Thanks to recycled bottle tops 8-year-old Benidorm boy has money for therapy

The Mayor of Benidorm, Toni Pérez, proudly awarded 8-year-old Leo García Aracil with a cheque to ensure his aquatic therapy sessions.

Leo has Hirschsprung’s Disease which is linked to Down’s Syndrome and aquatic therapy greatly improves his quality of life.

Hirschsprung’s disease affects the nerves in the part of the intestine. Areas lacking such nerves cannot push for evacuation, causing intestinal blockage.

The funds were obtained after collecting and recycling 20 tons of plastic caps.

The Mayor of Benidorm was particularly interested in Leo’s case and confirmed that with the treatment “Leo has improved a lot and gained muscle”.

Toni Pérez invited people to recycle and take care of the environment by making the simple gesture of saving plastic caps instead of throwing them in the rubbish bin.

He pointed out that this is “a social and humanitarian action” that the SEUR Foundation facilitates.

The SEUR Foundation launched the “Caps for a new life” initiative in 2011.

To date, the campaign has enabled 189 beneficiary children throughout Spain to receive medical or orthopaedic treatment thanks to a collection of 1,327,116’26 euros. 6,542 tonnes of bottle tops have been collected.

The recycling of this plastic has prevented the emission of more than 8,300 tonnes of CO2, the main gas causing climate change.

It would take 1.2 million trees over a whole year to achieve the same environmental benefit (equivalent to a forest covering 142 football pitches).