The Walk For Life heads to the Camino de Santiago for a 120km trek

Carrera por la Vida, The Walk For Life, is a pillar of solidarity against breast cancer in the Canary Islands headed by the inspirational Brigitte Gypen, who founded the charity in Tenerife several years ago. Always looking for new initiatives, they are heading to Galicia in mainland Spain tomorrow to take on the legendary Camino de Santiago.

32 people residing in the south of Tenerife are taking part in the trek that they have called ‘The Path is the Goal’ for the first time, and aim to make it an annual event.

Half of the expedition is made up of patients affected by the disease - some of them undergoing chemotherapy - and women who have overcome Breast Cancer, in what is intended to be a message to make survival more visible, but also to raise awareness about its prevention, and demanding greater financial support for research into the disease that affects one in 12 women throughout their lives.

The group intend to complete the 120km route known as the French Way in a week from this Sunday, which connects Sarria, in the province of Lugo, with Santiago de Compostela, a route considered to be a bit more “gentle”, although it presents some degree of difficulty in the section from Arzúa to O Pedrouzo, with 21 kilometres of unevenness and dirt tracks.

A minibus will closely follow them from beginning to end of the journey to assist anyone, if necessary, with possible mishaps. There is also an audiovisual team that will record the experiences of the participants during the seven days and will collect their testimonies of struggle and overcoming the disease, which will be part of a documentary for Atlántico Televisión.

The slogan chosen for this initiative (The path is the goal) has been specially chosen by the organisers because it summarizes, they say, the mental predisposition recommended by experts to face any adversity in life, as in the case of an oncological disease.

“Getting to the beginning of the Camino de Santiago is already an achievement, regardless of what happens during the journey; "The fact of being at the starting point is already a merit after a diagnosis and oncological treatment," said Brigitte Gypen, who also learned about the disease years ago first hand and today is one of the great activists against it, as recognized by the Think Pink Europe.

“The fact of living together for a few days, sharing times and experiences, establishing links between people with cancer and also between their families and companions, is the true triumph of this path,” she added. The response from people who want to take part in this expedition has been so good that they are already planning another one and have a waiting list of people who want to go.

The high demand has led the foundation to consider the possibility of doing the Camino de Santiago annually or twice a year. “The group chat on WhatsApp these days is wonderful and fills us all with energy for the trek, as we need to complete 20kms a day to reach our target”.

Good luck everyone from us all here at the Canarian Weekly.