​​Thanks for taking the time to visit the TUI Customer Wellbeing funding page for World Cancer Day.

Cancer is a critical health and human issue.

10 million people die each year from cancer.

That’s more than HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined!!!

By 2030, experts project cancer deaths to rise to 13 million.

If we don’t act.

Today, we know more about cancer than ever before. Through investing in research and innovation, we have witnessed extraordinary breakthroughs in medicine, diagnostics, and scientific knowledge.

The more we know, the more progress we can make in reducing risk factors, increasing prevention and improving cancer diagnosis, prevention, treatment, and care. And that's why I have created this funding page! To contribute (even if just a little) to the research carried by the European Association for Cancer Research.

As a cancer survivor myself, I am deeply committed to take action as much as I can to spread awareness on this terrible disease that not only affects cancer patients, but also their families, friends and the world surrounding them. Only if the research progresses to find a final cure for this horrible sickness will we be able to close the care gap and finally tackle it.

I was saved by the research with an experimental therapy. And I will always be an advocate for medicine's progress in this field.

A bit about my story...

I was diagnosed with Intestinal Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (T-Cell Lymphoma) when I was only 10ys old in the year 2000.

At the time I was living in the south of Italy. It was summer. I was spending my time at the beach, playing with friends and just blissfully enjoying as only a kid can do in school-less summer days.

I started all of a sudden to be sick. Doctors believed it was just a common gastroenteritis and they were treating it as such. But there were no improvements. After 2 months I was finally taken to the surgery room for suspected peritonitis.

Only during the operation they realised that it wasn't really peritonitis and something else was affecting my intestine. Part of the lower intestine had to be removed and when they analysed it they discovered maligne cancerous cells.

Specialised treatments were suggested and we had to move to the North of Italy for me to do several cycles of chemotherapy and radiations.

The bad news was that the cells had spread to my lymphatic system which meant that chemotherapy might not have been enough and a transplant was also needed.

So I had to endure months of (sometimes very painful) treatments. It was very hard to live between hospitals and treatment facilities, studying on my own, no friends and no family except for mum, always wearing masks or integral suits in sterile contained rooms.

It felt scary and lonely. And on top of this, it was heartbreaking to see my parents and family suffer so much and sacrifice their lives to save mine far away from home.

After almost 1yr we were proposed an experimental therapy with stem cells transplant. It took a lot of courage from my parents to agree and I will always be grateful to them and to the brave doctors that carried the treatments.

My own sister donated stem cells for my transplant. It wasn't an easy process, but in the end, the therapy succeeded. And sooner than anyone expected, I was in remission. It followed a strict regime of controls and check-ups to make sure I stayed healthy.

I still check myself yearly because prevention is KEY to make sure nothing is creeping into our system, silently mutating our healthy cells.

After 2ys fighting, I defeated cancer thanks to the research. So I'm here asking you to contribute to a noble cause to allow the research to move faster and help patients around the world to fight the disease, to be given a chance as I was.

For Cancer Day 2022. Let's all act! Let's donate to the European Association for Cancer Research #CloseTheCareGap

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.