U.S. Open winner Dominic Thiem joined Cisco Garcia in Madrid for a unique insight into the wheelchair tennis player’s life.
Salzburg, Austria, 18/02/2025 – U.S. Open winner Dominic Thiem joined Cisco Garcia in Madrid for a unique insight into the wheelchair tennis player’s life. The pair also took to the tennis court, and talked sport, mindset, injury and what the Wings for Life World Run – which raises money for spinal cord research – means to them both. Cisco broke his back in a snow board accident in Austria in 2015 and has used a wheelchair since. After difficult first months, he started to rebuild his life, finding in tennis a way of restoring his strength and self-esteem. “I am very grateful for the day together,” said Dominic. “Cisco’s story is very moving… he is an inspiration.”
Cisco showed Dominic how he gets around Madrid. “There are so many challenges and difficulties in a city which you wouldn’t notice otherwise,” Dominic said. Using a wheelchair himself, Dominic saw first-hand just how much strength is needed to move independently and the problems posed by high kerbs, uneven surfaces and lack of lifts.
On May 4, the World Run will see hundreds of thousands of participants raise millions of euros for research into spinal cord injury. Cisco will take part in Valencia with his wife. Former world no. 3 Dominic will run in Vienna. The World Run means so much to Cisco. “I heard about the race in 2016 when I was still in hospital. It was a big relief knowing that there is this important event where 100 percent of donations go to research.” He even took part himself that year. “When you know a lot of research is going on around the world it gives you hope that a cure will arrive. Maybe not in one year or two, but maybe in 10.”
For Dominic, the World Run is a real highlight, where participants have fun and spread positivity. “I want to play a part in helping find a cure,” he said. “Achieving that in the near future would be unbelievable, to help people hopefully walk again.”
According to the World Health Organization some 250,000 people a year suffer spinal cord injuries and 15 million are living with the lasting effects. “Doctors told me that a cure will come as a mix of many types of research,” said Cisco. This need for a broad approach is why Wings for Life has funded 324 projects in its 20-year history.
Experts working in top institutes around the globe and funded by Wings for Life feel they are closing in on a cure. “There is real hope,” said Wings for Life Clinical Director Professor Armin Curt. When he started in medicine in the 1980s, he was told “never touch the spinal cord” – it was too complex and fragile. Today, it is possible to administer certain cells and medication directly into it. Neuroscientist Professor Aileen Anderson of the University of California, Irvine, said “as a field, we’ve made a tremendous amount of progress in a short period of time.” Stephen Strittmatter, Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience at Yale University, stated “there are lots of reasons to be hopeful that we are going to change the ways spinal cord injuries are treated and change peoples’ lives.”
Cisco describes the idea of a cure on the horizon as “a kind of a light.” “I’m happy living in a wheelchair – I managed to accept it. But to be honest, it is not that easy and I would give everything I have apart from my family to walk again.” He already knows the first thing he would do if he regained the use of his legs. “I would go to the beach to feel the sand on my feet and play football with my children. That is what I miss the most.”
The World Run is the biggest fundraiser for the Wings for Life foundation and the largest running event in the world. In 2024 alone, 265,818 runners raised 8.1 million euros. On May 4 2025, people will unite for a 12th time to run in start-line events or via the app, aiming to set a new participant and fundraising record to help transform lives.
Registration is already open under www.wingsforlifeworldrun.com
Additional quotes from scientists:
Neurologist, Neuroscientist and Scientific Director of Wings for Life Professor Jan Schwab:
“We made tremendous steps forward and I think one of the next would be, for example, that we enable patients to use their hands more effectively. I can see that happening in the next 10 to 15 years based on the encouraging results we have seen.”
Dr Vieri Failli, Scientific Consultant with Wings for Life:
“Electrical stimulation of the body’s ‘super nerve’ – the vagus nerve – appears to be yielding exciting results.”
Dr Verena May, Executive Director Research Portfolio Wings for Life: I guess there won’t be that one pill that cures it all. I think there will be many therapies for patients that will bring back different kind of functions. A lot has happened in research and in therapy, so therefore I think it’s not anymore question of if there will be a cure, but when there will be a cure.
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About the Wings for Life Spinal Cord Research Foundation
Worldwide, millions of people are dependent on a wheelchair after having sustained a spinal cord injury, most often as the result of a traffic accident or a fall. Wings for Life is a not-for-profit spinal cord research foundation with the single mission to find a cure for spinal cord injury. Since 2004, Wings for Life has funded life-changing research projects and clinical trials around the globe. While a cure is still to be found, steady progress has been made. Every step taken at the Wings for Life World Run is a step in the right direction, because 100% of entry fees and donations goes to spinal cord injury research: www.wingsforlife.com.
About the Wings for Life World Run
Once a year, the Wings for Life World Run takes place around the globe. All participants start at the same time worldwide and run either individually with the Wings for Life World Run App or together in several Flagship Runs. The best part is that any form of the run is all about being there. It doesn’t matter how well, fast or far you run, whether you’re a professional athlete, hobby runner or an absolute beginner. It is all about having fun while running. For this reason there is no traditional finish line. Instead, 30 minutes after the start, either a virtual or – in the case of the Flagship Runs – a real Catcher Car picks up the chase and overtakes one runner after another. Results aren’t measured in time, but in distance achieved. Best of all: 100% of entry fees and donations goes directly to spinal cord research. In the editions of the Wings for Life World Run that have been completed to date, a total of 1,559,534 registered participants from 195 nationalities ran, walked and rolled on all seven continents and together raised a total of €51.93 million to find a cure for spinal cord injury.
AVAILABLE CONTENT
– News Cut (16:9) with shotlist / transcript
– News Clip (16:9) – ready to broadcast
– D. Thiem ITV Select in German (16:9) with transcript
– C. García ITV Select in Spanish (16:9) with transcript
–> via WINGS FOR LIFE WORLD RUN NEWSROOM
Contact: Fabian Ress
fabian.ress@3mpg.ch / +49 173 248 8404
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Images free of charge for editorial use.
Credit: Red Bull Content Pool