Beyond Prognosis (2024) Movie Script
[water sounds]
[Yannis] I have confidence
in myself,
...I have confidence in life,
I am a blessed person
with a lucky star.
I will walk again.
Yes, I will walk again.
[monitor beeping]
[monitor beeping]
[Yannis] Originally,
the idea was just to ride
my bike every day
and hangout with my friends.
[indistinct chatter]
[Yannis] A simple shared
passion we reinvented
each time coming up
with crazy new ideas.
[Yannis] To be honest,
they weren't always
the most brilliant ones.
[indistinct chatter]
[Yannis] But when
you live some place
lost in the middle
of nowhere,
you've got to be creative
or you get bored, real quick.
We were free,
a bit foolish, yeah, but man...
we sure were happy.
And that is something they
can't ever take away from us.
At some point,
I started dreaming.
I pictured myself standing
on the top steps of podiums,
being on a team,
with sponsors and all that,
living from my passion
and becoming the best.
[squeals]
But I realized
that chasing your dreams
doesn't protect you
from anything.
It actually makes you
more vulnerable.
And one day,
you don't know why
it happens to you.
The dream stops
and all that's left
is darkness.
You close your eyes
and there's nothing
there anymore.
So, you have to be quick
and start looking for it again.
Because dreams fade away
if you don't concentrate
on them hard enough.
So, I set about searching
for the dream of that kid
who used to goof around
on his bike with his friends
on a little village lost
at the tail end of a valley,
and whose life
had been broken into.
[car engine]
[laughs]
[panting]
[groans]
[laughs]
[Yannis] It was the start
of the French championship
and I just returned from
the World Cup in Leogang.
I just got my first
top-20 result
and I was over the moon.
I woke up super early
and got to the tent
before everyone else.
Like seriously motivated.
[honking]
Maybe a bit too much.
And then, suddenly,
everything stopped.
[whistle]
[panting]
[phone ringing]
[Yannis] First,
the doctor arrived.
[helicopter blades]
Next, paramedics rushed up
and said it's serious.
That's when
you start asking yourself
lots of questions:
"What's happening?"
"Why can't I feel my legs?"
[Yannis] Two minutes
and one sentence...
That's all it took
to destroy everything.
And when the doctor
told me it's over,
that I'd probably
never walk again,
my world collapsed
and crushed my dreams
at the same time.
Right now,
I want to feel
the scratchy hospital sheets
but the only sensation
is tingling
and a weight pinning
my legs to the mattress.
Like they're buried in sand.
So, this is what it's like
to be paralyzed.
Half buried.
Alive up top...
and dead down below.
[Yannis] After about three
or four days I think,
I got my stuff back,
my phone, a few things...
And there I saw the flood
of messages I received,
it was incredible.
From the entire cycling family,
from loved ones,
from buddies...
They gave me a real boost.
I kept telling them
that I was fine,
that it was a tough moment
to go through
but that I'd bounce back,
you know?
When the doctor told me
that I wouldn't
be able to walk again,
it was impossible for me
to believe.
Literally impossible.
I can't spend my life
in a wheelchair.
[Yannis] First,
you close your eyes
and activate your neurones.
In your mind, a spark
emerges from the darkness.
It ignites an electric current
that starts running
through your body.
It goes down your neck,
passes through your back,
connects your vertebrae
and frees your spinal cord.
The electric current keeps going
and knows where to go
and knows the path by heart.
It descends
through your chest,
down to your legs
and all away to your toes,
and every time
it touches a muscle,
it sparks and creates
new pathways.
On the outside,
nothing is happening
but inside, thousands of sparks
enlighten up your body.
And now, these
electric currents
send impulses
to all your muscles,
making them move together.
Your legs unfolding,
your feet sinking
into the ground.
But you're not
just moving forward...
you're making
your dream come true.
But when you open your eyes,
reality slaps you
in the face.
I've been doing this every day
for three weeks now and...
still no movement.
It has to work.
It will work,
no doubt about it!
I believe it,
I'm beyond certain.
I have a lucky star,
I trust life,
and I will walk again.
But I need more time
and I have less
and less of it.
[Yannis] When I was doing
my visualizations,
I felt a very strong
state of tranquility.
Like I was floating
in a parallel world.
I could feel this current
flowing downwards,
as if my spinal cord
was heating up.
This current
spreads through my nerves,
my legs and my muscles.
I could tell if
my visualization was right
when I could feel
the tingling in my legs.
It made me believe
in it like a rock.
Because if I had sensations
in my legs,
then something
was happening.
[Yannis] In any case,
I never believed
the prognosis.
I've been in this hospital room
for 73 days.
I'm stuck between these walls,
thinking the same
positive thoughts
and visualizing
the same positive outcome.
At night,
I do the physio exercises alone,
in my room and bed.
I try to move my legs,
I try to get up.
And even though
it would be easier
to just accept my situation,
to stop fighting...
I never lose hope.
[water]
[squeals]
[laughs]
[laughs]
[panting]
[indistinct chatter]
[panting]
Yes!
