The key components for a successful life are will, effort, desire, faith in oneself and in God. It’s your turn to determine the direction of movement. Don’t worry if you’re fooling around. Don’t worry if you don’t realize you’re a fool, says Mario, a famous motivational speaker with disabilities

Mario Bebek was born on October 28, 1991 in Zagreb with the rare disease Arthrogryposis multiplex congenita. In translation, it is a limitation in movements.

This disease includes the upper and lower extremities. In rare cases, only the upper extremities, so Mario only has problems with his arms. He was diagnosed with gastroschisis at birth and complications arise. The doctor’s prognosis was that he would not survive, so he was baptized the next day. He spent three months in the incubator. At the age of three, he went to America for an examination and received a recommendation for physical therapy and surgery.

– Upon my return, my parents provided me with physical therapy, which I received five times a week. I started kindergarten and there I adapted well with the other children, and I had exercises for my hands. That helped me a lot and I felt accepted. In addition to the physical therapy at home, mom exercised with me several times every day. I was constantly going for examinations and treatment – says Mario about the first years of his life.

The first encounter with insults made Mario stronger.

– I started elementary school according to the regular program, although my parents worked hard for me to be enrolled according to the regular program. It was there that I encountered insults for the first time, but later I got used to the fact that I am ‘different’ and that there will always be that. During elementary school, I started swimming in a competitive program. It was a club for disabled people only. I participated in numerous competitions. It helped me a lot to become independent and develop.

It was another additional therapy for me. In fact since then I have been completely busy with commitments. School in the morning, physical therapy, swimming, exercising again with mom. I had no free time for myself. My parents and brother were a great support for me to get through it all. I am very grateful to them for that. In the first place, to the parents who fought for their child. My every success is theirs, and so is my failure. Pain and struggle all the time, but will, effort, desire, faith in yourself and in God together with a positive attitude give you a goal. That’s my recipe for survival.

I’m trying to turn a minus into a plus. Really anything is possible when you want. I must not forget my friends who were always there for me and helped me when I needed it – says Mario, who today gives motivational lectures outside Croatia.

– In high school, it was much easier in terms of accepting myself and being quite understanding of my uniqueness. I graduated as a sanitary technician and, with the help of professors and colleagues, overcame the obstacles in the laboratory. After that, I entered the Health Polytechnic to become a sanitary engineer, I completed psychological and pedagogical education as a lecturer at the Teacher Training College, and I am currently in the Specialist Study for a graduate sanitary engineer.

I am very satisfied with the attitude of my colleagues and professors towards me – says Bebek, who once listened to comments like: ‘God punished you for having such hands’, ‘how are you not ashamed to walk with such hands’, ‘how is your mother not ashamed for giving birth to you like that?’

– I also did an internship at the Public Health Training Institute of Dr. Andrija Štampar and I did great. I would like to work on the same in the future. My desire is to work on health promotion and to deal with bioethics. I also want to make people aware of the principle of subsidiarity. The principle of subsidiarity is primarily a rule for determining jurisdiction in the realization of common property.

What an individual can do on his own, society must not take from him, or what a smaller community can do, a larger society must not deny it. Subsidiarity or assistance. Society must provide support. An individual should strive to the maximum within the limits of his capabilities. The new definition of Bioethics tells us that it is love for life. I am currently engaged in motivational lectures.

I sensitize the public about the life of people with disabilities. I tell my life story and try to motivate people, so that they don’t think that their problem is the most difficult and that they don’t underestimate their abilities. Life is a puzzle that a person puts together for years – says Mario.

Finally, Mario wrote a few motivational lines to our readers:

– The key components for a successful life are will, effort, desire, faith in oneself and in God. It seems that there is one direction, one path, one direction, one path, one diagonal, but there is only one life with countless directions, paths, directions, paths. It’s your turn to determine the direction of movement.

Don’t worry if you’re fooling around. Worry if you don’t realize you’re a fool. Even the best make mistakes. Follow your heart, but check yourself a hundred times when you intend to do something. Be wise and don’t run in front of the bully. It could cost you. Just remember, life is too short to be wandering all the time.

Wake up from your sleep, because you will sleep when you die. Now is the time to open your eyes and choose the path. Choose your path carefully. I always have a solution for everything. When they touch me and talk to me, I just turn my head and smile and move on to new victories. Where my heart desires.

There will always be obstacles, some are easier, some are more difficult, but it is important that you overcome them. If there is a problem, there is a solution. And when there are a lot of obstacles on your way, it means that you are worth it and that’s the only way to get stronger. Later, when you get stronger, just a smile on your face will be enough to win some things.

