Huci Update

Federal coach Anca Grigoras, Deva coaches Lili Cozma and Maria Micu, and club doctor Sanda Mocea were gathered on the steps of Timisoara County Hospital over the week-end, talking about Alexandra Huci’s progress. The gymnast had been brought to the hospital on Wednesday in critical condition. “She barely even had time to enter the gym and told me she’s feeling sick. She was dizzy and wanted to vomit. I sent her to the doctor’s office right away. You know the rest,” said Alexandra’s coach Lili Cozma, who looked like she hadn’t slept in the past few days.

Anca Grigoras heard about what happened when she was coming back to Romania. “I was at a European Gymnastics Union meeting, held in Italy. I still had a few kilometers to drive before entering Romanian territory, when I heard the shocking news. I went to Deva right away and the came to Timisoara. We spent the whole night Wednesday taking turns at her bedside,” said the federal coach, obviously still affected by everything she’s seen. Two gymnastics coaches from Timisoara Maria Tomceanu and Marcel Benea also came to the hospital and asked about Alexandra. “This will get harder once her parents will arrive. We’re waiting for them. Alexandra is originally from Ion Creangă, a village near Roman. Her parents left for Timisoara as soon as they were told. Poor things, they called us from every city they stopped in,” said Anca Grigoras.

The gymnast’s parents drove their car as fast as they could to get to Timisoara. Nothing else mattered to them. Maria and Vasile Huci are self-described simple people, who have major financial difficulties. They enrolled their daughter in gymnastics because they wanted her to do sports. She started gymnastics at Roman, but the talented gymnast soon moved on to Deva, where she made the club's team. The gymnast’s mother fainted when she got in front of the hospital. All the doctors and nurses who were around were moved by the mother’s almost desperate pain, who cried out “This can’t be! My little girl! What are you doing here?” as she was going in to visit her daughter. Her father was also deeply affected by seeing his daughter’s current condition. Alexandra’s mother did manage to tell us [Gazeta Sporturilor] a few things about her daughter. “She liked going to gymnastics class ever since she was little. She really liked Nadia Comaneci and wanted to be like her someday. We’re just simple people. We hardly have enough money. We would have liked to see her become a champion. Whenever we went to Deva, she was very happy.” Alexandra has an older sister and two brothers. “Her sister, who’s two years older than her, was also a gymnast at CSS Deva,” said coach Lili Cozma.

The doctors who work on her case aren’t optimistic about a possible recovery. Dr. Antoniu Brînzeu said she is “an unfortunate case. She was hospitalized with brain hemorrhage, when she was in a third degree coma. Despite performing surgical drainage, she is in critical condition. She is in a fourth degree coma right now. She’s developed serious heart problems. This is a very serious case. I don’t believe she can make it." Another doctor, who asked to remain anonymous confirmed Alexandra is already brain dead.

The gymnast’s story has attracted attention from several well-known figures, including ROC president Ion Tiriac, who called the Deva school asking about Huci’s condition. He offered one of his planes to transport the girl to a hospital in Germany, if her condition would improve enough to allow it. Sports secretary Nicolae Mărăsescu is also keeping up-to-date with the latest developments. Former gymnast Maria Olaru also got involved. Currently on vacation in Turkey, she made an urgent phone call to Romania, offering her apartment to Alexandra’s parents so they can have a place to stay in Timisoara.

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