Aleksandra Szymańska currently lives in Rakowice (Bolesławiec municipality). Before doctors detected her brain aneurysm, she led an active life. She studied international relations and Russian philology in Poznań. As she admits, she often suffered from headaches. However, she was convinced they were caused by a sinus condition. One day—while she was still studying—she fainted on a tram. She did not tell her parents. She thought it was due to exhaustion. After all, she had a double examination session.
In her fifth year of study, she went on an exchange program to Berlin. She did very well in the capital of Poland’s western neighbors. At the end of November 2006, she suddenly began experiencing a terrible headache. She thought it would go away. After a sleepless night, she decided to call her mother. “She came to get me immediately,” the young woman recalls.
Both women returned to Poland. Tests in Bolesławiec and Wrocław were unequivocal—a brain aneurysm. As Mrs. Ludmiła, Aleksandra’s mother, explains, many patients suffering from this condition die before they receive help. Aleksandra was taken to a hospital in Lublin. There, the two women decided that the patient would undergo embolization (a procedure involving the insertion of material to close the lumen of pathologically altered blood vessels). Opening the skull was also considered. Both methods were very risky. “We chose the lesser evil,” Aleksandra says.
The operation was successful, but not without complications. Aleksandra Szymańska was in a coma for two weeks. Then she faced long-term rehabilitation. “I remember very little of the first year of rehabilitation,” the young woman recalls. As Mrs. Ludmiła emphasizes, her daughter tried various methods to regain her fitness. The results are already noticeable. One doctor told her that it was a miracle she could stand on her feet after such a severe brain injury. And the fact that she can speak is another miracle. Nevertheless, Aleksandra cannot go anywhere on her own, not even to the store. She wears an orthosis (a foot stabilizer). Previously, she tried to hide it by wearing trousers. Now she is no longer ashamed to appear in a skirt. But she still feels uncomfortable. “When someone looks at me, I immediately think that they can see I am disabled,” says the Rakowice resident.
Daily massages, exercises, an orthosis, rehabilitation stays—all of this costs money, and not a small amount. Aleksandra’s mother, a doctor by profession, told her daughter that health was the most important thing. She took out a loan. “I do not earn nearly as much as people think,” says Ludmiła Szymańska. “Anyone can fall ill, both the poor and the rich. And you have to seek treatment,” she adds.
Aleksandra faces several years of intensive rehabilitation. But the young woman looks to the future with optimism. She has returned to her studies. She is currently writing the second chapter of her master’s thesis on how some of the largest newspapers in Poland and Russia describe the Baltic gas pipeline issue. She also intends to return to Russian philology, but only after some time. And she very much wants to find a job in Bolesławiec. “She has ambitions. She wants to live life to the fullest,” Ludmiła Szymańska told the IstotneInformacje.pl portal. Aleksandra adds: “I am too young to give up.”
You can help!
Anyone who wants to provide financial support to Aleksandra can deposit money into account 70 1050 1445 1000 0022 7599 1459, entering “Aleksandra Szymańska” as the payment reference, or donate 1% of their income tax to “Stowarzyszenie Ziemi Bolesławieckiej,” KRS 0000163366 (with the note: “for Aleksandra Szymańska”). Information about ways to help can also be found on Aleksandra’s website. A link to the website appears below the article.
(GA information)