Published 15:04 IST, October 13th 2020
Athlete fulfils his differently-abled student's dream, carries her up to Mount Olympus
An athlete is being hailed as a ‘hero’ for fulfilling a lifelong dream of his differently-abled student. He carried her all the way to the top of Mt Olympus.
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An athlete from Greece is being hailed as a ‘hero’ for fulfilling a lifelong dream of his differently-abled student. Marios Giannakou recently took to Instagram and said that he carried his student Eleftheria Tosiou on his back and walked all the way to the top of Mount Olympus. He informed that Eleftheria would become the first person with a disability to reach the highest point of the mountain.
According to a local Greece media outlet, Marios had already scaled Mount Olympus around 50 times in his career and he had no hesitation in going to the top for the 51st time. The teacher-student duo was accompanied by an eight-member crew and they completed the climb in just little over 10 hours. Marios said that he acquired all the necessary tools and carried Eleftheria on his back using a modified backpack.
In one of his Instagram post, Marios had written, “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”.
In another post, he said, “Because you often ask me if I feel happy that we were the first to achieve such a climb to Olympus I will say that real happiness and exploration is not based on the fact that we were the first to achieve it but on the fact that after we did it we can achieve it and others can follow. After all, many times even the smallest steps of man can evolve into the biggest steps for humanity”.
Netizens call Marios ‘a source of inspiration’
Eleftheria is a 22-year-old Biology student and she met Marios back in September. She had told him that she always wanted to climb Mount Olympus after which Marios decided to actually fulfil his student’s dream of reaching the top of the mountain. The pair had reached the Mount Mytikas, which is the highest point of Mount Olympus, on October 5. On reaching the destination, the two had rested at a refuge.
Ever since Marios shared the details of his plans on social media, several users flooded the comment section and called him a ‘hero’. While one user wrote, “You are the most important Greek guy right now ...! Or shivering is the only thing that describes the situation,” another added, “Respect !!!! Infinity bravo !!! Greatness of soul and strength”. “Words are useless in front of this image,” wrote fourth. “1000 well done !!! Continue to be an example and a source of inspiration,” added the fifth user.
15:00 IST, October 13th 2020