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The disaster, when little Karen was brutally bitten by her grandparents’ dog more than a year ago, shocked many who learned of this tragic event. From the physical consequences, the boy is still guided by the help of Lithuanian and foreign doctors, and his inner strength – to look at the world again with safer eyes, he discovered in a new occupation.
A cautious step
Thinking back, when a new activity appeared in her son’s life, Karen’s returning mother Catherine said that she had received the latest offer quite unexpectedly. “Evaldas Petrauskas’s wife contacted me and offered Karen to attend a non-contact boxing training. I said I don’t know what to answer because I have to consult the doctors. You know, I was scared, because boxing is not chess,” he opened the woman.
However, after informing doctors about the idea in November last year, their approval was obtained to allow the boy to attend this type of training. As soon as he took the last step, Jekaterina did not hide, she dared to ask the boy if he would like to brighten up his daily routine with boxing training. “I showed him Evaldas’ video on the Olympics YouTube channel and asked him, ‘Bunny, would you like to give it a try?’ When he saw it, he immediately said, “Yes, mother, yes!” Catherine said.
When she heard the positive emotions welling up in her son’s voice, the woman opened up: At first she was still worried about how Karen might re-enter social life and adjust after the painful disaster. However, soon this last emotion disappeared when the child’s mother heard the words of E. Petrauskas: the child’s training, which will help him to become psychologically stronger, will be individual. Evaldas said: “We will get over it, he will get stronger, he will start to have confidence in himself, all fears will gradually disappear,” the woman recalled.
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Fatal advance
The fact that this promise is bearing fruit, Ekaterina said, was felt very early, less than a month later. After the disaster, when in March 2020 the dog severely bit the child’s back, chest, one side of the face and both ears, one up to the drum and the other part, Karen’s mother parted her hair for a while to avoid it. lose your ears and make the child less worthy. Painful stares from passersby. However, when the boy began to attend individual boxing trainings, a decisive blow occurred.
One night she cried sadly, holding on to her hair and saying, “Mom, I’m not a girl, I’m bored!” I felt like I was drenched in cold water because my son hadn’t even hinted that his long hair was bothering him.
“One night he cried sadly, holding onto her hair and saying, ‘Mom, I’m not a girl, I’m bored!'” I felt like I was drenched in cold water because my son hadn’t even hinted that his long hair was bothering him. I felt her determination and the fact that she was not afraid. I say, “Bunny, I didn’t know. Just tell me, we’ll do whatever you want,” Jekaterina lamented, sharing the details of the delicate moments.
“It just came to our knowledge then. I’m a boy!” Karen repeated to her mother, crying bravely. “I immediately shared this with E. Petrauskas, saying: ‘I don’t know what you did, but your son thought about cutting his hair. He is not afraid! “For me it was proof that the boy did not want to hide,” the interlocutor opened.
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A special connection
“It seemed to me that God himself had sent Evaldas to us, because he was confusing my son, who at that moment was confused, scared of everything and distrustful – they went to buy boxing gloves together, they chose tooth protectors, bandages … Time passed with the coach, communication, “the concern – it was quite a complex of help,” said the boy’s mother sensitively.
At first, Karen attended individual boxing training twice a week, but then she asked the trainer to meet more often, three times, and the boy’s wish was fulfilled. E. Petrauskas, Jekaterina said, told Karen that they would get together to play sports as much as the boy wanted.
“When contact training was not possible due to the quarantine, they played sports on the Zoom platform five times a week until April this year. Then he wanted Karen to take a break before flying to an ear reconstruction operation in Germany, where in June, when doctors opened the chest, they formed the silhouette of the ear of a still injured child, “said Jekaterina.
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After each training, the boy at home ran, although he was sweaty and exhausted, the joy and smiles on his face were abundant.
“It just came to our attention then. When Karen asked for more, I told Evaldas that I was not happy not to pay for the classes because she was sacrificing her personal time for my son’s training. However, Evaldas immediately categorically interrupted those speeches of mine, saying: “I will be there, I will work with Karen, we will achieve everything, everything will be fine. You think only of yourself, take care of other issues”, – the interlocutor recalled the words of E. Petrauskas.
A painful subject – aside
“Karen came to the first training session at the sports club shyly, but with burning eyes. We started to move forward. I didn’t mean to say that there are scars left after the dog bite, because I don’t care, we came here to make ourselves stronger. We talked, we made friends, we played sports. The boy liked it very much ”, the first meeting with Karen was remembered by the Lithuanian boxer, Olympic medalist E. Petrauskas, who left amateur boxing a couple of years ago.
