Helping someone else achieve their dream is a special feeling, not to mention, a wonderful gesture. An athlete from Greece has done something incredible to fulfil the lifelong dream of his differently-abled student. The deed is selfless as well as very generous.
Marios Giannakou, who is along-distance runner, carried his student, Eleftheria Tosiou, on his back and walked all the way to the top of Mount Olympus. Even though Marios had already scaled Mount Olympus, a jaw-dropping 50 times in his career, he had no hesitation in going to the top for the 51st time. Now, that is called dedication.
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In September, Marios met Eleftheria, a 22-year-old Biology student. During the meeting, she told him that she always wanted to climb Mount Olympus. So, in just a few weeks, Marios decided to actually fulfil his student’s dream of reaching the top of the mountain. The fact that he did it for someone he met a few weeks ago makes this act of kindness even more special.
The athlete revealed his plans to climb the mountain, on Instagram. He informed his followers that Eleftheria would become the first person with a disability to reach the highest point. For the climb, Marios carried Eleftheria on his back using a modified backpack and acquired all the necessary tools.
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The pair reached Mount Mytikas, the highest point of Mount Olympus, on October 5 at 9:02 AM.
Marios and Eleftheria rested at a refuge after reaching that height of 2,400 metres. The next morning they started their climb for Mount Mytikas, which is at 2,918 m.
Accompanied by an eight-member crew, the pair completed the climb in just over 10 hours.
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Marios said, “For me, all the races in the world, the medals, and which distinctions so far are very few in front of this purpose. Personally, I feel more prepared than ever for something like this and I thank Eleftheria for giving me the opportunity to become a better person and to remind me of what we all often forget: that we must live life without fear.”
Differently-abled people have it difficult, and it is our duty that we do everything in our power to help them. Like the rest of us, they have goals and dreams as well, and while they’re more than capable of fulfilling them, offering help and genuinely supporting them as and when they need it, would count for plenty.
Eleftheria will always remember Marios for what he did and there is no better feeling than that.