A serious leg injury and a series of unsuccessful surgeries have forced Sviatlana out of normal life. She needs support for rehabilitation so that she can walk normally again.
I fell off a bicycle and fractured my femur. I had surgery and a titanium pin was inserted. I hoped everything would follow the usual course: recovery, crutches, and then I would start walking again. But later it turned out that a serious mistake had been made during the surgery. My leg was fixed in such a way that my foot was turned inward by 52 degrees. In addition, the injured leg became approximately five centimetres longer than the healthy one.
The doctor said that everything would correct itself once I started walking. I believed him — in a situation like this, you really want to believe. I spent five months on crutches and could not work normally or live my usual life. When I finally started walking on my own, things did not get any easier. Another doctor explained that I had severe rotational deformity and that the leg would have to be broken again. If left as it was, the joints could wear out within a couple of years.
It was very difficult to hear that. I waited about a year for the second surgery under Poland’s NFZ public health insurance, but even after it, the problem did not completely go away. The leg-length discrepancy remained — approximately one and a half centimetres. The rotation was corrected almost “by eye,” and it still remained at the limit of what is considered acceptable. I continued to limp. My back, sacrum, knee, and neck hurt; there was a constant feeling that my body was misaligned, and every day I had to endure it.
Another year passed after the second surgery. I consulted a private doctor, and he referred me for surgery again. In March 2026, I underwent my third surgery. I can walk now, but I still have pain and a tilted pelvis due to muscle asymmetry. A long period of rehabilitation lies ahead: I need to work with specialists, build up muscle mass, learn to move correctly, and gradually return my body to its usual level of physical activity. After a long break and several surgeries, this does not happen by itself. You cannot simply tell yourself: “Get up and walk.”
Over these years, I have spent all my savings. The business I was involved in essentially fell apart: I simply did not have the strength to continue. My life narrowed down to hospitals, paying for treatment, and trying to get through each day. My mental health also suffered — I am currently taking antidepressants. I have developed a feeling of helplessness that is very difficult to cope with.
To understand how I ended up in Poland and why my story began long before the injury, we need to go back to 2020. After taking part in protests, I left Belarus in 2021. I initially lived in Ukraine and participated in volunteer initiatives, and ten days before Russia’s invasion, I left for Poland.
When the war began, I volunteered on the Polish side: I travelled to the border and helped people fleeing the war. Once, I was even evicted from an apartment because I had brought refugees there: a family with children and two cats. At the time, I thought that was the most difficult period. But after my bicycle accident, my life became focused for a long time on pain, treatment, and waiting for things to improve.
My partner supports me now, but I want to recover and live independently again: to walk normally, work, and not wake up every day thinking that I cannot cope.
I am asking for help to get through rehabilitation after my injury and surgeries. I need sessions with specialists, procedures, muscle strengthening, medication, trips to doctors, and basic support while I learn to walk normally again.
Fundraising goal
€2000
€1200 – rehabilitation, sessions with specialists, and restorative procedures
€800 – medication, medical examinations, and consultations with doctors