A heart-warming and inspiring training session
A heart-warming and inspiring training session
Jaime Lafita, diagnosed with ALS in 2016, meets and inspires the Athletic Club first team
Athletic Club’s first weekly training session had a very special preamble thanks to the visit of Jaime Lafita, who was accompanied by his son Diego and two other friends from the charity DalecandELA.
Jaime Lafita was just another Athleticzale (sportsman, musician, family man, etc) when in 2016 he was informed that he was suffering from one of the cruelest diseases in existence, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. ALS is an incurable neurodegenerative disease and its patients have a life expectancy of just four years.
Far from breaking down after the fatal diagnosis, Jaime founded the DalecandELA association. With the support of his family and friend, he has turned his convalescence into a tribute to life, display his humanity and wisdom through his attitude to his diagnosis.
Despite the advanced state of his illness, Jaime Lafita wanted to share his fighting spirit and his ability to overcome adversity with the players. These are values he has been brought up with at home since his childhood, in large part thanks to Athletic Club, the team he carries in his heart.
What’s more, Jaime is a relative of Athletic legend, the great Guillermo Gorostiza, aka the Red Bullet. Jaime is now leading by example and preaching the values he learnt at home and at The Cathedral.
The answer lies in research
Beyond his tribute to life, behind Jaime Lafita and DalecandELA there is a determination to support other affected people and help ALS research as much as possible. Classified as a rare disease, shedding light on this terrible condition is essential in order to raise funds for medical research.
Thus, what began as a simple sale of T-shirts with drawings done by Jaime himself -inspired by the Lieutenant Blueberry comics- has become a charity which has raised and donated more than €240,000 to entities dedicated to ALS research and supporting patients.
Among the most noteworthy initiatives they have carried out are the DalecandELA Music Festival concerts, recording and launching an album in the form of The Soundtrack (the ALS soundtrack), the BrussALS Challenge -900km cycling and two days on a sailboat to reach the European Parliament where they demanded more funds for research- as well as climbing Teide from sea level in order to raise awareness about ALS.