EURORDIS Photo Contest 2014: And the Winners Are…

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150,000 people cast a vote in the EURORDIS Photo Contest 2014, which received over 400 entries from 44 different countries. Besides offering participants the chance to win a tablet, the Photo Contest is also an opportunity to communicate visually the many diverse facets of living with a rare disease.

Thank you to all of you who sent in your fantastic photos and to those of you who took the time to vote!

This year’s Contest sees 1 winner scoop a prize in each of the 3 categories: the Public Vote, awarded to the photo that receives the most votes online; the Expert’s Choice, awarded by photographer Rick Guidotti; and the EURORDIS Favourite, voted for by the EURORDIS staff.

Public Vote

The winning photo entitled ‘My hero’ is of 19-month-old Karlo from Croatia who lives with Niemann-Pick disease type C.

Expert's Choice

The Expert’s Choice photo is of 2-year-old Daniel from Russia who has Williams syndrome.

Rick Guidotti, judge of this category, commented, “I selected the winner because we do not see limitations, challenges or sadness when we look at the photo, but pure love and joy. We see this beautiful boy as his Mum sees him. By seeing Daniel through her eyes, we are then given a powerful opportunity to celebrate the beauty of human diversity.”

EURORDIS Favourite

The EURORDIS Favourite prize is awarded to the above photo of Lola entitled "The world through her eyes". Lola lives with diploid-triploid mosaic syndrome. She cannot walk or talk yet and is 1 of an estimated 5 people living with this rare disease in Ireland.

Honorable Mention

EURORDIS would like to attribute an honorable mention to a fourth photo, which received a high number of votes across all the categories.

The photo, entitled “We be of one blood, ye and I”, is of 9-year-old Irina from Belarus. She has Cri du Chat syndrome and was not expected to be able to walk. She can now walk, run, swim and support her brother when he is tired.

You can see the full gallery of photos submitted to the competition here.

Eva Bearryman, Junior Communications Manager, EURORDIS