Damir Kocijan,pliva od Malog Lošinja do Paga, https://www.instagram.com/p/CTZDpZ0jnvH/?utm_medium=tumblr

Pozdrav svima, dopustite da vam se ukratko predstavim. Zovem se Vedran, ali prijatelji me oduvijek zovu Veco. Imam 26 godina, rođen sam i odrastao na otoku Lošinju, mjestu kojeg i dalje nazivam svojim domom. Student sam Stručnog studija cestovnog prometa na Veleučilištu u Rijeci, gd

Hello everyone, allow me to introduce myself… My name is Vedran, but my friends call me Veco. I am 26-year-old student of Professional Undergraduate Study Program of Road Transport in Rijeka, born and raised on the island of Lošinj, Croatia. I love hanging out with friends, playing card games, doing karaoke, having conversations over long coffees (as all Croatians do) or simply talking and laughing with people that are dearest to me. I am a huge fan of sports, especially football, and during my 'sports career' I also played water polo, basketball, beach volleyball… Still, if you met me today, you would probably have a hard time seeing I love all these things. And that is the reason why I am writing to you today. On July 22, 2017, I suffered a traumatic brain injury caused by a blow to the head (by the act of street violence). At first, I did not think my injury was that serious, so instead of going to the hospital I came home and went to bed. The next morning my parents couldn’t wake me up. I was transported by helicopter to a hospital in Rijeka, where I underwent emergency surgery to remove an epidural hematoma and reduce the pressure on my brain. Thanks to the dedication and expertise of the staff of the Rijeka intensive care unit, my life was saved. Unfortunately, the consequences of the injury were extremely severe - I was left completely paralyzed, I couldn't talk, eat or do anything without assistance. I spent the next twenty days in an induced coma after which I was removed from the respirator and transferred to the neurosurgery department in the intensive care unit, where I stayed for the next three months. After that i spent 13 days in the General Hospital in Ogulin. The next stop was the Special Hospital in Krapinske toplice, an institution that specializes in the rehabilitation of patients with traumatic brain injuries, where I stayed until mid-August of 2018. During that time, I did physical therapy, speech therapy and occupational therapies daily, which required significant financial resources. Later that month, after more than a year away from home, me and my family returned to Mali Lošinj. I started therapy at Veli lošinj Health Resort, whose hea https://www.instagram.com/p/CK9tjDBhHIP/?igshid=1kk407tpagu7m

Pozdrav svima, dopustite da vam se ukratko predstavim. Zovem se Vedran, ali prijatelji me oduvijek zovu Veco. Imam 26 godina, rođen sam i odrastao na otoku Lošinju, mjestu kojeg i dalje nazivam svojim domom. Student sam Stručnog studija cestovnog prometa na Veleučilištu u Rijeci, gd

Hello everyone, allow me to introduce myself…

My name is Vedran, but my friends call me Veco. I am 26-year-old student of Professional Undergraduate Study Program of Road Transport in Rijeka, born and raised on the island of Lošinj, Croatia.

I love hanging out with friends, playing card games, doing karaoke, having conversations over long coffees (as all Croatians do) or simply talking and laughing with people that are dearest to me. I am a huge fan of sports, especially football, and during my 'sports career' I also played water polo, basketball, beach volleyball…

Still, if you met me today, you would probably have a hard time seeing I love all these things.

And that is the reason why I am writing to you today.

On July 22, 2017, I suffered a traumatic brain injury caused by a blow to the head (by the act of street violence). At first, I did not think my injury was that serious, so instead of going to the hospital I came home and went to bed. The next morning my parents couldn’t wake me up.

I was transported by helicopter to a hospital in Rijeka, where I underwent emergency surgery to remove an epidural hematoma and reduce the pressure on my brain. Thanks to the dedication and expertise of the staff of the Rijeka intensive care unit, my life was saved.

Unfortunately, the consequences of the injury were extremely severe - I was left completely paralyzed, I couldn't talk, eat or do anything without assistance.

I spent the next twenty days in an induced coma after which I was removed from the respirator and transferred to the neurosurgery department in the intensive care unit, where I stayed for the next three months. After that i spent 13 days in the General Hospital in Ogulin.

The next stop was the Special Hospital in Krapinske toplice, an institution that specializes in the rehabilitation of patients with traumatic brain injuries, where I stayed until mid-August of 2018. During that time, I did physical therapy, speech therapy and occupational therapies daily, which required significant financial resources.

Later that month, after more than a year away from home, me and my family returned to Mali Lošinj. I started therapy at Veli lošinj Health Resort, whose health professionals were maximally engaged to facilitate and speed up my recovery. With their unconditional support and understanding, they made my parents and I feel part of their ‘little family’. We will always be grateful for that.

In addition to my regular visits to Veli Lošinj’s Health Resort, i also had therapies with Lošinj based speech therapists and occupational therapists that gave up their free time to work with me. And they still do that every week.

In the meantime, when we saved up enough money, i went to Zagreb to have treatments in health institutions that specialized in dealing with these types of conditions. I had treatments at the Reaktiva Center, and I am especially pleased with the progress that i made in Neurofit (physical therapy according to the Bobath concept).

To improve my speech, I visited the King's Speech center for electrostimulation treatments, i went to speech therapists at Rebro hospital and to the Blaži Logo Center in Sesvete.

All these therapies really help my recovery, but at the same time they are extremely expensive. Also, every time we come to Zagreb we have to pay for our accommodation.

Thanks to good people, friends, known and unknown donors, associations and institutions that helped us during the years, my family and I have never been left to fend for ourselves. If that were the case, my battle for recovery would have been lost long ago.

In the past three years, I have made great progress. I am able to withhold myself in a upright position without assistance, and lately I have been able to get out of the wheelchair and take a few steps (still with the help of my parents or therapist, but we’ll sort that out, too). After years of silence and a lot of hard work, I am gradually starting to talk again. For now, I manage to articulate shorter and simpler words, but I am sure in time I will be that old chatterbox I used to be. Also, my right hand is getting better and better every day. I can hold a fork or a glass of water with it, and I use it to communicate with people via mobile phone or computer.

However, even though my condition is much better than it was before, there is still a long way for me to go until I fully recover.

To succeed in this, I need your help. Any amount, small or great, will help me win my battle, even sharing this information with your friends or family will do a lot.

I appreciate your help,

https://gogetfunding.com/svi-za-vecu-help-me-on-my-way-to-recovery/