Campaign Story

 Dimitris Piperidis, the 27-year-old man from the village of Vasiloudi of Thessaloniki, suffered a severe car accident when he was just 22 years old. The doctors believed he wouldn’t make it, however, after three months of hospitalization in the ICU, where he remained completely unresponsive, he showed signs of improvement. This gave a ray of hope to his family; however, the uphill struggle had just begun. When Dimitris opened his eyes, he was diagnosed quadriplegic, showing signs of intellectual disability, while he was unable to communicate and was being fed by a gastrostomy tube. Although he has been hospitalized for four years in a rehabilitation facility, the young fighter still remains confined to a wheelchair, unable to speak or move. Dimitris must be immediately subjected to an intensive home-based treatment program, which includes physiotherapy and speech therapy sessions, so that he will be able to regain his speech and fine motor skills and be fed without the use of a tube. However, fate played its own tragic game. In 2013, his father lost both of his legs, due to a severe accident. Dimitris and his father need care around the clock, therefore his mother cannot work in order to provide for her family, nor afford her son’s treatments. 

The annual cost for Dimitris’ rehabilitation program, including the orthopedic devices that they have acquired and haven’t been paid for, amounts to 38,100 euros, a sum that is impossible to raise, without everyone’s support. 

Let us all stand by Dimitris, who keeps struggling on daily basis in order to get his life back! Any contribution, big or small, can make a great difference!