Herthinho hands out presents
The pandemic is really “taking it out of us all”, and the same can be said for 42-year-old Sven, his sister Kristiana reported. Sven is a Herthaner through and through, has multiple disabilities and lives in a home for disabled people in Reinickendorf. Sven has been visiting training sessions for both the first team and the academy for over 20 years, which hasn’t been possible over the last 18 months or so due to the pandemic. But if Sven can’t come to us, then we’ll go to him! His sister contacted the club’s Christmas team asking them to surprise her brother.
Dressed up in his Santa outfit, Herthinho and his helper headed to the north of Berlin in the shiny truck provided by the club’s main sponsor Autohero to provide Sven with a welcome distraction before his planned stay in hospital. The Herthaner was shocked by the visit of his favourite club and was really pleased with the gifts he received.
Hertha Christmas magic across the whole city
Herthinho’s truck was packed full with more presents. Together with support from Autohero, the journey continued to the SOS Children’s Village in Moabit, the Vivantes hospice in Tempelhof, the Stadtteilzentrum Steglitz-Zehlendorf, the Arche in Hellersdorf and the Waldorf-Schule Kladow. The Brazilian bear had something with him that the respective carers requested for at all the places he visited. For example, the children at the SOS Children’s Village received gaming chairs, and one boy was given a one-year boxing training course plus the equipment. The Arche and the football department of the school in Kladow now have everything the kids need to play football, from shirts and training gear to balls and pumps. The hospice was delighted to receive financial support for various treatments such as llama, yoga and aroma therapy.
There were also wishes to visit the stadium. We invited one fan, Norbert (nicknamed “Locke”), to the Olympiastadion. The Herthaner has been losing his eyesight more and more over the past few years and only has 5-10% of his eyesight left. He was able to enjoy our win over Borussia Dortmund with two other patients from the hospice in the stands.
With that, the ‘Herthaner helfen’ campaign ends with a nice story in 2021. We would like to thank all partners, sponsors and fans that help make the campaign possible every year and we look forward to the next project in 2022!