H.E. the President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou showed her support for the children of ‘ELPIDA’ on Monday 15 February 2021, for International Childhood Cancer Day. The President visited the ‘Marianna V. Vardinoyannis – ELPIDA’ Children’s Oncology Unit, sending a powerful message that childhood cancer can be — and must be — defeated.
Ms Sakellaropoulou was greeted by the President of the ‘ELPIDA Association of Friends of Children with cancer’, Mrs Marianna V. Vardinoyannis, and the joint Director of ‘Aghia Sofia’ and ‘P&A Kyriakou’ Children’s Hospitals, Mr Manolis Papasavvas.
“Your visit on this symbolic day and at the start of the fourth decade of our Association’s action is a supreme honour and a special moment in the history of ELPIDA, while also sending a deeply moving message of support to our young patients, and their parents who are struggling day and night to save their child and return it home safe and sound. This fourth decade, that is starting with you here, finds us optimistic and determined toto forge ahead our work on the front line of the battle against childhood cancer”, said Mrs Vardinoyannis, welcoming the President of the Hellenic Republic.
Mrs Vardinoyannis thanked Ms Sakellaropoulou for her sensitivity towards the children of ‘ELPIDA’ and her invaluable support, awarding her the highest honour of the Association, the ‘Wreath of ELPIDA (HOPE)’, along with a statuette of a mother holding her child tightly, and a golden ribbon symbolising the battle against childhood cancer.
“With your presence here and your invaluable support, which express your intense social awareness, you give us the strength and courage we need to continue our struggle. Your important national mission and praiseworthy work for our country touches our soul deeply, as you are, for us all, especially for myself and the younger generation of Greece, and mainly the young girls, a model Greek woman. Through your important action, the gifts of your personality, your dynamism, your morals, your humility and your humanity, you inspire us. On behalf of the entire ELPIDA family, I would like to express my greatest thanks from the bottom of my heart for your visit and your invaluable support. In your figure, that of the first citizen of Greece, allow me to thank all the Greeks all over the world who have become a chain of love for our children.
As a thank you and a small token of gratitude for your help and your valuable support, we would like to offer you the ‘Wreath of ELPIDA (HOPE)’, as well as the statuette of our Association, as a memento of this day and your continuous presence by our children’s side”, Mrs Vardinoyannis mentioned characteristically.
H.E. the President of the Hellenic Republic thanked Mrs Vardinoyannis and congratulated her for her contribution to the struggle against childhood cancer:
“As I set off today for the ‘Marianna V. Vardinoyannis-ELPIDA’ Children’s Oncology Hospital, I knew I was coming onto the battlefield. For the children and their parents, for the doctors and the nurses, this is a battle that is a cruel trial of human resilience. But it is also a battle that is being won.
Every victory here, against the invisible enemy, is a shining ray of light. It reminds us that the war against cancer can be won. That almost all forms of childhood cancer can be overcome through timely diagnosis and treatment. That there is hope. A hope that becomes certainty in the faces of the children that recover.
In this struggle, the ‘ELPIDA’ Association is leading the charge. It provides care for the children and their families. It provides pioneering tailored treatment, it organises its model Guesthouse and supports guests with the contribution of social workers and psychologists.
I would like to wholeheartedly congratulate Mrs Marianna Vardinoyannis and her associates for her giving so much of herself to the children and their parents. Their contribution, faith, and love, bring us a step closer to the miracle of healing every day”, stated Ms Sakellaropoulou.
The Director of the Hospital, Manolis Papasavvas, informed the President of the Hellenic Republic in detail on how the Oncology Unit operates and regarding the important support of the ‘ELPIDA’ Association: “Having now spent more than €50,000,000, donated by the ELPIDA Association, our Oncology Hospital now ranks among the top Oncology Centres of the world. Its state-of-the-art equipment, its machinery that is unique in both the public and private sectors, and its highly trained medical and nursing staff ensure the necessary conditions for the children to receive the same treatments as they would in large centres abroad”.
The President of the Hellenic Republic was taken on a tour of the ‘Marianna V. Vardinoyannis – ELPIDA’ Oncology Unit by Mrs Vardinoyannis and Mr Papasavvas. Specifically, she was shown the ‘Cell and Gene Therapy Centre’, which implements pioneering therapies in the battle against childhood cancer, as well as the School of the Oncology Unit.
At the same time, Ms Sakellaropoulou visited the offices of the ‘ORAMA ELPIDAS’ Association of the Bone Marrow Donor Transplant Bank, where she signed a symbolic statement of support, to raise awareness about donating bone marrow in Greek society.
There was an especially moving moment, when the President of the Hellenic Republic and Ms Vardinoyannis spoke with the mother of a young patient of the Children’s Oncology Unit, who told them about her great struggle at the side of 13-year-old Argyro. The President of the Hellenic Republic and Mrs Vardinoyannis expressed their prayers for little Argyro win this battle.
The President of the Hellenic Republic was also presented with a very moving gift made by the young pupils of the Oncology Unit school: a handmade card with an almond sprig, reading: “Even though it is winter, spring won’t be long when we have hope. We wish you strength in your work!”.
