Press Release 11 September 2006
Vasile Stoica has crossed Europe by wheelchair
Today, there are exactly 2 months and 4 days from the day Vasile Stoica was leaving Romania, by wheelchair, to a veryhard to achieve destination, even for a normal person: Cape Finisterre, Spain’s most western point.
Bucharest, 11 September 2006. Defying his own destine that was very cruel with him, being born with a congenital paraplegia, the Romanian paraplegic hero Vasile Stoica, was leaving two months ago in an expedition to Cape Finisterre or The End’s Earth, as the Latin origin of the name indicates (Finis Terrae)
As he has promised to everyone present in front of the National Theatre, on the 7th on September, came there in order to encourage his act aimed to give hope to all the disabled people from Romania and abroad, Vasi has arrived safely to his destination , after covering 5200 kilometers, achieved only, by manual wheelchair.
In Finisterre, Vasi was greeted by numerous of the town’s locals, representative of the local press, the Prince Maximilian von Habsburg, and also by the mayor José Manuel Traba Fernández.
“I thank everybody, that today, have done much more than fulfilled a dream; they have offered hope to the entire disabled community from Romania”, declared Vasile Stoica to the crowd that came to congratulate him, continuing:
“The sport activities are no longer exclusively for the healthy people, and my expeditions comes to acknowledge the capacity of any human to overcome his/her limits”
The Romanian paraplegic athlete, a owner of the Guinness Record, also awarded at several contest and competitions for the disabled people from our country and abroad, has crossed in this odyssey of courage and self-confidence, seven European countries: Romania, Hungary, Austria, Swiss, Italy, France, Spain. His journey was not without challenges, on the contrary: he had to face the fever heat from Hungary at the end of the July, the strong wind and the rains from the Bavarian Alps, the infernal traffic and last, but not the least, the tiredness. Another problem that Vasi had to face was the hot days in the northern of Spain from August and the great fires that flamed the forests from the Galicia region.This new difficulty forced Vasi to change his road and, so, to make 200 kilometers more than he initially planed.
On every step of his journey, Vasi was greeted with warmth and enthusiasm by all that met him on the way. To testify, are the notes from his traveling journal, where ordinary people, but also local authorities have signed in encouragements and well wishes. Through the web http://www.govasigo.ro/, the Romanian hero could share with the ones from home all the experiences he had lived, and also, transmitted pictures from the places he had passed through.
Entitled “ The Journey to the End of the World”, this campaign was initiated and financed by Medrom, through the royal Prince Maximilian von Habsburg, the honorific president of the company. Alongside the moral support of one of the most important personalities as The Prime minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu, Andrei Gheorge and Razvan Spiridon, the project beneficiated by the financial support from the companies, among which, are : Canon, the worlds leader in imagistic products and digital solutions, Healthy Children Foundation, managed by Ioana Popescu-Tariceanu, Ivatherm, the company that produces and distributes a large range of dermal-cosmetics, Class Hotel and Invacare, the world’s leader in medical equipment destined for the disabled persons with locomotors
Also, representatives of the authorities, of the specialty federation and the NGOs that are usually organizing projects involving disabled people from Romania, manifested their solidarity with Vasi and his noble cause: the integration of the disabled persons in the community and the promoting of a healthy life through sport.
“Even if the sportive performance was not one of Vasi’s goals, you can not remark the superhuman effort. The message Vasi wanted to transmit and us were proudly to sustain, so, in fact, to contribute to the accomplishment of his dream, was a message for social bounding, an impulse for tolerance, solidarity, and sportsmanship.
For further information, please contact:
Rotaru Raluca
Pr consultant
Ph: 0723 27 47 47
Press Release 28 July 2006
” The journey to the end of the World”
Vasile Stoica arrived at Vienna by wheelchair
The paraplegic athlete Vasile Stoica, who departed Bucharest on the 7th of July from the National Theater Building in a 5000 km expedition by wheelchair - continues his journey to the final destination – Cape Finisterre (or more commonly known as the End of the World, according to legends and due to word’s etymology).
Bucharest, July 28 2006 – The paraplegic record man had already crossed Romania on his wheelchair and arrived recently to Vienna, the second capital out of the seven cities he will pass through during his journey, which aims to encourage people with disabilities. Therefore, Vasile Stoica has covered so far the first 1314 km of his 5000 km journey.
Vasile Stoica was encouraged and highly applauded by all the Romanians he met on his way, who gave him their best thoughts, marked by Vasi in his traveling log. Such encouragements from his supporters may be read on the official web-site www.govasigo.ro, where other information about the expedition are posted. Moreover, the website provides visitors with the possibility of sending instant messages to Vasi and to find out more about his previous trips and performances.
