Hanging on for dear life

On March 7th, Bogdan Cretu, a gymnast from CSS Brasov was paralyzed from the neck down. A timer dismount from p-bars, and a missed landing resulted in an injury that changed the 16 year-old's life. Bogdan fell on his head and fractured his C3 and C4 vertebras in his neck. His first words after the accident were "Don't tell my parents!" Later on, the doctors' diagnosis shocked everyone. Bogdan didn't have any feeling in his body. He was paralyzed from the neck down. His mouth was the only thing he could move. His parents took him to Bucharest where he underwent successful surgery. He remained in the hospital for a month and a half, with a head brace, and his mother, Catrina, alongside.

After leaving the hospital, Bogdan and his mother went to a rehab center in Mangalia, a seaside resort. After two grueling moths of rehab, he is now able to stand in a wheelchair and move him arms, and body. He also has feeling in his legs now, but he is still unable to move them. After 6 months spent in hospitals and rehab centers, he returned home on September 15th, when his classmates started school. "We're home, and my son's in high spirits now", says his mother. Being home is clearly the best medicine for the boy, who looks a lot better since coming back. "Home is the best place to be. When I came back, I was ready to cry tears of joy. It's true I left home on my own two feet, and came back in a wheel chair, but hopefully, and God willing, I'll recover", adds Bogdan.

Bogdan watches TV, laying on the living room couch. Whenever he wasn't to get up, he asks his mother to help. He is taking everything in stride, and he never complained during our (the reporters') stay. His room has been transformed in a gym, with a rib stall installed next to the wall, and other equipment hanging by the door, or next to his bed. "Not a day goes by without him doing his rehab exercises. He is very determined, and that's why he's making progress. His club coach comes and helps out," says Bogdan's father. Their mailbox has been flooded since the first publishing of the story. "We always get letters. Some of them send us icons, and prayer books, saying God is the only one who can cure Bogdan, and we feel the same way", explains Catrina Cretu. Bogdan's parents would like to sent him to a rehab center in another country, "but no one from the RGF wants to help us. They simply forgot all about us. It seems there are more and more athletes getting seriously injured, especially in gymnastics. This should give the people in Bucharest (RGF officials) something to think about", concluded Bogdan's father.

Bogdan received an old computer to help him learn how to move his fingers again, since the story was published. His family also opened a bank account in his name at BCR (Romanian Commercial Back) Brasov. The account number is 459005332401.

If anyone who reads this would like to donate money to Bogdan Cretu's bank account, please e-mail me.

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