Athlete
“At first, I denied that I had the disease and did not want to face it, but I decided to go ahead with sport,” says the athlete
The Region combines sport and solidarity this weekend through a conference whose funds will go to the Association for the Care of People with Autism and other Pervasive Developmental Disorders (Astrade). The actor Dani Rovira and the athlete Ramón Arroyo are some of the familiar faces that will participate in the ‘Half Triathlon’ organized by the Fundación Ochotumbao. The race takes place tomorrow, Sunday. Today the colloquium talk ‘Surrender’ takes place at the Villa de Archena Theater, with Ramón Arroyo.
-You were diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, but it did not prevent you from continuing with the races. How are you?
-Fortunately, I have had a period of stability, which within having a degenerative disease is good news. I’m fine, and most importantly, happy.
–When in 2004 he was diagnosed with the disease, the world would come crashing down on him. But he decided to face the situation with his best weapon, sport.
-At that time I felt very afraid of the unknown and the uncertainty of the diagnosis, and more so 17 years ago, when not as much was known about the disease as now and there were not so many advances. The first outbreak hit me when I was 32 years old. I smoked and dropped the cigarette several times, then I grabbed a can and my hand started to shake, 48 hours later I had hemiparesis on the right side of the body. At first I was misdiagnosed as having a stroke. It was not until a few months later, in a relapse, that the news arrived. At first I denied the disease and did not want to face it.
“The treatments make us optimistic; many patients can have a normalized life»
-They told him that sclerosis would relegate him to immobility, but a few years later he was able to participate in a triathlon. How was that process?
When my first child was born, everything changed. I realized that only I was responsible for how to live my life, how to deal with my illness. That was the turning point. After overcoming those years of initial depression, I decided to go forward with the sport, what I did not expect was to be able to compete in events as demanding as a marathon.
–The film ‘100 meters’ went around the world reflecting all that history…
-Exactly. The appointment was inspired by our life history, which luckily has not only served as an inspiration for people affected by multiple sclerosis, but also by other pathologies or simply, which is not a small thing, people with any difficulty or vital problem.
– Has enough progress been made?
-Obviously not, but we must be very optimistic, since currently the knowledge and available treatments make us so. Many people with multiple sclerosis can lead a normal life. However, until multiple sclerosis is not curable, further research will be needed.
– Do you think that conferences like the ones held this weekend in the municipality of Archena are necessary?
-Of course, these events have an informative task of different pathologies or conditions that are unknown to a large part of society. And what is unknown, is ignored or feared. Both of these things are not at all good for normalizing something that should be.
#Ramón #Arroyo #sclerosis #curable #research #continue