Beatrice de Lavalette was 17 years old when she was at Brussels' Zaventem Airport, heading back to the U.S. for spring break.

The next thing she remembers is darkness, and the feeling of being lifted off the ground.

By chance De Lavalette had been standing next to a suicide bomber and was one of the 300 people who were left injured after Zaventem Airport was struck by twin blasts on March 22, 2016 — an attack where 32 people were killed and which ISIS would later claim responsibility for.

"I was just on my phone talking to my brother and listening to music, really not paying attention to what was going on around me [...] I think the next thing I see is that everything's going really dark," de Lavalette said.

"It was right after I came to from being knocked out from the initial impact of the bomb, I remember looking around and knowing exactly what had just happened and I remember thinking, 'I cannot believe this just happened,'" she adds.

She also remembers "a lot of chaos, a lot of smoke and fire and darkness."

"I could start hearing other people screaming for help [...] I remember thinking that I should probably be doing the same thing," she says.

Eventually, de Lavalette caught the eye of one of the first responders, who immediately sprayed her with a fire extinguisher in order to douse the flames that had enveloped her body.

She was left with life-changing injuries including second- to third-degree burns, a spinal cord injury and the loss of her lower legs — both of which were amputated.

Six years on from that horrific day, the 22-year-old dressage rider is looking forward to brighter horizons and representing Team USA at her first Paralympic Games in Tokyo.

No end in sight

About a month after coming out of a coma, de Lavalette says she cried every day. She wondered what life held in store for her.

"Thank God I had my family there to support me," de Lavalette recalls. "Just knowing that my life wasn't over and that I was going to be able to continue living my life in a positive way helped me a lot when I was in the hospital."

It was a few months later when the American ambassador to Belgium came to visit her in hospital, and they began talking about the Rio 2016 Olympics.

"We were just talking and joking around. And she mentioned that the Olympics were going on in Rio at that point and how cool it would be for me to be in Tokyo for the next one," she says. "But I didn't really think too much into it."

Until that point, de Lavalette had no intention of becoming a para-athlete — let alone competing at a Paralympic Games — but she did want to resume her passion of horse riding.

"I wanted to get back to my [...] regular life, and for me, regular life was riding every day, so not being able to do that was really hard."

The road to recovery

De Lavalette spent months learning how to ride again, which was "really uncomfortable."

"I had no muscle, I was just skin and bones, so being back on the saddle with no sense of balance was really uncomfortable. But with time, I was able to build up the muscle and work on my balance, and it got easier with time," she says.

"My body was so different than prior to the accident. So for me, it was just readjusting what I had learned my whole life," de Lavalette adds.

Riders often use their legs to guide their horse, shifting their weight to change the movement of their mount, but de Lavalette uses a whip to guide her horse, touching it from side to side to tell it where to go.

'I am very appreciative'

From riding in the south of France as a youngster to returning to the saddle with her horse Delegada X — who she affectionately calls DeeDee — de Lavalette says her connection with horses has always proved stronger than the obstacles she's faced on her path to her first Games.

When de Lavalette was recovering from the 2016 accident, her mother found a way to bring DeeDee to the hospital parking lot, where she was reunited with her beloved companion.

"That moment made me decide that I wasn't going to give up on life," she told daytime talk show "The Doctors."

"The basis of how I work with my horses is trust," de Lavalette tells CNN.

"It's the feeling, the connection that you have with the horse, just that bond that you create over the [...] course of the training, I think, for me is probably my favorite," she adds.

De Lavalette went back to school in September 2016 and finished her first para-equestrian show in April 2017. She made her first appearance for the U.S. Para Dressage Team in January 2020 — where she contributed to the team competition victory.

Recently, she's been getting used to training with her new horse, a 14-year-old Dutch Warmblood named Clarc, who de Lavalette says is "awesome."

"I've had [him] for nine months," she adds. "He's such a great horse. He is in some sense very supportive. He's a hard worker. He likes what he does and he doesn't toss me off [...] so I am very appreciative of that."

'It was really surreal'

In July, de Lavalette shared the news that she had been picked to represent Team USA at the Paralympic Games.

"It was really surreal," she says, "I kind of knew it was going to happen just because I had worked so hard, and I had done the results that I needed to make the team. But hearing it and making it official was really an incredible moment."

