Spaniards travel in wheelchairs to Rome to raise awareness about rare diseases

Three Spaniards have traveled 800 kilometers in wheelchairs for 14 days from Vitoria, Basque Country (Spain) to Rome, to meet with Pope Francis.

The goal of this great adventure? Ask the Holy Father for help to get institutions to allocate more resources to research into rare diseases.

COPEpublished by the Spanish Episcopal Conference, tells the exciting story of José Ignacio Fernández, Rubén Zulueta and Antonio González, two of them suffering from muscular dystrophy.

Their experience led them to found the association CaMinuswhich aims to raise awareness about rare diseases, those that affect 7% of the world’s population (more than 70 million people).

These brave Spaniards already became the first to do the Camino de Santiago in a wheelchair and independently in 2019.

After this new feat, according to the aforementioned media, they had the opportunity to greet and tell their story to Pope Francis during the General Audience on June 19.

Through a video on social networks, they assure that they have been able to “convey the message” to Pope Francis, to whom they also delivered a letter and an original gift that made him smile.

These are two figures made of clay that represent Pope Francis with a mate next to a boy in a wheelchair.

“He liked the detail and asked to take a photo with us. Our mission has been accomplished, we couldn’t be happier,” they said excitedly.