That adorable smile belongs to Alicia. Unfortunately, Alicia fell ill with leukemia in 2019 and lost the battle with blood cancer. In November 2019, her body, tortured by the months of struggle and agonizing chemotherapy, could no longer resist and an infection developed into blood poisoning, from which she ultimately died. Alicia was only 33 years old.

I was the lucky one who was able to call Alicia his wife and accompany her for part of her life. I'm Benedikt and in 2014 I met Alicia in Colombia during a semester abroad. Since the first day I arrived we have spent most of our time together and from then on she never left my side. In 2016 she left everything behind in her home country of Ecuador to live with me here in Germany. Unforgettable, emotional and beautiful moments followed, culminating in our wedding in June 2017.

In April 2019 we suddenly received the devastating news that Alicia's initially harmless symptoms such as bruises, cough and fatigue were due to leukemia. Leukemia - a word that we thought so far from our reality of life, a disease that is associated with great horror and fear. How do you deal with such a diagnosis? Of course, many tears have flown and there have been sleepless nights full of worry. Nevertheless, I was able to learn so much from Alicia during this time: how strong a person can deal with such a shock diagnosis and accept the fight against the disease without complaining and how joy can arise from fear. That Alicia never lost heart despite all the pain and setbacks, approached the day with a smile and kept asking herself the question of what is really important in life impressed me every day. The fact that Alicia could always see something positive about the impending loss of her own life and that she seemed to find strength in it was an incredible inspiration for me. It shows that even the most difficult phases of our life can bring out the best in us.

Alicia still had big dreams from which she drew strength for the lengthy and painful chemotherapy. At the beginning, due to the progress of medicine, doctors spoke of an 80 percent chance of survival. Although Acute lymphatic leukemia (ALL) is a particularly aggressive form of blood cancer, it also responds particularly well to chemotherapy. 80% meant hope: hope for a time without fear and pain, hope to pursue one's dreams and desires, hope for a life rich in experiences and moments of happiness and above all hope for a healthy future. With 80% hope, the disease even lost some of its fright and released a lot of strength.

But for many patients in this world the chances are not so good. One can only imagine how unbearable the pain must be, how difficult it must be to find motivation, and how stressful the situation must be for the patient and family when the chance of a new life is 30%, 20% or only 10%. Alicia was very sad to learn that the chances in South America and her home country Ecuador are so slim. Most of all, she was deeply grateful that she was receiving the best medical care and that she could so confidently believe that her hopes would be fulfilled. It was therefore a special concern of hers and a deepest wish to become active for leukemia patients in South America after her recovery: to increase the chances that every person in this world can be cured of leukemia and can draw hope for a new life.  

Now Alicia has gone to a better place, but her dreams and desires have remained. They have now become mine and mean motivation and inspiration for me - to take action for all patients suffering from leukemia!