2024-02-03 18:03:17
The fate of Quirin Mayer is touching. In 2013, the five-year-old from the hamlet of Jahn near Surberg (Traunstein district) became a seriously ill child almost overnight. Today the young man is in need of care and needs to be cared for around the clock. A friend has now started a support campaign. To transport the child, the mother needs a disabled-accessible vehicle and help with financing.
This is what happened: Quirin was born a little early in November 2007, but – it seemed – healthy. Until he was five years old, he developed like his peers, enjoyed going to the nearby forest kindergarten and generally enjoyed being outside. In February 2013 he became ill. What began as a normal flu-like infection quickly became so extreme that the boy’s organs and entire brain became life-threateningly inflamed. He was put into an induced coma. When he woke up again, he couldn’t do anything. “Quirin was also mentally no longer in our world,” says his mother, Sabine Mayer (52).
But the boy fought his way back – after a year full of treatments, rehabilitation measures and therapeutic work, the parents were hopeful that Quirin would find his way back to a normal everyday life. Although he suffered from epilepsy since the illness, he was able to speak quite well again, eat alone and go to the kindergarten at the Special Education Center (HPZ) in Ruhpolding without a wheelchair.
Metabolic disease mitochondriopathy
Despite intensive collaboration with renowned clinics, the doctors initially failed to provide a concrete diagnosis. Only when fate struck again in February 2014 did the experts figure it out: Quirin became ill again and showed the same symptoms as a year before. However, a rota virus made matters worse. He fought for survival for weeks. And this time he never recovered. Quirin is 100 percent severely disabled and can no longer do anything himself.
The doctors found out: The boy suffers from a metabolic disease called mitochondriopathy, a disease of certain cell structures, the mitochondria. They are like the “power plants of the cell” and normally supply every cell in the body with energy. This is not the case with those who are sick: some have only mild symptoms, others suffer from severe damage to the muscles and nervous system. The disease cannot be cured; only symptoms can be treated. With Quirin, every infection triggers crises in the body.
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The parents were certain. For her it was now time to learn to deal with the diagnosis and the new reality of life. Quirin requires around-the-clock care and monitoring because of his severe epileptic seizures. He cannot move and needs to be stored, changed and mobilized during the day. The 16-year-old is fed through a tube. He can only eat very little himself. But he reacts when spoken to and can also say a few words himself.
Care by mother Sabine
During the week, Quirin is in the HPZ from morning to afternoon. When he comes home in the late afternoon, his mother Sabine takes over the care. At home in Jahn there is an annex suitable for disabled people with a therapy room, bathroom and bedroom. At weekends, a nurse supports the mother with care. She has been alone for some time and the relationship could not withstand the stress of everyday life. But Sabine doesn’t complain, doesn’t argue. She is a cheerful, tough woman who tries to master life as best as possible for herself and her child – as a single parent and working. A small but close environment of family and friends gives her the support she needs. And also her son, who despite everything is “a really happy person,” as she says with a loving look at her child.
But now Sabine Mayer is reaching her limits – physically and financially. That’s why a friend asked for help. The small family needs a vehicle that is accessible to disabled people because mom Sabine can hardly manage to lift the boy – now 16 years old, around 1.50 meters tall and weighs around 50 kilograms – into the car. At the same time, she is dependent on a car. She wants to buy a converted minibus. But she is missing a good 45,000 euros. Having a disabled-accessible vehicle would not only make everyday life easier for the mother-son team. It would also be easier to participate in social life.
DONATION ACCOUNT
Sabine Mayer has set up a donation account for her son at the Kreissparkasse Traunstein-Trostberg: Quirin Mayer, IBAN DE84 7105 2050 0040 3152 77. A fundraising campaign is also running at gofundme.com (Quirin).
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