Let’s help Maruška get back to life.

Our daughter Maruška was a kind and intelligent child who enjoyed a happy, carefree life until the age of fifteen. She was gradually fulfilling her dreams—she finally played the saxophone, an instrument she had always wanted to learn after dutifully working her way up through the flute and clarinet. She studied languages at secondary school, and she loved skiing and travelling. She had so many dreams waiting to be fulfilled; perhaps she would have become an astronaut, or an architect.

However, with the onset of puberty, her world began to change. The cheerful, sporty Maruška gradually became a withdrawn, anxious, and pessimistic teenager. During the pandemic, when we were forced to transition to the online space, she withdrew further. She sought refuge in virtual worlds—communicating with AI, reading manga, and immersing herself in anime and horror stories—distancing herself from reality. She was going through a profound struggle. Although she visited a psychologist and our family tried everything to help her find joy again, the darkness persisted.

Despite occasional bright moments—like skiing in the Alps or visiting the theatre, cinema, and concerts—a severe life crisis hit in May 2024. Maruška tried to end her life. She survived, but her brain suffered severe damage from a lack of oxygen, and she fell into a coma (a vegetative state).

After the accident, she spent six months in the hospital, where her health initially deteriorated. But in December 2024, she was finally able to return home to us and her two younger siblings. Since then, we have seen gradual improvements. A significant achievement has been the reduction in opioid treatment, which has extended her periods of wakefulness. Maruška can now indicate that she perceives and processes stimuli from her surroundings using her gaze, facial expressions, and sounds.

We owe special thanks to the team of volunteer doctors and nurses from the organisation Nejste sami. They managed to arrange home rehabilitation exercises for Maruška, and Strom Života occasionally assists with her care. However, caring for Maruška remains an around-the-clock, daily commitment.

There are no words to describe the burden our family is carrying, but we cannot—and will not—give up.

That is why we want to secure a spot for her at a specialised neurorehabilitation centre. This facility offers care and accommodation not only for Maruška but also for her mother, who will care for her throughout her stay. Based on long-standing experience with severe cases of impaired consciousness, the specialised WACHKOMA ARCADA centre in Ostrava was built for patients just like her. Given the excellent results achieved in similar cases, both we and the experts believe that this treatment could be a significant step toward further improvement.

However, this treatment, accommodation, and carer assistance are not covered by health insurance. This collection is strictly intended to cover the costs associated with this specialised care and home-based physiotherapy.

Every contribution helps give Maruška a chance at improvement that we could never provide on our own.

Please help us in our fight for her future.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.