Spinal cord injury · awareness · momentum

Keep
moving
forward.

In 2022 Riccardo Barbieri broke his neck. He never stopped moving. Now a team runs marathons in his name to fund spinal cord research and stand with everyone still fighting.

Donate now Ricky's story

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Why we exist

A movement for everyone who moves differently.

Awareness

Most people know nothing about spinal cord injury until it reaches them. We tell one true story loudly enough to change that.

Research

We raise funds for Spinal Research so the science that could let people walk again keeps moving. Recovery is a research problem.

Inclusion

Adaptive kit, real guides, honest community. Practical help for people living with paralysis and the families beside them.

Ricky's story

It started with a fall in the Omani mountains.

In December 2022, Riccardo Barbieri fell headfirst into a lake while exploring the mountains of Oman, fracturing his spinal cord at C4/C5. What began as a joyful adventure turned into a long road toward recovery and reinvention. The accident changed Ricky's life, and it exposed how little support, funding, and awareness exists for people with spinal cord injuries in Italy and beyond.

From a hospital bed through intensive rehabilitation, Ricky met the emotional, physical, and financial walls that everyone living with paralysis knows. Family and friends rallied around him with encouragement, hope, and small acts of kindness that made all the difference. He also hit the barriers head-on: limited access to adaptive sports equipment, expensive home modifications, and almost nothing written for life after injury.

Carried by that same compassion, and determined that no one should face this alone, Ricky and his twin brother built the Run4Ricky movement. We believe every person deserves the chance to reclaim independence, chase goals, and live fully, whatever their body can do.

The road so far

From a lake bed to a start line.

December 2022

A fall in Oman. Ricky fractured his spinal cord falling headfirst into a lake, then made it five hours back down the mountain to the ambulance.
Early January 2023

Coma and surgery. Ventilated and placed in a coma, Ricky underwent a 12-hour operation to stabilise his spine.
Mid January 2023

Airlift to Milan. After two weeks in Oman, Ricky was flown to Niguarda Hospital in Milan, and finally woke up.
January – March 2023

Intensive care. Two months in the ICU. Ricky survived heart attacks and a stroke, still unable to breathe on his own.
February 2023

First therapies. Moved to Niguarda's spinal cord unit, Ricky began respiratory and physical physiotherapy.
May 2023

On to Balgrist, Switzerland. After three and a half months at Niguarda, intensive rehabilitation began in Zurich.
Through 2023

Relearning movement. Ricky learned to stand, transfer, and walk mechanically, and cut his medications sharply. Stabilisation began.
October 2023

Home. After more than a year of hospitalisation and rehab, Ricky went home.
April 2024

Run4Ricky begins. Ricky and his twin brother founded the movement, to raise awareness and fund spinal cord research.