Having experienced the worst version of human behavior from a certain group of thugs, now Mr. Timios Bugas he also sees the other end of it through the huge wave of solidarity that has risen around him. It is recalled that Timios Bugas went missing on May 11, 2022 and was found about a month later. A 39-year-old man was subjected to severe and prolonged abuse by a group of hooligans in Pyrgos, where he lives.

In 2008, Timios was involved in a car accident with his motorcycle, resulting in very serious injuries as well as ongoing problems. The scars on his face, as well as the mechanical support he needs to eat and talk, have at times forced groups of people in the Tower to engage in gruesome attacks against him.

At the same time, he lived almost in poverty due to his inability to work. When he reached the point of total desperation at the mocking attitude, Timios left the house he was staying in after being the target of an attack with flares. At this point, the Silver Warning was issued. He himself chose an abandoned house to avoid attacks. Two months after the end of this adventure, Timios turns the page on his tormented life thanks to the touching efforts of many of the townspeople.

Last week and thanks to the help of forum volunteers”Man in the center“, Timios Bugas was in Athens and paid a number of visits to doctors and scientific teams in public and private hospitals – Eugenidio Terapetirio, Attikon, Evangelismos, Mediterraneo Hospital – in order to draw up a treatment plan and operations to restore his health.

“Timios sees the prospect of this recovery with great satisfaction, but he knows that it will require a lot of patience from him,” says K. Takis Alexandrakis, creator of the forum, and adds: “Fourteen years after his accident and still no attempt has been made to restore, as far as possible, his irreversible damage. In a month, the final design of the restoration will be ready. However, he must decide for himself that he wants to do whatever the doctors recommend. It’s his own business.”

He himself explained to us how he began to coordinate this work. “I’m a human too disability, I’m blind. I am a lawyer and providing legal assistance to people who need it is something I do with great interest. Together with Natassa Bosini, writer-journalist and forum member, we decided to actively address the issue of when this horrific publication came out about Timios being a man in a frustrated state, wielding a saw. This false, despicable image that put this person in the place of the abuser while he was the victim made us wonder why everyone abandoned him.

Mr. Alexandrakis emphasizes that the main concern of the forum is to create conditions for a society accessible to all. “We don’t like the word ‘awareness’,” he says, and explains: “It’s the right of people with disabilities, people under pressure, to the best conditions and to solve their problems. It should be noted that the forum has neither an organizational and legal form, nor a foundation, it relies only on its volunteers, and donations come directly from the donor to the recipient, without intermediaries.”

Regarding the period when the Silver Warning was issued for Timios, Mr. Alexandrakis describes the following: “He was very frightened, rummaging through the garbage cans at night for food, you remember all this.. He also did not have access to the Internet. He has lost sight in one eye, has trouble with the other, and has limited hearing. He didn’t realize he was wanted.”

Restoring trust in society

The good news is that thanks to citizen mobilization, Timios has been using a specialized hearing aid for a month now and is now able to communicate much better. “We found a man who is a great conversationalist, a man with great fortitude, especially given what he faced and for how long,” Mr. Alexandrakis tells us, adding: “Timius tried to survive as if he were a savage “. . The negative experience left him with many difficulties. When he agreed to meet him, he did not immediately receive us.

“When you get bad treatment from one part of society, you can’t easily be positive about the part that tells you they want to help you. Local communities in particular are sometimes very hard on people in distress. In the same area, the now famous Panulis faced racist sentiment for a number of years.

“Nevertheless, Timios was sure he listened to us when we approached him. Then he got a phone and the Internet. And at some point he told me: “Taki, I appreciate you and trust you. After all, I searched everything for you on the Internet.!’. He was very enthusiastic and the wave of solidarity we showed him grew every day on social media. He didn’t know she existed. And that’s how we should trust.”

However, Mr Alexandrakis emphasizes that Timios’ problem was not only bullying, but also indifference.. As he puts it: “We had to involve local participants, who, unfortunately, until the situation got out of control, were indifferent. Did it matter to anyone, for example, in 2015, when his allowance was cut, to be told that he had to go through a committee to get it back? Did he have to report it and be bullied himself in order to get help? The subject, of course, is wider. Social services in Greece do not work as they should, they are waiting for the citizen to go and go again to beg for what should be provided to him. And that’s what’s happening in our country over time.”

A new chapter in the life of Timios

Timios went to Athens last week. Citizens from all over Greece paid (anonymously) for his accommodation, the diagnostic tests he had to do, taxes and other expenses. According to Mr. Alexandrakis, the doctors who examined him are pleased, as they found that there is enough bone mass in his face to perform the necessary operations.

“The next thing doctors will help him rehabilitate is vision problems in one eye, smell, the ability to speak and eat. Today he called us to help the medical team and the Athens Medical Center,” Mr. Alexandrakis describes and concludes: “They help ordinary citizens, famous politicians and even young students. Now, as Timius also tells us, the protective veil around him has largely restored his confidence in the world. And he gets it himself now that he’s back in the light. He is welcome wherever he goes – he will be talked to, not ignored as he was before.”