Italian News

Blind Sicilian hiker walks 110 miles along pilgrims’ route

By Dr. Alberto Lunetta, NAS Sigonella Public Affairs

Benedetta Spampinato, a legally blind 36-year-old woman from Ispica, Sicily, is used to overcoming life’s challenges. She has a condition called Leber congenital amaurosis, a genetic retinal disease causing severe visual impairment from infancy, but it hasn’t stopped her from excelling at competitive swimming, scuba diving, Judo and skiing. A foreign languages graduate, she is the world record holder for deepest dive by a blind diver and has won several Judo national medals, including seventh place in a world championship and fifth place in a European competition.

Recently, Spampinato decided to pack the essentials and undertake another challenge. Her objective was to walk 110 miles in 10 days along Magna via Francigena, a long-distance walk through Sicily based on the final stage of an ancient pilgrims’ route from Rome to Agrigento.

During the Middle Ages, Christians engaged in physical travel to fulfill a vow, find forgiveness for a crime, or to simply deepen their spiritual experience.

Today, these long-distance walks, like the famous El Camino de Santiago pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain, are growing in popularity across Italy. However, nowadays these challenging are not “holy trails only,” but are very popular among hikers who want to explore the nature, art and history of new lands, find new perspectives on life through a walk to find themselves, or maybe simply to just enjoy a good hike with friends!

At the end of October, Spampinato chose the route from Palermo to Agrigento and teamed up with two special traveling companions, her guide dog Dedalo, and her friend and diving instructor Carmelo La Rocca. La Rocca helped her to complete this new achievement just as he did when he trained her to break the blind diving world record.

La Rocca, the 59 year old Sigonella Scuba Diving Club founder, vicepresident and instructor, is committed to creating inclusive opportunities to support people with disabilities across a diverse range of sports and leisure activities. After recovering from a debilitating motorcycle accident, he decided that he needed to do something special for people with disabilities. Stemming from the idea that people with disabilities could, if they wanted, do exceptional things, he thought, why not set a Handicapped Scuba Association (HSA) world record?

The outcome was astounding. Two of his students managed to achieve the HSA World record with a paraplegic diver; male 51 meters (167.3 ft) and HSA World record with a blind diver; female 41 meters (134.5 ft).

Next came the creation of the world’s first underwater archaeological path for blind divers. In this unique experience, the blind act as a guide with a full mask allowing them to describe, live from underwater, the peculiarity of the archaeological artifacts to the people at the surface, thus converting the diver’s role from being assisted to assisting.

La Rocca then created the first tour operator organization in Sicily for people with disabilities in a project called “Dive Active” which specialized in incoming and outgoing trips for people with disabilities. He is currently working on getting a sponsor to develop an accessible boat, to serve as a unique platform to where people with disabilities can enjoy water activities like scuba diving, fishing trips or just a simple day on the sea with friends and family.

The nine-stage Magna via Francigena trail begins in front of the majestic Palermo Cathedral and, after crossing Western Sicily from north to south, ends at the enchanting Valley of Temples in Agrigento.

Highlights include stops at the following natural and historic sites and cities: the Monreale Cathedral, which hosts breathtaking Byzantine mosaics; the hilltop town of Santa Cristina Gela, a village of Albanian origin located about 12 miles south of Palermo, which is famous for its cannoli production (the town’s Café del Corso has been awarded the “tastiest cannolo” prize for the third consecutive year); Castronovo di Sicilia, the geographic center of the route; Corleone, the town made famous by The Godfather book and movie; the ancient hilltop town of Prizzi, one of the highest villages in Sicily, which overlooks Sciacca’s coastline; the Platani river, originating on the foothills of Sicani Monti, which surrounds the slopes of Monte Cammarata; Sutera, at the foot of Monte San Paolino; the rural villages of Campofranco, Milena, Racalmuto Grotte; and finally the towering Rupe Atenea, a majestic cliff which is part of the Archaeological Park of Agrigento where a sanctuary of Zeus and Athena once stood.

One rewarding aspect of undertaking these long-distance trails is the opportunity to meet people from different backgrounds and motivations, as well as enjoying the hospitality of the island’s little villages.

“This adventure is about to end, leaving me with a lot of information on my beloved Sicily and with the wonderful memories of the great people who made me feel at home during my journey cooking food and chatting with me, showing me the true meaning of hospitality,” Spampinato said. She completed her inspiring journey on November 3, 2020.

During the walk, hikers typically gather stamps from mayors, churches, monasteries, cafes, hostels, hotels etc. to “certify” their journey.

Along her journey, Spampinato, her dog, and La Rocca met the mayors of Santa Cristina Gela, Cammarata, and Joppolo Cancaxio, who praised her for breaking barriers and raising awareness of sport and physical activity for people with disabilities.

For more information on these trails, visit the website of nonprofit cultural organization Magna via Francigena (http://www.magnaviafrancigena.it/ ) where you can find useful tips on this exciting travel experience.

Santa Cristina Gela Mayor Giuseppe Cangialosi (left) places a stamp on the traveling credentials of Benedetta Spampinato (center) a blind hiker who broke barriers as she recently completed the Magna via Francigena 110-mile walk in Western Sicily, accompanied by her guide dog and her scuba diving instructor Carmelo La Rocca (right). Stamped credentials are a traditional way to prove completion of long-distance walks. (Photo by Sigonella Scuba Diving Club Press Office)