The children who accompany the players on the pitch are little ones being treated in the haematological oncology department of the Regina Margherita in Turin. Leo: “I support Sinner… and Juventus”
– Turin
Matteo, Alice, Leonardo and their friends. We learned to know them and pay attention to them in this week of the ATP Finals. They are the children who enter the pitch holding the players’ hands. Matteo, who escorted Sinner onto the pitch in the match against Rune, became viral for his fist and the caress that the South Tyrolean player gave him before dismissing him. “Be sure to win, eh!” Matteo said to Sinner, good at completing the mission entrusted to him by the mascot. And then Alice, who asked Djokovic for a racket in his ear after the match (by the way, Nole, remember to give it to him!) or Leonardo who last year, entrusted to Tsitsipas, said “no” to Djokovic who was about to leave on the field with him.
Their stories are similar: the illness, the treatments, the desire to have a life like all the other classmates of their age. Nitto, sponsor of the ATP Finals, has chosen Ugi as Charity Partner (Italian Parents Union against children’s cancer), the non-profit organization founded in Turin more than 40 years ago to offer recreational and educational activities to hospitalized children and support for their parents during the treatment process. Thanks to this collaboration, some patients from the oncohematology department of Regina Margherita took to the court to accompany the great tennis champions. “For these kids, who are looked after in an excellent manner during the tournament, it is a wonderful experience – explains Domenico De Biaso of Ugi -. For too long they have been denied all the activities that are part of everyday life for their peers. For for too long they have asked themselves “but why not me?”. And this is a very heavy psychological suffering. This is why seeing them as protagonists, and seeing themselves as protagonists, is so important”.
LEONARDO, SINNER AND JUVE
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Leonardo is completing his treatment and his mother, Laura, Nitto thinks of everything, dresses them in uniforms and helps them until the moment they shake hands with the champion. Moments of glory and emotion that make them feel truly special. Simona is the mother of Leonardo, who is completing his recovery journey and accompanied Rune and Tsitsipas to the Finals: “What Ugi does with Nitto is beautiful – he explains – because the children feel at the center of the scene, protagonists, finally, after years in which the illness forced them to stay away from everyone: from school, to friends, to sporting activities. Leonardo can now sit at the desks with his classmates, play mini-basketball, but the stress as well as the pain which he and his companions in misfortune were forced to endure, it is difficult to explain. Thanks to this initiative and to all those that Ugi organizes for us parents and for the children, the journey has been a little more bearable”. Leonardo is a cheerful boy, he is 9 years old and supports Juventus: “I accompanied Rune and last year Tsitsipas, they were all kind, but I support Sinner!”. Next year, however, he doesn’t know if he will be in the group, he says with barely concealed pride: “Eh, I’m afraid I’ll be too tall… Now I’m already one meter forty!”. Grow up well Leo, you and your friends have already won.
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