When we do not know the bottom, jumping into the water often ends in tragedy. Many people lost their lives in this way, and many became disabled in wheelchairs. Jacek Czech, a titled swimmer, three-time participant of the Paralympic Games, jumped on the head 28 years ago. His resuscitation took two hours. There was no one around to shout “don’t do this”. Now he warns others, because in most cases spinal damage ends in paralysis. “Never in my life have I experienced so many unpleasant things, so much sadness and humiliation, as when I was in a wheelchair” – he recounts in an interview with Medonet.
- Head-diving into the water can result in many injuries. The spine is most often damaged, and in extreme cases it ends in death or disability for the rest of your life
- «It was such a trip with my colleagues with my neighbors, my brother. I was then after the third year of high school »says Jacek Czech about the day that changed his life forever
- If the operation had been carried out in the first XNUMX hours after the accident, he would have been able to walk, but those were different times when Nyski was an ambulance
- More information can be found on the Onet homepage
Klaudia Torchała, Medonet: Can we go back in 28 years to one day in August? Do you have the strength to tell us about the jump into the water that chained you to the wheelchair?
Jacek Czech, Polish athlete, swimmer, four-time world vice-champion, European champion, three-time participant of the Paralympic Games:
My accident happened on August 4, 1994, on a very hot day. I was at the Hańcza Lagoon for the first time. I did not know the reservoir or the soil. It was such a getaway with my neighbors, my brother. I was then after my third year of high school. We were bathing in the sink, but suddenly there was a storm. We hung up. I was left alone and in order to shorten the access to the car, I jumped into the water.
The rest of the interview is available in the video.
Do you remember exactly what happened, what you felt, what happened to your body?
I started to drown because I was paralyzed. I don’t remember this event at all because I passed out. A random man pulled me out of the water. I was already unconscious then. After two hours of resuscitation, I was brought back to life.
And what happened next?
I was taken to hospital in Staszów. When I woke up, I realized that I was paralyzed. As it turned out later, I damaged my spine at the C5, C6, C7 levels. In my case, the core was not broken, it just bruised. Compressive damage, i.e. shattering. The result was a hematoma that caused the nerves to partially die. Doctors gave me a strong sedative to prevent this shock from aggravating the negative consequences. I was completely on painkillers and psychogenic drugs. I was not aware of what was really going on until the end. Then I traveled around Poland for two days. I was in Otwock, Międzylesie, Konstancin – in the Capital Rehabilitation Center. Unfortunately, it was not possible to find a bed for me and undertake medical intervention.
How is it possible, after all, with such a severe injury, time is of the essence, you cannot wait with the operation?
The operation should take place on the first day. At 99 percent. I am aware that if it were so, I could walk. This is due to the fact that during the first XNUMX hours I was able to move my hands. On the second day, however, he was completely paralyzed because the hematoma that had formed caused a partial disturbance in the nerves. Then they died and today it is impossible to restore the nerves where there was a hematoma. They play side-by-side, but it will never be the way it should be.
When were you operated?
On the third day, I was transported to the mining hospital in Bytom, where the then docent Pieniazek performed an operation on the fourth day, on August 8 to be exact, removing parts of the hematoma and shattered parts of the vertebrae.
Did you fight for your life then? Do you remember exactly what happened then?
In fact, then I was fighting for my life, because my body was so weakened, with this ride, this long operating day, that the doctors did not give me a chance to survive. On September 9, that is, after a month, I was transported to a rehabilitation hospital in Repty Śląskie. I was there until December 12. I was undergoing rehabilitation, but it was on a low level due to severe exhaustion. I was taking very strong antibiotics. I could not sit on the wheelchair. I just lay there and stared at the ceiling. I was upright, then there were passive exercises and massage and rehearsals. It was the maximum of an hour. I was able to ride a maximum of 50 meters in a whole day so I was weak. I had no psychological care. It was 1994, when the ambulances were in Nysa. It was a different consciousness.
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When did you actually realize that you would never stand on your own feet again?
What happened took me a long time, it was a process. Nobody told me straight that I would be in a wheelchair. It occurred to me that I would not be able to walk after four weeks. In Bytom. Doctors said I had to be patient, but after that time when I couldn’t get up, I started to think about not getting up. I had fractures before and knew it should take three to four weeks to heal. Nobody told me about it directly.
What was it like coming home? Do you remember that moment?
As I mentioned, it was exactly on December 12th. Parents had to adapt the apartment. It took almost five years. My parents and my brother, younger by a year, carried me up the stairs to the first floor. The room was not adapted. It was a block. A bed had to be arranged. It was impossible to enter the bathroom. This accident happened after the third year of high school. I was left with the final grade. I wasn’t at prom. I had to wait a year and then I took my high school diploma with my brother.
Only then did rehabilitation begin. How much time did you spend on it?
In the first year, I practiced an hour, in the second two, and even went up to three. And then in the third and fourth year, I exercised eight hours a day, Monday to Friday, and two hours on Saturday. Some of the exercises were independent exercises, some with the therapist.
Water deprived you of your fitness, but at the same time it gave you and still gives you incredible strength, not only physical. Why was it swimming? Chance or a deliberate choice?
The point is that most people experience damage to their thermoregulatory center after spinal cord injury. The worst thing is the summer months when we don’t sweat and we get overheated so going to the swimming pool was a relief in the first place. The water just kept me cool. Secondly, it was a great joy to get into the water and be independent of a wheelchair. The stroller is limitations. There are really no limits to the water. They are only in our movements. In the first stage, these were strengthening exercises. At the beginning, I swam in the lifebuoy because I had to get used to the water. It’s not like someone throws you out of the cart into the water and you start swimming. At first I didn’t train, but I swam for fun, I got used to it. I felt incredibly relaxed. I started training in 2003, and my first competition took place in 2005. It was the Polish summer championship. I trained five days a week.
How is it with jumping into the water? Don’t you feel scared every time you jump into the water? Do you not see that tragic event before your eyes?
I don’t really remember that event. In the pool, I jump into the water from the wall, but it is not a head jump. I try to fall sideways into the water so as not to endanger my spine.
I know that you are very committed to making people aware, mainly of young people, of the dangers of jumping into a water that is unknown to the bottom.
I always pay attention to people who are by the water, usually under the influence of alcohol, behave recklessly, and even perform acrobatics over the water, jump recklessly, where there is shallow water. Most people lose their mind on the water. Most often there are people who should react next to them. I made the wrong decision because of my carelessness, but if there were any people who would notice me and say: don’t do this – I would definitely think about it. There is no return from the cart. In most cases, damage to the spine ends in lifelong paralysis.
If you could turn back time, then …
I would never jump in my life. Never in my life have I experienced so many unpleasant things, so much sadness and so much humiliation as being in a wheelchair. In Poland, a person in a wheelchair, in many cases, i.e. in small towns and villages, is treated as a person of a lower category. You have to fight for everything and claim it. There is a problem with funding the equipment, and rehabilitation is now so highly valued that most people cannot afford it. Today, an hour of work with a physiotherapist costs PLN 200. At the beginning, I exercised for three hours, it is easy to count – PLN 600 a day, and there are an average of 20 days a month.
We encourage you to listen to the latest episode of the RESET podcast. This time our guest is Marek Rybiec – businessman, as one of 78 people from all over the world, he completed «4 Deserts» – ultramarathon taking place in extreme places around the world. She talks to Aleksandra Brzozowska about the challenge, mental strength and mindfulness training. Listen!