Supporting Families with Disabled Children

This is Valentina Beck from Norderstedt, near Hamburg, Germany. Valentina is an incredible fighter. She was born in Santiago de Chile in 1991 with a heart defect. The doctors had already given up on her, but Valentina was fighting for her life. Today she is a happy and cheerful “whirlwind”, who many people immediately take into their heart.

Sport has a very special meaning for Valentina. Valentina has already participated three times at the Special Olympics World Games, in three different sports. 2017 she won in snowshoeing a gold, silver and bronze medal in Ramsau (Austria). 2019 Valentina won the gold medal with the German 4x100 meter relay in Abu Dhabi (Saudi Arabia). This year she won the silver medal in the 1000-meter tricycle race in Berlin (Germany).

The authors Annabell Behrmann and Miriam Opresnik -both from Hamburg, Germany- were so fascinated and inspired by Valentina´s story that they created a wonderful childrens book together with the illustrator Sabrina Kotzerke. “Valentinas große Fahrt” (Valentina´s big ride) is a sensitively written, great story that should not only encourage all people with disabilities, but also encourage all children to have an open attitude towards others.

Annabell Behrmann and Miriam Opresnik visited “Der Neue Kupferhof“, and presented their book in a reading. Our Kupferhof children had a lot of fun and highlighted the story with loud ringing of bike bells. 

Big thanks to the two authors for this extraordinary book and this special afternoon at ”Der Neue Kupferhof”.

And many thanks to Valentina Beck, who, with her enormous endurance and unfailing persistence, encourages that giving up should not be an option.

The book was published by Klartext Verlag, Essen 2023

“Valentinas große Fahrt”, ISBN  978-3-8375-2573-1

Have a happy and peaceful Christmas Season.