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24 April 2024El Diario del Alto Aragón interviews María Barrabes, one of the organizers of the Binaced Solidarity Trail, whose funds raised in recent editions have been donated to the IIS Aragón
Born in Lérida but with strong ties to Alto Aragón, María Barrabés has lived in Binaced for 13 years, where she feels very comfortable and has created strong community ties.
What does Alto Aragón mean to you?
It's my second home. I really like the people here because they collaborate and value what they do. Also the essence of the town and the way that customs are transmitted. That's why I collaborate with the football club and the basketball club, and with all the associations. I live where I have always wanted to be.
Here you were diagnosed and overcame breast cancer…
It was in 2011, when it was in a very beautiful time. Sometimes we tiptoe through life and think that it will never touch us, but it will. The hardest thing was telling my family, I had a 10-year-old daughter and an 8-year-old daughter at the time, and it affected me a lot to tell my mother, because a mother should not go through that.
How was the process?
Very fast. I had surgery to remove the tumor. Then 15 days later I went back for a checkup… I didn't get my period and they told me I was four weeks pregnant.
Did you find this moment harder than the diagnosis?
Yes, I almost didn't believe it. They explained to me that in the United States there were women who had undergone pregnancy with chemotherapy, but in much more advanced stages, five or six months. So I had to make the decision to terminate the pregnancy or continue. There was a lot of risk because we had to wait three months to continue with chemotherapy, since it could affect the embryo. But, at the same time, it is dangerous for a long time to pass between the operation and the treatment.
What influenced it?
That's where the mountain came in, which always gives me emotional stability. I went up to the Estós shelter, in the Benasque valley, and there I decided that I was going to continue forward.
And it turned out well...
Yes, Jesús -his son- and I are a study. As a result of him, 82 children have been born, since he was the first in Spain to be conceived with chemotherapy at such a few weeks.
How did you feel?
Very alone, because there were almost no people who had gone through the same thing. But as a result of that, I searched for “cancer and mountains,” and I found the Association of Mountaineers with Cancer. I contacted them, they supported me and in 2015 the president called me to go with four other women who had had the disease and climb Kilimanjaro.
Quite an experience…
It was something beautiful. Going to Africa, climbing with mountaineers like Rosa Fernández when I had only climbed Aneto... Furthermore, I think it served to give hope to some people. People from Spain and Latin America wrote to me, and I responded to absolutely all the messages.
Then the El Pino Binaced Solidarity Trail was born…
The Trail meant giving back how much I have received from people. I have learned a lot. I have learned to live and enjoy life to the fullest. I want it to be a party for everyone and to feel that it is theirs, that's why there is also a walk. In addition, we have between 60 and 70 volunteers who help a lot.
How much have you raised?
In the eight editions, more than 80.000 euros. The first two years it was donated to the Oncology service of the Barbastro hospital and now to the Aragón Health Research Institute (IIS Aragón).
The trail also has to do with the mountains…
I think the mountain has pulled me. 15 days after Jesus was born we went to Estós, because, somehow, from there he came to life. I always tell him that he is a son of the mountain, and that when something happens to him he turns to her because she is wise.
Anywhere in particular?
Benasque is my favorite place in the world. That's where I would like to end my days.
Source: The Alto Aragón Newspaper