My exceptional Charity Run for starving children!
In the four weeks before Christmas I am going to carry out my campaign “Felix runs for Mary’s Meals” to raise enough money for one year of school meals for 500 children in Turkana, Kenya. And I’m going to do this in my gait trainer “Lyra”!
You can support my charity run with a donation – no matter how big or small. Every cent counts. Donate here: marysmeals.org/Felix
A few things about me
I’m Felix and I’m 32 years old. In 2016 I had a diving accident in Malaysia, while I was doing my MBA at INSEAD in Singapore. Before my accident I lived, studied, and worked, amongst other places, in St. Andrews, Paris, Tokyo, Chicago, Helsinki and Munich. Because of my diving accident I am still confined to a wheelchair and do not have use of my limbs. To relearn, train and understand my bodily functions, I go to a therapy centre twice a week. There I train on a THERA-gait trainer Lyra. (You can check out here how it works.) In addition, two physiotherapists and a speech therapist visit me in my home every week.
I cannot remember how my accident happened. My mother has summarised it as follows: “Felix was in Malaysia with a group of 35 friends and fellow students on a diving excursion with some diving instructors, when he had an unexplainable diving accident. As it happened under water, in addition to the decompression sickness, he virtually drowned. His lungs were full of salt water. During the bends, small air bubbles are set loose inside the body, and they can settle everywhere, also in the brain, unless you are put immediately in a special chamber. So, he should have been put in a pressurised cabin immediately. However the only one in Malaysia was out of order and so under unimaginably dramatic circumstances he arrived 24 hours later in Singapore, where, after an investigatory computed tomography, he was placed immediately in a so-called hyperbaric chamber for 5 hours.”
When my parents finally arrived in Singapore 24 hours later, I had already had one operation, and they were told, that the affected areas of my brain had been so badly damaged, that I would never be the same again. Moreover, whether I would survive was very questionable.
After several weeks in intensive care in Singapore and Frankfurt and after 15 months of intensive rehab in Heidelberg I have now been living at home again with my parents in Frankfurt since the beginning of 2018. Since then, as I have already mentioned, I must train continuously, actually nearly every day. Particularly the training in the Lyra is really demanding. On some days it is even catastrophic and so painful, that I have to break it off. This doesn’t just depend on my daily condition, but also on other factors, for example on how well I have been prepared before I start. A special belt must be fixed around my waist and thighs. These preparatory steps take a bit of time, but in the long run they save time, because ideally, they then don’t need further adjustment when I begin to walk.
Next, I have my leg brace put on and the belt is attached to two hooks, which then pull me up slowly until I reach an upright position and my legs are stretched out. With the help of a motor, I then begin taking steps. To be more precise, the machine “walks with me”. I just have to ensure that I remain in a good upright position and I have to concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other. Even though I am being walked, I try to join in mentally.
It might sound trivial, but I manage to reach a speed of 2.7 km/h, which for me and the machine is already very fast.
About Mary’s Meals and why I care
I have been supporting the international children’s charity Mary’s Meals (www.marysmeals.org) for many years now. The charity feeds over 1.6 million children in 19 of the world’s poorest countries. It was founded by the Scot, Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, in 2002 and the motto is “Food + School = Hope”. In practice this means that the children receive a warm meal at school, and it is this that gives them the incentive to go to school. And we all know that it is easier to learn if you aren’t feeling starving! The concept is so simple, that it convinced me immediately. £15,90 (18,30 €) is enough to feed a child with a daily meal for a whole school year. What for many of us is a lunch in a hip café, is a basic essential for the future of these children.
Why am I running for Kenya? Many of the children there are starving and illiterate. Kenya is a remarkably diverse country: partly very modern and wealthy, partly backward, marked by drought, hunger, and the most bitter poverty. Turkana is a beautiful but extremely barren desert region, where Mary’s Meals already feeds thousands of hungry pre-school children under difficult conditions. The charity plans to extend the programme to also provide meals for primary school children.
I am looking for sponsors for my campaign, who will help me give the children in Turkana a real Christmas present. Although I am unable to quantify my “running” aim, I will really pull out all the stops! Please forward this link generously — the more sponsors, the more children can look forward to a year of learning without hunger. Even the smallest contribution will help. Together we can change the lives of these children for the better.
Please donate here: marysmeals.org/Felix
