Bajram Tirana is an extraordinary 61-year-old man with an incredible energy to enjoy the air and sunshine, despite his sad reality: every road he walks and returns to, even just for a coffee, he traverses in a wheelchair.

Bajram is the President of the Para & Tetraplegics Association in Albania. He has been serving his community for 21 years, offering whatever help he can, although he often feels that the work is extremely difficult. He understands the challenges this group faces, especially when it comes to social integration. Bajram knows what it’s like to fight for a place in society, a place that is unfairly denied.

For the past 21 years, Bajram has also managed several sports facilities near Tirana Sports Club – a role that has allowed him to integrate even more, enjoying a social life among many young people passionate about sports.

It was 1985. He was just 21 years old – a diligent soldier, training hard, when a fall changed his life forever, leaving him unable to stand on his feet. Instead, he would only rely on his willpower and determination to rise again.

At that time, he underwent an unsuccessful surgical procedure. As he recalls, his youthful anger pushed him into isolation for three years in Tirana Military Hospital. He could not accept his present and future. He wanted to believe that he would recover and that his legs would not leave him stranded. On the other hand, he needed to leave his bed; he needed to live.

Forty years ago, Tirana Military Hospital only had one wheelchair, and Bajram claimed it as his own. However, this "ownership" was limited to the hospital’s premises. But with time, Bajram chose to live beyond the hospital walls, and he did. One evening, just like any other, he decided to go out late. Why? He was fixated on the idea that everyone would see him and pity him.

Forty years ago, Tirana Military Hospital had only one wheelchair, which Bajram used, but it was only allowed within the hospital. Over time, Bajram decided to live outside the hospital, and one evening, he did. Why? Because he was fixated on the idea that everyone would see him and pity him.

From that moment on, Bajram “isolated” himself at home. Not for one or two years, but for a full six years, because he lacked a wheelchair. Today, he reflects on this period as though he were a mere observer, sitting on a wooden chair and moving with only the strength of his arms from one place to another. Every move to get in and out of the house depended on the visitors who came to help him.

This is why he clearly remembers the year he got his first wheelchair – it was 1992. He also remembers the date when Mane Foundation started its initiative to help paraplegics and tetraplegics in Albania.

On February 20th this year, Mane Foundation, led by its founder Mr. Samir Mane, gave out 260 wheelchairs at Asllan Rusi Sports Palace in Tirana. It was just the first step, because the plan is to distribute a total of 1,000 wheelchairs across the country.

Mr. Samir Mane promised that Mane Foundation would keep working to provide wheelchairs to all paraplegics and tetraplegics in Albania, giving them the independence and comfort they’ve been missing.

This initiative has received an extraordinary response, as Bajram shares. His phone never stops ringing. He believes that his past reality, unfortunately, is still the reality for hundreds of other paraplegics and tetraplegics today.

“The strength of all of us,” says Bajram, “has always been, is, and will always be the wheelchair. For you, it might just be a way to move, but for us, it’s a companion that reminds us, even when we don’t want it, of our will to live.”