Overcoming disability through hiking and outdoor sports with Aurore Bailleul
In this episode of the podcast La Sportive Outdoor, I spoke to Aurore Bailleul from the Hemera association, which organizes projects involving disabled and able-bodied people.
Watch the video interview
Listen to the podcast
Podcast episode summary
An accident is not the end, but the beginning of a new movement. In this new episode of La Sportive Outdoor, we meet Aurore Bailleul, a sports educator specializing in healthy sports and posturology. . Amputated of her right leg in 2023 after a serious motorcycle accident caused by a driver under the influence of drugs, she is now transforming her ordeal into a collective force to raise awareness of disability through large-scale challenges..
A passion for movement and technique
Before her accident, Aurore was already a keen exerciser, cycling, running and triathlon. Living in the Dordogne since 2013, she has found fulfillment in connecting with nature and the forest. . Professionally, she specializes in specific methods:
- The de Gasquet method for protecting the perineum and abdominal muscles.
- Posturology to treat back problems in its own room opening in 2019.
- Nordic walking and Nordic Yoga, a discipline combining active walking and yoga postures with sticks to promote balance.
Although she can no longer give sports lessons, she now runs the Hemera association, where a team of six coaches continue to pass on her vision of sport and well-being.
The challenge of Santiago de Compostela
Less than a year after her amputation, and against the advice of her prosthetist and doctors who were recommending a two-year wait, Aurore set off on the route to Santiago de Compostela. This seven-day journey, undertaken with her brother, represented a vital need to test her limits and rediscover her identity through hiking.
Despite an unstable stump, blisters and persistent pain, she covered an average of 25 km a day from Le Puy-en-Velay.. This trip marked a major psychological step: for the first time, encouraged by the kindness of the other walkers, she dared to swap her baggy pants for shorts, thus revealing her prosthesis to the world..
“Tandem 2025: inclusion at the heart of the Gorges du Verdon
It was during her rehabilitation that Aurore wrote down her Tandem 2025 project in a notebook. In June 2025, she made her dream come true by bringing together 39 people – able-bodied and with motor disabilities – to travel the Gorges du Verdon.
The use of the tandem symbolized absolute sharing, where the effort of the able-bodied supports that of the disabled, and vice versa. The challenge also served as the basis for an awareness-raising campaign aimed at schoolchildren, to change the way they look at disability from an early age.
Comment soutenir La Sportive Outdoor?
L'une des façons de nous soutenir est de faire vos achats via nos sites partenaires.
L'idée n'est évidemment pas de vous pousser à la consommation: n'achetez que ce dont vous avez besoin mais, lorsque vous le faites, passer par nos liens nous aide car nous touchons ainsi une petite commission sans aucun coût supplémentaire pour vous.
Vous pouvez par exemple en ajouter certains en favoris pour vos prochains achats. Pensez à accepter les cookies de nos partenaires dès l’arrivée sur leur site.
- i-Run: jusqu'à -50% pour les Running Weeks
- Insta360: de (très) grosses promos sur plein de caméras sportives pour les French Deals
- Ekosport: -20% extra sur les nouveautés vélo de route et VTT
- Intersport: des offres sur la randonnée (notamment)
- Muule: 15% de promo avec le code VIP15
- Compressport: 10% de réduction avec le code WELCOME-COMPRESSPORT-26
- Decathlon: pas mal de bons plans
- Lyophilisé&Co: lyophilisés, nutrition sportive et matos de bivouac
Pour plus de façons de nous soutenir, c'est ici.
This adventure was immortalized in the film “Le chemin de la résilience ” by Paul Fourtout, available on YouTube.
Towards new heights in 2027
Aurore has no intention of stopping there. For 2027, she is preparing an even more ambitious multisport challenge starting from Bergerac. . This 300-kilometer journey will combine cycling, walking, running and horseback riding, culminating in a climb of the Rhune mountain in the Basque Country.. Paraplegic participants will be lifted to the summit in joëlettes by able-bodied pairs, before a possible descent by paraglider.
Conclusion
Aurore’s message is clear: “ The only limits are ours “. While she points the finger at the blatant lack of inclusivity in French infrastructures – citing, in particular, PRM rooms that are inaccessible or used as offices – she proves through action that sport is a driving force for social and personal reconstruction. For her, the key to such resilience lies in listening to her deepest intuition: ” If you feel like it, do it “.