Colleagues donate time – so that the family man can be there for his wife who has cancer
Created: 11/30/2022 11:33 am
By: Felix Herz
A touching story took place in Hilpoltstein in central Franconia – colleagues of a family man donated time for him to spend with his wife, who is suffering from cancer, and his children (symbolic image).
© Screenshot BR / program "Abendschau", November 18th
Touching story: Colleagues of a father donated time to him so that he could spend it with his wife and children who had cancer.
Hilpoltstein – Fate struck the Unger family of four: Mother Katharina fell ill with cancer and was diagnosed with a brain tumour.
A troubled time dawned for father Thomas and the two children.
But in addition to the tragedy, there were also beautiful moments.
The emotional story was the subject of the BR program "Abendschau" on November 18th.
Touching story from Bavaria: fundraiser for family man
Family man Thomas Unger was hired in September last year at the “Auhof” facility for the disabled of the Rummelsberger Diakonie in Hilpoltstein, Roth district.
And that, although it was already foreseeable at this point that he would not be fully operational due to his wife's illness.
"That was a matter of course for us as a diaconal institution," explains facility manager Andreas Ammon to the BR.
But that's not all.
When it became clear at the beginning of the summer that Katharina would not have much time left, Dominic Portisch from the employee representatives started an unusual fundraising campaign: He collected time for Thomas.
The idea: Auhof employees donate vacation days and overtime, which they make available to Thomas.
According to BR, Portisch wrote an email to around 500 employees – and the response was overwhelming.
More than 700 hours came together.
Thomas was thus made available for more than half a year.
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Fundraising campaign for family man - time for his wife and children
According to BR, everyone took part in the campaign – from the cleaner to the executive floor.
Katharina Unger has since passed away and Thomas uses the extra time to be there for his seven and nine-year-old children.
He also tackles things again, wanting to give something back to his colleagues for the touching fundraiser.
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He explains to BR: "It means a lot to me!
Being given time when you need it most isn't something you can't compensate for with money.
To experience it like that was for me and also for my wife - because she noticed that - it was madness. "
The BR show "Abendschau" tells the touching story of the fundraiser for Thomas Unger
Thomas still has a few hours of free time left to take when he wants.
At the Auhof, everyone has the feeling that the unusual but touching fundraiser has brought the workforce closer together, the BR broadcast concludes.
(fhz)
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