Talking about the changes that took place after a while, the man seconded his young mother: Karen cut her hair and emphasized that she wanted to be like a coach. The scars left by the disaster became irrelevant to the boy, whether or not they were, the boy, according to E. Petrauskas, still felt strong.
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“In my trainings with students, I always try to talk about the most positive topics possible: how to achieve a goal, not give up, be strong. Karen and we do not get into personal life issues. We spend time together in a meaningful way. I even heard what happened to him, I saw that it was a painful subject for the child, so we talked mostly about boxing ”, the interlocutor opened.
We spend time together in a meaningful way. I didn’t even hear what happened to him, I saw that it was a painful subject for the boy, so we talked mostly about boxing.
Now, after the aforementioned ear reconstruction surgery in Germany, the boxing training for the boy does not take place, but as soon as everything breaks down and it is possible to continue them, Karen will meet again with her coach to play sports and strengthen not only physically but also psychologically.
Lives saved
“When I remember having my only son in my hands without a half face, words fail me to say what I felt at that moment,” said the boy’s mother a few days after last year’s disaster.
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On the fateful day of March 22, 2020, doctors in the capital fought the best they could for the life of Karen, who was still eight years old at the time. The dog severely bit the boy’s back and chest. One side of the face was also injured: part of the eyelid was lost and one ear was chewed until reaching the drum. The other side of her face remained almost intact, but Karen also lost the other part of her ear. Doctors managed to preserve his eyes and sight.
He couldn’t look at himself
A year after the disaster, in March 2021, the boy underwent another major operation.
“This time the eye surgery was even more complicated. After it, the son’s pain was relieved by the anesthesia that still continued during the day, but tortured in the afternoon and at night. We returned home from the hospital on Wednesday, relieving pain with ice or medicine throughout the day. The stitches are endless. They were covered with postoperative patches. During tying, they were all ripped off. Oh my God … I don’t know how Karen endured, “Jekaterina lamented, telling about another plastic operation on the injured dog’s eye during the event at the Vilnius Santara clinics.
Before he was done, the nine-year-old envelope had completely fallen into his eye. Although there were no predictions that this would happen, when the sutured tissues began to heal, the scars contracted and the muscle measured the eyelid inward. To make it rise again, the plastic surgeon transplanted the mucosa, taking it from another part of the child’s body.
“It just came to our knowledge then. Mucous membrane sewn into the outer corner of the eye, very noticeable, covering the eyeball. The doctor said that a bubble of fluid had formed, but that it should disappear soon. But so far the picture It’s scary. Karen can’t look at herself again, “this time the interlocutor opened.
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Ear reconstruction surgery
On June 16, 2021, Karen and her mother flew to Germany, where a child’s ear reconstruction operation took place, which lasted more than six hours.
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Surgeons – prof. Ralph Siegert and Alexander Canysev did a double job of reconstructing and shaping the right ear from the three ribs of the cartilage on the right side and transplanting the tissue from the inside of the cheek to the eyelid of the right eye. Now the child’s ears are made of cartilaginous tissue: its silhouette is under the skin. If the cartilage is attached and covered with blood vessels, doctors will separate the cartilage from the skull, lay the skin over it, and only then form the outer ear of the child.
“At first, Karen didn’t hurt anything because the drugs were working. However, at night, when the effects of the anesthesia subsided, hellish pain began that lasted for three days. At night, he screamed and screamed in pain. All I could do was hold the son by the hand. On my knees, I cried together, “Jekaterina opened in June.
After the three hardest days, when the boy had the most open chest pain during surgery, a slightly milder period followed. Although the pains were still relieved with medication, they became bearable and after four days almost disappeared.
Like crystal
When Karen was released from the hospital, she visited surgeons who operated on her three more times. “When we arrived for the last time and the son said goodbye to the doctors, he just flourished. And if before you had to ask Karen to agree to take a picture, this time, when I wanted to take a picture with the woman who invited us and played us, the son ran to get into the me ”, Jekaterina was happy this time. .
The minor must visit specialists in Germany more than once. Three more surgeries are planned to restore the ears. The next one is scheduled for September 29. “Doctors will perform exactly the same operation, only this time to open the chest and form the cartilage of the left ear on the left side of the ribs,” the boy’s mother opened.
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The woman added that until then, Karen has to be very careful with her right ear that has already been operated on. “You can’t lie on the right side at all, you have to be careful with any blow, tie it up every day, lubricate it with grease. My son is like a crystal now, ”he said.
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