Walter van Praag, a 48 year old person born with Cystic
Fibrosis, will be hiking 800+ kilometers across Spain to raise awareness of
Cystic Fibrosis and promote Organ Donations.
Starting 14 September 2013 Walter and his team will strap on their
backpacks and start from St. Jean Pied de
Port in France, cross the Pyrenees into Spain and walk right across Spain
to Santiago de Compostella.
This pilgrimage is known as ‘The Way of St. James’, and was one of the most important Christian pilgrimages during medieval times.
Before the Christians adopted it as an official pilgrimage route the Romans
used this route for decades to trade across Europe, 100kms beyond Santiago, to
what they perceived to be the End of the World, Finisterre on the Atlantic Ocean.
In 1993 the route was listed as World Heritage by UNESCO. Walter chose
this route to show the world ‘The Way of CF’.
Each year one million travellers from all over the world hike
the ‘Way of St.James’, with 200,000
‘pilgrims’ expected to complete it in the month of September. Walter’s team will go in with backpacks and
distribute postcards to the hikers on the trail, most of whom will have some
relative or friend with Cystic Fibrosis. We hope these people will send our
postcards, with our www.coughing4cf.com
message and our main sponsor’s logo, to their respective countries. This will
be a fantastic way to spread the message about Cystic Fibrosis.
Hiking with Cystic Fibrosis will be a big challenge for
Walter, carrying all his drugs and medications and a handful of therapeutic
devices, not to mention catering for extra nutritional requirements that people
with CF need. Walter’s CF related diabetics also requires 3-4 insulin
injections per day and careful monitoring at all times. People with CF are very
susceptible to pneumonia, and keeping dry and warm will be of paramount
importance as is steering clear of people with colds and flus. His team will be there to help him.
As part of ‘The Way of CF’ Walter and the team will also raise
funds for Cystic Fibrosis Australia, the umbrella association that looks after
the state Associations, helping families with Cystic Fibrosis and funding
research to ensure CF will one day stand for Cure Found. We are aiming at
raising $10k by the end of November!