FLAUBERT AND US
«The heart is a wealth that is not sold and is not bought, it is donated»
This citation of Gustave Flaubert is the striking motto of the EHLTC Lignano 2018.
G. Flaubert (1821-1880), a famous french author (i.e. Madame Bovary), was born in Rouen (Normandy, France) in the past hospital Hôtel-Dieu where his father was surgeon. This very old hospital has been transfer in 1965 in modern buildings (Hôpital Charles-Nicolle, this one also born in Rouen and Nobel prize in medicine in 1928), a Museum dedicated to Flaubert being still located in the Hôtel-Dieu.
His statue is now in front of this new hospital.
In this hospital more than 400 heart transplants have been performed since 1986.
So the citation of Flaubert is very appropriate in this place !
One can ask where to find it in the monumental opus of Flaubert.
There is a « Centre Flaubert » in the University of Rouen whom task was to numerise the manuscripts of Flaubert. So It is very amazing to found the hand written citation in a letter of Flaubert to a friend in 1840, january the 19th, 127 years before
the first successfull human heart transplant of Professor Barnard.
That's the origin of the Lignano 2018's motto!!!
Thanks to our friends Jean Claude Fenyo, who made this study!!
In this edition of the Games, in Lignano 2018, we will have the good fortune to host a friend who celebrates 30 years of transplantation in this year.
We took the opportunity to ask him some questions, then we will know him better in Lignano.
His name is Gunter Berlesreiter and some of you will have already known him in some previous edition. We wanted to get a little bit into his world and understand how he is living this goal achieved. That's why we asked him some questions.
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1)The transplant waiting period could be wearing and distressing, especially if it is long. Which resources are been more useful for you to tolerate heart waiting?
My waiting period was only 6 weeks. It was a short but very difficult time. I always knew it would turn out well and I never have lost the faith.
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2) A lot of patients describe their heart transplant as a second possibility, do you agree with them? Do you believe that your are coping with your “new life” in a different way?
The heart transplant was the only way to have a second life (a good second life). Yes, I live by all means more conscious, sporty and enjoy life
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3) The “donation” topic is very delicate because who receives starts a new beginning, but in the other side there is the dramatic end of a life. Is it been difficult for you to match these two opposite aspects? Living with an other heart is been the spur to honour the donation or is it been difficult consider the hear as your part?
I am aware that a person has died, but not because of me! I was lucky enough to get an organ from this person. |
4) You are one of the longest transplanted in the World, so you are a lodestar for most of us…. Which are the ingredients of your successful goal?
I listen to my body, go to the controls and take my medication on a regular basis. I live a normal, healthy life. Love the sport, the music and everything that is beautiful.
5) The relationship with the donor is delicate and personal, because he becames a part of you and you are so grateful to him, but in the same time he is a stranger; how do you cope with this ambivalence? Did you try to know something about your donor? What do you think about this?
I've never tried to find out about the donor, and it's a good thing. I have a very good and happy life and I am grateful to him every day. For me, it is no longer a strange heart, it is MY heart and at the same time OUR heart.
T H A N K Y O U V E R Y M U C H !!!
If you want to cheer for him, come to Lignano,
Gunter will participate with the race number 519 !!
See you in Lignano!
News on tam beach:
It has been recently established that:
- the tam beach does not count in the 5 maximum games to which an athlete can participate (such as petanque, volleyball, relay and biathlon);
- tam beach can also participate in mixed teams (transplanted and supporters) as for the petanque. Only athletes can register for the tam beach directly from the registration form. For the supporters (being a recent decision) they will have to communicate their subscription to the tam beach to their team manager who will report all the registrations to the LOC, by mail. Given the times, this communication can arrive until April 15th.
Depending on the number of accessions, it will be decided how many participants the teams will be made of.
Preregistration deadline postponed
Given the great adhesion to the Games (we have exceeded 400 subscribers) and since many have asked us, in agreement with the EHLTF presidency, the LOC has decided to postpone the pre-registration maximum date to 31st March 2018!
We apologize to the team managers who find themselves with their period of verification and correction of data reduced, as the expiration dates later (those of the two payments) remain unchanged.
We thank the team managers for their work (and for their patience) and we ask them, in the meantime, to proceed with the pre-subscribers verification!
Thank you!
Lignano 2018 L.O.C.
The medical form is now available!
It is possible to download it from the "DOWNLOAD" section (from the "INFORMATION" menu, above)