Vasi, together with all the sponsors of this project, gained from the beginning the respect and the moral support of some of the most important public persons, such as the Premier Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, the Prince Maximilian von Habsburg, Andrei Gheorghe and Razvan Spiridon.
Besides the partners of this project, Vasile Stoica was also supported by public authorities’ representatives, NGOs and the associations serving the interest of people with disabilities from Romania. Moreover, Vasile Stoica attended several meetings with representatives of the people with disabilities community, promoting the benefits of living a healthy life through sports.
”The journey to the End of the World” campaign aimed to encourage the persons with disabilities and the expedition of one of the few Romanians ever listed in the Guinness Book, was initiated and financially supported by Medrom, whose honorary president is Prince Maximilian von Habsburg.
Besides Medrom, several other sponsors supported financially Vasi’s expedition: Canon - the world’s leader in imagistic products and digital solutions, Healthy Children Foundation - managed by IoanaPopescu-Tariceanu, Ivatherm - the producer and distributor of a large range of dermal-cosmetics and Class Hotel.
“The messages of encouragement and appreciation I have received from all the Romanians that stood by me even from the beginning gave me the confidence and power to continue my journey. I have the belief that I will succeed in my mission, and I proudly carry the national flag with me till the end of my journey, which is in fact the End of the World and Spain’s most western point. I want to express my heartfelt thanks to all the people who are thinking of me, and are helping me in this project”, declared Vasile Stoica.
For further information, please contact:
Valentin Petcu
Pr consultant
Ph: 0723 361 812
Press release 7July 2006
Romanian Recordman
is traveling to the end of Earth
Over 200 people, companies, personalities and volunteers are supporting and encouraging Vasile Stoica, a Guinness Book record holder and, probably, the most remarkable figure of the Romanian disabled person’s community.
Bucharest, 7th July 2006 - Andrei Gheorghe, Razvan Spiridon, Calin Popescu-Tariceanu and the Prince Maximilian von Habsburg, together with a series of NGOs and associations that are representing the community of disabled persons, and also some companies, reunited to sustain Vasile Stoica’s cause, the first paraplegic to cross America travelling Route 66 from Los Angeles to Chicago by wheelchair.
On the 7th of July 2006, Vasile Stoica launched a new challenge, starting a new journey in the wheelchair. Therefore, he will cross Europe, from the symbolic 0 km marking point of Romania to Cabo Finisterre, Spain’s most western point. The legend tells that Cabo Finisterre represents in fact the end of the world, and who reaches this point can overcame his/her limit. From ancient times, Cabo Finisterre is referred as the end of a journey and pilgrimage for the hopes of all the civilizations that passed the Old Continent.
Suggestively entitled “The journey to the end of the World”, this campaign is aimed to encourage the disabled persons, being initiated and supported financially by Medrom, represented by its president of honour, Prince Maximilian von Habsburg.
Medrom is a company that promotes the highest quality standards in the health domain, according to its business philosophy “Healthy Thinking”, alongside Invacare, the global leader in the recovery equipment’s field. (http://www.medrom.ro/).
Vasile Stoica is a pride holder of The Guinness Record for the longest distance covered in a wheelchair on a stadium in 24 hours; he also made a lot of tours by wheelchair, on different continents. As well, Vasile Stoica is a multi-time nominee and medallist at different contests and athletic competitions in Romania, and an active presence at the conferences and seminars organised within the disabled people organisations all over the world.
The paraplegic champion is going to arrive at the destination, sometimes in September, this year, only after he will pass successively through Romania, Hungary, Austria, Swiss, France and finally Spain.
His expedition beneficiates also of financial support from some other partners as Canon, the worlds leader in imagistic products and digital solutions, Healthy Children Foundation, managed by Ioana Popescu-Tariceanu, Ivatherm, the company that produces and distributes a large range of dermal-cosmetics and Class Hotel.
The European tour will be monitories through the official site of this project, http://www.govasigo.ro/, that contains other interesting information about Vasi and the partners involved in this project.
Vasile Stoica is one of the active promoters of athletic activities within disabled people communities in our country and is a multi-time winner of some athletic competitions. Also, Vasile Stoica practices basketball, table tennis and fishing and he is also a painting, design and photography passionate. Beyond his courage and his force to permanently overcome his limits, Vasile Stoica remarked himself in marathon tours, and considerable expeditions around the world.
“His expedition is a real pilgrimage of hope. We have all the faith that with every step he makes in this long journey and every sole he conquers, the community of disabled people all over the Globe will be closer to a normal life and the possibility of a rapidly integration within our community. For Vasi, the significance of this journey is to gain further more confidence in him, and then to be able to transmit this feeling to every member of the community he represents”, declared Prince Maximilian von Habsburg, Medrom’s president of honour.
For suplimentary informations, please contact:
Valentin Petcu
PR Consultant
Ph.: 0723 361 812
