Nine-year-old Rudolph was hit by a car. The boy survived, despite extremely severe injuries, but his treatment requires the support of the community

Author: Charity project “Green Lamp” in cooperation with the charity foundation BeOpen. The authors of the project are journalists Olga Avdeviča and Rita Troškina.

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Three children grow up in this family, Rudolph is the eldest. Mama Laima and Papa Kaspars are loving and wonderful parents. The tragedy that turned their lives upside down happened literally in one second – ambulance, police, resuscitation… It was like a horror movie that you want to rewind.

Rudolph was hit by a car in front of his family. The boy spent three and a half weeks in intensive care, enduring several complex head surgeries. After resuscitation, Rudolph was transferred to the Department of Neurology, where the boy spent another three and a half months. The recovery in the hospital did not go as quickly as we would have liked, Rudolph returned to intensive care with various complications. He was discharged home after spending four and a half months in the hospital, still in serious condition. In order to recover the functions important for his future life and reduce the consequences, Rudolf continues to receive a large amount of medication, is cared for 24/7 and receives possible rehabilitation in Latvia. But to make his recovery as successful as possible, Rudolph must continue his treatment at the neurological rehabilitation center HNRC in Haapsala, Estonia, and then go to the Schoen Clinic in Germany. There is no neurorehabilitation program in Latvia suitable for Rudolph’s current condition.

Required amount: 26,000 EUR

The donation phone 90006384 is open to support Rudolph until May 14. The cost of a call is 1.42 euros. The charity BeOpen has also opened a special donation account for Rudolph. No interest or commissions are deducted from the funds received in the account.

What happend?

The tragedy happened on Sunday, October 15, on the side of the Riga-Ventspils highway. The family was driving home from Talsie, where they visited their grandmother and attended a sports competition. Rudolph had until Monday to collect maple leaves for his visual arts class at school. On the way, the family decided to stop by the side of the road to pick leaves before it got dark.

The family planned to go read the pages together, but Rudolph hurriedly got out of the car first and, without waiting for the others, decided to run across the highway. Meanwhile, three-year-old brother Miķelis, six-year-old sister Anna and Rudolph’s parents hadn’t even had time to get out of the car. The parents did not have time to recover when Rudolph suddenly ran out onto the highway without noticing the car behind him, as a result of which the boy received a severe blow to the head with the car’s side mirror.

Rudolph has always been a very mobile and active child, so he was taught to be careful and observant – both in games, crossing the street, driving a bicycle and playing. In addition, Rudolph had excellent sportsmanship, he was very active and serious about basketball, and was even elected team captain. No one, even in their wildest dreams, could have imagined that such an accident could happen to everyone’s beloved Ružinė.

After the accident

Rudolph spent almost a month in intensive care.

During these three weeks, the parents shed many tears and the mother acquired a shade of gray hair.

Before Christmas, during Advent, the parents provided Rudolph with video and audio recordings from his friends and relatives or well-known sports personalities in Latvia: friends read Rudolph his favorite books, classmates drew the most heartfelt drawings, and family friends and relatives told about how much they love the boy and is waiting to enjoy the joys of winter together and play their favorite games.

In order to make Rudolph happy and to support his desire to fully wake up from the coma, live and be happy, the father appealed to the Latvian basketball team, and the athletes recorded a video for the boy with wishes for recovery and the desire to see Rudolph in the Olympic qualification games in Arena Riga. Kristaps Porziņgis, Dairis Bertāns, Artūrs Žagars, Andrejs Gražulis, etc. also sent heartfelt video greetings to Rudolph.

Rudolph plays basketball, but football is also close to his heart. Thanks to acquaintances outside Latvia, one of Rudolph’s Christmas gifts was a team shirt signed by the Inter Miami boys. Yes, Lionel Messi’s signature also adorns this shirt. The athlete knew exactly who he was signing this shirt for and that it would travel to Latvia. The parents add that probably every Latvian football fan would want such a shirt in his arsenal…

The Christmas period was difficult for Rudolph due to complications after a planned head surgery, but thanks to the neurosurgeons at BKUS, who create a complex solution by performing a repeat head surgery, the condition improved. In total, the boy underwent 5 head surgeries and skull manipulations in two and a half months, as well as an arm fracture operation and a skin graft operation to treat extensive bed rest.

At the end of February, Rudolph was discharged home as requiring special care and continuous care, meaning home rehabilitation and no further treatment.

How is Rudolph today

Rudolph is currently on disability with palliative care status because Rudolph has a tracheostomy and a gastrostomy. The family has moved away from Baloži, where they used to live, because their place of residence was on the fourth floor, and it would be impossible to carry a nine-year-old boy in a wheelchair up the stairs. And Rudolph also needed his own room – the previous nursery shared with his sister and brother was no longer a possibility.

