Sailing tour in Palermo for leukemia patients with ‘Dreaming Ithaca’ project
The Ail boat docks at the Trapezoidal Pier in Palermo for a day dedicated to sport and the psychophysical well-being of patients with leukemia. The “Dreaming Ithaca” project tour, in collaboration with the Naval League, is part of the events calendar for the national day against leukemia, lymphomas, and myeloma celebrated on June 21st: around 11:30, the crew made up of patients, doctors, nurses, psychologists, and professional skippers took part in a sailing boat trip, away from medical facilities and in an environment of mutual reciprocity.
Before that, a talk was held with Giuseppe Navoni, vice president of Gil and director of Project Itaca, Mayor Roberto Lagalla, Ail President Pino Toro, President of the Circolo Canottieri Edoardo Traina, and President of the Naval League Nicola Vitello. All partners of the event born from an idea of a young patient passionate about sailing: in 2009 the project reached the sea and became one of the main initiatives related to the National Day against Leukemia, Lymphomas, and Myeloma.
A sailboat with professional skippers, patients in rehab, doctors, nurses, and psychologists, sails along an Italian coast, the Adriatic Sea, or the Tyrrhenian Sea, alternating years, stopping in cities where there is a hematology division in close collaboration with Ail, with the aim of spreading sailing therapy among the association’s territorial sections as a therapeutic method aimed at the psychological rehabilitation and improvement of the quality of life of onco-hematological patients. In each port of call, the involved Ail Sections organize a day, the Itaca Day, during which patients from different Hematology Centers, accompanied by doctors and nurses, have the opportunity to embark on a three-hour experience on board.
“The goal is to bring the patients back home,” explains Navoni. “Ithaca represents the home of Ulysses and the first thing that patients ask us doctors is ‘doctor, when can I go back home?’ But they need to go home in their physical integrity, thanks to new therapies, but also from a psychological point of view, both for them and for their families. These projects that rely on nature and create emotions for patients keep alive the will to live.” “A way to overcome fears and stress,” analyzes Pino Toro. “This is an integral part of patient rehabilitation, a segment on which Ail continues to work, in addition to prevention, of course.” And the Trapezoidal Pier is increasingly “a point of reference for the city,” says Lagalla. “To be able to host initiatives that rehabilitate and bring back to normal conditions of life those who have been or are carriers of leukemic diseases on important days like today is a sign of social attention that amplifies the significance of this place.”
A Palermo il tour del progetto «Sognando Itaca»: un viaggio in barca a vela per i malati di leucemia
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