Of course, de Lavalette's achievement is the culmination of years of hard work and sacrifice, but she says the dream of making a Paralympic podium is what has kept her going.

"It'll probably make me cry, but it's going to mean everything. It's just such a special moment just to be able to represent the country and then do well enough to make the podium. It's going to be incredible," de Lavalette says.

"It's going to be very happy tears."

De Lavalette admits that she wouldn't have been able to get through the past several years without the support of her friends and family.

"They have been there since day one and have never stopped supporting me, and I know that if I'm having a bad day, I can always call my parents or call my friends and they'll always help me get back to being my regular happy self."

"I was born into a family [...] where everybody rode, so for me to continue the legacy was kind of a given," she adds.

De Lavalette still thinks about that fateful day in 2016.

"I think that I wouldn't be the person that I am today without the events that happened on that day," she says.

"I watched it with my parents about a year after the accident. And for me, it was really important to see it because I didn't know or realize just how close I actually was to the bomber.

"So for me to see myself literally stepping right next to the guy and then moments later the bomb going off was a bit of a realization of how lucky I really am.

"It's a blessing in disguise, as well as kind of a nightmare."

One of the United State's best Paralympians is calling for change.

Marylander Becca Meyers, 26, is not going to Tokyo to compete due to a decision she said would put her safety in jeopardy.

Becca Meyers and her mother, Maria Meyers, spoke to sister station WBAL-TV Wednesday about the devastating decision and what they hope comes next.

Meyers is one of the most decorated American swimmers in history. She's won six Paralympic medals, three of them gold. She put in countless hours at the pool training for the 2021 games.

But she will not represent team USA this year – she withdrew – and she did so because of safety concerns, but none that has anything to do with the coronavirus.

"They took away a part of me. A part of who I am. I’ve always been Rebecca, the swimmer, and now I feel less than that," Becca Meyers said.

The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee denied the Meyers' request to have a personal care assistant accompany her to the Tokyo Games.

"So, when they said 'No,' it just broke me. It made me feel, 'wow, the one place I had where I could excel as someone with multiple disabilities was taken away,' made me feel worthless," Becca Meyers said.

Becca Meyers explained her communication with the USOPC in recent years.

"It's been a really tough couple of months communicating with the USOPC expressing my needs as a deaf, blind athlete. We've had an understanding for the last couple of years since 2017 that I need a dedicated personal care assistant to come with me because of my disabilities. Because I [have] two sensorial disabilities, not just one. So, I really need that one-on-one care, orienting me to new places, traveling with me every step of the way so that I get to my destinations safely, that I get the proper meals. That was the purpose of having a PCA of whom I trust," she said.

Becca Meyers has suffered from Usher Syndrome since birth, leaving her deaf and with degenerative sight. Essentially, she can only see through a pinhole, straight ahead. So, having a PCA on hand is critical. She learned this the hard way, when alone at the 2016 Rio Games.

Related video: Tokyo Olympics Brings Hope for Change For Deaf Transgender Athlete

"I remember one night a couple, two days before a competition started just crying uncontrollably on the floor in my room. I felt so lost, so paralyzed in a way that I knew I couldn’t do this on my own. I’m a deaf, blind person. And I think that moment is when I came to terms with my disabilities," Becca Meyers said.

Becca's mother Maria has served as her PCA since 2017 as she is trained in the care of a deaf/blind person. When the USOPC refused to allow her to travel to Tokyo, the family decided they needed to be heard.

"It's not just for my kid, you know, this is for all of them. The culture has to change we can do better. We know we can do better," Maria Meyers said.

The USOPC will have one PCA on hand for the entire Paraswimming team in Tokyo.

"And then it turns out that the team was named and there’s nine blind swimmers. Nine out of 34. This is the biggest team of line swimmers they’ve ever taken. Not one is trained in orientation and mobility of the blind," Maria Meyers said. "She's not sitting at home and saying 'I only want green M&Ms.' This is not a diva moment."

Becca Meyers received support from Maryland's two U.S. senators and Gov. Larry Hogan. The outrage is widespread at denying a world class swimmer a safe way to represent the country, which she has done so well.

"I'm not going away quietly. This needs to change. The culture needs to change. I need to stand up to protect future generations from ever getting hurt or feeling scared to be a part of team USA," Becca Meyers said.

