The Harrowing Journey of Bacterial Meningitis

She is just 28 years old, but Veronica Yoko Plebani has already squeezed more into her young world than most do in a lifetime. Contracting bacterial meningitis at 15 could have been the end, too, but instead the appalling illness signalled a new beginning, one that has taken her on to representing Italy at three Paralympic Games in snowboarding, canoeing and triathlon, grace the cover of Italian Vogue and write a celebrated novel telling the story of a young woman whose life is altered but refuses to lie down. Now she heads to Paris 2024 with a second triathlon medal in her sights.