PALERMO (ITALPRESS) – Ail Palermo Trapani turns 30 years old this year and celebrated them last night with volunteers, doctors, friends and supporters during an evening of joy and excitement, but also of reflection and commitment, in which three decades of the fight against blood cancers (leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma) were retraced with a tale of images and words.The occasion brought together yesterday’s and today’s physicians from the Oncohematology departments of the city of Palermo (Cervello, Policlinico, Civico and La Maddalena) and Castelvetrano, but also brought together again those who have supported the association’s activities, including women and men of show business such as Pamela Villoresi and Salvo Piparo. A moment of great intensity was the connection with Regis Simba, a Congolese who lives with his family in the United States, where he works as a computer engineer, but who left a piece of his heart and affections in Palermo. Regis, in fact, in the early 2000s, when he was 10 years old, was housed with his mother in the Ail La Coccinella House to undergo difficult leukemia treatments and a marrow transplant, which was perfectly successful. “You made me feel at home,” said Regis, thanking everyone last night, “Arriving in a foreign land and being welcomed in this way is priceless. In Palermo I was reborn.” The association’s 30 years in Palermo represents an important milestone. It all began in 1994, thanks to the extraordinary success of the Partita del cuore (Match of the Heart), thanks to the enthusiasm of the doctors at Cervello Hospital and a small group of volunteers. “The objectives were twofold: to help research and to support the sick,” says Pino Toro, president of Ail Palermo Trapani, but also of the national Ail. “On the research front, some very important things have been done: the construction of the Transplant Center at Cervello Hospital, the creation of a department equipped with the latest technology, an oncohematology laboratory that is among the best in Italy. In all this Ail has been present by purchasing equipment, supporting the work of researchers, but above all by financing contracts for biologists and doctors, helping to link Palermo to national and international research projects. On the front of assistance to the sick we have tried our best not to leave fragile people alone, people who need to be supported and the elderly.” “All of this has been done with the Ail houses for hosting out-of-home sick people, with home care, with psychological support, now also with the nutritionist and with physical activity care. In short, we have used our resources to improve the condition of the patient in diseases that require very long treatment, during which it is necessary to take care of the patient, and we have extended our services to all the Oncohematologies in the territory. We have done a team effort. Now we can say that ours is a mature volunteerism.” The strength of this association is all in the arms and legs of the volunteers, who today number 351, including 305 women and 46 men, who devote 14,609 hours a year to their commitment to patients. A number that continues to grow, thanks to periodic training courses. The services activated are numerous. Home care has enabled them to follow 264 patients since 1996, with a total of 6,353 cycles of care and 4,040 transfusions. The nine drop-in centers activated since 1994 have allowed contact with 2,872 patients and family members, while 999 patients have been housed in the Ail Houses La Coccinella and La Chiocciola, for a total of 15,366 nights. And again, the shuttle service in Palermo, active since 2011, has allowed 272 patients to travel 47,661 kilometers, while the transfer service from outside the province to treatment centers has allowed 375 patients to access the wards since 2016. The psycho-oncology service has assisted 2,021 patients and has been extended to all wards in the city. The funds raised are distributed as follows: 42 percent is invested in research, 29 percent in research, 21 percent in support for Oncohematology wards, and 7 percent in outreach activities.
– Photo: press office Ail Palermo –
(ITALPRESS).
