The pair of Sainians are cheering for the summer, even though Kim’s walk is clumsy.
Radio host, entrepreneur Kim Sainio50, lost her wheelchair virginity at the beginning of June at Helsinki–Vantaa airport.
A man suffering from MS had decided to accept all the help he could get to save his legs on his holiday in Greece.
– It wasn’t that easy. I bounced up from the wheelchair several times with the thought that I am not up to this. The mental threshold for using a wheelchair was high.
– I am 188 centimeters tall. “Suddenly I was 130 meters tall, I looked up at everyone and I needed help,” Kim elaborated.
After arriving in Greece, however, Kim was already there with his new aid.
– I was damn happy that I decided to use it. And also about how helpful people were. We came to open the doors and were given space, says Kim.
– Somehow I grew up in front of asking for help, he sums up.
Kim has never asked for extra benefits due to her illness. Even now, he emphasizes that he is not really a victim.
Mari, who works as an entrepreneur in the fitness industry, has been pushing Kimi to take care of her health from the beginning. It has contributed to living with MS. Miia Sirén
Head off
Kim was diagnosed with MS in 2006, in the middle of the Big Brother season she directed.
One day his back got stuck at work. Then the feeling began to leave the legs.
– At the point when the sensation went from the body to the neck, the producer rushed to the hospital. All possible tests were taken there, even though I still thought that this was just some spinal problem, says Kim.
In the morning, the doctor announced the test results: MS.
– It felt as if someone had pulled a sword across the head. My first thought was that I was going to die, Kim describes.
Kim and Mari Sainio jumped right into the deep end at the beginning of their relationship. After everything, you can already say that the cliché about strengthening adversity is true. Miia Sirén
Scared both of them
After returning to work, Kim told the BB working group about his illness, but did not make it more public.
The diagnosis coincided with Kim and his current wife, Marin50, with the start of dating.
Mari, who was a presenter in the same Big Brother production, had already fallen in love with the charismatic main director and the feeling was mutual.
However, the timing was the worst possible: Kim was still married and the father of two small boys, terminally ill and in love with his colleague.
– My brain kept telling me that nothing would come of this. Such an attractive and sporty woman does not stay next to a disabled person, Kim remembers and is still moved when talking about it.
– I, on the other hand, was afraid that after getting sick, Kim would not want to break up her existing family, but would stay in it for the sake of her children. I was mentally so messed up that after the live BB broadcasts, I collapsed on my knees in the bunker and started crying, Mari recalls.
Kim Sainio was diagnosed with MS in 2006. Miia Sirén
Through the press
However, the duo did not let MS get in the way. The relationship progressed quickly and six months later they moved in together. At one point, Mari was already pregnant.
– But I was really insecure at first and therefore almost unbearable. We had terrible arguments, Kim recalls.
– In my work, I had appeared super-confident and authoritative for years, but as a person I was a stage, he continues.
Mari was not startled by the little thing. It wasn’t easy for him either, new, big things came pouring in.
Mari was suddenly part of a new family – which was still growing fast. After the first son together, the second one came soon.
– We went through such a squeeze that we both grew quite drastically, Mari sums up.
Public MS person
The disease has progressed so slowly that Kim was able to jog for a long time, for example. In front of others, he could put his increased clumsiness on an angry knee. Kim also used a motorcycle crash as an excuse for her limp.
However, some might have suspected that the limping man was in trouble.
– Then one morning I just realized that I couldn’t hide anymore. I announced to my host friend on the morning radio that today Kim Sainio will become a public person with MS.
– Somewhere in the middle of the broadcast, I told about my illness and the troubles it has caused, Kim, who hosts Radio Rock’s Korporaatio, recalls.
Both Mari and Kim are enjoying the summer breeze in their faces in the harrik’s saddle. Miia Sirén
Scooter with legs
It has now been three years since the illness was reported live.
His legs have gotten so bad that at work at the Helsingin Sanomatalo, Kim has to navigate the long corridors on a three-wheeled electric scooter. There is a tag attached to it “Kim Sainio’s feet, don’t touch”.
The scooter can be folded up and packed in the trunk of a car. While driving, Kim has, for example, taken over the sights of Stockholm.
Kim is having fun at work on an electric scooter. It is so well marked that no one takes it. Miia Sirén
Harrikka in the saddle
In the parking garage, a much bigger trick shines, a heady harrikka trike. Mari got it as a 50th birthday present for her husband.
Even though the bike is only on loan, the corner of the middle-aged die-hard fan’s eyes moistened when he saw the first picture of it.
– I had dreamed of getting back on a motorcycle someday, but a two-wheeler is a complete impossibility at this point.
– Now I can still feel the breeze on my face with the three-wheeled harrik. And hey, the wife in the back! I’m pretty proud as she sits there, Kim looks gently at Maria.
Undoubtedly, the duo, with their handsome passing game, attracts attention.
– When riding a regular pratka, I was afraid and always tilted in the wrong direction. Now I’ve realized the beauty of motorcycling, I’m sitting there with a smile on my face, Mari pats her dashing, enthusiastic husband.
Saini’s loan shark turns the eyes. Miia Sirén
Daily rhythm
The Sainioi’s everyday life revolves around the rhythm of Kimi’s morning radios and the dance and group exercise classes led by Mari, who works as an entrepreneur in the sports and wellness industry.
The boys are now 14, 15, 19 and 23 years old. The elders already live on their own.
Kim, who gets up at 4:45 a.m. on weekday mornings, usually takes naps after work and then goes to drive her youngest sons to practice.
The housework is largely left to Mari for the very reason that Kim is no longer able to clean.
– The boys have grown up with a helpful family member.
– They have become people who know how to relate to things perhaps differently than those who grew up with healthy parents. I think it’s also really valuable to see, says Kim.
Mind free
At home, Kim mostly gets nervous when her motor skills are clumsy and she drops her fork for the seventh time during the same meal.
– Or when the leg doesn’t work and hits its toe again. It’s starting to sting. And then foxing can already infect the environment. But I have tried to explain to the family that this is not an attack on you, Kim says.
He has a slowly progressing MS disease, for which we hardly know how to give predictions.
But even though the body stiffens and fatigue strikes more and more often, the head works as sharp as before.
– The body is in chains but the mind is free, Kim reminds.
He has also grown spiritually during his bout with MS:
– I think when I was healthy I was a smaller person, small and insecure. I didn’t think I was enough. But this whole circus that went through pushed those thoughts away.
– Of course, it’s easy in retrospect to say that adversity strengthens and blah blah, but yes, there is some point in that cliché, Kim reflects.
Mari says that she, too, has become spiritual over the years:
– Or spiritualized. I don’t really know what it is. But I believe things happen for a reason.
– I have gained enormous inner strength and happiness.
The couple has dreams too. Sometimes it would be nice to have a house designed together – and especially Mari hopes for more dogs there. There are currently three furrows.