Nuno needs us

Last September, Nuno was thrown by a wave against the bottom of the sea while practicing Bodyboard, he seriously injured his cervical spine and is now quadriplegic. Nuno needs our help to be able to return to his home and family, with all the necessary conditions and adaptations his new life requires.

Nuno Barahona Abreu, a surgeon, is 42 years old, owner of an easy smile and unique humor. He is father to Henrique and Jacinto and it has been eleven years that his heart has belonged to Marisa. He is always ready to help those in need. He is generous, sensitive and always friendly.

Nuno is passionate about sports. He has been a bodyboarder since forever, passionate competitor of rowing, underwater fishing, bicycle, running, amongst so many others. The list is endless. He loves being outdoors and doing any sport that makes him feel the sea in his body, the forest in his eyes and the wind in his skin. He is a brother, a son, a son-in-law, a brother-in-law, an uncle, a cousin, a nephew – above all, a friend. Friend of so many.

On the 29th of September 2021, Nuno had a very serious accident on Supertubos beach, in Peniche. Thrown against the bottom of the sea while practicing bodyboard, his life changed drastically. A 180-degree turn, an existence turned upside-down. In a split second everything changed.

Fotografia recente na Clínica de Medicina de Reabilitação de Alcoitão. Vamos ajudar o Nuno a poder voltar para a sua casa e para junto dos que mais ama. De mãos dadas por um novo amanhã.

Rescued by other surfers who were there at the moment of the accident, Nuno was taken to the Hospital de Santa Maria, where the diagnosis was finally given to him: he had fractured his cervical spine, injured his spinal cord and his mobility was greatly affected. He was operated and hospitalized for 15 days in Intensive Care Unit and then more than a month in the Orthopedics ward.

On the 4th of November he was transferred to the Alcoitão Rehabilitation Center where he remains hospitalized and where he is training daily in an arduous and focused way to be able to return home and face a whole new reality that awaits him, Marisa and their children.

Nuno, a friend of so many, needs our help.

Depois de tantos meses no hospital, o Nuno quer muito voltar para a sua casa e para junto daqueles que mais ama. Nesta foto está com o seu filho mais velho, o Henrique.

In addition to the enormous psychological burden that this accident brought to their lives, Marisa is overloaded with tasks that will allow her to adapt to this new beginning and that have to be fulfilled as quickly as possible, so that Nuno can return home with all the support and comfort needed.

Flooded in a new world of worries, visits to the hospital, taking care of the children and dealing with all the bureaucracy and procedures related to the accident and to their future, this family, so close to us, really needs our – and your help.

Nuno left the NHS a few years ago and was working independently as a freelance doctor at the time of the accident. As he has no employment relationship, his situation is quite precarious when it comes to support. Unfortunateley, there are very few available.

We are three close friends, but in fact we know that we are all the ones who are rooting for Nuno to be able to recover as much as possible and, above all, go back to the comfort of his own home.

We launched this campaign on December 15th at 10PM, our initial goal was to help them raise the amount they need for the work they need to make in order to adapt the house to Nuno’s new condition. But, to everyone's surprise, within a few hours this goal was reached and surpassed ! We are beyond amazed and grateful to all who have joined this incredible stream of energy, love and solidarity.

With all this, suddenly a whole new spectrum of hope opens up for us to move towards the second phase of the campaign that we had already planned. The idea is to use the funds raised to revert to things that Nuno really needs, all  the necessary equipment for people with reduced mobility: adaptation equipment for use in the bathroom, wheelchair, high-chair access to the bathroom house, access ramp outside the house, swivel chair for the car.

Moreover, the opportunities that Nuno may have to seek treatments abroad, initially in Spain and in the future to be able to go to the US to undergo orthopaedic surgery using the innovative nanotechnology of Spinal Regeneration, and Spinal Bypass, and so do everything possible to regain his mobility.

The costs are high, the support processes lengthy and sometimes non-existent. As we know that together we are stronger, we thought that this would be a good idea so that everyone who admires him, and to whom his friendship means so much, can help.

Knowing Nuno, we know that if it were the other way around, he would be the first to join forces to help each one of us. Today, they are the ones who need this strength, from all their friends and family and from those who most want to help. We believe in chains of love and generosity. We believe this is a possible mission!

Esta foto foi retirada recente na clínica onde está a recuperar. O Nuno e os filhos estão a adaptar-se gradualmente a uma nova realidade da mobilidade do seu pai.

Here are some words written by Marisa after the accident:

Because no life is linear and none of us is a straight line. We are diamonds, heptahedrons, armillary spheres. We are curved like a river that descends to the sea.

Life is what it is. Today I push you. You push me tomorrow. In the future we will push all the obstacles with our stomachs, hearts and knees that tremble just at the thought of it.

Because everything we were, gives us the courage to be just ourselves tomorrow. Stripped of masks and open to Love. It is it, Love, that breathes in every cell, in every alveolus, in every neuron. It is it that makes us face all the difficulties and all the barriers imposed by the world. It is it that makes us wake up in the morning and smell our children's hair, the virgin wood waiting to enter the salamander and the lavender on the stairs. It is it that gives us the courage to wake up each morning.

A thank you to all,

Joana, Carlos and Luiza

About the author

Hello to everyone who reads us!

We are Joana, Carlos, and Luiza, three close friends of Nuno and Marisa, and we decided to create this solidarity campaign to get the help the family needs to cover the huge expenses related to Nuno's return home, after several months of hospitalization.

We know that together we are stronger, and motivated by this certainty, we thought that this would be a good idea so that everyone who admires him, and to whom his friendship means so much, can help.

Hand in hand, let's make this possible! Today for them, tomorrow for us.

Joana, Carlos and Luiza

Budget and due dates

The intended value of €190,000 corresponds to the budget of:

€30,000 necessary works to adapt the family home to people with reduced mobility, including a new bathroom, restructuring of the kitchen, opening doors, access via a lift platform.

€20,000 outside access ramp to access their home. 

€7000 high chair.

€4500 wheelchair.

€3500 Swivel car seat.

€5,000 equipment to install indoors (ramps, bath chair, bathroom accessories, mattress, etc.).

All the remaining amount raised beyond the €70,000 described in the previous items will be channelled towards orthopaedic treatments and surgery abroad.

Schedule :

1st phase) 15th December: Start of the project's dissemination on social networks.

2nd phase) December 17th: PPL launch, and continuation of promotion and dissemination.

3rd phase) 18th to 23rd December: Sending of press releases to the various media.

4th phase) Until January 17th: Reach the desired funding objective so that Nuno and Marisa can proceed with the works at home, making it functional and adapted, thus enabling Nuno's return home to his family.

5th phase) January 17th: PPL ended, but continues to run from this date.

Images