One second.
To the day, today: 10 months, or 43 Weeks, or 304 days, or 7296 hours, or 437,760 minutes, or 26,265,600 seconds ago.
26m+ of seconds ago, there was one second that changed Pádraig’s life. One second.
Since the Ford pickup truck hit him on Rt 6A on Cape Cod, he almost died several times. It’s because of his love of life, because of the love of his family and friends, doctors, therapists and nurses who cared for and about him, that he never stopped fighting the fight of his life. And that he is winning it!
The news, the really incredibly nice news from his room is that he had a full bath! Yes, a full bath. In his bed! It’s like a blow-up boat. They put it underneath of Pádraig, blew up the sides, filled it with water, and gave him a full bath! It was pure magic and really brilliant!
Today, I decided to celebrate (yes, I had to think about that one too). 10 months of the most incredible stubbornness, of not giving in, of not giving up, of ignoring what many people had declared the ‘reality’, the ‘likelihood’, the ‘hopelessness’. To hell with them, with all due respect. I don’t know anyone else (I am not biased!) who has touched so many lives in such a short time, who made such an impact on the world and the people around him almost beyond his own self, and who just never gives up, playing with a smile on his face against the odds (his friends would know more about that than he ever told me).
So, here is the message from Pádraig: Whatever you do. Never. Give. Up. – Ever.
Today’s German Music Tip
Fidl Kunterbunt, Der lange Atem (2012?).
Not all might like the (A) sign and association – but what the heck! I never heard about Fidl before I started to look for a song that would go with today’s blog, and I really do like the verse: “Es liegt an uns was zu riskier’n”.
(Just as a note: after I had linked from this blog to ‘Erika’ and ‘Vor der Laterne’ some time ago, youtube suggested to me, over several days, all sort of neo-nazi and militaristic material. I am already looking forward to youtube’s suggestions based on my choice of Fidl Kunterbunt today!)
What’s hot
Never give up
What’s cold
Grief
The German word/phrase/verse of the day
Langer Atem
Hospi-Tales 
Hi Reinhard Today the CRC swim team came together to fundraise and swim for Paddy ( as we have always know him) . It was a lovely day where stories were told of how Paddy influenced us all with his practical jokes and his good humour. We laughed a lot. All of us are so happy that Paddy is making good progress and pray for a full recovery. Paddy is constantly in our thoughts. As you say in you blog, that Paddy is strong and we are in no doubt that he will recover. We read the blog and keep up to date with his treatment and progress.
We will be having another fundraising swim in Trinity Pool Donaghmede within the next few weeks. Patricia
Thank you very much, Patricia, for your message and for organising the swim with the CRC swim team! We need that laughter! And we need happiness so badly. Thank you for keeping him in your thoughts and prayers. If anyone can pull through this, it’s Paddy! With your help and that of all his friends, nothing is impossible.
the treatment in that hospital is really first class!! You too are first class!!! jajajaja.
Related to your “nazi” thing… Marta is making a transcript of my mothers diary written in sutterlin from 1936 till 1940 and making also a valoration of the historical situation of that moment. To make this properly we bought “Mein Kampf”. The Spanish book store who sold it to us, sent us also a lot of leaflets of neo-nazi merchandising… I always found Spansh neo-nazies lets say funny because I really thing most of us would have ended in the gas chamber as we are not Aryan…
Besos y abrazos
Hi Reinhard. I will send photos of some swimmers who took part. Paddy should recognise them. Patricia
Hi Patricia – I saw a text or message from you on my phone but then it disappeared! Would you mind sending me the link to the Facebook page again? Many thanks for all you are doing to support Paddy! – Reinhard
This SchönKlinik really is schön! The gear they have is just genius ingenious! Someone thought very fully and experientially about what is needed in early Neuro-Rehab wards, just for daily care of the patient, and came up with solution after solution for all these daily needs, like the mat for sliding the patient onto the (Viva la) Tekla with minimum discomfort and now this totally brilliant bath solution! Brilliant! And myriad more.. Schön indeed! Their concern is Care.Thank them for us! They contribute essentially to the miracle.
Seos
They do, Seoser2-one-and-only! Es ist fast zu schön, um wahr zu sein – but they do try really hard, and they have the means to support their work (mostly:). Pádraig is in a good place.
This link is to a program shown yesterday in our TV about a law ( ley de dependencia) for helping those people who are dependent and for people to care for them. The problem is that this law, created in Spain is being cut down before having been really operating. Reinhard and Hospi-tales readers perhaps it gives you an idea of what kind of law could you reclame for Ireland and also perhaps interesting you surely will find that some of the situations shown there are similar to those you had to endure ..It is a very good program and Jordi Evole the man who conduces it has already manage to change and move a lot of things in Spain
http://www.atresplayer.com/television/programas/salvados/temporada-8/capitulo-9-los-otros-olvidados_2014042500361.html
Many thanks, Ana! Will certainly have a look at this! – Reinhard