"I'm not giving up!" says Nela, who lost an arm in a car accident going home from the Baruvas meeting of Romani students in the Czech Republic this summer

The accident happened on Thursday, 29 August. The students were cleaning up the cottage where they had been staying in the Jizera Mountains, because the 23rd Baruvas meeting of Romani students was over. A bus brought them to the train station that morning so they could return to Prague, from where they would travel on to their homes. One small group was taking the train to Ústí nad Labem. Nela was meant to join them, but she changed her mind. “I had a heavy suitcase with me and I didn’t want to drag it to the train, so I asked my Mom to pick me up in Prague. She agreed and drove there,” Nela recalled.

The seconds that turned her life upside down

The tragic car accident subsequently changed the young student’s life forever. “I fell asleep on the way home, but I was suddenly awoken by my aunt shouting, she was with us in the car together with my six-year-old brother. I saw my mother braking sharply, but we were traveling on the highway at about 110 km/h. A truck in front of us had unexpectedly begun stopping in the middle of the highway because one of its tires had burst. There was absolutely no warning and unfortunately we couldn’t come to a stop in time,” she recalls that fateful moment.

Nela was in the front seat next to her mother, who was driving, and the experience was immeasurably traumatizing. “The right side of our car smashed into the truck, right where I was sitting. I recall every detail. When I opened my eyes, I lifted my head up and saw my arm had been torn off. I began shouting in shock, but I knew I had to stay calm and not lose consciousness. I began to pray. I heard my mother crying and shouting, which affected me most of all,” Nela says with tears in her eyes.

Next, Nela had to wait what seemed like forever for the ambulance to arrive. “It seemed an eternity that we were waiting for help. It was just minutes, but through that pain and all that fear it seemed endless to me. Three nurses and other people came to assist, got me out of the car and gave me first aid. My final memory of that day is them carrying me on a stretcher while I heard my mother weeping,” Nela recalls the moments immediately following the accident.

Nela: I want to keep studying and become a make-up artist

Nela woke up in intensive care in Prague the next day at the Vinohrady Hospital. “It was an enormous shock for me. I can’t even descripe what I felt at that moment. The only thing I knew was that from now on, my life would be different and difficult, both physically and psychologically. It would be hard not just for me, but also for my loved ones. I wanted so much to be well and back home – on top of everything else, it happened just after my birthday. I would give anything for this horrible accident to have never happened. When I saw the photos of the car, I could not comprehend how I survived,” the 17-year-old student described her feelings.

Despite her physical and psychological difficulties, Nela wants to continue her studies and dedicate herself to her passion for cosmetics and make-up. “I’m not giving up, I want to keep studying, to become a make-up artist, to dedicate myself to my hobbies, to do sports, to go out and live a normal life like I did before,” she says with determination, even though she knows it will be quite difficult.

“I want to show young people there is no reason big enough for them to give up. Everything can always work out if you actually want it to and if you have support around you,” says Nela, who told her heavy story to more than 100 Romani students on 1 November 2024 during ROMEA’s ceremony to award scholarship certificates.

Collection for a bionic arm to restore Nela’s independence

Štefan Balog, manager of ROMEA’s scholarship program, recalls the first moments after he learned 17-year-old Nela had been in a serious accident. “I was in absolute shock that even after such a serious accident, somebody could be in such a positive frame of mind,” Balog says, who was moved by Nela’s approach to the accident and her determination not to give up hope. “I thought about how I would have behaved in her situation – I would have likely stayed home and hidden from people. Nela said: ‘No, I want to come to the ceremony, I want to tell my story, I want to keep living and doing sports’.”

Despite the great change to her life that the loss of her arm represents for this young student, Nela remains determined to live a full-fledged life. “She just wants to be successful,” Balog describes with admiration. Nela has created an individual plan at her school and intends to resume attending instruction.

The ROMEA organization has decided to announce a collection to purchase a bionic arm so that Nela can live without limitations once more. Such an arm will make it possible for her to perform regular activities. “We want to aid Nela with purchasing a fully bionic arm that will make it possible for her to live without any hindrances,” Balog explains, calling on the public to support her. “I would like to call on you all to contribute whatever you can. Our aim is to assist Nela to return to normal life as soon as possible because she is a brilliant example of how you can keep playing even when life shuffles the cards against you.”

The collection is open on the Znesnáze21 platform and its aim is to raise CZK 1.5 million [EUR 60,000] to cover the cost of a bionic prosthesis and aid Nela with regaining her necessary independence.

A special bionic prosthesis will make it possible for Nela to perform regular, everyday activities and also to continue with her dream of a career in the cosmetics industry. However, Nela’s family now has to come to terms with the high cost not just of this special prosthesis, but also the other costs of her rehabilitation and treatment.

“I thank everybody who is aiding me and standing by me. Without your support I couldn’t do this,” Nela tells all her donors and the people who are assisting her.