In the morning of August 22nd, 1994, São Paulo-born Mara Cristina Gabrilli was receiving first-aid care on the road that connects Parati, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo. She was returning from a weekend at the beach when her boyfriend lost control of the Range Rover they plus a friend were in. The car left the road and rolled down a 50-foot cliff. When she got to the bottom, Mara had fractured the fourth and fifth vertebræ in her neck. Her boyfriend - with whom the relationship would go on for another two years - and their friend had light injuries. Two and a half hours after the crash, she was taken to a local hospital. On the following day, a helicopter transferred her to Albert Einstein Hospital, in São Paulo. She became a tetraplegic, unable to move her arms, body and legs, but she survived the crash and three subsequent surgeries.

Morning of August 22nd, 2000. 32 year-old Mara leaves the comfortable mansion where she lives with her father - a successful businessman, her mother and her brother, in São Bernardo do Campo, Metropolitan São Paulo. Encouraged by the proposal made by Telethon, a project in place in more than 20 countries, whose purpose is to raise funds for the treatment of physically impaired individuals, she accepted the challenge of being the first tetraplegic in Brazil to pose nude. She traveled to Barueri, a city in the state of São Paulo where the house that served as set for the pictures in this essay is located. The Chrysler van was driven by the family's chauffeur and also carried two caretakers, who took turns watching Mara (and also helped set poses for the shots). As can be seen in the following pages, the routine of exercises she adopted since the crash has proven effective. Everyday, from 8 AM to the end of the afternoon, Mara undergoes stretching, physical therapy, passive exercises and electrostimulation sessions - though a graduate in both publicity and psychology, she doesn't work. Contrary to the beauty standard set by top models, Mara is not afflicted by cellulite. »»»