Andres has been living in the UK since the year 2004 and he had to endure Amparito’s illness (his mum) while being away from his homeland. Amparito struggled against leukaemia for six years. Even though she will not be here to see him riding his bike next year, he has decided to participate in a challenge to honor her name: he is planning on biking from London to Paris in a journey that will last for four days. The objective of this activity is to raise funds to support the research projects designed by the Leukaemia CARE foundation UK.
By: Yohanna Rozo
@yrozob
Andres is not a professional cyclist and of course he cannot be compared to Nairo Quintana, his compatriot who this year was the runner up of the Tour of France. Andres’ intention is not to become the fastest cyclist and leave the rest of the competitors behind. His only certainty is his desire to get to the finish line. This race, as Nairo Quintana did, includes the Eiffel Tower and the Arc do Triumph in Paris as part of the route.
It is not going to be the first time Andres participates in this challenge. In fact, he participated in the year 2011 riding his bike over the wavy land separating London from Paris. At that time, he wore a t-shirt with the image of his mum printed on it. He also had a picture of his mum stuck to the bicycle frame. The purpose was to ride his bike to raise money for the Leukaemia CARE Foundation UK.
However, this high-spirit project demanded an extreme personal effort from him. At that time, Andres weighed 113 kilos. Each stroke of the pedals brought pain in his legs, especially his knees. He was very tired on her second day of the journey. The first stop to drink water was located at the end of a 400-meter slope. He was in last place. “The only participant behind me was the car responsible for picking up the signals from the road”. There was also a woman, her name is Mary. She looked at me and waited. She let me overtake her and told me “go ahead. You can do it”. This was such a kind deed for me and I experienced many mixed of emotions at that moment”.
At the same time in Bucaramanga, the Colombian city where Andres was born, his mum “Amparito: suffered some downfalls in her struggle against leukaemia. Although not physically present, “her heart was there with her son”.
Amparito, Andres’ mum, struggled against leukaemia for 6 years. Andres, in response to that, decided to participate in a fund raising activity to honour her and get resources that shall be directed to conduct research on this disease.
Despite the weakening of her immune system, she gathered all her strength to meet all her friends and raise funds for the charity organizations working to improve life quality of patients with serious diseases.
For Andres, “Honouring people is very important”. However, getting people interested in these causes is difficult especially when they have not endured these types of situations “sometimes people just do not understand the importance of things. My family has had to endure the problem of kidnapping, diseases, cancer. For those people who have not had experienced the departure of a loved one or have not had one relative in a hospital, these actions can be seen as something external to them”.
Andres increased the frequency of his trips to Colombia during Amparito’s disease. As many other Colombians living abroad, he felt this powerless feeling and made his best to support his family.
During these visits to his mum, Andres had a first-hand encounter with the pain of many patients in the hospitals of his country. “I felt like crying when I saw an 8-year-old boy, completely bald, and skinny. Some of these children do not have any support or even worse: they lack hope. That does not make sense, neither here nor there”.
This is the source of his interest for raising funds to help the Foundation. When he is asked why he does not give the money to the institutions in Colombia directly, he explains that there are two reasons for this: firstly, the fundraising organization only allows the resources to be managed in the United Kingdom where the bicycle race begins. “The participant chooses the beneficiary institution for these funds at the moment of signing up for the race”.
The other reason is very clear for Andres and represents the most important aspect of his participation. We are referring to the research work that takes place in the United Kingdom or Colombia. If such research yields a positive result such as a cure or an effective treatment, medication or some method to improve living conditions of patients with leukaemia, this shall have an impact worldwide and the purpose of these funds is to support these programmes.
He also adds “It is possible to think that one person might not make any difference, but if thousands of people join together to support this cause, we are going to feel there is a great change. Organizations such as Leukaemia CARE UK require these resources to carry on with their activities”.
