2024-02-12 07:14:43
We had the pleasure of meeting Silk Pancircus artist, acrobat-equilibrist and “Paraplegic Handstand Performer”.
While touring on a boat in Italy in September 2007, Silke Pan had an unfortunate trapeze accident and unfortunately became a paraplegic. She stops the circus, but continues her progress and does not give up.
A sporting career following the circus
In 2012, Silke Pan participated in the European and World Cup in handibike. In 2015, she made a name for herself in the world of Elite sport and became vice-world champion in para-cycling in Nottwill.
A desire to get back on stage that comes true
Despite his accident, the desire to get back on stage and reconnect with the circus world is growing stronger and stronger.
She discovers, quite by chance, that despite her handicap, she can stand on her hands. But what joy!! So how can she hold up her legs, which she can no longer feel, how can she tilt her body?
Her husband manages to find a way for her to keep her legs balanced using a technique that stiffens her body. In fact, she no longer has sensations from her stomach. She sometimes has spasms at night because the nerves remain intact in her lower body, but they are no longer connected to her brain.
The fact of traveling often and meeting other artists is something stimulating and enriching for Silke Pan who takes great pleasure in seeking to surpass herself. She likes to create new numbers.
Adapted workouts
Silke Pan tries to train regularly, depending on her fatigue and travel, because she needs to recover and do stretching and massages to relax her muscles. However, Silke Pan limits itself to one day of rest, otherwise the muscles relax too much.
The workouts are quite similar to those she did as a disabled bike athlete. They are based on strength and resistance, but without the endurance parameter, which nevertheless consists of balancing for 15 minutes. The work is done a lot on the upper body, the back and balance on the hands. His musculature had to adapt and his muscles thickened.
TWIICE: a feeling of freedom
Silke Pan was contacted by the engineering team at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne to participate in the development of an exoskeleton, called TWIICE. The first attempts did not live up to her expectations, because being a circus artist, she would have wanted to dance, jump on trampolines…
It was a very nice experience, but she did not rediscover the sensations she had when she was able-bodied. She felt like her legs didn’t belong to her, like they weren’t connected to her body. She had the impression of floating above her legs articulated by a mechanism a bit like a puppet. She mightn’t find her balance, since she has no feeling in her pelvis and feet.
After several tries, she managed to adapt and manipulate the exoskeleton correctly. Subsequently, she managed to find a good balance between learning to operate the controls and being comfortable moving around. And finally, she rediscovered this feeling of freedom that she had lost.
The exoskeleton taught him to reconnect with his body, to become aware of his pelvis and his legs without feeling them. At the end of 2022, she realized, with a lot of emotion, a dream: that of dancing with a company. She was able to present a show for “Robotics Day” with the dancers of the Ballet des Jardins company, at the Palais de Beaulieu in Lausanne.
For the engineering team, this was a major challenge to achieve, because the exoskeleton was not intended for dancing, but for use in everyday life. To date, the exoskeleton is awaiting the necessary certifications in order to be marketed.
Silke Pan’s inspiring story is a testament to her exceptional resilience and determination to overcome challenges. Moving from the circus to a sporting career following a paraplegic accident, she managed to re-enter the circus world thanks to her surprising ability to stand on her hands. His adapted training and his collaboration with the TWICE exoskeleton demonstrate his perseverance and his desire to push the limits. By regaining the feeling of freedom lost during a dance performance with the exoskeleton, Silke Pan embodies the human capacity to reinvent oneself in the face of adversity.
By the same author: ADHD: Meeting with Prof. Stephan Eliez
Photo credits : Mathias Azéronde et Tania Emery
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