Charity

Support brave little fighter Amy through Help the Children charity project and ČEZ Jizerská 50

Wondering what this one-year-old girl could possibly have in common with the participants of cross-country skiing races? It’s that little Amy is a warrior at heart and has never given up, just like most of you don’t give up on the white trails and mountain climbs. She was born healthy, but two months later, everything changed. Amy’s health suddenly deteriorated, she had to be resuscitated and the doctors’ prognosis was just 24 hours to live. In spite of all this, the little fighter didn’t give up. Unfortunately, her struggle was not without consequences and the one-year-old girl is at the developmental level of a 6-month-old baby. The situation now calls for specialised therapies to help with her development. Together with the Help the Children Foundation, let's help Amelia get her chance at a better childhood and life.

Amy is now one year old. She was born five days after her due date to her happy parents and older sister Lili. During the first two months of her life she was a healthy baby. It all started when Amy lost her appetite. After she started to vomit, her parents took her to the A&E where doctors discovered she had unspecified inflammation in her body and stabilised her by administering a drip with liquids and glucose to prevent dehydration. Her swollen eye got better after drops and Amy’s condition was explained as the result of a bug her older sister Lili had brought home from the kindergarten. A week later Amelie regained her appetite and everything seemed fine, so she and her mum were released from hospital and went back home.

Two days later. An inconsolable crying fit. Unconsciousness. No breathing. Resuscitation of the little girl. An ambulance drove Amy back to the hospital where she fought for her life for ten days in artificially induced sleep. The doctors’ prognosis was nowhere near optimistic. They didn’t expect Amelie to survive more than 24 hours, still she didn’t give up, she proved she had will power and won her life back. Waking up from artificial sleep went okay, but after being transferred from the ICU to the neurology department, Amy was diagnosed with a massive brain haemorrhage and an extensive damage to both hemispheres of her brain. The precise cause of the haemorrhage was never determined. As a result of the brain damage, Amy now suffers from epilepsy, she is hypertonic with prominent right side (all muscles on all her limbs are tense) and she has central brain damage, so Amy’s eyes didn’t work properly after waking up.

Little Amy loves to fool around with her older sister Lili and this motivates her to exercise and train her eyes with special aids, to do regular exercises using Vojta Therapy and there is a consultant from the EDA Special Pedagogy Centre who regularly comes to help the family. Amy has now started with neurorehabilitation, but the sessions are not covered by health insurance and they are very expensive. At the moment she receives two to three therapies a week, but if she is doing well, their length and frequency could increase. The increase in frequency would mean the cost would grow too. One hour of neurorehabilitation and ergotherapy now costs 1200 CZK, in total the therapy costs approximately 240 thousand Czech crowns for six months.

Skiers and fans of snow and the mountains, let’s help Amelie enjoy having fun with her family and have a happy childhood. If the therapy and rehab can help the little fighter to move a little bit forward, they are worth it!

You can support Amelie in the SportID system as part of the registrations for the 56^th edition of ČEZ Jizerská 50. Amy, we keep our fingers crossed for you and keep smiling at the world.

Support Lucie as part of registration and get her skiing again

Lucie and her husband have always been enthusiastic athletes never afraid of any challenge. They decided to spend the last day of April 2021 paragliding as the weather was perfect for it. Although this decision was lifechanging for Lucie, her story is also full of determination and optimism.

“I took off from the west runway, but when I was landing the wind suddenly started to turn and I wasn’t able to hold the plane in the air. There was a front stall followed by a free fall, from about 6-8m. After that, all I remember is the terrible pain and my legs folded in front of me like in a sitting puppet,” says Lucie as she recalls the last moments before the impact. Luckily she was quickly airlifted and immediately underwent an operation. Yet the diagnosis was relentless: paraparesis with cauda equina syndrome.

A year after the accident, Lucie is in a mechanical wheelchair. She manages short distances with a rollator and crutches. She still tries to be active and independent and to live a life as close to her former lifestyle as possible. At the rehabilitation centre she discovered that there are interesting sports that can be done in a wheelchair. She has tried basketball, handball, archery, handbike and swimming. In winter, she and her husband used to go skiing and Lucie doesn’t want to give up on this activity. Fortunately, there is a solution that she tested last winter: monoski.

“I loved it and I plan to continue next winter, so I would like to buy a monoski with stabilizers. I am optimistic and believe that rehabilitation, exercise and an active lifestyle will improve my condition.”

Thanks to the Olga Havel Foundation, you too can support Lucie by registering for the 56^th ČEZ Jizerská 50 in the sportID system. Help us get Lucie skiing again, so that she and her husband can get out to the slopes and feel the joy of movement. Thank you!