She told her story calmly. Without anger. Rather with immense gratitude, humility, and a strength she might not have found within herself a year ago. When she sits in her wheelchair and talks about her life, she most often doesn't mention herself, but the children. Her Anička and three other little creatures that this young woman and her partner have in foster care. Terezka is only 24 years old and has an incredible desire to live.
Until recently, she lived a life that was miles away from her peers. After all, taking care of four young children at her age is not for everyone. Terezka smiles quietly and remarks, „I've always put my children first.“ Proof of this is also the fact that she worked in a school club at an elementary school and as of March 2026, she started her dream job as a kindergarten teacher. „I'm just drawn to younger children,“ she adds with a smile.
Since they only had one car at home and her partner was on parental leave with their youngest, two-year-old Dávidko, who was in foster care, Terezka came up with the idea of buying a scooter. She wanted her partner to have the car available for the children, and at the same time, she knew that commuting to work on a scooter would be cheaper and more practical. Her partner wasn't very happy about it. He was scared. However, Terezka fought for and got the scooter.
They brought it home to her on Monday. On Wednesday, she took it for a short test ride on the route she wanted to commute to work. She returned satisfied, feeling she could manage it. On Thursday morning, March 19th, St. Joseph's Day, she rode her scooter to work for the first time. And her life changed forever. She wore a helmet, wasn't going fast, and stayed as close to the edge of the road as possible so as not to impede cars. „All I remember is the shaking of the scooter's handlebars, and then just the moment I opened my eyes in the ditch with a man standing next to me calling for an ambulance.“ She realized almost immediately that something was seriously wrong with her legs. She was in immense pain, and all she pleaded with the paramedics for – first in the ambulance, later in the helicopter – was to be put to sleep so she wouldn't feel the pain.
She was immediately taken to the operating room at Kramáre. She only managed a brief wave to her mother. What was originally planned as a three-hour procedure ended up being more than six hours in the OR. „When I woke up from anesthesia, I felt good. The crazy pain from the accident was gone. But I understood that my legs weren't doing well. And according to the doctors, they probably wouldn't be. Severe spinal cord swelling.“
The first thing that came to her mind, however, wasn't herself. It was the children. What would happen to them. How her partner would manage. And then another thought came – that now they would have to take care of her too. „I kept telling myself that I couldn't possibly be paralyzed.“
She was discharged from the hospital into a rehabilitation facility, where she paid for her stay herself. However, instead of hope, came great disappointment. According to her, the approach, rehabilitation, and overall care were very difficult and impersonal. „It was a huge disappointment, wasted money, and the feeling that the patient was just a burden to them.“
The family therefore began to do everything they could to get to ADELI Medical Center as quickly as possible.
Terezka arrived at ADELI lying down, by ambulance. She could barely sit up, and moving in a wheelchair was extremely difficult for her. For her first stay, she had one goal: to be able to sit in a wheelchair and go home sitting in a car. She succeeded. She speaks of ADELI with immense gratitude.
„This is the first time I've felt that the patient truly comes first. Everyone tried to help me, they adapted everything to what I could handle. I finally felt progress and hope. I'm tired here, but thank God for it. And the staff's approach - I have no words - it's great.“
Terezka knows today that this isn't a fight for a few weeks. A long road, many rehabilitation stays, and a daily struggle for greater independence still await her. She's coming to terms with the fact that a wheelchair might be a permanent part of her life. But she doesn't want to give up. She wants to be a full mother. A partner. She wants to get back into life as much as possible – for her children and for herself.
However, intensive neurorehabilitation is financially very demanding. That is also why Terezka is today asking for the help of all people whose story touches them and who want to help her continue. Because rehabilitation at ADELI is her greatest hope today for a better quality and more independent life.
