Medical Pirates
The Medical Pirates are a group of friends, doctors and other health professionals, who dedicate their free time to extreme challenges and expeditions around the world with the aim of pushing human limits, raising awareness on important health issues and raising funds for projects. of charity.
They took part in international competitions and official events, successfully completing the Mongol Rally, the Crazy Italian Rally and the Tuscany Trail.
Most of the members are also passionate travelers and athletes practicing various disciplines including rock climbing, alpine skiing, scuba diving and skydiving. They all share a desire for adventure and a passion for medicine.
History[edit]
The Medical Pirates were founded by two young doctors: Giovanni Cappa and Ron Ruzga in 2017. As graduation trip they entered the Mongol Rally 2017, the greatest automotive adventure on the planet. 20,000 kilometers across mountains, deserts and steppes in small and old cars without support or mechanical support
During the last months of their medical degree they came up with the name of the team that would represent them at the Mongol Rally: the Medical Pirates.
After the completion of the Mongol Rally 2017 they were surprised by the media success and the results obtained with crowdfunding. Many friends were deeply inspired by the Medical Pirates' tales and prompted them not to stop and to show the public other unusual countries around the world and to seek other adventurous challenges. So the Medical Pirates decided that their journey had not yet come to an end and began planning the next adventure.
The Mongol Rally[edit]
The Mongol Rally is an intercontinental car rally that starts in Europe and ends in Ulan Ude, Russia. The rally originally ended in Ulan Bator, Mongolia. However, to avoid punitive costs and taxes associated with importing and disposing of vehicles, the rally now passes through Mongolia and ends in Ulan Ude. It is described as the "greatest adventure in the world". There are three basic rules of the Rally:
- Rally vehicles have an engine limit of 1200cc;
- The rally teams have no medical or mechanical support;
- Rally teams must raise at least £ 1000 for charity.[1]
Giovanni and Ron bought an old with little money at their disposal Fiat Panda and spent six months preparing for this expedition. They learned the basics of mechanics from a friend on weekends, looked for sponsors to cover the various expenses, took care of the interminable paperwork necessary for the car and visas for the different countries they pass through.
A few days after graduating from the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery of the University of Pavia, left Pavia with their Fiat Panda and drove to [Goodwood Circuit | Goodwood, UK]], starting line of the 2017 Mongol Rally. There they met 340 other cars from all over the world ready to leave for the longest motorized event on the planet.
After passing through nearly 20 countries in Europe and Central Asia, they managed after almost two months to reach the finish line in Ulan Ude, Russia.
They also edited a film about their journey, recounting the unexpected and incredible experiences along the way, which was then shown in local cinemas.
The Crazy Italian Rally[edit]
The Crazy Italian Rally is a non-competitive race in which participants cross the Italian peninsula from North to South, from Biella (BI) to Pachino (SR) riding a 50cc two or three wheeled vehicles. Two thousand kilometers on the saddle cinquantini on Italian roads. The event lasts only 7 days and the route is chosen by the riders.[2]
This event shares a very similar essence to the Mongol Rally: the competitors can choose their path and they are totally abandoned to themselves for any mechanical problem but they are comforted by the beautiful landscapes that can be admired going down south.
The Medical Pirates took part in the 2018 summer edition represented by Giovanni Cappa, Marco Buzzone and Francesco Angster. They rode on three orange painted mopeds in homage to the legendary orange Fiat Panda used for the 2017 Mongol Rally.
Giovanni used a Vespa 50 ET2, Marco a Yamaha Aerox and Francesco a Piaggio Ciao. Unfortunately Francesco burned the engine of his vehicle halfway but managed to repair it with the spare parts he had with him and reached Rome.
Giovanni and Marco crossed the finish line in Pachino changing at most a few candles.
The Tuscany Trail[edit]
The Tuscany Trail is the largest bikepacking event in the world held every year in Tuscany. Hundreds of cyclists from more than 30 countries around the world participate in each edition. It consists of 500 km of trail through the ancient villages of the region along dirt roads.[3]
Bruno Barcella is one of the latest members to join the Medical Pirates, he met Giovanni during his residency in Emergency Medicine at Policlinico San Matteo di Pavia.
