Ferrara, 26 April 2024 – Luca Dancers He is 38 years old and has lived in for nine years Ferrara and next May 5th he will participate in the cycling race ‘Rando Imperator’ on the route from 315 kilometers which develops from Bolzano in the shadow of the Estense Castle. Up to this point it seems like a story like any other, except that the protagonist has been forced to live with it for some time Ehlers-Danlos syndromea rare genetic disease that involves genetic disorders of the connective tissue, characterized by joint hypermobility, hyperextension of the skin and fragility of the tissues.
Ballarini’s daily life is made up of subluxations, asthenia, chronic pain, gastric problems and fragile skin: since 2015, however, he began a process of strengthening his muscles and his state of health began to improve. “In 2019 I was able to get back on my bike and I rode my first 100 kilometersfrom the center of Ferrara to the sea, participating in the Bike Night – explains -. The passion for cycling flared up and over the years I achieved many personal goals including my first cycling trip bikepacking last year. I started having the first symptoms around the age of 12, but another fourteen years had to pass before I was diagnosed with the disease: currently in Italy we have around 1,500 patients.”
Ballarini moved to the city in 2015 and lives with his partner, born in Ferrara: on 5 May he will participate in the ‘Rando Imperator’ on the route from Bolzano to Ferrara, approximately ‘315k’ to be covered in a maximum of 21 hours. She will compete with him Gloria Pizzoan athlete who also suffers from Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome: “We will be the first two people with Eds to complete a challenge of this type – says Ballarini –. Beyond personal satisfaction, we want to draw attention to this condition life, encourage those affected by the pathology to practice physical activity, given that at the moment it’s the only medicine we have, and support two associations through a fundraiser that will end at the end of May. With Gloria the comparison is useful, we met online then she learned that I would be taking part in a Bike Night in Milan, and she wanted to come and say hello as she is from the area. From there a beautiful friendship was born, we often discuss the symptoms. Everyone has their own way of dealing with the disease.”
“We will give our best to complete our challenge and we hope to receive help and support in favor of the associations – he confides –. Through social media I try to provide information on the pathology and encourage others to do physical activity, I had been thinking about participating in the Rando Imperator for a few years and over the months I increased my bike mileage to understand how I responded: the weekend before Easter he did a test, 200 kilometers round trip to Mantua. Everything went well, and that’s when I realized that I could have the strength to run an even longer race.”
