You have a perfect life, a wonderful family, the man of dreams. You haven’t stopped giving thanks for it when, suddenly, one morning everything seems to fall apart. Your child begins to feel bad, he loses his balance, you look in the mirror and you ask yourself: «Why me? To us?”.
Rewinding the film of that year, 2016, is still getting hurt. Martina’s and Leo’s life goes haywire. Understanding, intervening, acting. «You feel confused, a series of exams, consultations, wards, white coats begins. The pain almost breaks choices that seemed impossible to scratch. And then, sought, built, the light: your son Matteo who is well again and starts to live again. You do it too, as a mother, as a woman. And the gift comes to all of this. Matilda ».
Martina Maccari and Leonardo Bonucci – defender of Juventus and the Italian national football team – married since 2011 and parents of Lorenzo, Matteo and Matilda, they have always wanted to keep this painful chapter of their life out of the spotlight. But today they feel the need to say thank you. Martina does it with “On the same road”, a charity project that is a journey. To meet so many stories, so many families. And being together for a while on the same path, in fact. Target: raise funds for the Pediatric Neurosurgery of the Regina Margherita Hospital in Turin.
Why a charity project linked to a path?
«My father’s participation in a charity initiative on a bicycle last year was an important food for thought for me. I understood that the journey would be the most inclusive solution to unite and involve people. By carrying out the initiative on foot I will not create limits, but I will allow anyone and in any condition to participate: whether they are mothers with children, sports people or not, as well as people of a certain age. We have thought a lot about how to build this project. With the desire to create an opportunity for sharing, we have developed the first charity initiative which in addition to being a donation is also an experience. Everyone will be able to donate and everyone will be able to share, in different ways, an important piece of their own path ».
How will the itinerary take place in practice from departure to arrival?
“I will leave theMay 1st from Lido di Volano and I will go up the Po cycle route until reaching Turin on May 26th. They will be 26 stages in all, with one average of 20km per day. The main ones are foreseen a Ferrara, Parma, Pavia and obviously Turin where we will organize shows and meetings dedicated to children and families.
How to concretely participate in this project as well as the trip?
“Anyone will be able to donate and will not have to wait until May 1st to do so. In fact, our journey has already begun and allows us to join “virtually”, following every update on the channels and on the Nèttare platform. For those who want and feel it, they can join the Nèttare group for a week, a single day of walking or they can come and greet us at the scheduled meeting points ».
Her husband Leonardo Bonucci on Instagram dedicated these words to her. «You are nectar for me, for us». How did you experience the difficulties associated with the disease?
«Nèttare is not a name chosen at random: it is nourishment, it is a source of energy, it is comfort.
I think it is a beautiful declaration of love from my husband, who wanted to link this important meaning to me and to us as a family. It is precisely the feeling of being a family that helped us to overcome every difficulty of that period. Of course everyone experienced it individually, we had to understand and process the disease in our own way and how we were capable of it at that time. The strength of the family and friends we had around us was fundamental ».
How did your children take this journey that will see you far away for a while?
“At home we talk about it every day. I’m used to it: I explain everything important so that it can be understood and lived in a normal way. Let’s talk about my absence and why, it is important that they understand the message I want to give: giving means giving a part of oneself, only in this way can our every gesture have an impact in everyday life. Giving has an impact on the giver only if it is done with sacrifice and depriving oneself of something. I want this donation to become part of me and help me to give back, in some way, what life has given me ».
First the pandemic, now the war. As a mother, are you worried about the future of the new generations?
“We are undoubtedly living in a complicated moment. I think about it every day and if from a certain point of view we had “got used to” the pandemic, now the war has taken away even that little light that we saw at the end of this long tunnel. Of course it is not the only war in the world, but this is so close that we are experiencing and feeling it in a particular way. Even my children feel that she is “different” from the others and are worried. Let’s say that the worry is there and if today I had to think about giving birth to a child, maybe I would wait a little bit “.
What will he put in his backpack for this journey?
“I’ll make a backpack as light as possible. I leave knowing that I have to face a long journey, a test that I have never done before. So I will try to put in the essentials so as not to make the path even more complicated. Surely there will be a battery charger for the phone, it will be my contact with my family and I will not be able to do without it. And a pair of sandals… they will be the salvation for my feet ».
Other stories of Vanity Fair that may interest you are:
The beauty of walking: the “interior” benefits of pilgrimages
Walk or Run: Do you know what’s best for you?
The 10 rules of fat burning walking
Source: Vanity Fair
Donald-43Westbrook, a distinguished contributor at worldstockmarket, is celebrated for his exceptional prowess in article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a gift for storytelling, Donald crafts engaging and informative content that resonates with readers across a spectrum of financial topics. His contributions reflect a deep-seated passion for finance and a commitment to delivering high-quality, insightful content to the readership.
