Alejandro Samper was received this morning on the occasion of his walk along the Camino de Santiago to raise funds for the treatment of diabetes, a disease that this athlete from Sagunt suffers from. The event took place in the public hall of the Sagunt City Council with the participation of the Mayor of Sagunt, Dario Moreno; and the Councilor for Physical Activity, Health and Sport, Javier Timon.
Under the slogan “From Sagunto to Santiago with diabetes in a backpack”, the athlete will cover 1,080 kilometres in 40 days, equipped with a backpack containing the necessary supplies to treat his diabetes. The aim of this solidarity challenge is to raise funds for DiabetesCERO, the only Spanish foundation that raises funds dedicated to research into a cure for type 1 diabetes.
Alejandro Samper will start the journey on the beach of Port de Sagunto next Saturday, August 31, in the evening and plans to arrive in Santiago on October 9, coinciding with the Valencian Community Day. In this way, the athlete from Sagun will cover a total of 19 stages of the Camino Francés.
Javier Timon defined the challenge as “difficult” and mentioned Alejandro Samper as “an example”. “When we talk about health and sport, we often do it from the perspective of the ideal or thinking about it. Situations like yours, with chronic diseases, have greater advantages, but the message you send is that everyone can do sport, everyone can do physical activity, and the obstacles that may exist at the beginning are the same.”
On the other hand, the advisor pointed out that “it seems that all research is about treatments, but patients suffering from this disease are looking for a treatment, which does not require delving into these treatments.”
The athlete from Sagunto spoke in the same vein: “The purpose of this message is not to show what a person with diabetes can do. It is to put myself at the service of diabetes to make it visible.” Likewise, he expressed: “What we want is to do more work in research and more money so that we can look for a definitive cure.”
What he means by this challenge is “to show the burden we carry every day by carrying 40 days of diabetes treatment in a backpack, which means living simply as if we were someone who did not suffer from this disease.” Finally, Alejandro Samper pointed out that “sport is very important to be able to treat diabetes and lower daily insulin levels.”
You can donate through the website. www.migranodearena.org.
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