‘The value of life’ Experiment

 ‘You don’t know how strong you are until life puts you to the test.  Now, that times are hard, value what you have. Smile and enjoy the beauty of life’.

This the message that we wanted to convey to society in the name of all leukaemia patients.  For that reason we went into the street to conduct a little experiement and say our message loud and clear.

What is the ‘value of life’ experiement?

Barcelona, January 2012.  Three people of different ages want to give a message to society: that we are in crisis, yes, but instead of being negative, we have to give thanks for the things we do have, like our health.  Solidarity is the key and we should value life. 

Virginia, Yolanda, and Victor are 32, 24 and 57 respectively.  At first glance they don’t appear to have anything in common, but delving deeper it is apparent that they share the same story.  Almost 2 and half years ago, all three were suffering from a haematological malignancy: Virginia had leukaemia, Yolanda and Victor had lymphoma.  We set them a challenge: to go into the street and convey to society that although we are going through difficult times, they are alive and smiling and they give thanks for the beauty of life.  The people who came in contact with them didn’t know who they were, they just received a piece of paper that touched their hearts…

The motivation behind the ‘value of life’ experiment is simply to raise funds and awareness amongst the public, about the fight against leukaemia and other haematological malignancies.  Every year 5,000 people are diagnosed with leukaemia in Spain.

Although today the scientific and medical level our country is excellent, there are still 1 in 4 children and almost half of all adult patients that are not winning their battles.  At the José Carreras Foundation, we have persued the same objective for more than 24 years: that leukaemia will one day be 100% curable.

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* For your information, this experiement has double significance for our Foundation as the original idea came from one of the protagonists of the video, Yolanda Martínez Santiago.  Yolanda is 24 years old and from Madrid, and she suffered from Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.  When she ended her treatment she decided to convey her happiness to society and so she went into the street to say it loudly.  You can see the original concept for our experiment here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exfF-LTsVDE.  Obviously, Yolanda decided to share her idea with us and participate in the José Carreras Foundation’s video to raise awareness and funds.