Some people overcome challenges in ways that leave the rest of us in awe. Pablo Ráez, a 20-year-old Marbella, Spain resident, is such a person.
When he was diagnosed with leukemia in 2015, Pablo was determined to beat it. After receiving a bone marrow transplant, and several painful rounds of chemotherapy, he accomplished that goal, and his cancer went into remission.
Tragically, it returned, and this time it would prove fatal. Only, it’s what Pablo did before he passed away that is inspiring people all over the world, and leading to real change.
After beating leukemia the first time, 20-year-old Pablo Ráez of Marbella, Spain was excited to return to his normal, active lifestyle. Sadly, his cancer came back, and this time it was going to be fatal. Instead of giving up, he didn’t let this tragic prognosis stop him from making a difference.
Starting with a hashtag campaign, #retounmillón (#onemillionchallenge), Pablo chose to spend his last few months working to raise the number of bone marrow donors in Spain from 230,000 to 1 million. He would accomplish this goal before he passed.
At the beginning of 2017, Pablo was nearing the end. Before that happened, though, he decided to post a thoughtful message to his many fans on Instagram. It read: “I’ve been thinking about something that I’d like to share with you. We live in a society where we work and earn money by time, which means that we live for and by time. We live like slaves in this system based on pure bureaucracy.”
“The planet is deteriorating little by little, we are destroying it: we are melting the poles, we manufacture recklessly, we cause wars, kill people and we do so much more that is going to bring this world to its end, and we do all of this because of money.”
“We are not happy with what we have, we always wish for more. Life should be lived simply and in a system that looks after each person and after this beautiful planet. We need to be happier and to see what we are doing for and to the world, we need to start realizing what is really important and we need to learn how to value it.”
“We need to love more, first of all ourselves and then the world. You need to love yourself before you can love others. Let’s smile more, let’s give more hugs, more peace; let’s be the best version of ourselves. Let’s be thankful to life for giving us the precious luxury of waking up every day, let’s be more grateful.”
It’s awful that the world lost Pablo at such a young age, but he’s a testament to what can be accomplished with the time you have. His words and actions show just how special he truly was.
