With 14.8K followers on Instagram, many netizens might have heard about Rosalina Oktavia, an Indonesian model based in Singapore. She has inspired many people with her journey after losing a limb.

Losing a body part will never be easy for everyone, especially since it happened during an unexpected surgery. There are new obstacles that people need to work on, for example, confidence. “I did some part-time models or sometimes just did some fun photography with friends. Right after I got amputated, my ex-husband, who loves photography, encouraged me to continue my modeling career,” she told The S Media through an email. The encouragement is fruitful as she started to gain some confidence with her prosthetic leg. Later on, she got notified by a photographer based in Singapore to collaborate on some projects.

One of her most significant achievements was being an inclusive icon of the Asian Para Games in 2018. “Working with the Asian Game team was an honor for me. I still can't believe that they chose and trusted me to become the icon of Asian Game. It was a fun and new experience for me. I was able to meet people from various countries,” she explained. Inclusivity is still a major problem in Indonesia; only a few places or workplaces accept people with disabilities. People often label disabled people as someone weak or even useless even though, in fact, they have special competence or skills. 

“The obstacles that I face as a disabled model are because so many people don't know about disability since they think it is still "taboo” to discuss. They think disability is a weakness. Sometimes people look at my body as if I am a monster, and they don't believe that I can be a professional,” she explained. She also felt there was a lack of representation in the modeling industry in Indonesia. Thus, the modeling industry needs people that are not perfect according to the world’s eyes.

 Self-Love

Rosalina was never into sport before her amputation, but she did some training to love herself eventually. “It is very important to embrace and build your confidence, you know why? Because if confidence does not come from you, then where will it come from? Life is not to make people love you, but life is how you love yourself, how you deal with yourself,” she said. Embracing yourself or self-love is more important than you think. When you love yourself, you understand yourself and liberate yourself from a burden, and eventually, you can have your confidence.

Trying to keep everything positive is just her way to bounce back. “To be honest, till now, I can’t forgive (the doctor who did the wrong surgery), but I try to accept who I’m now, be more aware that I can’t take my leg back, and keep being positive,” Rosalina said. She also added that "everything happens for a reason and accepting what happened is the best way to move on," she claimed. 

But support from her own family was also a part of her journey. So whenever you feel down, just remember that there are people that might face a similar problem like yours. It does not mean that you could simply accept what happened for a reason in an instance. But if you persevere enough to love yourself, you could face the most challenging obstacle in life as you could have better motivation.

Though currently, she’s away from Indonesia, she hopes that she can have her foundation for people with disabilities along with her friends in the future. “Yes, but I know it is not going to be easy, especially if everything must be on me. When many people are getting more and more aware of other disabled people, we could help them by making a foundation for them,” she closed the interview.