WBAL-TV reached out to the USOPC but received no comment on Becca Meyers' withdrawal from the games.

ANKENY, Iowa —

When 24-year-old Justin Phongsavanh was shot and left paralyzed from the waist down back in 2015, he never dreamed it would be the start of a journey taking him across the world.

"I never thought that I would be an elite athlete," Phongsavanh said. "I never thought I would be in a wheelchair."

Justin was shot in an Ankeny, Iowa, McDonald's parking lot in October of 2015. Police told sister station KCCI back then the man who shot Phongsavanh and his friend was a stranger who did it after being upset with their "poor behavior" that night in the restaurant.

The bullet hit Phongsavanh's spine.

"If I do drive by the place where everything happened, it doesn't really bring up any bad emotions or anything," Phongsavanh said.

Fast forward six years later, Phongsavanh has accomplished a lot. He won a gold medal at the PanAmerican Games, placed 4th at the world championships, and recently broke a world record in seated javelin throwing with a throw of 33.29m.

Phongsavanh moved to San Diego in 2019 to train hard, but recalls his love for Paralympic Track & Field starting in his home state with Adaptive Sports Iowa.

"He started out in our Track and Field program and decided it was totally for him," said Adaptive Sports Director Hannah Lundeen.

Mike Boone was the director who got Phongsavanh hooked on the sport. Boone handed him the gear he needed, which is what Adaptive Sports Iowa does for anyone in their program.

The organization offers nine sports and has around 300 Iowans taking part in them this year.

"It's really exciting just to be able to plant that seed and tell them like yes, you can do any sport that you want to and then see them just run with it and have a blast," Lundeen said.

When Phongsavanh took what he learned from Adaptive Sports Iowa, he didn't know what to expect but now he's a Paralympian.

"We train just as hard as the Olympians. We train in the same facilities," Phongsavanh said. "We were on the same stage."

Phongsavanh will travel to Tokyo without his loved ones by his side due to pandemic restrictions. He's disappointed about that but more than anything he's excited about this opportunity.

He said it's not about making a name for himself, it's about sharing his message in hopes of encouraging others.

"Don't give up," he said. "Life does not end because a situation has changed."

CINCINNATI, Ohio — Olympic and Paralympic athletes across the globe faced massive disappointment in 2020, when the pandemic postponed the Tokyo games. And while it may have stalled the dreams of many, it didn’t make them fade away.

“I won silver in London. I won Gold in Mexico City and Berlin, Germany,” said Lawrence Sapp.

Sapp is a world champion swimmer. Like most world class athletes, he's been honing his craft nearly his whole life.

“I’ve been started swimming since I was four, competing since I was 11 and 12,” he said.

But unlike most athletes, he hasn’t had a traditional path.

“My coach, to learn how to swim, like a doggy paddle,” said Sapp.

When Sapp was two years old, he was diagnosed with a developmental delay. That was later determined to be autism.

Now, he’s finishing his freshman year at the University of Cincinnati, but in all likelihood, his workload will get a lot heavier this summer. It’s almost a certainty he’s headed to Tokyo for the Paralympic games.

“It was coronavirus, got hit. We all had to go home, keep it safe to stay healthy. It’s really disappointing they moved the 2020 to 2021 for this year,” said Sapp.

But now Sapp is back in the pool, working hard as he aims to bring home gold in Tokyo.

“He always shows up ready to work hard and get better,” said one of his student coaches, Sheridan Ave.

His hard work shows. It’s something his university is proud of, proud to support him in and out of the pool.

“He’s an outstanding student. He’s a great addition to the university and has a passion and gift for swimming,” said Jan Goings, who runs the Transition and Access Program (TAP).

“We are a four-year college program for young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities,” said Goings.

Sapp is one of about 40 students enrolled in TAP.

He hopes to make his classmates proud when he competes in Tokyo.

“Just swim really hard, good break outs, and good starts,” said Sapp.

Goings has worked in this field for a long time.

“It has changed dramatically. The fact that universities have opened themselves to say, 'we’re here to educate all students.' So, all does mean all,” said Goings.

Institutions like the University of Cincinnati and competitions like the Paralympic games are making sure that all have a chance to show their best.

Sapp plans to show his.

“Just got to get on, be ready to race in a different country. I’ll be ready bring it on for Tokyo,” he said.