What Touched Us Deeply

Emerson is a cheerful and lively little boy. His laughter, however, conceals a gruelling story: the story of a fighter. When Emerson was a merely three years old, a cyst formed on his spine and started pressing on his spinal cord. The result: an incomplete spinal cord injury at the level of the 6th/7th cervical vertebrae. A catastrophic diagnosis for his parents Lee and Anna-Marina. “The day we learned that our child could no longer walk was certainly the worst day of our lives. It breaks your heart,” says Emerson’s mother AnnaMarina. After a period of anger, grief and fear, the family of five resolved to face the fate of their youngest member and created a certain degree of normality. Emerson duly learned how to play wheelchair tennis and basketball, started making friends, and even attending school.

Then, in 2020, his health suddenly deteriorated dramatically. Emerson developed a fever, experienced chills, and

In the blink of an eye, little Emerson’s survival was at stake. His family feared for his life.

his heart rate skyrocketed. “Our worst nightmare had come true. Despite utmost caution, our child had contracted Covid-19.” Emerson’s immune system is permanently compromised by his spinal cord injury (see page 30), meaning that the virus is lifethreatening for him. “We despaired and asked ourselves what else we might have to endure,” says Anna-Marina.

The family feared for the life of their little boy for days. Finally, his condition improved. Now that his life is out of danger, Emerson has been told he can recover at home in quarantine in South-East England, where his parents and siblings take care of him around the clock. “We are doing well again. We are eternally grateful that Emerson’s illness proved relatively mild.”

Emerson: a little man with tremendous fighting spirit.

South American Adventure

Lukas Sommer took a year off to realise a life-long dream. The Austrian cycled from Cartagena in Colombia to Ushuaia in Argentina, scaling the highest mountains on the way. He asked friends, acquaintances, and colleagues to donate money for every kilometre he covered, thus raising 6,515 Euros in total.

Scaling Mount Everest in Slippers

Ed Jackson devised a thoroughly unusual fundraiser to pass the time during lockdown. Over the course of just four days, he climbed 89,056 steps at home, thereby covering 8,848 metres in altitude. This is equivalent to the height of Mount Everest! What makes this achievement even more extraordinary is that Ed suffered an incomplete spinal cord injury after diving into a swimming pool in 2017. His very personal challenge raised 26,290 British Pounds.

Cycling for progress

Charles Brice was involved in a serious motorbike accident at 19 years of age and has been paralysed from the neck down ever since. Earlier this year, he launched his “Wheel to Walk” campaign. The Australian teamed up with others to cycle the 300 kilometres from the scene of the accident to the hospital on his hand bike. The gruelling challenge raised an incredible 100,000 Australian Dollars for spinal cord research.

Gipfeltreffen Deluxe

This year, our annual Austrian charity dinner “Gipfeltreffen” was a fairly small affair at Winterstellgut. Our guests enjoyed late-summer temperatures and a spectacular view of the surrounding mountains while happily outbidding each other at the auction. No less than 412,728 Euros were raised throughout the pleasant evening – a sum that Anita Gerhardter and Wolfgang Illek were visibly delighted with.

From Lake Constance to the Sea

This particular “Stand up for those who can’t” challenge was as tough as they come. Marc-Kevin, who hails from Germany, managed to travel along the Rhine all the way to the North Sea on his stand-up paddle board in 21 days. 1,111 kilometres later, he not only had sore muscles, but had also raised 3,233 Euros for the good cause. Marc-Kevin is already planning his next fundraising project.