“The most important thing is to be healthy” – that’s what all parents want. That was not awarded to the Styrian Alexander Kruschinski. But his family remains strong to this day — with the help of the children’s hospice team.
Karin and Christian Kruschinski are always joking and laughing. Enjoy the day in Graz in lovely summer weather. However, the reason for their trip from Fehring to the capital is not funny. Karin and Christian’s son, Alexander, passed away in February. He was 16 years old and suffered from lissencephaly, a genetic defect. “As a baby, he just seemed ignorant to me at first. He didn’t look at us,” says Karin Kruschinski. “The first attacks came after two months.”
It soon becomes clear: Alexander is severely handicapped. “We didn’t know if he saw us, but he heard and felt us.” – “Returning the wheelchair was fun for him,” says Christian Kruschinski. “He first smiled when he was three years old.”
“Life is suddenly very different”
Doctors can not predict how long Alexander will live. Two months, two years, ten years – anything is possible. “The healthy child dies in thought when one experiences something like this. The life you imagine is suddenly different. No more lawyers in suits.”
When Alex is ten or eleven years old, the Kruschinskis get help from the mobile children’s hospice team. Not an easy step, explains Karin. “At first I didn’t even dare to look in the corner of the hospice. For me that meant: in three months he will be dead.” Of the 179 children taken in by the mobile teams in Styria, only five died last year.
Yet one has to confront death, says Christian: “The boy precedes us. We knew that.” – ‘And then you need a net to catch you,’ adds his wife.A plan before the situation becomes acute.
“The last step is easy”
Finally, on a Monday in February, the Kruschinskis got into an acute situation. “It was amazing how everything went so well that day. The hospice team came 15 minutes before it happened. They conveyed: you don’t have to be afraid. The road to death sucks, but the last step is easy.” The family said goodbye. At Alex’s school, the kids then decorated his wheelchair ramp with candles and flowers.
“Sorrow Like a Cloud”
Since then, the Kruschinskis have rearranged their lives. “It was an intense time for the family,” Christian says. “You take care of someone for 16 years and then you are suddenly practically unemployed.”
The hospice team continues to care for the couple and provide psychological assistance. “The sadness keeps coming back like a rain cloud,” says Karin. She tells candidly about her story. Nobody needs taboos. Very good, but an open ear – or a little humor.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
