The aim of this hike is to spread the word about the need for assistance dogs in Lithuania.
Record distances instead of a wheelchair
A. Lolat, 32, who has cerebral palsy, has already entered the Lithuanian Book of Records. Last year, she became the first person with cerebral palsy to walk more than 12 km by foot.
„According to all the medical prognoses, I should be in a wheelchair and on painkillers, but I am working hard, exercising to walk on my own feet,“ says Ms Lolat.
Greta Ašmantaitė, who is helping organise the record-breaking walk, says A. Lolat would need to walk 10 km to achieve the Guinness World Record for walking with crutches, but her goal is 15 km.
„There are two ways to get the Guinness World Record: one is to pay EUR 8,000 and invite representatives from the Guinness World Records organisation to record everything. The second way is to do it yourself. Due to a lack of funds, we will record everything ourselves, so Ajana will be filmed throughout the march, joined every four hours by two independent witnesses who will record everything. There will be a lot of paperwork to fill in and surveyors to measure the route. The company Hnit-Baltic has developed a mobile application of an interactive map for live virtual monitoring of Ms Lolat’s hike and for recording the routes of her supporters,“ says G. Ašmantaitė about the preparations for the extraordinary march.
The noble goal of the hike
The aim of A. Lolat’s challenging hike is not only to enter the Guinness Book of World Records, but also to raise funds for the development and establishment of a training system for assistance dogs for people with disabilities in Lithuania.
„I am the first person in Lithuania to have an assistant dog specially trained for me. These dogs are trained in basic behavioural rules and trained in commands tailored to the specific needs of a person with a disability. It costs around EUR 20,000 to train such a dog.
However, the cost is not the biggest problem. Currently, our national legislation does not define the concept of an assistance dog, does not define the right of a person with a disability to use an assistance dog, and does not have provisions to distinguish assistance dogs from other dogs. Without a proper legal framework, people with disabilities cannot use and access assistance dogs in places where animals are not normally allowed, such as a hospital or an airport,“ says Ms Lolat.
Mulan, a German Shepherd dog, has not only become her best friend but has also helped her overcome emotional difficulties. After getting her own place and living on her own, Ms Lolat felt very lonely, and not only her psychological but also her physical health started to deteriorate. However, she did not give up: Chinese medicine, which she discovered, and daily exercises helped her strengthen her body, while her assistance dog Mulan gave her the incentive to take care of those suffering a similar fate. The Lithuanian woman has set up a foundation to raise funds to support an assistance dog programme.
Invites you to join
Ms Lolat will start her challenging hike in Verkių Park with her dog Mulan and the team accompanying them at night on 10 September at 2 am. Calling the hike „Hike for Dreams,“ she emphasises that people with disabilities are strong, has dreams, and make them come true.
„We invite you to support Ajana and join her on this meaningful hike in Verkių and Pavilnių Regional Park. On 10 September at 9 am, we welcome hikers with dogs, families and children, all those who want to contribute to a noble cause and set a Guinness record together,“ said Laura Dabulytė, head of the communication agency Comms on Duty, which is taking care of the event’s publicity.
Ms Lolat and her team are scheduled to arrive at the Pavilnių and Verkių Regional Parks Directorate (Žaliųjų Ežerų str. 53, Vilnius) at noon on 10 September, where they will meet with media representatives and supporters.
