Elena Krawzow won gold over 100 meters breast at the Paralympics in Tokyo. The visually impaired swimmer suffers from a tumor in her head
Source: pa / dpa / Marcus Brandt
Swimmer Elena Krawzow won gold at the Paralympics in Tokyo. After the games, she was found to have a brain tumor. The 28-year-old accepts this fight with admirable strength. She will get married two days before the operation.
Et was probably the most emotional day in Elena Kravtsov’s life. Last Thursday, two days after her 28th birthday, the Paralympics winner had to go swimming to the Charité in Berlin. The doctors told the visually impaired athlete how she was doing after a tumor was found in her head a good two weeks ago.
The conversation lasted about half an hour. “Hurray, I can go on living! I’m so happy, but it will still be a tough fight and the next few months will be very difficult, ”said Krawzow about the picture.
Krawzow swims towards the gold medal in Tokyo
Quelle: pa / ATP photo age / Naoki Nishimura
She had known from the first examinations that the tumor was not category 1, i.e. not malignant and easily treatable. The only question left was whether it was category 2, 3 or 4. “Fortunately, it’s category 2,” said the swimmer, who has not been allowed into the water since the diagnosis, but who toiled in the weight room every day.
Before the operation, Krawzow got married
How does it go from here? “My friend Phillip and I want to get married on Monday. He should just have full powers if something happens, ”said Krawzow. On Tuesday it goes to the clinic, followed by the operation on Wednesday.
This November 3rd will be the beginning of the toughest fight of her life. “I have to stay in the intensive care unit for two days, probably a week in the hospital. And chemotherapy will probably start in November. “
Krawzow was voted Berlin’s Sportswoman of the Year 2019
Source: pa / dpa / Jörg Carstensen
The native Kazakh cannot avoid them. “The problem is that the tumor is diffuse. There is no clear distinction between healthy and diseased tissue. I’ve already been told that the tumor can come back again and again. From now on I have to live with this possibility, ”said Krawzow.
World Cup next June as a big goal
To remove the cherry-sized tumor located in the left anterior lobe of the brain, Krawzow, who won gold over 100 m breasts in Tokyo, sawed open her skull. After the procedure, it is screwed back on. The danger: “During the operation it can happen that cells are damaged that I could actually still need for my life. It could be that afterwards I am listless, not very motivated or always tired, ”said the gold medalist. She doesn’t even want to imagine: “The tumor was recognized in time. At first I thought the headache that I was getting worse came from the climate change between Tokyo and Berlin. But when things didn’t get better on vacation either, I went to the doctor. “
The swimmer is grateful that the tumor was recognized and that she has a great chance of a cure. “I live! I would accept all of this for that. I have one goal: the World Cup in Madeira in June 2022. I really want to get back in the water. ”
.