Iranduba, Brazil: floating on the Río Río de Río in the Brazilian Amazon, Luiz Felipe, who has Down syndrome, rays while hugging a pink dolphin during a special therapy session.
Luiz Felipe, 27, is one of several patients with disabilities who traveled from the nearby city of Manaus to participate in alternative therapy sessions, which have helped some 400 people in the last two decades.
Patients include young people who are autistic, those with cerebral palsy, Down syndrome and others who have lost limbs.
The physiotherapist Igor Simoes Andrade, 49, who says that his special form of animal therapy is “the first in the world”, is not a replacement for conventional treatments.
But, “it brings joy, happiness, contact with nature and a fortress that it does not have in hospital environments.”
The sessions are provided for free, with the support of the sponsors.
Hannah Fernandes, a neuropsychologist who works with children, said that unique therapy also has “social benefits”, since those with disabilities come into contact with people and situations outside their daily lives.
Before entering the water, Luiz Felipe and two young people who participate in the session, do breathing and yoga exercises to relax before coming into contact with the Dolphins.
Fernandes said that the first time Luis Felipe attended one of the sessions that “had not dared” to enter the water. Today it is full of self -confidence.
The Dolphins of the Pink River, known as Boto, approach the group out of curiosity, swimming between their legs and floating among them, eager for human attention.
The “Bototherapy” sessions have been approved by the Ibama Environmental Regulator.
Simoes said therapy helps his patients with “balance, strengthening the spine and psychomotor skills.”
“We do not deal with pathologies but human beings,” he said.