[laughs]
[indistinct chatter]
[indistinct chatter]
[cheering]
[cheering and applauding]
[Yannis] I have confidence
in myself,
...I have confidence in life,
I am a blessed person
with a lucky star.
I will walk again.
Yes, I will walk again.
[monitor beeping]
[monitor beeping]
[Yannis] Originally,
the idea was just to ride
my bike every day
and hangout with my friends.
[indistinct chatter]
[Yannis] A simple shared
passion we reinvented
each time coming up
with crazy new ideas.
[Yannis] To be honest,
they weren't always
the most brilliant ones.
[indistinct chatter]
[Yannis] But when
you live some place
lost in the middle
of nowhere,
you've got to be creative
or you get bored, real quick.
We were free,
a bit foolish, yeah, but man...
we sure were happy.
And that is something they
can't ever take away from us.
At some point,
I started dreaming.
I pictured myself standing
on the top steps of podiums,
being on a team,
with sponsors and all that,
living from my passion
and becoming the best.
[squeals]
But I realized
that chasing your dreams
doesn't protect you
from anything.
It actually makes you
more vulnerable.
And one day,
you don't know why
it happens to you.
The dream stops
and all that's left
is darkness.
You close your eyes
and there's nothing
there anymore.
So, you have to be quick
and start looking for it again.
Because dreams fade away
if you don't concentrate
on them hard enough.
So, I set about searching
for the dream of that kid
who used to goof around
on his bike with his friends
on a little village lost
at the tail end of a valley,
and whose life
had been broken into.
[car engine]
[laughs]
[panting]
[groans]
[laughs]
[Yannis] It was the start
of the French championship
and I just returned from
the World Cup in Leogang.
I just got my first
top-20 result
and I was over the moon.
I woke up super early
and got to the tent
before everyone else.
Like seriously motivated.
[honking]
Maybe a bit too much.
And then, suddenly,
everything stopped.
[whistle]
[panting]
[phone ringing]
[Yannis] First,
the doctor arrived.
[helicopter blades]
Next, paramedics rushed up
and said it's serious.
That's when
you start asking yourself
lots of questions:
"What's happening?"
"Why can't I feel my legs?"
[Yannis] Two minutes
and one sentence...
That's all it took
to destroy everything.
And when the doctor
told me it's over,
that I'd probably
never walk again,
my world collapsed
and crushed my dreams
at the same time.
Right now,
I want to feel
the scratchy hospital sheets
but the only sensation
is tingling
and a weight pinning
my legs to the mattress.
Like they're buried in sand.
So, this is what it's like
to be paralyzed.
Half buried.
Alive up top...
and dead down below.
[Yannis] After about three
or four days I think,
I got my stuff back,
my phone, a few things...
And there I saw the flood
of messages I received,
it was incredible.
From the entire cycling family,
from loved ones,
from buddies...
They gave me a real boost.
I kept telling them
that I was fine,
that it was a tough moment
to go through
but that I'd bounce back,
you know?
When the doctor told me
that I wouldn't
be able to walk again,
it was impossible for me
to believe.
Literally impossible.
I can't spend my life
in a wheelchair.
[Yannis] First,
you close your eyes
and activate your neurones.
In your mind, a spark
emerges from the darkness.
It ignites an electric current
that starts running
through your body.
It goes down your neck,
passes through your back,
connects your vertebrae
and frees your spinal cord.
The electric current keeps going
and knows where to go
and knows the path by heart.
It descends
through your chest,
down to your legs
and all away to your toes,
and every time
it touches a muscle,
it sparks and creates
new pathways.
On the outside,
nothing is happening
but inside, thousands of sparks
enlighten up your body.
And now, these
electric currents
send impulses
to all your muscles,
making them move together.
Your legs unfolding,
your feet sinking
into the ground.
But you're not
just moving forward...
you're making
your dream come true.
But when you open your eyes,
reality slaps you
in the face.
I've been doing this every day
for three weeks now and...
still no movement.
It has to work.
It will work,
no doubt about it!
I believe it,
I'm beyond certain.
I have a lucky star,
I trust life,
and I will walk again.
But I need more time
and I have less
and less of it.
[Yannis] When I was doing
my visualizations,
I felt a very strong
state of tranquility.
Like I was floating
in a parallel world.
I could feel this current
flowing downwards,
as if my spinal cord
was heating up.
This current
spreads through my nerves,
my legs and my muscles.
I could tell if
my visualization was right
when I could feel
the tingling in my legs.
It made me believe
in it like a rock.
Because if I had sensations
in my legs,
then something
was happening.
[Yannis] In any case,
I never believed
the prognosis.
I've been in this hospital room
for 73 days.
I'm stuck between these walls,
thinking the same
positive thoughts
and visualizing
the same positive outcome.
At night,
I do the physio exercises alone,
in my room and bed.
I try to move my legs,
I try to get up.
And even though
it would be easier
to just accept my situation,
to stop fighting...
I never lose hope.
[water]
[squeals]
[laughs]
[laughs]
[panting]
[indistinct chatter]
[panting]
Yes!
[laughs]
[indistinct chatter]
[indistinct chatter]
[cheering]
[cheering and applauding]