With amazing bravery he fought until the end of his life a rare form of cancer, NUT carcinoma, which he took care to keep out of the public eye – His funeral is tomorrow
Alexandros Nikolaidis apart from being a great athlete he was also a great person. With admirable bravery he fought – as he had learned to do as an athlete – until the end of his life with a rare form of cancer, NUT carcinoma, which he took care to keep out of the public eye.
His last message that was uploaded this morning on social media, which he wrote shortly before he breathed his last at the age of 43, causes emotion and a knot in the stomach. He shows his courage in the face of the disease which did not let him bend, his immense love for his family which was his main support in difficult times, his passion for sports, for what he himself would like to become from here and beyond for a better health system and finally the meaning of life that he seems to have found.
“If we come into this life for a purpose, I have decided what it will be. To offer hope through what I have achieved in my life, from the good to the bad. For this reason, my two silver Olympic medals, from Athens and Beijing, which I have been hiding well for years, it is time to come out and return to where they belong, to universal values. My last wish is for these two medals to be auctioned and the amount collected to be given to structures for children chosen by my family.”
Alexandros Nikolaidis had two silver medals in his possession, in Olympic Games, one in Athens and one in Beijing, while he had participated a total of three times in Olympic Games with a long career in sports.
He and his family knew from the beginning that the days of his life were numbered, but he never gave up. Mainly to continue providing his family as much as he could. “You have kept me alive longer than my very aggressive cancer gave me the gold medal of prolonging my life at a very critical time when my daughter Eleanna was only 3.5 years old and would not remember anything about me , while now at 5.5 years old she will remember me at least as a distant memory and she will be able to tell stories to her little brother George, so that they will keep me alive in their hearts forever” he wrote among other things in his last emotional message.
Read his last message
I’ll start with this cliché, that for you to be reading this post of mine right now, I’ve probably left for somewhere better or nowhere.
For two years, I also suffered with cancer. With such a rare type of cancer, nut carcinoma, that currently nine out of ten Greek doctors who read it, are hearing it for the first time and will rush to look it up. Fortunately, my own doctor, the wonderful Yannis Bukovinas who took me by the hand on the most difficult journey of my life, knew this rare guy and did everything to save me or give me a little more life. He moved heaven and earth, to bring medicines literally from the other side of the earth for me to try.
Two years I never said “Why me”? There is no more selfish thought than this. It happens to someone, to our neighbor, to our fellow man. And now it happens to many. If I put a sign of luck in my life, I will tell you even now, that I was a lucky man. I was blessed to make my dreams come true, to stand on the podium many times, to glorify my sport and my country, to meet people from all over the world, to learn respect, noble rivalry, values ​​that are so important and try to I also put them into practice in my life.
I was lucky enough to be loved by the most wonderful woman in the world, my gift from God, as her name is, and to have a beautiful family.
So even in this misfortune that found me, I said thank you, that if this was meant to come to my family, it did not find her or my children. I had to climb this mountain, I had to carry this burden. Not them.
On this difficult journey, I was lucky because I had the solidarity and care of so many people as my companion, that many times I wondered what I did to deserve all that they selflessly offered me. First my doctor, Mr. Bukovinas, the rector, Mr. Dimopoulos, who helped so much in the first phase of my illness but also later, in getting every treatment as quickly as possible. Mr. Iliadis my thoracic surgeon, an excellent scientist who hugged me like a father during my very difficult lung surgery, Mr. Peios, the neurosurgeon who relieved my horrible pain and many, many others, from nurses to paramedics, all my they showed their love and this love gave me strength.
And finally, I want to dwell on the man with an alpha capital, Alexis Tsipras, he came into my life very recently and gave me his friendship, his thought, his fraternal care, as if he had known me forever. He proved to me that everything he and the left stand for is a real life stance. He supported me morally and practically and he also did his best to give me the best care.
I want to tell everyone something.
You succeeded. You kept me alive longer than my very aggressive cancer deserved, you gave me the gold medal of prolonging my life at a very critical time when my daughter Eleanna was only 3.5 years old and wouldn’t remember anything about me, while now at 5.5 years old she will remember me at least as a distant memory and will be able to tell stories to her little brother George so that they will keep me alive in their hearts forever.
My friends, in this life where we are all transients, what matters most is what footprint we leave, not how or when we leave.
For this reason, if I am the first registered patient with nut carcinoma in our country, let me be the reason for informing doctors and patients about this type of cancer which, if diagnosed in time, may save lives. Let’s be the occasion to essentially strengthen our national health system that has been so underestimated in recent years, not to wait in queues for an X-ray, for a chemotherapy or an operation and to lose precious time, to stop the time-consuming labyrinth of bureaucracy and legal EOF bottlenecks when potentially life-saving experimental drugs need to be approved immediately.
If we come into this life for a purpose, I have decided what it will be. To offer hope through what I have achieved in my life, from the good to the bad. For this reason, my two silver Olympic medals, from Athens and Beijing, which I have been hiding well for years, it is time to come out and return to where they belong, to universal values. My last wish is for these two medals to be auctioned and the amount collected to be given to structures for children chosen by my family.
If even one child is saved, it will be worth every kick in the head, every broken leg.
This is the imprint I want to leave on society, this is the legacy I want to leave to my children.
Since the morning, people have been leaving a few flowers at the entrance of his gymnasium, which today remains closed, in order to show their love and admiration for the Greek Olympic champion, the pride of Naples for whom everyone has the best words for his ethos and personality, inside and outside sports countries, but also in the politics in which he has been active in recent years.
His funeral is tomorrow, Saturday
The funeral service of the Olympian will be held tomorrow Saturday, at the Holy Cathedral of the Forerunner of Neapolis at 16:00 pm, while one hour earlier, at 15:00 pm, his body will be exposed for greeting.
His burial will take place in the Filiros Cemeteries of Thessaloniki.
The family’s heartfelt request, in lieu of wreaths, that donations be made in his memory to the following noble institutions:
Floga – Association of Parents of Children with Neoplastic Disease
Alpha Bank – GR8001401120112002002011686
Eurobank – GR6602600630000460100128261
National Bank – GR2501101920000019248000010
Piraeus Bank – GR6301720150005015020641423
Agia Sophia Children’s Hospital:
Tel. Administration Secretariat: 2132013121 – Donation request by e-mail only, stating where the donation will be made (generally at the hospital or in a specific department): [email protected]
ARSIS- Social Organization for Youth Support
Thessaloniki: IBAN: GR57 0140 7090 7090 0200 2009 353 BIC: CRBAGRAAXXX
Athens: IBAN: GR06 0140 1420 1420 0200 2008 979 BIC: CRBAGRAAXXX
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I am Terrance Carlson, author at News Bulletin 247. I mostly cover technology news and I have been working in this field for a long time. I have a lot of experience and I am highly knowledgeable in this area. I am a very reliable source of information and I always make sure to provide accurate news to my readers.
