Vancouver ballerina Lucila Munaretto made an emotional return to the stage last weekend, four months after she was seriously injured in a roller skating accident.
“I wasn’t expecting it, and I was like, seriously? Like, is it true? I couldn’t believe it. I was so happy,” said Munaretto, who stepped in for another ballerina that had taken ill.
It was a small role by normal standards, only minimal movements and no jumping, but for Munaretto it meant the world to her to be back on stage with her fellow Pacific DanceArts colleagues Dec. 12 for their annual holiday show. Munaretto’s mom, sister and boyfriend watched proudly from the audience at the Michael J. Fox Theatre in Burnaby.
“It felt like a part of me was missing,” said Munaretto, who had been sidelined from dancing since her accident on Aug. 13.
Munaretto made headlines this summer when she was rushed unconscious and in serious condition to Lions Gate Hospital after colliding with a van on a busy roadway in Upper Lonsdale while on roller skates.
The 21-year-old promising ballerina originally from Argentina shattered many bones including her jaw and pelvis and spent two weeks in a medically induced coma to ease swelling on her brain.
But Munaretto persevered and used her love of dance to pull through her ordeal, even practising ballet moves while lying in her hospital bed with a shattered pelvis.
The day after she was released from Lions Gate, after spending six weeks there, Munaretto insisted on visiting the dance studio. Being in that environment again invigorated Munaretto, who has remained positive and focused on her end goal: “To be able to dance forever.”
Munaretto got the all-clear from doctors three weeks ago to start taking small graceful steps again in the studio. That’s where she can be found when not at her frequent physiotherapy sessions.
“I feel like it’s (Pacific DanceArts) my second home,” said Munaretto, reached by phone after class Thursday, with festive music from the studio playing in the background.
Munaretto was recruited by the Vancouver-based dance school three years ago, while living in Brazil with her family. This summer she was on the doorstep of becoming a professional paid ballerina when tragedy struck.
But today Munaretto is not showing any outward signs of that traumatic event, considering she was on crutches two months ago. Her brain injury is taking a while to heal, but Munaretto’s doctors are confident she will make a full recovery.
There is some incentive for Munaretto to get stronger so she can take centre stage again – a Pacific DanceArts show in the spring, Swan Lake, that she is rehearsing for.
This Christmas, meanwhile, takes on a special meaning for Munaretto who is thankful to be alive.
“Yes. I will have the best gift ever, my mom is here,” says Munaretto, whose mother travelled to North Vancouver from Brazil to be at her daughter’s bedside days after the accident.
On Dec. 6 Munaretto’s family threw a surprise party to celebrate her life, at North Lonsdale United Church, steps from where her accident happened.
“I wasn’t expecting it, it was such a surprise,” says Munaretto, who got to meet and thank everyone who has helped on her road to recovery, from first responders to hospital staff to complete strangers.
