November 15, 2023
Barretto, a former flamenco dancer, was wheelchair bound after she was diagnosed with Graves disease in 2019. However, she didn’t see this as a barrier to living her life, and created her own kind of physical therapy: she used hula hooping to get her back on her feet. Baretto now teaches hula hooping through an organization she started called “Hoop to Health.” AudioFiles reporter Amanda Kari McHugh went to Barretto’s studio to see how it’s done.