Alejandra Forlán Corazo (born 1974) is a

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

an psychologist, lecturer, and activist.

Biography

The daughter of Pilar Corazo and

Pablo Forlán Pablo Justo Forlán Lamarque (born 14 July 1945) is a Uruguayan retired Football (soccer), footballer, the father of Diego Forlán, and son-in-law of Juan Carlos Corazzo. Career As a professional footballer Pablo Forlán played for Peñarol ( ...

, and sister of footballer

Diego Forlán Diego Forlán Corazo (born 19 May 1979) is a Uruguayan professional Manager (association football), football manager and former football player who played as a Striker (association football), striker. Regarded as one of the best forwards of his ...

, Alejandra studied psychology at the Catholic University of Uruguay. She earned a master's degree in consulting and human resources from the

University of the Balearic Islands The University of the Balearic Islands (, UIB; ) is a Balearic Islands, Balearic Spain, Spanish university, founded in 1978 and located in Palma de Mallorca, Palma on the island of Majorca. The university is funded by the autonomous Government o ...

, working with adolescents. She obtained her diploma as the first female

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

agent of Uruguay. On 14 September 1991, at age 17, Alejandra Forlán and her boyfriend Gonzalo were in an automobile accident on a rainy morning. The young man was killed instantly in the collision; neither of them had a seatbelt on. After the impact, Forlán realized that she could not move her body. Her injuries caused irreversible damage, and after months of rehabilitation she remained

paraplegic Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek () "half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neura ...

. On 24 March 2009 she created the Alejandra Forlán Foundation, a

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

based in Montevideo, whose main objective is to promote and equalize the rights of people with different abilities, work on the prevention of traffic accidents, and create support networks for people with limitations. It has organized publicity campaigns promoting non-alcoholic drinks, charity golf tournaments, and The Road Show, an event featuring testimonies of people whose lives were changed by accidents. From 2010 to 1 March 2015, Forlán was vice president of Uruguay's National Road Safety Unit (Unasev).

Awards

* 2011 –

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on 8 March, commemorating women's fight for equality and liberation along with the women's rights movement. International Women's Day gives focus to issues such as gender equality, reproductive righ ...

Award from the for her contribution and input to society * 2013 – Woman of the Year Award, for social volunteering

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Forlan, Alejandra 1974 births Uruguayan disability rights activists Living people People from Montevideo People with paraplegia Scientists with disabilities Uruguayan women psychologists Catholic University of Uruguay alumni University of the Balearic Islands alumni Uruguayan women activists Activists with disabilities Uruguayan people with disabilities Forlán family