Main fundraiser photo

Matic Pirnat Rehab Support Fund

!!Disclaimer - I am doing this campaign through my friend Tom from Austria - It cannot be made from Slovenia!!
*Besedilo v slovenščini je pod angleškim zapisom*

Dear Friends and Football Fans!

I'm starting this campaign to help raise funds for my long recovery after a severe knee injury I sustained playing football. I've worked rigorously for the past seven months to get myself back on my feet, but unfortunately, the road to full recovery will be much longer. Any help will be greatly appreciated and will help me get 100 % healthy sooner. 

Back Story – love for football

I have been involved with football since I was 16 years old. I've played in Slovenia and Austria and transitioned to coaching when I was done actively playing. To be the best coach I could possibly be I visited the US and various football programs there four times in the past six years. Football is my passion. I love coaching it. I love playing it. I love watching it. It's a great tool to develop young men (and women). I know I would not be the same person I am today if it wasn't for football. I have been the head coach of a team Domžale Tigers for the past three years. We competed in Austrian Football League (second division). Due to the lack of players toward the end of the season, we felt it was the best for the team that I suit up and help the team on the field. 

The injury 

The injury happened on July 1st 2018 in Salzburg, Austria on our team's last game of the season just 34 seconds before the end of the game (we end up winning by 1 point!). Someone hit my left leg just as I had planted it and redirected. The hit dislocated my knee (bent it backward). I was taken with the ambulance to the ER where doctors immobilized my leg. I was sent back to Slovenia where I was hospitalized in the trauma center and had my surgery on July 5th. One of the doctors said he had not yet seen the knee so damaged and cut open during the surgery. 
I've injured almost every structure in my knee. Tore my ACL, LCL, partial PCL and MCL. Tore lateral meniscus off the bone, had cartilage damage, compression fracture of the medial femur condyle, tore biceps femoris tendon, tore the popliteal muscle (and some more things I can't translate well). I have as well severely damaged my peroneal nerve and what we later discovered I also injured my sciatic nerve. 

The photo of my knee about 2 weeks after the surgery:


The Rehab so far

I was in the hospital for two weeks and when I left I could only do 50 meters on crutches. I had to have a straight brace on for the first 3 months until the swelling went down enough and I could put some weight on my leg. I began with physical therapy shortly after I left the hospital. Since September my typical week consists of 5 days of therapy (MO & WED 6 hours, TUE & THU 1,5 hours, FRI 5 hours). On top of that, I do a lot of work on my own at home. First three months were extremely challenging for my family and my girlfriend because I needed assistance with almost every task I had to do (getting dressed, taking a shower, going to a PT ... etc.). I was finally able to leave my home without crutches for the first time a few days before Christmas (171 days after the injury)!
I made some progress every week and now (middle of January) the status of my leg is following: extension of the knee - full, flexion of the knee - about 110 degrees, I can put weight on it, but can not balance on injured leg alone, I still have complete drop foot (cannot lift my toes/foot at all) because of peroneal nerve damage, I have issues contracting a big part of hamstring due to sciatic nerve damage. I can walk without crutches for a maximum of 1 kilometer. 

Why I need your help

Although in Slovenia healthcare is considered to be free, I can not get enough therapies through it and have to go to the private therapist at least a couple of days a week. My injury was so significant that I do not want to leave any doubt in my mind that I did everything I could do get back from it 100 % and hopefully regain full functionality. My family and I have already spent more than 5500 € on recovery alone. I had to buy a new car as well because I needed an automatic transmission due to the drop foot. 
All of the money raised will go toward medical expenses and different therapies (hyperbaric chamber, cryotherapy, PT, movement therapy ... ). I will have to buy a dynamic brace for my drop foot while working to get the nerves firing again.
On top of spending all the money on rehab, I am still unable to work due to my condition, so I have a very limited income. 


Thank you for reading my story! If you can help in any way it will be much appreciated. I promise I will work as hard and as long as possible to regain full functionality in my leg!  


Much Love

Matic Pirnat


PS: If anyone had a similar injury or knows someone who had it, please, get in touch.

My Facebook profile: https://www.facebook.com/matic.pirnat68 
My Instagram profile: https://www.instagram.com/piko_68/ 
My mailing address: 
Matic Pirnat
P.P. 21
1225 Lukovica
Slovenia

The video shows the first few steps without crutches I was able to do about 3 months after the injury.


*** ORIGINAL SLOVENE TEXT ***

Dragi prijatelji in navijači ameriškega nogometa!

S to kampanjo začenjam, da bi zbral sredstva za rehabilitacijo po hudi poškodbi kolena, ki sem jo utrpel med igranjem ameriškega nogometa. Zadnjih sedem mesecev sem zelo trdo delal, da bi se postavil na noge, ampak na žalost bo pot do polne rehabiliacije še zelo dolga in težka. Zelo bom cenil kakršno koli pomoč, ki mi bo pomagala na moji poti.

