Wheelchair Tennis
„I was looking for something as dynamic as football where I could show my competitiveness."
Life in Motion:
Since I was very young I hadn’t stopped for a second. Motion was in my blood and I didn’t spend a day without running or chasing the ball. Physical performance meant an absolute self-fulfillment to me. The crash took from me what I saw as the most important thing at that time. After waking up from three weeks in coma they took me to the rehabilitation center in Kovacova. I couldn’t even imagine how I was supposed to recover. I was tied to the bed, I could sit for about 10 minutes in a wheelchair and I didn’t move my right arm at all.
The endless questioning about why did I even wake up was mixing with the daily dose of self-pity and pessimism.
After coming back home I was going through a waiting period. My parents had to adjust the house to my needs and I was spending most of my time upstairs slowly awakening. I was trying to exercise but the progress was slow. However, with every inch I improved, I wanted to improve two more and my willingness to do something about my situation.
It wasn’t easy because sometimes when I exercised I didn’t improve at all. But, I kept reassuring myself that if exercised I at least felt better. The more I was able to tire myself from exercise, the more I wanted to do it. The huge amount of support I was receiving from my parents kept reassuring me that there is a point of trying to push forward and fighting with myself.
When I got strong enough to be ready to move to the next level I met with the people from Slovak Paralympic Committee and from the Slovak Association for the physically disabled and we started to search for the right activity for me. I tried hand bike, table tennis, shooting… and some more.
I have never played tennis in my entire life but the physicality and the overall challenge this sport posed I decided to play it. At the beginning I played with my mother, and I had to tie a racket to my hand with a belt. I played every day for two years and eventually I made it to the national team.
It has been 14 years, I won 160 trophies and travelled a large chunk of the world because of this sport.
Sport brought me back to life.
After the car accident the doctors themselves told me that if I hadn’t been playing a sport my body wouldn’t be able to handle such a shock. I wouldn’t survive. Even the recovery was going faster because of the countless hours I invested in the sport in past. It is not sure that I would even wake up from coma without the physical preparedness that I got from football.
Being able to move has opened my mind even more. After my desire to be able to physically do things was satisfied, more desires arose.
Working in an international trading company was something I didn’t even dare to dream about. I met my wife and we are raising our two beautiful children together.
I would like to thank for the support and trust of the companies and organizations that support me
Sport, my beloved activity has saved my life and brought me back to “normal.”
Despite the difficult beginnings I myself am a proof that everything is possible. Not all of us are the same and not everything is the best fit for each one of us. We need to get advice, try, and choose.
But if we decide to do something then we need to search for solutions instead of limitations.
First step to move forward is to accept something. We need to stop looking back and wondering why did it all happen. The best way to start climbing towards a goal is to accept the journey and adjust to its course. Eventually, if we are patient enough, we will find the course that suits us and begin the journey to fulfilling life with smile.
If you are battling a certain handicap, or unwillingness to grow personally, or if something that happened in the past still bothers you contact me and together we will figure out how to move forward.
What do I do