Dive into Water

The unfortunate dive into water took place in Rokitki, a small town near Legnica (Poland), on August 16, 1997. It was a scorching day, and the beach was crowded with people. During another entry into the water, I decided to take a dive, what some refer to as a "dolphin dive" or a sliding dive. Unfortunately, it was the worst and dumbest decision of my life. As a result of hitting my head on the sandy bottom, I suffered a crushing injury to my fifth cervical vertebra, with fragments piercing my spinal cord and causing severe damage. Instantly, my entire body became limp, and I began to drown. The long time I spent underwater alarmed my friends. A friend pulled me out of the water. Luckily, I did not lose consciousness and was able to explain what had happened.

First Surgery at the Provincial Trauma Surgery Hospital in Piekary Śląskie (Poland)

After the ambulance arrived, I was taken to the Provincial Hospital in Legnica. Following a CT scan, I waited four hours for a decision on which hospital would agree to perform the neurosurgical operation. The National Duty Doctor decided I should be operated on in Piekary Śląskie /over 300 km from Legnica/. After traveling across half of Poland by ambulance with sirens blaring, I finally arrived. Unfortunately, I did not go directly to the operating table; instead, two holes were drilled into my skull, to which a traction device was attached. It was only around 8:00 a.m. (16 hours after the accident) that I went "under the knife." After the cervical spine surgery, I remained in the hospital in Piekary Śląskie with the traction device still attached to my head. This lasted for two weeks, after which I was transferred back to the Surgical Hospital in Legnica.

Second Surgery at the Hospital in Piekary Śląskie

After several months of intensive rehabilitation and another CT scan, bone fragments were found in the spinal canal, which had not been properly removed during the first operation. As a result, I underwent a second surgery in Piekary Śląskie, which ended in failure. No one explained to me what exactly went wrong during the procedure. I was only told by the nurses that I had suffered a hemorrhage, my heart rate dropped to 4 beats per minute, and they had to bring in blood from outside because I used up the hospital's entire supply. After this second surgery, my already limited mobility worsened. I woke up with my left shoulder and arm completely paralyzed. After several days, mobility in the shoulder almost fully returned, but my left wrist remained paralyzed and still is to this day. Before the surgery, it was nearly as functional as my other hand.

Surgery in Konstancin (Poland)

When I asked the head doctor after the failed surgery in Piekary Śląskie when the next one would be, he replied that there would be no further operations because I wouldn't survive. So I returned from Upper Silesia not only with an inadequately treated cervical spine but also with even more severe disabilities. However, I refused to give up, and my medical records were sent to Prof. Jan Haftek in Konstancin. It was there, 15 months after the accident, that my spine was professionally operated on. The middle section of the C4 vertebral body was removed, and the dural sac was decompressed at this level. An anterior interbody fusion from C3 to C5 was performed using a bone graft taken from my iliac crest, along with a Caspar plate for stabilization of the C3-C5 vertebrae.

Completely Unable to Work and Live Independently

As you can see, the accident itself was not the only misfortune that befell me. Another tragedy was that the incident occurred shortly after the flood of the century, which, as you may know, led to many hospitals being flooded. Now, it's easy to wonder if my mobility would have been greater if I had received neurosurgical care sooner. Currently, I am deprived of sensory and motor functions below the level of my chest. The functionality of my upper limbs is also severely limited. I can move them relatively easily and in a coordinated way, but below my elbows, I have no sensation or motor function at all. The complete lack of movement in all fingers of both hands is very limiting. Only my right wrist is functional, which helps a lot when using a computer and eating on my own.