Intervju s Amy Slivarić i Lucijom Ilijanić

Amy Slivarić, Kanađanka s londonskom adresom i hrvatskim korijenima prošlu je nedjelju s osmijehom na licu završila zagrebački proljetni polumaraton. Svoju je 21-kilometarsku dionicu trčala s posebnom svrhom –  za tatu i sestričnu, oboje osobe s dijabetesom, te u konačnici, za svu djecu i mlade.

Kako je došla do ideje trčanja s humanitarnim ciljem i kako se Zagrebačko dijabetičko društvo (ZDD) našlo u Amynoj priči, donosimo u nastavku.

ZDD: Draga Amy, čestitamo na uspješno odrađenom polumaratonu i osobnom ostvarenju cilja! Iz tvog impresivnog života izdvojit ćemo da si rođena u Kanadi, čvrstih hrvatskih korijena i trenutno živiš u Londonu. Odlučila si se trčati polumaraton u Hrvatskoj i to s posebnom svrhom. Zašto je tomu tako i možeš li nam ukratko opisati platformu putem koje si prikupljala novac?

AMY: Oduvijek sam željela trčati polumaraton u drugim zemljama, a budući da Hrvatska zauzima posebno mjesto u mom srcu, zamislila sam ju kao idealnom destinacijom za trčanje. Ujedno, ovo je bila savršena prilika za prikupljanje novčanih sredstava za mlade osobe s dijabetesom kao što je Lucija, koje mogu koristiti podršku i smjernice kroz organizaciju kao što je Zagrebačko dijabetičko društvo (ZDD).

Bila sam ugodno iznenađena kada sam se iz Kanade preselila u Ujedinjeno Kraljevstvo o tome kako UK podiže svijest o postojanju organizacija i prikuplja donacije za iste. Dosjetila sam se kako bih isto mogla napraviti za Hrvatsku. Crowdfunding platforma koju sam koristila, zove se  justgiving.com. Ona služi kao odličan alat za prenošenje vlastite priče i ujedno jednostavna za korištenje za osobe koje žele dati svoju donaciju.

ZDD: Tvoja priča seže još u prošlost, kada je ocu dijagnosticiran dijabetes tipa 2. Kako je obitelj prihvatila novonastalo stanje?

AMY: Tata je saznao za dijagnozu, dijabetes tip 2, u svojim ranim četrdesetima. Tada nije bilo toliko tehnologije koliko je ima danas, kao ni online edukacije i potpore. Obitelj je prihvatila njegovu dijagnozu i za mene je bilo normalno i bezbrižno odrastati uz njega kao osobu s dijabetesom tipa 2.

Tek do trenutka kada mu je nedavno, za vrijeme blagdana, šećer toliko pao, da je skoro umro, pomislila sam, ovo je prava, opasna bolest i moramo se pobrinuti za njega.

ZDD: Prošle je godine tvoja sestrična, teenagerica Lucija također oboljela od dijabetesa tipa 1. Možeš li nam ukratko opisati vaš odnos? Je li saznanje o njezinom stanju, ujedno bila prekretnica koja te navela na polumaraton?

AMY: Lucija je jedna od najljubaznijih, najpromišljenijih i najjačih duša koje znam. Blagoslovljena sam što je dio moje obitelji. Kada smo saznali za njezinu dijagnozu, dijabetes tip 1, ostali smo šokirani. Da stvar bude još gora, svi smo na ovu situaciju gledali kao na tragediju, užasnu životnu prijetnju, dok zapravo, nitko od nas nije bio educiran o onome što se uistinu događa i da će Lucija samo morati promijeniti dosadašnji stil života. Njezin pozitivan duh i stav bili su ti koji su napravili sve drukčijim. Inspirirala me i potaknula da ponovo obučem tenisice i krenem trčati, s ciljem. Sjećam se, bilo je dana kada bi padala kiša, a ja bih vukla svoje noge vičući: “Ne želim ići trčati!”, no tada bi moj dečko, Thomas rekao: “Prisjeti se radi koga ovo radiš!”, a ja bih u tom trenutku uzela svoju šiltericu i krenula.

Kad trčim na duge staze, uvijek se pobrinem da tu utrku posvetim nekome na način da napišem njihovo ime na svoju ruku.

ZDD: Uspješno si završila zagrebački polumaraton. Često kažu da je ovo utrka uma, a ne nogu. Je li uistinu bilo tako? O čem si razmišljala prilikom trčanja i jesi li i u ijednom trenutku pomislila na odustajanje?

AMY: Kada trčite sporo, kao ja, onda je definitivno sve u glavi. Pored razmišljanja o svim divnim delicijama koje ću pojesti nakon završetka utrke, razmišljala sam o tome kako ostati pozitivna. Kad god idem trčati na duge staze, uvijek se pobrinem da tu utrku posvetim nekome na način da napišem njihovo ime na svoju ruku. Tako, ako mi i dođe da odustanem, pogledam ruku i prisjetim se motiva koji me je potaknuo, odnosno zbog kojeg sam uopće i krenula trčati. Nisam profesionalni, već rekreativni trkač i da ste me vidjeli u nedjelju kako trčim, primijetili biste da nisam daleko od cilja. U tim sam trenucima samo razmišljala – “Ovdje sam, moji voljeni su ovdje i navijaju za mene, prikupila sam toliko novaca i sretna sam što mogu razveseliti ljude i zabaviti se – ništa drugo u ovom trenutku nije važnije.

