By way of snowboarding, he has achieved that.
He first skilled the game on a visit with pals, however it was solely two years in the past that he realised this was his option to make his mark on the world.
“I touched the snow, and I by no means turned again,” he stated. Etienne wished to change into the Caribbean nation’s first Winter Paralympian.
“At first snowboarding meant freedom to me, after which I realised it was inspiration. That’s what the Paralympics are about.
“It’s a message of hope to disabled individuals and the remainder of the world.”
With US restrictions on Haitian immigration rights making it troublesome for him to journey to coach, final yr – supported by his employer Financial institution of America – Etienne relocated from New York to London to be nearer to the mountains of Europe for weekend coaching.
“Generally I am leaving the workplace at 2am as a result of I’ve work I want to complete earlier than I get on a 6am flight to get to Switzerland,” he informed the Wall Avenue Journal, exterior.
On Friday, after simply 80 days on snow in his life, he achieved his dream of racing on the Milan-Cortina Winter Paralympics.
Aided by a 12-month grant from the Worldwide Paralympic Committee’s Sport for Mobility programme, he has joined athletes from El Salvador, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Portugal in making their nations’ debut on the Video games.
His end result, a disqualification on his second run of the standing large slalom, is secondary to his story.
“Haiti has a skier. That is probably the most stunning sentence I’ve heard in a very long time,” he stated.
“On the primary run I proved that Haiti can ski competitively. Earlier than the race, I had gained.
“I get to say that there’s hope, I get to inform the Haitian youth that if I can do that at the moment with one leg, they’ll do something.
“I’ve gone from the earthquake rubble to the highest of the Dolomites with the easiest skiers on this planet.
“Something is feasible. I get to indicate younger Haitians that every one just isn’t misplaced.”