Besides riding on his bike from London to Paris, Andres has participated in shorter routes to support organizations such as “Action Medical Research”, that, for instance, have achieved important medical advancements like the first immunization against polio.
However, this challenge is getting harder in terms of physical effort. Nowadays, he cannot ride his bicycle because he is weighing 113 kilograms. This is the reason why he has been training hard. “I just do not want to repeat the painful episode I experienced in the year 2011. This time I want to enjoy this event in a different manner, that is, in good physical condition. I want to ride my bicycle and pass by the Eiffel Tower and the Triumph Arc to finally have the best sensation of this journey: crossing the finish line”.
Training includes, not only a very strict diet but also better performance at respiratory and strength levels. In the winter, Andres shall defy the cold temperatures of London (below 0oC) in order to improve his physical state.
Andres is looking forward to being in the best condition in the year 2014. His goals include the losing of 30 kilos while keeping the same motivation as always: Amparito, his mum, who would turn 69 years old on this December 17th if Chronic Leukaemia had not gotten across her path.
For any donation via justgiving or doitforcharity, please visit :
https://www.justgiving.com/andresridestoparis
http://www.doitforcharity.com/ANDRES
On the London – Paris Challenge:
The challenge is part of an event organized by the Skyline Company to raise funds and donations that are directly delivered to charity organizations. Regarding Andres, the money collected will be given to the Leukaemia CARE UK directly.
“Everybody can help with this amazing cause. Every cent you donate represents a present for this great technical – assistance site that works restlessly to offer better life conditions to those people suffering from this disease”, Andres says.
The race will begin on July 9th, 2014. The event consists of 4 days of physical and emotional effort. Andres is the youngest of three siblings, a man with deep roots in his homeland, the Colombian Regional Department of Santander. He would like to share this experience with others because he believes that “you never imagine that this disease can strike your loved ones, as it happened to my family. Nobody is immune to this disease. It feels so great to help the people who need us the most, being there for them and stand by them in their difficult times”.
He is sure that many families have had to experience this situation in their own flesh and blood. However, his case is slightly different because he had to endure the whole process by himself because he was far away from his homeland and his loved ones. In that situation, the feelings of impotency and desperation are high.
Nevertheless, in the year 2006, when Andres first learned about his mum’s disease, he tried to visit her on a more regular basis. He spent the happiest moments of his life by her side. She always asked him for a granddaughter, and this petition is a sweet reality now: Victoria is a toddler and is about to celebrate her first Christmas. She is another inspiration for this challenge.
“When I think about this race, besides having the clear concept that I want to help many people, I just feel this special motivation that pushes me far and beyond. I feel that there is something at the end of the day. It is a personal feeling that encourages me to participate and I share that with my family. My family is my motivation to stand up and carry on. I also think about this feeling of satisfaction that spring up when you do something for somebody. I shared these emotions with my mum and dad. Now, my dream is to call my dad up to tell him that we did it.
All the information about Andres Jimenez’s initiative is found at www.andresridestoparis.co.uk
Also for any donation via justgiving or doitforcharity, please visit :
https://www.justgiving.com/andresridestoparis
http://www.doitforcharity.com/ANDRES
Itinerary:
DAY 1: An early start from SE London allows us to avoid the morning traffic. Our route takes us SE away from the main routes towards Tonbridge and on through the Kent countryside to Dover where we catch the ferry to Calais.
DAY 2: After breakfast we head south through beautiful French countryside. Our route will take us along small quiet roads through villages and small towns. Night in Abbeville.
DAY 3: This morning after a couple of tough days in the saddle our legs may feel a little tired. Today we continue south through villages and along quiet French roads to the more forested region around Compiegne, where we spend the night.
DAY 4: Our final day’s cycling takes us SW initially through small villages and woodland before we meet the outskirts of Paris. We cycle though the Parisian streets around the Arc de Triumph to our finish beneath the lofty arches of the Eiffel Tower.
Maleta de Vieja 