Amyna je utrka bila humanitarnog karaktera. Sakupljeni novac putem platforme JustGiving odlučila je donirati Zagrebačkom dijabetičkom društvu i aktivnostima namijenjenim za djecu i mlade. 

ZDD: Pozamašan iznos od £ 1.275 koji si prikupila putem JustGiving platforme, odlučila si donirati ZDD-u i aktivnostima za djecu i mlade. Imaš li poruku za sve mlade koji čitaju ove retke?

AMY: Dirnula me ljubaznost žena u ovoj organizaciji. Sjetite se, bila sam im potpuni neznanac i ti su ljudi uzeli vremena, bodrili me, pretrčali sa mnom jedan dio utrke i poslali mi ohrabrujuće poruke. To je upravo zajednica ljudi koju bismo trebali upoznati i postati prijatelji, biti dio podrške. Nikada neću zaboraviti ove divne žene i muškarce i mnoge od vas koji su ostavili komentare na ZDD stranici. Nadam se da ćemo Lucija i ja moći nadahnuti druge da učine isto, da skupe novac za tako fantastičan cilj. Obećavam vam da ću, ako ste spremni hodati, trčati ili učiniti nešto što privlači pažnju na ovu divnu organizaciju, osobno donirati vašoj stranici na platformi.  Samo se sjetite, mogu li ja to učiniti, može bilo tko. Kao što sam s početka priče rekla, za svu djecu koja to trebaju dva puta promisliti u vezi s jelom kolača, ovo radimo za vas!

Draga Amy od srca zahvaljujemo na velikoj gesti koju si napravila za ZDD – djecu i mlade! Zahvaljujemo svim donatorima koji su prepoznali tvoj čin i odlučili biti djelom zajednice dobročinitelja!  

Ponosna sestrična Lucija

ZDD: Dijagnozu dijabetesa tip 1 si dobila u 11. mjesecu prošle godine. Koje si sve simptome imala?

LUCIJA: Dijabetes su mi otkrili 12.11.2019. godine. Mjesec dana prije toga sam primijetila da sam žednija i da mokrim više nego inače, znala sam povraćati par puta na dan, koliko god da sam jela jako sam brzo mršavila, znalo mi se povremeno mutiti u očima, uvijek sam bila užasno umorna i nisam imala snage puno hodati, a kamo li se penjati po stepenicama, od kuće do škole ili obrnuto sam znala doći jako zadihana.

ZDD: Ove godine si upisala gimnaziju! Čestitamo! Ulaziš u novu sredinu. Smatraš li dijabetes dodatnim izazovom ili već imaš uhodan ritam svakodnevnog života?

LUCIJA: Smatram da mi dijabetes općenito, a tako i sad ne bi trebao stvarati preveliku prepreku jer sam uhodana u svakodnevni život i gledam dijabetes kao nekakvu obavezu o kojoj trebam voditi računa, ali ne i da mi je glavna stvar na pameti.

ZDD: Amy, tvoja sestrična je nedavno trčala polumaraton za tatu, tebe i svu djecu i mlade s dijabetesom. Kako si se osjećala kada si čula njezinu misiju?

LUCIJA: Kada mi je Amy javila svoju ideju bila sam pozitivno iznenađena i ponosna na nju. Ona je svojom idejom i duhom pokazala koliko joj je stalo do nas i ove bolesti s kojom se mi suočavamo svaki dan. Malo ljudi bi za takvo nešto trčalo skoro 3 sata bez prestanka. Njezin maraton me potaknuo da ni ja u životu koliko god da je teško ne stajem i da podupirem i navijam za sve druge koji prolaze kroz sličnu ili istu stvar kao ja. Svi mi imamo svoj maraton za otrčati i baš ništa (čak ni ova bolest) nas ne može spriječiti u tome da dođemo do svojeg cilja.

For Tata and Lucija – running with a special cause

Interview with Amy Slivarić and Lucija Ilijanić

Amy Slivarić, a Canadian with a London address and Croatian roots, finished the Zagreb spring half marathon last Sunday with a smile on her face. She ran her 21-kilometre section with a special purpose – for dad and cousin, both people with diabetes, and ultimately, for all children and young people.

How she came up with the idea of running with a humanitarian goal and how the Zagreb Diabetes Society (ZDD) found itself in Amy’s story, read in the interview we made with her.

ZDD: Dear Amy, congratulations on a successful half marathon and personal achievement of the goal! From your remarkable life, we will point out that you were born in Canada, with strong Croatian roots and currently living in London. You decided to run a half marathon in Croatia with a particular purpose. Why is this so and can you briefly describe to us the platform through which you raised money?

