Berlin – Elena Krawzow showed up in her hospital room in the Berlin Charité with a smile and a colorful bouquet of flowers in her hand. There was a larger plaster on her head. “I’m awake again and I’m very, very good! The operation went very well. My genius doctor thinks he was able to remove everything, ”said the 28-year-old Paralympics winner after her severe operation in the left upper hemisphere.
“I don’t have any neurological deficits and I feel better and happier than ever before. That makes me very happy. I’m fit, ”wrote Krawzow on Instagram. She thanked her fans for “keeping my fingers crossed, it was definitely worth it”.
On Tuesday, Krawzow married her long-time friend and trainer Phillip Semechin (36) near Berlin. “He should simply have full powers if something does happen.” But everything went well during the tricky operation on Wednesday.
Two weeks ago, the visually impaired swimmer, who had won gold over the 100 m chest in Tokyo, was diagnosed with shock. After dizzy spells and headaches, a tumor was found. This turned out to be a “diffuse astrocytoma with WHO classification 2”, reported Krawzow. Diffuse means that there is no sharp demarcation from the surrounding brain tissue.
But even before the operation, Krawzow had reported “with good news”: “The tumor is probably benign, there is a prospect of a complete cure. First of all, I’m happy about this news, because I can and will live. ”However, what was critical about the operation was that brain regions in which the centers for personality or motivation are located could have been damaged during the tumor removal. The athlete, who also became world champion in London in 2019, has had Stargardt’s disease since childhood.
On Thursday, a number of fans as well as Berlin athletes and coaches responded with relieved and encouraging messages in the social network. The swimmer has gained a lot of attention through her aggressive handling of her diagnosis.
The election for Berlins Champions begins on November 5th
Thanks to her gold medal, which she won at the Paralympics in Tokyo in the summer, she was already one of the favorites in the election for Berlin’s athletes of the year. From Friday, November 5th, Berliners are called upon to vote for their Champions 2021 again. In addition to ten athletes, ten teams and coaches were nominated by the Berlin media. You can vote online until November 21st – on the Berliner Zeitung website or at www.champions-berlin.de.