International Childhood Cancer Day
This summer, 24 young people in remission from cancer will sail Lake Geneva to regain their optimism and confidence in life.
Lausanne, February 15, 2021 - The Léman hope project is growing. After taking 7 young people in remission from cancer sailing aboard a sailboat for 4 days and 4 nights in 2020, the Léman hope Foundation is delighted to announce that this year 24 children and teenagers will be able to benefit from this adventure designed to help them on the road to recovery and a return to a "normal life". The benefits of such an experience are clinically proven.
"Now I feel ready to do new things!" These words uttered last September by 13-year-old Aurélie at the end of the first Léman hope cruise sounded like an encouragement to continue this project and to do everything possible to enable even more young people in remission from cancer to be able to take part. After a successful first edition with 7 participants, the Léman hope Foundation is pleased to announce - on this International Childhood Cancer Day - that 24 young people affected by this terrible disease will sail for 4 days and 4 nights aboard sailing boats on Lake Geneva, in summer 2021.
For the 250 young people diagnosed with cancer in Switzerland every year, the return to a "normal life" is often difficult. The physical and psychological consequences of the disease, hospitalization and treatment can be felt for a long time afterwards.
With these Segeltörns, Léman Hope wants to help these children and teenagers look to the future with optimism and confidence. During these four days, they find themselves in an atmosphere of sharing where everyone understands each other, where everyone has faced the same challenge. This fun and enriching adventure represents an opportunity for them to assert themselves outside the family environment by learning to sail. It is also an opportunity for them to swim, play with new friends, and rediscover a certain carefree attitude.
Of course, all this comes at a cost. But the smiles on our faces when we return from the first Léman hope cruise, and the clinically proven benefits of such an experience, are priceless. The first edition of this magnificent adventure was entirely financed by the Fondation Léman hope. In order to offer this same boost of optimism and confidence to other young people in remission from cancer, and to make this project sustainable, Léman hope and the Fondation Léman hope are launching an appeal for donations. Our objective is clear: to take 250 children on a Léman hope cruise every summer.
With the support of CHUV and ARFEC
Léman hope is supported by the Centre hospitalier universitaire vaudois (CHUV) and the Association romande des familles d'enfants atteints d'un cancer (ARFEC). Doctors at the CHUV's pediatric oncology department were immediately won over by the project, and are convinced of the need for it and the benefits it will bring to these youngsters. For its part, ARFEC puts the Fondation Léman hope in touch with the families and provides logistical support for the project.
The first Léman hope cruise took place from September 18 to 21, 2020, with 7 children aged 13 aboard two sailboats. On each boat, they were accompanied by a professional skipper and an ARFEC instructor who had also been affected by cancer as a child. A pediatric oncologist from the CHUV was on duty ashore.
Created by the Fondation Léman hope, the Léman hope project was inspired by a similar experiment conducted since 2003 in Great Britain by the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust (EMCT), named after the famous yachtswoman behind the project. Léman hope was born of a meeting between Esteban Garcia from Lausanne, founder of the Léman hope Foundation, skipper Jérôme Clerc, director of Realteam Sailing, and Mark Turner, co-founder of EMCT. Offering the same opportunity to children in remission from cancer in Switzerland was an obvious choice for these three lovers of sailing and Lake Geneva.
Here's what they had to say
"This is the best experience of my entire life!" Leno, 13 years old
"I didn't recognize Aurelien when he came back! He had grown up, tanned, his hair had grown. He was interacting with the other kids, interacting apart from me, and I thought that was great." Isabelle, mother of 13-year-old Aurélien
"It helped me gain confidence in myself." Océane, 13 years old
"I don't recognize my son, these 4 days have transformed him! On Friday, I entrusted you with a closed and low-spirited Jayson. On Monday, it was an open and communicative Jayson who came home. His head was full of stars, the same ones we found when we looked at the photos from the cruise." Isabel, mother of 13-year-old Jayson
To visit our website: www.lemanhope.ch
Find out more on video : https://youtu.be/MWj2rBNXNd0
To download photos and a video : https://we.tl/t-NVy6dNvJB0
Media contact
Pascal Chavent, Cabinet Privé de Conseils, 022 552 46 30, chavent@cpc-pr.comcommunication@lemanhope.ch
www.lemanhope.ch
Léman hope Foundation CHE- 181.640.557, Avenue d'Ouchy 6, 1006, Lausanne