“The journey of support” starts on Saturday at dawn. A journey lasting about a month that starts from Potenza and crosses Calabria, Sicily and Sardinia, by pedal-assisted bicycle.
“I have been affected by Hodgiking’s lymphoma in 1995, at 30 years old. Obviously my situation, which I overcame successfully and brilliantly, made me particularly aware of the issue. I have been involved in associations: for almost 10 years in the Court for the Rights of the Patient, for some years in the Italian Leukemia Association and I was the first treasurer, among the founding members, of the National Tumor Association of Potenza, which deals with home care of patients in critical phase. Given the Italian healthcare situation that lies ahead, and in particular in the south, it seems necessary to me, as far as possible, to keep high attention also and above all on the onco-haematological issue. I had planned one of the trips I have been taking in May for ten years now, lasting 15 days. Having turned 60 in January, I imagined taking the opportunity to send a strong message of hope to those who are now in the midst of the vortex of diagnosis and therapy, giving a tangible example which, I know from direct experience, is the most effective to give strength and make patients look towards a future that is not lost. In order to make them collaborate and promote healing with their commitment to optimism” says Gianfranco Gallo.
The journey starts from Potenza and touches Calabria: Cosenza, Sicily: Catania and Palermo and then Cagliari and Sassari. “I will hold meetings in different cities with associations and doctors in the sector – he continues – obviously it will be a trip interspersed with social commitment and personal holiday. It is in things that will be full of strong emotions that are difficult to contain and channel in the right direction. The topic is difficult and in particular that of pediatric onocohematology. I will meet various associations that take care of sick children.
And it is above all to them that this month-long adventure is dedicated. Until arriving in Corsica at its conclusion. The example is one of the best ways to communicate to those who have just received the diagnosis or are currently ill, that the disease can be overcome and that one can reach the age of sixty and still be able to undertake adventures of this type. In fact, there are around 1,500 kilometers during which you have to pedal, between mountains and plains, in the heat and in the rain”.
