Mum – Magdalena

My name is Magdalena and I am Melanie and Alex’s mother. I come from Poland, but Germany has been our home for many years. I came here as a single mother with my then eleven-year-old daughter Wiktoria because I wanted to create a better future for her. Wiktoria is now an adult herself, married and the mother of four children. I started in Germany almost from nothing, without family nearby or a support network to rely on.

I first worked at the airport and later as a courier. Then I had a longer break from work: Melanie was born, and Alex arrived while I was on parental leave. I began my vocational training when Alex started kindergarten at the age of three and Melanie started primary school. I later completed the training and became a Medical Assistant. That path taught me independence, perseverance and how to rebuild and organise everyday life even under very difficult circumstances.

During my pregnancy with Alex, each new examination brought more difficult diagnoses. By the end of the pregnancy, doctors were not sure he would survive the birth. Alex, however, showed an extraordinary will to live from the very beginning.

Since then our life has moved between ordinary family life and a world of hospitals, operations, specialists and therapy. There were months in intensive care, moments of overwhelming fear and repeated times when we had to start again after another operation.

Today I work limited hours, raise two children and organise almost all of Alex’s medical care and rehabilitation. Specialist appointments, hospital stays, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, osteopathy, speech therapy, hippotherapy, hearing rehabilitation, rehabilitation camps, school and paperwork are part of our everyday life.

For years I tried to finance everything that could help Alex myself. Only with time did I understand that accepting help does not mean giving up independence. It means allowing other people to walk part of this road with us.

My greatest wish is for Alex to become as independent as possible. I also think about Melanie’s future. I do not want her brother’s entire life to automatically become her responsibility one day. That is why I am fighting today for the future of both my children.

My children are the greatest happiness in my life. Everything I do is driven by the hope that each of them will one day be able to follow their own path.