The Hope
Can any of you imagine anything worse than seeing your own child confined to a bed in a serious medical condition? Is there a more terrifying nightmare for us, loving parents? When fate puts us in front of such an unimaginable situation and changes our life, and especially the life of our child, by 180 degrees from one day to the next, we will do anything to make a small miracle happen and to have, even the smallest hope, that our baby has a chance to recover or at least to live a normal everyday life. And if we are lucky enough to have our child in the care of a wonderful medical team at the long-term intensive care (DIOP) department at the Horovice hospital under the leadership of the headmistress Mahulena Exnerova, this hope suddenly becomes much more realistic contours. I would like to thank the entire DIOP team for the trust they have placed in me by allowing me to sensitively document the daily demanding, but extremely meaningful, work in their department. I also thank the parents from the bottom of my heart for their trust, which allowed me to look into their family privacy at the time when they are going through the most difficult moments of their lives. It is incredible to see with your own eyes how great fighters these parents, and especially their sick children, are. It would be difficult to find any other place in the world where such a pelmel of diverse feelings is mixed, so much sadness and at the same time so much love and boundless desire for hope.