The return to the classrooms after the Easter holiday period coincided at the Gernika Institute with news that hit like a stone: one of the 4th year ESO students suffered from cancer and had to be treated with chemotherapy. The young man, 15 years old, had been absent from classes for a week and the news about why began to circulate among the students. The shock was tremendous, although far from breaking them down, it led them to devise a plan aimed at supporting his friend in the complicated situation that he now faces.
The message was clear: it was not the time for regrets, efforts should be focused on encouraging his teammate. From that premise, between the courtyard of the Institute and the locker rooms of the Gernika cadet soccer team, the idea of shaving his head arose as a show of support for the young man (his family prefers that his name and surname not be transcended). ).
Said and done, around 40 teenagers from this town of 17,000 inhabitants, all of them 4th year ESO students and many of them players from the Gernika cadet team, have passed the clippers over their heads to show their solidarity with the young man.
“We have known each other since we were very little. We went to school together, now we are together at the Institute, on the soccer team, on the gang... He didn't come to class for a week, but at first we didn't give it any importance. In the end we found out through our families. It was difficult and we wanted to do something to let him know that we are with him. We have shaved his closest friends, those in class, those on his team... We want to convey our support and send him our strength,” explains Eneko Arrospide at the entrance to the Gernika Institute.
The idea arose in a choral way, inspired in part by a distant memory that some of these teenagers had of when the Athletic Club players shaved their heads to support Yeray Álvarez, the center back of the Bilbao team who in December 2016 was diagnosed with a Testicular cancer.
“The case of Yeray served as an example, although we would have done it anyway. He is our friend and it is important that he feels that he is not alone in this, that he has us by his side for whatever he wants,” adds Arrospide.
Last week they were aware of the impact that their initiative has had on the young person affected. “He came to see us on the soccer field from the stands and most of us had already shaved our heads. We are not going to forget the face he made,” they explain.
The young people also begin to be aware that their initiative has aroused the admiration of the adults in their immediate environment, and they show a certain pride, although their focus is very much on their friend. “Hair grows back, it doesn't matter. The important thing is to convey our support, to tell him that we are with him, even if he temporarily cannot come. Yes, it is true that my parents would not have let me shave my head in a normal situation, but my mother, being for this reason, told me that she thinks it is very good,” explains Martin Alboniga.
The teachers and management of the Institute also do not hide their pride in the kids' gesture. Andoni Agirre is the director of this secondary and high school center: “We are very proud. It is an idea that has come from themselves and they have put it into effect. I think it is also the consequence of many years working on certain values related to camaraderie, solidarity... We are always surrounded by negative news, often with young people involved, but they also feature a lot of positive news. This is a very expressive one, but they are capable of carrying out many positive and exemplary acts and initiatives.”
