Home
Poles in UK
Politics
Business
Culture
History
Science
Events
Search in service
In the outskirts of Warsaw, in the Międzylesie district, there is a quite unique clinic called “Budzik” (the alarm clock) which was launched in July 2013. It has 15 beds, with the full infrastructure necessary for hospitalisation and neurological rehabilitation of children after severe brain injuries.
Since that time, the clinic has welcomed children up to 18 years of age after trauma, which resulted in severe brain hypoxia, with the apallic syndrome. Children in a coma are admitted for no longer than 12 months after the injury or 6 months if the coma occurred due to non-traumatic causes.
The initiator of this noble project is the Polish actress Ewa Błaszczyk. Her daughter, Ola, choked on a pill in the year 2000 and has been in a coma ever since. The actress’ struggle for the health of her daughter led to the creation of the „Akogo?” The foundation helps people in a coma and supports their loved ones. At the time of its establishment, in 2002, such forms of assistance did not exist in Poland. The usual procedure was that if someone did not wake up in the hospital, they were taken home or to the hospice.
“Working on awakening young patients [in the clinic] is alternately rehabilitation and rest. It is important that the brain has time to regenerate. Doctors and physiotherapists approach each patient individually. They ask the family what their child likes, what they are interested in, and provide them with various stimuli, using this knowledge,” Ewa Błaszczyk explained to Aleteia.
The construction of the “Budzik” clinic for approximately 20 million PLN (3.7 million pounds) was made possible thanks to the funds gathered by the „Akogo?” Foundation in the form of private donations, financial support from numerous companies, foundations as well as EU funds.
Treatment in the clinic is free of charge and the patients’ parents can stay in the clinic for free 24 hours a day if necessary.
In 2022, on the 20th anniversary of the launching of the “Akogo?” Foundation, a second “Budzik” clinic for adults is to be opened in Warsaw. The first kind of such a clinic opened in the Masurian city of Olsztyn in December 2016.
Author: Sébastien Meuwissen
Picture: Twitter @fundacja_akogo
LATEST
Events