AMY: I have always wanted to do a run in a different country, and since Croatia is so dear to my heart I thought this would be the perfect place. I saw this is as an opportunity to raise money for young people much like Lucija who can use the support and guidance from a charity much like ZDD.

I was pleasantly surprised when I moved from Canada to the UK on how much the United Kingdom raises awareness for their charities and collects donations I thought I could do the same in Croatia. The platform I used was a crowdfunding page called justgiving.com. Its the perfect way to get your story out but also great for people who are willing to donate as it’s an easy platform to use.

ZDD: Your story goes back to the past when your father was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. How did the family accept the new condition?

AMY: Because tata was in his early 40’s when he received the news that he had diabetes type 2,  I think it was more him accepting his new condition. Back then we didn’t have the technology that we have today, nor the education and support that you can find on the web so easily. I believe the family accepted his new condition and for me it was just normal growing up with it. It wasn’t until he had his sugar drop on our holiday recently and he almost died that I thought, this is a real, dangerous disease and we need to take care of him.  

ZDD: Last year, your cousin, teenager Lucia, was also diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Can you briefly describe your relationship? Was the knowledge of her condition also a turning point that led you to do the half marathon?

AMY: Lucija is one the kindest, thoughtful and strongest souls I know, I am blessed to have someone like that in my family. When the family found out she was diagnosed we were all shocked. To make it worse we all treated the situation as if it was a tragedy, a horrible life threatening thing when actually none of us were educated around what was actually happening and that in fact it will just need to be a life style change. It was her positive spirit and go getting attitude that made all of difference. She inspired me to pick up my trainers once again and run for a cause. I remember there were days where it was raining and I would be dragging my feet yelling ‘I don’t want to go’ and my boyfriend Thomas would say, ‘remember who you’re doing this for’ and I would just pick up my hat and go.  

ZDD: You have successfully completed the Zagreb Half Marathon. It is often said that this is a race of the mind, not the foot. Was it really so? What were you thinking about while running and have you ever thought about giving up?

AMY: When you run slowly like me it is definitely all in mind. Aside from thinking about all the wonderful things I would eat when I finished (and about having a cold shower) I thought about staying positive. Whenever I go on a long run I  always ensure I  dedicate it to someone by writing down their name on my hand, that way  if I feel like giving up I look down at it and remember what brought me there in the first place. I am not a racer, I am a leisure runner so if you were there last Sunday you would see I wasn’t far from the end but I just kept thinking, I am here, my loved ones are cheering me on, I have raised so much money and I am happy that I could cheer people on and have fun – nothing else matters right now.

Amy’s race had a humanitarian note. She decided to donate the money raised through the JustGiving platform to the Zagreb Diabetes Society and activities for children and youth.

ZDD: The £ 1,275 you raised through the JustGiving platform, you decided to donate to ZDD and activities for children and young people. Do you have a message for all the young people reading these lines? 

AMY: I was touched by the kindness of the women at this charity. Remember I am a complete stranger and these people took the time to cheer me on, to run part of the way with me and send me encouraging messages afterwards. This is exactly the community of people we should get to know and become friends with, a support system. I will never forget these wonderful women and men and the many of you that left comments on the ZDD page. I hope Lucija and I can inspire others to do the same, to raise money for such a fantastic cause. I promise you that if you are willing to walk or run or indeed do anything that brings attention to this wonderful organisation, I will personally donate to your page. Just remember if I can do it, anyone can. So like I said from the beginning, for all the kids that need to this twice about eating cake, we are doing this for you!

Dear Amy, we truly thank you for the great gesture you made for ZDD – children and young people! We thank all the donors who recognized your act and decided to be part of the community of benefactors!

Proud cousin Lucija

ZDD: You were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in November last year. What symptoms did you have?

LUCIJA: I was diagnosed with diabetes on November 12, 2019. years. A month before that I noticed that I was more thirsty and urinating more than usual, I used to vomit a couple of times a day, no matter how much I ate I lost weight very quickly, my eyes occasionally blurred, I was always terribly tired, and I didn’t have the strength to walk a lot, nor to climb the stairs, from home to school or vice versa, I used to come very short of breath.

ZDD: You enrolled in high school this year! Congratulations! You are entering a new environment. Do you consider diabetes an additional challenge, or do you already have a well-established rhythm of everyday life?

LUCIJA: I think that diabetes, in general, should not create too much of an obstacle. I am well-versed in everyday life, and I see diabetes as a kind of obligation that I need to take care of, but not that the main thing on my mind.

ZDD: Amy, your cousin recently ran a half marathon for her Dad, you and all the kids and teens with diabetes. How did you feel when you heard about her mission?

LUCIJA: When Amy told me about her idea, I was positively surprised and proud of it. She showed with her idea and spirit how much she cares about us and this disease that we face every day. Few people would run for something like that for almost 3 hours non-stop. Her marathon encouraged me not to stop in my life, no matter how hard it is. To support and cheer for everyone else who is going through a similar or the same thing as me. We all have our own marathon to run, and nothing (not even this disease) can stop us from reaching our goal.