By Olga Janaszek - Serafin | Project Leader
John is 70 years old. He has suffered a stroke and has been deaf since birth. He lived in the center of Ladek Zdroj, next to the market, by the old bridge. He lived alone, prepared his own food, and went to town in an electric wheelchair. His sister visited him every few days, brought him groceries and helped clean up.
When the flood tide was going, John was alone in the house. He lay in bed, covered himself with a quilt and waited for death.... His sister ran to him at the last minute. They pulled him out of the house, and a few minutes later the water took all his belongings, tore out the wall of the house, took the bridge.
John is most worried that the water took away his electric wheelchair, on which he used to go from his house to the city. All documents also floated away. His sister took only 2 packages of diapers and his ID card. Nothing else...
John is now safe. At the Foundation, we surrounded him with care, made the first purchases - toiletries, clothes, tried to get duplicates of other documents.
John has a great trauma, he lost everything. The most important thing now is medical care. He already lives in one of our apartments, receives rehabilitation and care from assistants.
* * *
The worst floods to hit Central Europe in recent times have caused extensive damage to Poland, the region's main economy.
Thousands of people have been evacuted in Poland, including the personnel and patients of a hospital in the town of Nysa. Roads have been badly disrupted and train traffic was suspended in many parts of the country.
“Please evacuate your belongings, yourselves, your loved ones. It is worth getting to the top floor of the building immediately, because the wave may be several metres high. This means that the whole town will be flooded,” Nysa Mayor Kolbiarz wrote a few days ago. (source: BBC.com)
Take a look at the photos - they show the tragedy of the people who lost the possessions of a lifetime.
https://www.reuters.com/pictures/pictures-poland-begins-cleanup-after-historic-flooding-2024-09-20/
Watch this CNN-news video, which shows the Polish Army's involvement in helping the affected areas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdTsVLn6VMM
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