It’s over for Tavi from de Wijk. The nine-year-old runner has been running over 100 kilometers for Stichting Assistentiehond-Gelderland since the end of July. Today he brought his journey to an end and the counter stopped at 111.1 kilometers.
“Super cool, he just fixed it,” proud father Ronald Dijkshoorn responds to Tavi’s performance. He is the source of inspiration for his son. “My father has experienced very bad things in the past, and that gave him PTSD,” Tavi previously told RTV Drenthe. An assistance dog can then be very helpful and that favors the young runner more people. It applies that he picks up with his trip is intended for people who need such an assistance dog, but do not get reimbursed for it.
Tavi did not have to complete the last part of his long sponsored run alone. The 9-year-old runner was joined by ambulance staff, the police, fire brigade, Defense and NS employees during his journey. And there was also a lot of support along the way. “They went by the school and there he was welcomed by classmates and teachers.”
At the finish there was a special arch and Tavi was welcomed by family, friends and other acquaintances. There, the amount that was collected by the boy was also announced: 5,806 euros. “And of course something can be added to that,” says Dijkshoorn.
The amount that Tavi collected was immediately well spent. The amount raised was supplemented by Stichting Assistentiehond-Gelderland to fund the training of a new assistance dog. A donation was also made so that the animal has enough food for two years.
After such a trip you would think that Tavi would be done with running for a while, but nothing could be further from the truth according to his father. “He probably wants to start running again next week, but we won’t do anything for a while. It is of course an attack on his body, so we’re going to let him relax.”
View the report we previously made with Tavi about his running journey below