She shoots a bow, swims and wins first-aid competitions. Now she is taking only a short break—a break during which she must overcome cancer and return for good to her home, school and beloved horses.
Natalia is supported by the foundation "Na Ratunek Dzieciom z Chorobą Nowotworową". She is the type of person who is always active. She practices archery and rides skis and horses. She never gives herself an easy ride. She always sets the bar high, because when it comes to skiing, it has to be cross-country. As she says, “downhill skiing is a sport for lazy people.” She is always busy after school, and spends every weekend at the stable, working with her beloved horses. During her most recent summer holidays, Natalia had fun like any other teenager. She was in the mountains, riding horses and spending time with her friends. Smiling and full of life. But from the beginning of September, she had less and less energy. She slept a lot and even said that she could not swim because when the water covered her, she could not breathe.
“We put it down to puberty. We thought that maybe she simply no longer wanted to swim. Maybe she had changed her mind and was looking for an excuse,” recalls the girl’s mother, Dorota Gajda. Just in case, however, they had all her blood tests done. The results were normal. Until, finally, the day came that set off an entire chain of events.
Life changed by 180 degrees
“Natalka went to Warsaw with her father for the weekend, and when she returned, the right side of her face became paralyzed,” says Dorota, while Natalka immediately adds: “Seventh cranial nerve palsy.”
While still in Warsaw, she celebrated her 11th birthday on Monday and received a horseback-riding lesson as a present from her uncle.
“I didn’t want to tell him anything, but I didn’t even have the strength to post,” Natalia recalls, looking far more mature than an 11-year-old. She gritted her teeth and stayed until the end of the lesson, even though it was not at all pleasant. At the time, they thought she might have picked up a stomach flu or mumps. Meanwhile, a tumor was gradually growing in the girl’s chest—quietly and without major symptoms.
On Tuesday, after returning home, Natalka went with her mother to the pediatrician. She was given an antibiotic and was supposed to go for special laser treatment the following day. But the girl was no longer able to climb the stairs at the clinic to the office where the specialist treatment was performed. Her parents themselves asked for a referral to hospital, where a whole series of tests began. The first one was enough for everyone to realize that the situation was very serious.
The X-ray revealed a huge tumor in her chest, measuring more than 20 cm in diameter. Doctors at the hospital in Jelenia Góra drained only the fluid from her lungs and referred Natalka to the pediatric oncology clinic in Wrocław.
“So over the weekend she was still a ‘healthy’ girl on a trip, and by Thursday she was being taken by ambulance to Wrocław with suspected cancer,” says Dorota. Unfortunately, the worst suspicions were confirmed: malignant mediastinal lymphoma.
Months in hospital
The beginning of her stay in Wrocław was extremely dramatic. On the very first day in oncology, the tumor began to break down uncontrollably, causing her kidneys to fail. Natalka was taken to intensive care, and the struggle became not so much a fight against the disease itself as a fight for her life. Only after a week, during which the girl underwent intensive dialysis, could the actual treatment begin. The first chemotherapy protocol was extremely difficult. Natalka could not move from her bed. She could not walk or even sit up. She suffered seizures. But she is an exceptionally strong girl. And although the chemotherapy wreaked havoc on her body, Natalka gradually regained her strength. She did not leave the hospital for three whole months. But the closer Christmas came, the stronger her will to fight and her determination became. And finally, it worked! Just before Christmas Eve, Natalia was able to return home for the first time.
The support flowing to Natalka from her hometown of Jelenia Góra probably helped a little. Although only a few people could visit her in hospital, her schoolmates remembered her constantly. For example, they sent her 400 cards wishing her a speedy recovery. In her hometown, there was a huge mobilization: auctions, concerts and fundraising events. Everything for Natalka. Her friends did everything to make the auction items extraordinary. They obtained a pen belonging to President Andrzej Duda, Kamil Stoch’s skis and a ball from the World Cup. At the Jelenia Góra Philharmonic, artists performed and danced especially for Natalia.
“All of this restores one’s faith in people,” Natalka’s mother, Dorota Gajda, comments on the campaign.
The task: get well
The fact that Natalka can now return home between individual procedures and chemotherapy sessions does not mean that treatment is over. The fight against lymphoma will last at least two years.
“We believe that the very intensive treatment will continue until the end of June. Then there will be more than a year of maintenance chemotherapy,” her mother explains.
And Natalka is enduring everything with extraordinary bravery. More than anything, she misses her horses. Since she fell ill, she has had no contact with her beloved animals at all. And even when she returns home during treatment, she still cannot visit her beloved stable.
“I can’t even stroke a horse!” the girl complains, sighing at the thought that she still has to endure several more months. Tiny horseshoe-shaped earrings that she wears every day remind her of her great love. The earrings also remind her of an extraordinary surprise that awaits her. Natalka will soon receive her own horse as a gift. But first she faces a tough challenge: getting well. However, for that to be possible, everyone’s help is needed. All it takes is entering KRS 86 210 on your tax return and helping Natalka defeat the disease.