It is the message that passed through the faces of the Greek Olympic champions and the athletes of the men's and women's water polo teams of the Vouliagmeni Yacht Club, in order to raise awareness among all Greeks and to become bone marrow donors. Become Life Donors!
of Angeliki Vyzika
The Club motivated and players and coaches of NOB responded and participated in the campaign of the Olympians to become volunteer bone marrow donors by depositing samples in the bank, which the «Vision of ELPIDA» organized today (27/1), at the «M. Vardinoyannis» Elpida Children's Oncology Hospital,
The president and the vice-president of the Association Voula Kozoboli and Evie Moraitidou respectively and the Olympic champions Nikolas Kaklamanakis and Kostas Loudis were present in this effort of the Association, for the awareness of athletes and the public.
The scientific director of the «Vision of Hope» Volunteer Donor Bank, pediatrician Stelios Grafakos, stressed: «I would like to thank the Vouliagmeni Yacht Club and the Olympic medalists because this is not the first time they have been with us. Thanks to efforts and people like them, within 2 years we have registered 21000 donors, which is very important for Greece, we have given grafts in Greece and abroad and we expect that with such ambassadors as our athletes, we will be able to quickly increase the number so that Greeks who need bone marrow transplantation and do not find a donor in their family, can find a donor who will help them immediately.».
The president of the SEO, Voula Kozoboli, referred to the very simple procedure of becoming a donor: «We are particularly happy, as an Olympic Association, that we find a response to what we want to do and contribute and with the program we have developed «Fighting for hope we win life», we can motivate others, in addition to the fact that we ourselves have become bone marrow donors, to become volunteer donors and it was with great pleasure that we heard today from Mr. With great joy, we have heard from Mr. Grafakos that they have now reached 21,000, a number that must, of course, increase considerably, to at least 100,000, but at the rate we are going and with everyone's help we will be able to achieve this. Let me also encourage all people from 18 to 45 years of age to come and become a voluntary donor, it is very simple, they just take a little saliva and if you are then found to be a compatible donor and you can help a fellow human being, the procedure is done by blood donation alone. So I say to everyone, anyone who can and wants to come and volunteer to be a donor will save a life will help either a young child or an adult.
The vice president of the Greek Olympians and former player of Vouliagmeni Evi Moraitidou, stressed in her statements: «For me it is a very important day today. It was a team that I have served, they were my teammates both in the Vouliagmeni team and in the national team, that we have played together and I am glad that we have managed through the Olympians Association to motivate other athletes and other people to become a volunteer bone marrow donor. For me it is more important now to be a role model for giving back to society and not so much as an athlete. I now find it more important to be a role model for a contribution we make to society as a whole than as an athlete. And I'm glad that today's athletes are motivated by us to become donors in order to motivate others.».
The link that brought together SEO and NOB was the coach of the Vouliagmeni men's polo team, the Olympic champion Kostas Loudis, who presented all his athletes during his greeting, the partners and agents of the NOB and spoke about his own sampling experience in the first action of the Association of Greek Olympians two years ago, while the Olympic gold medalist in surfing and for many years athlete of Vouliagmeni Nikos Kaklamanakis, greeted the event and ended with the phrase: «Let us all become a drop of solidarity in the ocean of Hope».
Kostas Tsalkanis, player of the Vouliagmeni men's team, referred to the effort and support of the whole campaign: «It is a very important effort. We responded to the call of the Greek Olympians and the Elpida Vision. I believe that it is our responsibility we are also from a group the Vouliagmeni Yacht Club, which is known for its social work and I believe that it is the obligation of healthy people and especially athletes to respond and become donors and help if we need a fellow human being who is facing a serious illness.».
The goalkeeper of Vouliagmeni and the national team, Elena Kouvdou will consider herself lucky if she can help a fellow human being: «It is a very nice initiative from the Elpida club. We athletes can be an example for the rest of the world by giving some of our time, becoming bone marrow donors ourselves and hopefully we will be lucky enough to be able to help a fellow human being».
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