The start will take place on Whit Saturday on Basel’s market square. From there, Roger van Klaveren’s route will take him via France and Spain to Playa del Inglés on Gran Canaria. In 112 days, the 54-year-old from Basel wants to cover around 1,400 kilometers on foot with prosthetic legs, a further 1,000 kilometers by train and bus and 1,300 kilometers by ferry. The most direct route was not always the decisive factor in his planning, but rather a route that is as flat as possible and easy for him to do.

Step by step further

In 2023, Roger van Klaveren developed sepsis with multiple organ failure after a ruptured intestine. He was put into a coma. In order to save his life, both lower legs and parts of several fingers had to be amputated. Since then, he has also lived with an artificial bowel outlet.

The fact that van Klaveren can set off on a 112-day journey from Basel to Gran Canaria three years later is therefore anything but a matter of course. “I don’t want to prove anything,” he says. For him, the journey is not a sporting competition, but a journey that he is taking at his own pace.

The Basel native wants to use the project to encourage others. “I want to show that you can look forward again after a serious crisis.” This requires willpower and the willingness to move forward step by step. Gratitude is also part of it for him: “Be grateful for what you have.”

Making sepsis visible

With the walk, van Klaveren wants to raise awareness about sepsis. Many people still know too little about it, even though sepsis can develop quickly and every minute counts. He wants to help ensure that more people talk about sepsis and that warning signs and urgency are taken more seriously.

He knows from his own experience how quickly an infection can get out of control and how drastic the consequences can be. In the case of sepsis, the body reacts so uncontrollably to an infection that tissue and organs are damaged. It is precisely because the first signs are often difficult to interpret that sepsis is not always recognized immediately. Roger van Klaveren’s path is therefore not only intended to encourage others, but also to draw attention to this often underestimated disease.

The walk is a personal initiative by Roger van Klaveren on his own responsibility. The Swiss Sepsis Program is accompanying the campaign with its own reporting and would like to contribute to making sepsis and the views of those affected more visible. Roger van Klaveren is part of the Swiss Sepsis Program’s patient and family group. It brings the perspectives of those affected and their families into the work of the program.

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Text and photo: Andrina Sarott