The 2020 edition of the Tuscany Trail should have been held at the end of May but was then postponed to autumn due to the spread of coronavirus.
Both Giovanni and Bruno were employed in the Covid-19 Emergency Department in Pavia. After several months of lockdowns in which travel and recreational activities were banned, this was the first event they took part in.
They still managed to participate at the event that had been postponed to the end of September 2020 and to complete it in 4 days despite not being trained.
The event was one of the most physically demanding challenges that the Medical Pirates participated in. This was the first time that the Medical Pirates did not use any motorized vehicles, promoting physical activity and tourism in their country.
Charities[edit]
Donation of an AED trainer to the Pavia Red Cross. During the official events, the Medical Pirates raised funds for charity projects and raised awareness on important health issues.
Teams participating in the Mongol Rally must raise at least £ 1000 to charity and the Medical Pirates donated money through a crowdfunding platform to CoolEarth, an NGO that protects the rainforest and supports local communities for projects to protect tropical forests.
They also donated funds to the End Polio Now project, which aims to eradicate polio from the world through vaccination. Polio still exists in some African countries and the End Polio Now project, organized by Rotary International, is working to provide vaccines to children in these African countries and thus end the existence of this disease. The Medical Pirates, during the interviews, also emphasized the effectiveness and importance of vaccines for various diseases even in Western countries.
The Medical Pirates work within the first aid in the area and some of the members are also volunteers on ambulances for the Italian Red Cross and other organizations. They bought a AED trainer for the local committee of the Pavia Red Cross.
Free time[edit]
The Medical Pirates diving. The Medical Pirates also take advantage of the little free time between hospital shifts to organize small expeditions ranging from reaching the peaks of the Alps to coming into contact with marine species during a dive.
Many of the members are athletes and avid explorers: among the sports practiced there are mountaineering, diving, parachuting. Every opportunity is exploited to explore an unusual destination and bring back the stories of the experience. Trips of a few days organized at the last minute by the group to discover unusual destinations are not rare. The Medical Pirates then participate in minor events such as rallies, competitions and amateur sporting events. Among the rallies, they participated in 2 consecutive years to Panda a Pandino, the largest Fiat Panda rally in the world held every summer in Pandino (CR).[4] In 2019 they participated in the historical official record of almost 700 Pandas.[5]
Logo[edit]
The Medical Pirates symbol is a jolly roger, a pirate flag. It was designed in 2017 to represent the team at the Mongol Rally.
Behind the skull cross a scalpel, which represents the art of Surgery, and a syringe that symbolizes Medicine. These two disciplines historically considered as separate subjects together represent the whole of medical science. The skull also wears an operating room surgical cap. This logo therefore wants to combine the pirate adventure spirit of its members with their passion for medicine.
For the events following the Mongol Rally some changes were occasionally made to the logo with details that characterized the event: for the Crazy Italian Rally a motorcycle helmet was added to the skull and for the Tuscany Trail, the eyes were replaced with bike wheels. .
Press[edit]
The Medical Pirates have often been interviewed on radio stations such as Radio Rai 1 and participated in Podcasts such as for "L'Incudine" on Spotify.
Various newspapers such as La Provincia Pavese and Il Monferrato have published articles describing their journeys each time.
They also often attend ceremonies and events as guests to tell about the latest experience or the projects to come.
All their experiences are told through photographs and videos published on their social channels such as Instagram and Facebook.[6]
References[edit]
- ↑ "Mongol Rally". The Adventurists. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
- ↑ "Brados" (in italiano). Retrieved 2020-10-21.
- ↑ "Tuscany Trail, the largest bikepacking event in the world". tuscany trail. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
- ↑ "PandaaPandino - The largest Panda gathering ever and beyond". Retrieved 2020-10-21.
- ↑ "Panda in Pandino, at the castle is a record: 695 Fiat Panda". Classic wheels. 2019-06-24. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
- ↑ "Medical Pirates". Retrieved 2020-10-21 – via Facebook.
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