1,000 kilometers on foot along the Camino against Cancer: It all started with a promise. Víctor Benlloch, a native of Godella and who lives in Pobla de Vallbona, left his house this Monday with a goal. Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela from your home, on foot, and without any type of luxury. About 1,050 kilometers spread over 35 days - if everything goes smoothly - to fulfill what he promised after overcoming cancer and after his cousin was also diagnosed with the same disease. But this doesn't stop here. Victor wants anyone to help him take one step further through a simple donation that will be sent directly to medical research. A pilgrimage that fight against cancer.
«I have had a kidney transplant for 25 years. So that my body does not reject the organ, I take a medication that causes tumors. So far I have had about seven, most of them very easy to extract," explains Benlloch, already underway during its first stage. «I had the last one between 2010 and 2011, it appeared near the temple and penetrated quite a bit. That was very hard, with a lot of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, but I also cured myself," he celebrates.
After fighting for a year against that last tumor, cancer has not disappeared from Víctor's life. «After me, my cousin was diagnosed with breast cancer, and luckily she is now cured. Unfortunately, a very close friend also had the disease, but did not overcome it. My struggle and my relationships were what led me to promise that I would the path from my door«, indicates the pilgrim.
Víctor is married and has two children, so organizing the expedition would not be easy. «It is not the same to leave my wife with two children of 10 and 13 years old than with two adults. Now they are 22 and 19, so they are not the same work," he explains, and adds, "the truth is that I had been planning it for a long time, but they are things that take longer. Now, my personal moment is what it is, and my cousin's healing has been the trigger for me to do it.
And, as he himself explains pilgrim, on the Camino "you experience a magic, something difficult to explain that when you experience it changes you." In this sense, his friends gave him the idea that the experience could also change the lives of others. «Talking about my plan to do the Camino to loved ones, they suggested that I promote it to raise funds for research against the disease. My cousin, who is involved and closely linked to the Spanish Association against Cancer, helped me manage everything. “This way we can also help others.”
Through a link on the association's website, anyone can donate to send strength to Victor on a path that will not be easy. Among those who have already joined their adventure is the Galbis clinic in Valencia, a medical center dedicated exclusively to the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of respiratory diseases. «They have become a personal sponsor. It is a center that helps many people to live better, and above all to continue living. It helps me a lot, it has never stopped doing so and it is a very important support for me," adds Benlloch.
«The route that I have prepared is about 35 stages. This being positive and trusting that everything will turn out well. If, for example, I spend several days in a row sleeping on the floor and I reach a stage where I can rest well, maybe I will stop one day to regain strength," he explains. Whatever happens, Víctor Benlloch will travel an average of 30 kilometers a day until he reaches Santiago.
If the difficulty is already evident, the pilgrim has set other objectives. «The first time I did it I was with friends. You live the Camino but on this occasion I wanted something else. “I want it to be truly sacrificed,” he says. Therefore, he undertakes this long journey completely alone, and intends to avoid any type of "unnecessary luxury." The pilgrim explains that it will be in Burgos when he joins the French road, a mental barrier where the difficulties will be reduced. "When you are already on the official route, it is very easy to find shelters, but until then very few municipalities offer shelter for pilgrims," he says.