Remember, after the rain the sun always comes, but you have to work hard for that sun to be able to enjoy it. Even the sun should be earned. Believe me, you will thank yourself later. Life is made up of both good and bad things, and the bad things warn us that we have gone astray. Life is a fight with windmills, life is a labyrinth from which only the persistent win.

Every problem is a problem, we think we can’t get rid of it. If we think like that, then we will never find a solution. We must first admit to ourselves that I have such and such a problem and we must find a solution. We must know that there is always a bigger problem. If there were no problems, nothing would work. In a way, these problems are our guideposts and life guidelines. Let’s stay on the ball and not go astray.

There’s nothing wrong with being annoyed, except that it can be worse for you. God gave us a brain to think, so we should think about that problem and try to find a solution. Life is a labyrinth with many dead ends, we need to find a way out. Those dead ends are also problems. Each of us wanders into the dead end of life, but we should not give up immediately, but we should find an exit to the main road and choose the right path! Be the master of your will, and the servant of your conscience! There is always a way out.

While writing the book of your life…. don’t let someone else hold your pencil. No encounter with any person is accidental. Every person has a message that they carry. That message is either his appearance, his behavior… When something bothers you, take the freedom and peace to think about everything, gather your strength and move on. Because life is like a circle. Everything goes in a circle, but you must not fall out of that circle. The only solution for that is strong faith – says Bebek.

My message to other people with disabilities would be to never give up no matter how hard it is and to try to find something that will make them happy and fulfill their life, says Deni

Deni Černi was born on May 3, 1993 in Virovitica, and he is a computer technician by profession.

– At the age of six, I fell ill with dystonia, and I spent a large part of my childhood in hospitals for various examinations – Deni tells us.

It was not easy to accept a lifelong disability.

– In the beginning, it was really difficult to deal with disability and the fact that you are ‘different’, but luckily, I had my parents behind me, who explained to me very well that being a disabled person is nothing unusual and that in some situations it will be more difficult for me than some people of my age, but to never give up – says Černi.

– During my primary and secondary education, I had problems with the stares of ‘curious’ people who don’t know me, but I quickly got used to it since I have a good attitude and I approach every person in a friendly way – continues Deni.

His love for athletics was born in his teenage years.

– At the age of 14, I received an invitation from Darko Kralj to ask if I would like to try training in athletics, and a desire arose in me and I immediately agreed. After the first practice, I liked the shot put and wanted to continue. As I trained, more and more competitions came, and thus additional motivation to be better and achieve more – he tells us, and today he really has a lot of medals, competitions and awards behind him.

World Junior Championships:

– 2009 Nottwil, Switzerland:

1st place, ball F54 6.63 meters

1st place, discus F54 20.70 meters

2nd place, javelin F54 13.65 meters

– 2010 Olomouc, Czech Republic:

1st place, javelin F54 15.15 meters

1st place discus F54 23.75 meters (world junior discus record in the F-54 category)

2nd place, ball F54 7.05 meters

European Junior Championship

– 2011 Brno, Czech Republic – gold and two silver medals F54: 1st place discus, 2nd places shot put and javelin

IWAS World Games:

– 2009 Bangalore, India – 5th place in discus throw F54

– 2011 Sarjah-Dubai, UAE – bronze medal in discus throw F54, 23.95 meters

– 2017 Lisbon, Portugal gold medal in shot put F33, 8.88 meters, bronze medal in discus throw F33, 20.50 meters

W.P.A. European championship:

– 2012 in Stadskanaal, Netherlands – 6th place in discus throw F54, 19.2 meters

– 2018 in Berlin, Germany – silver medal in shot put F33, 10.10 meters

– 2021 in Bydgoszcz, Poland – bronze medal in shot put F33, 10.42 meters

W.P.A. World Championship:

– 2013 – Lyon, France – 11th place in discus throw F54

– 2017 – London, UK – 7th place in shot put F33, 8.87 meters

– 2019 – Dubai, UAE – 5th place in shot put F33, 10.41 meters

Paralympic Games:

– 2021 – Tokyo, Japan – bronze medal in shot put (11.25 meters, personal record)

Recognitions and awards

2009 – Charter of the City of Grubišno Polje, public recognition of the City of Grubišno Polje

2010 – Plaque on November 4, 1991, public recognition of the City of Grubišno Polje

2011 – Tihomir Trnski plaque, public recognition of the Bjelovar-Bilogora County

2009 and 2010 – Golden plaque of the Sports Association of Bjelovar-Bilogora County for the best athlete with a disability in the junior competition

2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 – Golden plaque of the Sports Association of Bjelovar-Bilogora County for the best athlete with a disability in the senior competition