Local heroes up in lights at local shopping centre

Charity fundraisers María Ferrer and Ángel Arcos model for magazine as Disney's Gisela flicks the switch on the Christmas illuminations

REAL-LIFE super-heroes will turn on the lights at Ondara's El Portal de la Marina shopping centre tomorrow (Saturday) and tell their fascinating true stories to the public.

The 'voice of Disney', Gisela, will flick the switch in the company of Ángel Arcos, a motor neuron disease sufferer who has recently cycled the Santiago pilgrims' route from his home town, Gandia, and Jávea's María José Ferrer, who has convinced the region's health service to change its breast cancer screening practices.

Motor neuron disease sufferer bikes from Gandia to Galicia

Ángel, 32, said he wanted to raise awareness of his condition, which is also known as ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), 'before it paralysed him', and to raise funds for research into treatment that could help slow down the process.

ALS progressively weakens the muscles until the sufferer cannot move unaided, and eventually affects the nerves that control breathing, which can be fatal.

The 2014 Ice-Bucket Challenge was created to raise funds and awareness of the condition, and Ángel set himself the task of cycling 25 kilometres a day for 45 days until he reached the iconic cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia.

He set off from Gandia on September 15 and biked as far as Roncesvalles, Navarra – a popular Santiago pilgrimage starting point – then finished the rest of the route on foot, reaching the cathedral 44 days later on October 29 – a day earlier than his self-imposed deadline.

Cancer survivor campaigns for mammograms for younger women

María Ferrer recently handed in a petition to the regional government with 200,000 signatures calling for all women aged 30 and over to be given routine mammograms if they had a family history of breast cancer.

Routine bi-annual screening does not start until age 45 in Spain, but the Jávea mum-offive was concerned as her own mother had died in her early 30s from breast cancer.

Aged 42, she paid for a mammogram at a private clinic to put her mind at rest – and the results showed she had breast cancer.

After grappling with surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, María has recovered, but says if she had waited for the standard screening programme to start for her at age 45, she 'would not be here now'.

The regional health authority is considering her petition, although it is thought they may only reduce the routine mammogram age to 40 for women with a family history, rather than 30.

However, starting from age 40 would still have saved María's life if she had not opted to pay for the X-ray.

Both María and Ángel appeared on the front cover of the latest edition of El Portal's magazine, Stylissymo, and the company donated funds to breast cancer and ALS research in their names.

They will give a live interview tonight (Friday) at 19.00, an hour before the concert by local band Lol i Pop starts.

Gisela will turn the lights on tomorrow from 18.30, then perform a musical show from 19.45.