"Beyond the'obstacle": Carlo Calcagni brings his testimony to the European Parliament
Carlo Calcagni, an athlete of the Italian National Paralympic Athletics Team, world champion and medalist in several disciplines at national and international level, will be a guest of the European Parliament in Brussels on the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities next Wednesday, Dec. 3. A colonel in the Role of Honor of the’Italian Army, a victim of duty, wounded and maimed in the line of duty, Carlo Calcagni will bring, at the invitation of the’MEP (as well as a former athlete of the National Alpine Ski Team) Lara Magoni his testimony in the context of the ’Beyond the Obstacle: Stories of Talent” event, an appointment dedicated to the value of resilience, merit and the strength of those who transform suffering into a new possibility.
The event will be held in Brussels on Wednesday, December 3.
Calcagni’s speech will be held in Spaak Room 7C50 and, as scheduled, represents one of the central moments of the initiative, aimed at giving a voice to those who have chosen not to give up despite difficulties. In his message, Calcagni will remind that no human being should be defined or categorized by a word like “disability” a view that has matured, as he explains, from twenty-three years of daily struggle against a disease, chronic, degenerative and irreversible, with sclerosis and Parkinson’s, focusing on the value of diversity not as a limitation, but as an asset to be recognized and protected.
The event will be held in the Spaak 7C50 Hall.
Calcagni, in his speech, will also focus on what he calls “paper wall” that is “that bureaucratic and institutional system that too often humiliates, slows down or abandons those who have served the state with dedication and sacrifice”. A direct appeal in a context of international relevance, to ensure that the European Union, too, becomes a promoter of a new culture of respect, justice and dignity. The presence of Carlo Calcagni in the European Parliament is therefore not meant to be a testimony as an end in itself, but the sum total of everything that happens in the course of life and that leads to the motto that distinguishes the Colonel“s own way of understanding life: “Never give up, despite everything and everyone, whatever it takes”.
