Monday, May 30, 2011

I am in the Red Bull Team!

I do not like Formula1 races at all. And I hate to have them here, in Albert Park. Each year, one week before the race, I ride my bike to Albert Park, look sadly on metal fences separating the race course from the lake and from the lawns and I raise my hands in anger: take this noisy and stinking event from here to hell where it belongs!
There is a saying, that God listens to our cries and fulfils them, but in the best way, which is not always the way we might have expected.
Can you imagine my surprise when I got an invitation to race on the Albert Park Formula1 course in the Red Bull Team?
Well, the invitation did not come directly from heaven, it came in quite complicated way... I am very active blogger on Polish blogging site. Browsing through blogs, I noticed one maintained under nick AnnaBlack (in Polish). I looked inside and got into a quite personal diary of young Polish girl fighting Multiple Sclerosis (MS). It is dramatic fight and a dramatic account of it. Anna stumbles and falls, her heart jumps up on each sign of improvement and falls down on each bad symptom, and there are many. She loses faith in doctors, in some people, she find support from others. And she fights. God, she really fights!
She also desperately needs financial support as most of medications and treatments she needs, are not covered by Polish medical scheme. So she fights, for money needed for her life, and for recognition of needs of other people affected by this nasty disease.
Few days ago, visiting my local library, I noticed a leaflet - Get moving for people with MS. This led me directly to the MS Walk page. I opened the Melbourne page of the walk and there I got the call - join the Red Bull Team
And here is another coincidence: organizers asked participants to wear something red, actually as much red as possible. So what about my ski racing suit?


So here I am!
Actually, it seems I will not be able to ski much, definitely not in any races. I thought, I will never have an opportunity to wear my red racing suit. Here I was given another chance! Because skiers, even without skis, remain always skiers.
And guess what? I put a short note about this on facebook. I did not have to wait long - soon I got a donation from my friend from Singapore whom I met almost 40 years ago in Birmingham. Thanks to his support, I jumped into 3rd position in my team!
I admire administration of the MS Walk. The minute I registered, I received an internet page where I could add my own texts and photos. I placed there links to two YouTube videos of the person , who motivated me to all this.
As I said before, I advanced already to the third position in the team. So with some help I may soon get a POLE position matching so nicely my nationality and the title of this blog :)
Well, somebody might say - this is nice that you will collect some money for MS cause in Australia, but what about Anna, who is apparently in much worse situation?
Firstly, I am trying to establish some channels to be able to support her from here. Secondly, I believe, that if her fight in Poland could benefit some people in Australia, similarly my walk here can help MS sufferers in Poland. Because suffering is global thing. And good will is global too.