Ljubezen do ameriškega nogometa

Z ameriškim nogometom sem se začel ukvarjati pri 16. letih. Igral sem ga v Sloveniji in v Avstriji. Po zaključeni igralski karieri sem postal trener. Večkrat sem tudi obiskal Združene države Amerike, ker sem se želel še bolj izobraziti v tej smeri. Ameriški nogomet je moja strast. Rad ga treniram. Rad ga igram. Rad ga gledam. Mislim, da ameriški nogomet veliko doprinese k vzgoji in razvoju mladih igralcev in igralk. Jaz ne bi bil enaka oseba, kot sem, če ameriški nogomet ne bi bil del mojega življenja. Zadnja tri leta sem bil glavni trener domžalskih Tigrov. Tekmovali smo v tretji avstrijski ligi. Ker nam je ob lanske sezone primanljkovalo igralskega kadra, sem ekipi najbolj pomagal s tem, da sem oblekel dres in se jim pridružil kot igralec na igrišču.

Poškodba

Poškodoval sem se 1. julija 2018 v Salzburgu. Na zadnji tekmi, 34 sekund pred koncem, se mi je eden od igralcev zaletel neposredno v koleno ravno, ko sem želel spremeniti smer in sem imel vso težo na nogi. Zaradi udarca se mi je koleno izpahnilo nazaj. Z rešilcem so me odpeljali do najbližje urgence, kjer so mi imobilizirali nogo. Nato pa sem se z avtobusom odpravil nazaj v Slovenijo. V Sloveniji so me takoj sprejeli na Travmatološki kliniki UKC Ljubljana, kjer sem imel 5. julija 2018 operacijo. Anasteziolog je dejal, da še ni videl tako hudo poškodovanega kolena in tako odprtega kolena med operacijo.
Poškodoval sem si skoraj vse strukture v kolenu. Popolnoma se je strgala sprednja križna vez in zunanja kolateralna vez, delno pa tudi zadnja križna in notranja kolateralna vez. Meniskus se je popolnoma odtrgal s kosti, poškodoval se je tudi hrustanec. Imel sem kompresijski zlom glavice stegnenice, strgali sta se tudi kita dolge glave dvoglave stegenske mišice in mišica popliteus. Poškodovanih je bilo še kar nekaj drugih struktur. Poleg tega pa se je močno poškodoval peronalni živec in, kot se je kasneje izkazalo, tudi ishiadični živec.

Rehabilitacija

Hospitaliziran sem bil dva tedna. Ko sem zapustil bolnišnico, sem bil zmožen narediti le 50 metrov. Prve tri mesece je bila noga v longeti popolnoma iztegnjena, dokler se ni oteklina dovolj zmanjšala in sem lahko malo obremenil nogo. S fizioterapijo sem pričel kmalu po prihodu domov. Od septembra 2018 naprej imam fizioterapijo petkrat tedensko (ponedeljek in sreda šest ur, torek in četrtek uro in pol, petek pet ur). Poleg tega naredim veliko vaj tudi doma. Prvi trije meseci po poškodbi so bili zelo zahtevni ne samo zame, ampak tudi za mojo družino in punco. Potreboval sem pomoč pri vseh vsakodnevnih opravilih (obleči se, stuširati se, iti na fizioterapijo …). Sčasoma se je stanje izboljševalo. Malo pred božičem (171 dni po poškodbi) sem končno lahko zapustil stanovanje brez bergel.

Moje trenutno stanje (sredina januarja):
- Koleno lahko popolnoma iztegnem. Pokrčim ga lahko približno 110°.  
- Nogo lahko obremenim, vendar na poškodovani nogi še vedno ne morem loviti ravnotežja. 
-Zaradi poškodbe peronalnega živca imam še vedno popolnoma padajče stopalo. (To pomeni, da ne morem dvigniti prstov in celega stopala. Prav tako stopala ne morem obrniti navzven, malo le navznoter.) 
- Zaradi poškodbe ishiadičnega živca imam probleme s krčenjem/aktivacijo večjega dela zadnje stegenske lože.
- Brez bergel lahko hodim največ en kilometer po ravnini.

Zakaj potrebujem vašo pomoč?

Kljub temu da naj bi bilo v Sloveniji zdravstvo brezplačno, preko javnega zdravstva ne dobim dovolj terapij in moram zato obiskovati zasebnega fizioterapevta vsaj nekajkrat tedensko. Moja poškodba je tako huda, da si ne želim dopustiti nobenega dvoma, da nisem naredil vsega, da bi popolnoma rehabilitiral koleno/nogo. Skupaj z družino smo za celotno okrevanje porabili že več kot 5500 €. Potreboval sem tudi drug avto z avtomatskim menjalnikom.
Ves zbran denar bom porabil izključno za stroške terapije (kisikova komora, fizioterapija, osebni trener, krioterapija). Prav tako moram kupiti dinamično opornico za padajoče stopalo, dokler se živci ne obnovijo.
Poleg tega da sem skoraj vse prihranke zapravil za rehabilitacijo, sem zelo omejen s prihodki, saj sem še vedno na bolniški odsotnosti in nezmožen za delo.



Hvala, da ste si vzeli čas in prebrali mojo zgodbo! Če lahko kakor koli pomagate, vam bom zelo hvaležen. Obljubim, da bom trdo in dolgo delal, da bo noga popolnoma ozdravela.


Z veliko ljubezni,

Matic Pirnat


PS: Če je kdorkoli doživel podobno poškodbo ali pozna koga, ki jo je, prosim, stopite v stik z mano.


Moj Facebook profil: https://www.facebook.com/matic.pirnat68 
Moj Instagram profil: https://www.instagram.com/piko_68/
Moj poštni naslov:
Matic Pirnat
P.P. 21
1225 Lukovica
Slovenija

Organizer

Tom Hohenwarter
Organizer
Kirchbach, K, Austria

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