The four-time world champion in windsurfing, Lee Korzitz, has been dealing with a difficult health condition and complex medical procedures in recent years after she was diagnosed with blood cancer. Following this, a crowdfunding campaign was launched to save her and finance the expensive rehabilitation procedure by her friend Vared Buskila.
Korzitz She shared her condition in a post she wrote: “Above my bed in the bedroom there is a picture with a wave of winter and the power of the sea, below it is written: Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the number of breath-taking moments… I feel a breathtaking moment. It is not enough to answer messages, phones, social networks. Honestly, I can’t even find the emotional references for this. Still, it’s important for me to respond to the huge hug I’ve been receiving from you in recent days.”
Korzitz added: “Dear people, you move me so much and strengthen me, those who know me know how difficult it is for me to ask for and receive help, in every field ever in my life… With the character of an athlete I tried to get through this difficult year. Four complicated surgeries is the easy part, returning each time to a rehabilitative state was already too much to deal with alone with the body and mind.”
About the process she is going through, the windsurfer said: “I was waiting for the moment when I was out of the loop of hospitals in order to start recovering properly… The economic situation slowed down the pace of progress and weighed on my soul, and yet, I decided to ask my parents for help and go to a place that can support all my needs at the moment. I’ve been in the health center in Toval for five weeks now.”
Korzitz also said: “The day before I arrived here I went to the sea with my family, for the first time in a year I entered salt water, I had a feeling of home but also a hard feeling washed over me. My whole body hurts, I couldn’t walk to the car and my brother had to pick me up (lucky he’s an animal).”
Buskila She described her situation in a post on Facebook: “One day you can’t eat, you can’t control your needs until you have no choice and your bladder is taken out and you walk around with a bag, going in and out of hospitals, undergoing one life-threatening operation after another, groaning in pain.”
Buskila later stated: “Have you ever had something hurt in your body until you passed out from the pain? So it happened to me. More than once. It even happened to her the night before the most important sailing of her life at the Olympic Games in London 2012. Yes, the same games in which she went on the medal sailing with a silver medal in her hand And finally she finished seventh. Some remember her losing the Olympic medal, I remember her passing out from pain at night and going to the sea in the morning.”
Buskila added: “Lee Korzitz is the best person I know. She has a heart of gold. Mountains of talent. Honesty and integrity, surprising gentleness and an extraordinary personality, truly inspiring. She will always come, the cleanest and always conquer. I miss the days when She could have been my friend. In recent years I’ve mostly been her friend. Because she’s almost gone. She’s getting smaller and smaller. Little by little in body and soul. The pain is gnawing at her. I miss my friend.”
Following Korzitz’s condition, she decided to pick up the gauntlet and turned to fundraising: “This is our time to stand by Lee’s side, give her back, embrace her through a financial donation that will first of all help her with the very expensive rehabilitation, rehabilitation that will save her life. In addition to rehabilitation, comes For me to live a normal life, the most basic things.”
For donations: https://giveback.co.il/project/69076
