Yaşam İçin Yarış 2019 – Fethiye races for life for the fifth year

Fethiye Times - LOVE-FETHIYE

Yaşam İçin Yarış (Race For Life) is now it’s fifth year and, over the coming weeks, we’ll be bringing you a series of articles to keep you up to date with what is happening.

Let’s start with an update on how we will be spending the money raised last year.

Yaşam İçin Yarış 2018

Last year’s event was the biggest so far and raised a tremendous 124,500 TL.

We have discussed the way forward for Yaşam İçin Yarış with the Oncologist at the Devlet (State) Hospital, Dr Uğur and the Fethiye Kaymakam (Governor).

Meeting with Dr Uğur at the Devlet (State) Hospital

For the last four years, the Devlet have benefitted by receiving equipment for the Oncology Department however, as a result of the discussions we have had with the relevant people, this year we will be spending some of last year’s ( and future money raised) money on helping cancer sufferers to receive potentially life saving treatment.

Cancer treatment in Turkey

In Turkey, the majority of cancer treatment is paid for by the government however not all treatment is carried out at the Devlet and patients have to travel to Antalya, Izmir or Denizli, sometimes for weeks at a time.

Turkey is a low income country and there are people who cannot afford to travel for their life saving treatment and, as a consequence, die. We will ensure as many of these patients as possible receive the treatment they need.

To date, the Oncology department at the Devlet have provided details of four patients who need help.

Out of respect and for confidentiality purposes we are unable to give full details of the patients however we are able to tell you what we are doing to help these people.

Bade is a two-year old girl who was born with spine and brain problems. On investigation, it was discovered that she was suffering with a form of cancer. The whole of Bade’s life so far has been a round of operations and chemotherapy, for which she has to travel to Izmir. Bade’s mother is unable to work as a result of the ongoing treatment and her father has to take regular time off work to make the journey, causing problems with his employer and putting his job at risk. This has put a huge financial strain on the family and will do for the foreseeable future. The help we can give Bade’s family is both life saving and life changing.

The three other patients are relatively new and we are speaking to Dr Uğur to find out more details and what help they need.

We will keep you regularly updated with details of the patients we are helping.

Yaşam İçin Yarış is about saving lives and what better way to do that than to provide practical support for people who are suffering and will surely die without that help.

What about equipment for the hospital?

We will continue to liaise with Dr Uğur with regards to the needs of the Oncology Department. They have asked for two more chairs for the chemotherapy unit which we have committed to buying. The Oncology Department will be relocating within the hospital over the summer and we will review their needs on completion of the move.

2019 – everything you need to know so far

The plans for the 2019 event are now underway. We have new members on our planning group bringing fresh eyes and new ideas into the mix.

The members of the planning group are: Co-Chairs – Lyn Ward & Şemsi Toprak/FETAV Director – Dilek Dinçer/Group Members – Esra Ünsay, Şennur Uslu, George Rimmer, Richard Oldham, Ümit Kasım, Arzu Nartur, Peter Dowsett, Janet Bell, Kader Bozbaş, Mine Akca, Çiğdem Akca, Uğur Çaçaron, Can Paçacıoğlu, Gülşen Yegen and Hayley Karagoz.

First meeting of the 2019 planning group. Left to right: Dilek Dinçer, Şennur Uslu, Esra Ünsay, Çiğdem Akca, Arzu Nartur, Richard Oldham, Janet Bell, Peter Dowsett, Şemsi Toprak, Lyn Ward, Mine Akca

Save the date

This year’s event will take place on Sunday 13th October 2019 at 10am.

There will only be a 5km race this year which will start and finish at the front of the Fethiye Culture Centre as usual.

The route will run along the harbour to Denizatı Restaurant and back.

The race is open to everyone. Adults young and old, children, wheelchair users and anyone else who wants to join in.

We have put the 20KM race on hold for this year due to logistical problems created by trying to run both on the same day. We will be speaking with the Sports Directorate to look at the possibility of a professional half-marathon for future years.

Grab a group and have some fun!

Run as a group – dress up, sign up sponsors, run and enjoy. Well it is a fun run!

Registration

Registration points will be set up in Fethiye, Calış, Hisarönü, Ovacık, Üzümlü and Dalyan and will be open for registrations by early September.

Last year we registered 354 people. This year we will have 500 registration packs and our aim is not to have a single one left. T-shirts and merchandise will also be available at registration points and fundraising events.

Fundraising

We have various fundraising activities planned so please watch out for details over the summer and please come along and support this great cause.

Some of the events are already on our planner so please add them to your calendars too so you don’t miss them.

Glamour Fundraiser – Thursday 26th September. Last year’s event was a huge success and raised 14,140 TL. We plan for it to be even bigger this year.