What happened?
“We all have two lives. The second begins when we realize we only have one.” - Tom Hiddleston
Jan's second life began on the afternoon of June 22, 2024. In a recreational accident he injured two cervical vertebrae, which required life-saving surgery. The spinal injuries led to incomplete paraplegia, which significantly limited his sensory and motor skills. Since then, Jan has been dependent on full-time care. This incision marked the beginning of the greatest challenge of his life - medically, physically and emotionally. The accident happened at a time full of anticipation: Jan and his great love Madalena were about to get married, a celebration with family and friends from all over the world. Instead of celebrating the best time of their lives, everything changed from one moment to the next.
Life-saving surgery after the accident
After the life-saving surgery at Westküstenklinikum Heide, Department of Trauma Surgery and Orthopaedics, Jan spent weeks in intensive care, connected to numerous machines. He couldn’t move, speak, or eat — not even breathe on his own. Jan describes that time as being “trapped in his own body,” without the ability to express himself. His only way to communicate was a simple letter board that he used with great effort.
Dark hours - bright moments
From intensive care in Heide, Jan was transferred to Halle - to the ICU at the Center for Spine Surgery at BG Klinikum Bergmannstrost Halle. The first weeks there were dark: the doctors offered little hope for improvement, he remained on artificial nutrition, and the side effects of psychiatric medication pushed Jan to his emotional limits. Jan wasn’t only fighting his body — he was also fighting fear, pain, and despair.
But he didn’t give up. Step by step, he learned to breathe on his own again, and with the help of a tracheostomy tube he was able to speak again and eat solid food. Nights were shaped by neuropathic pain that barely let him sleep. Fear and despair remained constant companions. Over time, however, there were also glimmers of hope. On the spinal cord unit, he received an electric wheelchair with chin control.
For the first time, this allowed him to leave the bed, his room, and the ward - if only for a while - to feel fresh air, sunlight, and a small sense of new freedom.
After seven months of hard work, he regained substantial control over his left arm - strong enough to switch the wheelchair from chin control to hand control. Leg movements also began to return slowly: training devices that had previously been moved only by machines were now being powered by his own muscle strength.
High goals and inner drive
From Halle, Jan moved on to Kreischa — to Klinik Bavaria Kreischa / Zscheckwitz, a renowned rehabilitation clinic. A new chapter began there, shaped by intensive occupational and physiotherapy, targeted training, and small but meaningful progress again and again. And not only that: Jan was also gifted precious moments outside the clinic — trips to a nearby park, to cafés, and even a small birthday celebration with family and friends in a restaurant.
In his new life, it was above all these moments of closeness with the people he loves that gave him courage, confidence, and renewed strength.
His strong inner drive has been — and still is — his greatest motivator. Since the accident, he has set the highest goals for himself. Sometimes that high bar leads to disappointment when the pace doesn’t meet his expectations. But disappointed expectations can also release new energy — and so Jan keeps striving for the maximum in his rehabilitation. During his time in Halle, Jan reached milestones that doctors would never have predicted for him after his diagnosis.
After about five months of intensive rehab, the time had come for a major step on the path into his new life: moving into his own apartment — out of the clinic routine and into a life with more self-determination.