The family found a suitable place to live in Krustkalni – a house with its own yard, birdhouses so that Rudolph could spend more time outside and the home was suitable for his needs – on the first floor, with wide doors, a sufficiently large bathroom and a separate room for Rudolph himself.

When we came to visit them, Rudolph was lying in his chair in the sun next to his grandmother, who visits the family as much as possible. He has a sensor attached to his finger that measures the amount of oxygen in his blood and shows his pulse. He has a tube around his neck connected to a probe that is inserted into his trachea. Due to facial injuries, the boy is unable to open his mouth, so he is fed through a tube inserted into his stomach through the front wall of his stomach. He has orthotics on his legs to prevent foot deformities.

Rudolph is now strong enough to start more intensive rehabilitation. There are special brain rehabilitation methods that are able to help the body form new neural connections after injuries, gradually regaining the lost functions.

Dream no. 22

When new uniforms were ordered for Rudolph’s basketball team, he chose the number 22 for his jersey – like the famous basketball player Jimmy Butler.

It is interesting that the athlete is an example in sports for Rudolph and a symbol of strength and perseverance.

But it seems that, even without knowing it, the athlete has also appealed to Rudolph because of his life story and attitude towards life, that is, at the age of 13, Jimmy Butler was kicked out of his home by his biological mother. He was homeless and living half-starved on the street. But he was determined to succeed at any cost and became one of the best basketball players of his generation.

Rudolph and his father even dreamed that one day they would play in the NBA.

On May 1, the organization Alley-oop Basketball PRO will hold a charity tournament for Rudolph in Mežapark to also collect funds for improving Rudolph’s health and quality of life. A basketball hoop is installed near the house. Taking Rudolph outside for fresh air, the parents position his wheelchair so that the boy can see the basket and his dream will give him strength. “He can’t say anything yet, but he understands everything,” say the parents. The fact that Rudolph sees, hears and
understands, has also been approved by the doctors, as Rudolf is able to use the alternative communication device “Toby”, for the need of which the parents have submitted an application to the VTPC “Vaivari” as a necessary technical aid, which can be purchased with the co-payment of the parents. As soon as there is a response that the technical aid has been allocated, it will be purchased immediately.

The little sister, six-year-old Anna, caresses her brother and reads her children’s books to him. The entire family has come together as a team with the ultimate goal of returning Rudolph to the fullest possible life. “We will do everything we can to help Rudolph. He will definitely succeed. He is our soul,” says mom.

Prayer to God

Rudolph’s mother Laima tries to find an explanation for what happened and to understand why such an ordeal has befallen them. The phrase of Jimmy Butler, Rudolph’s idol, is etched in Laima’s memory: “Don’t present my life story in such a way that people feel sorry for me. I hate it. Don’t feel sorry for me. These experiences have made me who I am. I am grateful to God for all the trials I have gone through,” was his response to reporters who asked him to tell about his
the hard way to success.

Laima prays to God every day, talks to Him.

“Rudolf is a very bright, naive and sincere person with an open, beautiful soul. Shortly before the accident, we went to the night market and he saw a homeless man sleeping on the street. Asked why he doesn’t go home to sleep.

I tell God my son has done nothing wrong, he has only made one mistake by running out on the road. Is that why he should be punished so cruelly?…”

Family request

“As a family we are asking for help because we are completely devastated, but no matter what, we have decided not to despair and move on. We are a family that loves, believes and is still full of hope,” the parents write in their request for help.

Lyma will soon run out of sick leave to take care of Rudolph. You should go back to work, but finding a caregiver-assistant for such a serious patient is practically impossible. Emotionally, it is not easy to return fully to work – even in my thoughts, because my thoughts are only about the possibilities of helping my son. The family with three children is supported by the father – he is a lawyer by profession and works in the field of marketing and communication.

Who needs funds

For Rudolph’s treatment at the neurological rehabilitation center HNRC in Haapsalu, Estonia, where he has just gone on April 29, and then to the Schoen Clinic in Germany in the summer.

Donation phone 90006384 running in support of Rudolph until May 14. The cost of a call is 1.42 euros. The charity BeOpen has also opened a special donation account for Rudolph. No interest or commissions are deducted from the funds received in the account.

Charitable foundation BeOpen
Reg. no. 50008218201
Account No. LV89 CBBR 1123 2155 00440
SWIFT code of the bank: CBBRLV22 (BluOr Bank AS)
The aim: Green lamp. Help for Rudolph Magur

The charity BeOpen has the status of a Public Benefit Organization (SLO), which gives donors the opportunity to receive income tax credits.

The “Green Lamp” charity project is created in cooperation with the BeOpen charity foundation. The authors of the project are journalists Olga Avdeviča and Rita Troškina.
If you need help, please contact us: [email protected], [email protected]

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