There are monents when sport meets humanity and culture. Moments that even when everything goes wrong give you the strength to continue. They restore faith in the human. Such is the case with the Karaiskakio Foundation.
Michalis Karaiskakis was a referee in Cyprus from 1990 to 2005. The elders remember him well, but not for the right reason. The screams, the protests, the voices are probably the reason some people know the name. And this is a mistake because he is a man who has made a significant contribution to our society and must be an example to follow.
Where you feel lost
1992 was a bad year for Michael. His son Andrew was diagnosed with myeloblastic leukemia and went into the toughest fight of his life. One of those battles you don’t want. Little Andrew fought without being alone.
Together we can
Unfortunately in Cyprus then there was not much that could be done. Little Andrew had to travel abroad. But too much money was needed. This is how a nationwide fundraising campaign was organized. The Cypriots came together and helped little Andreas.
In December 1993 little Andrew left for the neighborhood of the angels. Just 4 years old. Then his mother was 4 months pregnant. The Karaiskakis family carried their own large – unbearable cross. It is at these times that words are really poor enough to describe the pain of a family losing a 4-year-old baby.
But little Andrew managed to give so much to our society. It has essentially given life to many of our fellow humans.
The move that saved many lives
And this is because Michalis Karaiskakis and his wife Katerina turned their child’s loss into hope for so many others. 60.000 pounds were raised from the campaign. A huge amount for that time. They didn’t wasted the money. Without any obligation, Michalis and Katerina met with then Health Minister Manolis Christofides and suggested the creation of a support body for our fellow sufferers of leukemia.
So the money that had been collected for little Andrew was given for this purpose. With the help of Christos Andreou (President of the Platoon Offer Association), Evanthis Theodoridis (President of the United Kingdom of Leukemia), the Ministry of Health of Cyprus and of course the initiative of the Karaiskama family was established our well-known “Karaiskakio Foundation”, on August 28, 1996.
A charity foundation that functions as a bone marrow donor bank. It gives hope to our fellow human beings suffering from leukemia and other hematological diseases.
The vision as stated by Michalis Karaiskakis was to save at least one life. And the truth is that the “Karaiskakio Foundation” saved many lives. The death of young Andrea Karaiskakis gave hope and life to many others. And all we can say is “thank you” for the hope they gave us all.
