"It was the worst disease we had ever heard of in our lives."

On Sunday 1 and Monday 2 July 2018, a wonderful celebration will take place in memory of little Angel Theofanous in the village of Xylofagou in the province of Larnaca.

The story of the little Angel…
Angelos was born on July 1, 1988 in Xylofagou. At the age of 2, he began to show instability in walking and suffered from frequent infections. When he was 4 years old, a doctor from Makareio Hospital diagnosed that Angelos was suffering from a very rare degenerative disease, Ataxia-Telangiectasia syndrome.

This disease affects the neurological system creating instability in walking both in the initial stage and later. Patients have a weakened immune system, resulting in frequent chronic infections - mainly of the lungs - and a high risk of all serious diseases such as cancer. They also have difficulty coordinating their head and moving their eyes.

 The little Angel most days of his life ζωής

He was in a hospital and until one treatment was completed, the other began. Things got even worse when he was diagnosed with cancer. His chemotherapy caused many side effects and problems. But after great struggles and a completely weak immune system, Angelos managed to overcome cancer and it was truly a miracle!

At the age of 10, respiratory and urinary tract infections became more common, causing him to suffer and lose even more weight. At the age of 14, hematuria began and he often lost a lot of blood. The condition was particularly critical and he had to go abroad due to the rare complication of the disease.

After several surgeries and treatments he recovered. As unbelievable as it sounds, again by a miracle, the Angel was healed. Doctors had then told his parents that it was the second child in the world to have such a thing happen to him, and in fact the first to such an extent.

Their joy lasted only until May 26, 2004 when they had to be hospitalized again due to a serious lung infection. He entered the intensive care unit and was repressed for 8 days.

June 23…

His father said to him, "My son, do you want us to go to our house?" Angelos said to him for the first time: "no". He just wanted them to hold his hand and read him fairy tales. In the evening of the same day and specifically at 7.35, little Angel closed his eyes forever.

Angelos' family did not stop celebrating his birthday, of course, in a completely different way now…

His parents, Antonis and Giota Theofanous, report to ant1iwo:

"Our son was the first child in Cyprus to be diagnosed with this disease. There may have been other children in the past but no one knew about this syndrome. It was the worst disease we had ever heard of in our lives…

Angelos tortured us a lot in his life. From one hospital to another and from treatment to treatment. He did not catch and did not enjoy anything in his life…

We, because all these years in the hospitals, we saw many children suffering and in need of immediate treatment, we wanted to find a way so that we could help. We want all the children of this place who have health problems to be healed. No child should suffer !!!

So, every July 1st that Angelos celebrates his birthday in heaven, we decided to organize a celebration of love. Full of fun, food and drink. We want to offer laughter and joy to other little Angels of life who are in great need.

Proceeds from the celebration are given to the "Sunbeam of Life" association in Larnaca. Work hard on our beautiful celebration on Sunday, July 1 and Monday, July 2, which will take place in Xylofagou, at the "mas" supermarket. You are all invited!!!".