Cracked skull, coma, paralysis. The Brno coach did not give up, he runs a bistro and continues to dream of the first league

In December three years ago, Josef stopped by for a beer with a friend. On his way out, he remembered that he had left his wallet at the bar, but on the way back, he fell down the stairs and injured himself badly. Now a former friend and another man, apparently the owner of the business, pulled him out onto the street, where they left him lying, and called an ambulance saying that he had fallen outside. It was during the time of the coronavirus measures and the men were apparently afraid that they would be fined.

Now I know what real long distance running is

The successful soccer player, futsal representative and coach ended up in the hospital, he was in a coma for two weeks and in artificial sleep for a month. “I don’t really remember anything from that fall,” Josef tried in vain to extract memories of the fateful moment.

“He had two brain surgeries, part of his skull was removed, he was paralyzed on the left side of his body, he had an embolism, his body was failing. The doctor told me to say goodbye to him, but as long as he was breathing, I believed,” his wife Monika helped him with his memories.

Instead of plans to train in the first football league, he was suddenly faced with a much bigger challenge – learning to walk and move his hands again. Even after two and a half years since the injury, he is still rehabilitating and trying his best to be independent from the help of those around him.

“I set a goal that I’m going after. As an athlete, a representative, I had a hard time biting any losses and at one point I took my condition as a loss, I thought I could just do more. I thought that in a few months after the injury I would be playing for old men, and now I know what a real long-distance run is,” admitted Josef. “We realize that some things just won’t work anymore,” Monika knew.

While Josef’s coaching partner took over the management of the “A” team of Brno Zbrojovka a few days ago, Josef is currently giving instructions on the pitch “only” to the little boys in training. “Maybe it’s even more challenging than with adults. For example, the boys run to me to help them tie their shoelaces. But I still can’t do it. In any case, I want to move forward in coaching and I believe that it is realistic for me to reach the league,” he emphasized.

In addition to football, he and his wife started a vegan bistro and cafe Tranquilo in the center of Brno before the end of the year. He and Monika had previously worked at the same school and said they wanted to try out what it was like to be their own masters.

“We jumped into it. I’m a coffee lover, so I’m here as a barista and I normally deliver food around the set, my wife cooks. My mother, who has worked in gastronomy all her life, will soon join us. Her work in Vienna will end and she will strengthen our team on retirement,” laughed Josef.

Despite the immeasurable optimism and energy that exude from Josef and Monika, they themselves admit that they sometimes have gloomy days. “Of course, there are also difficult moments, and what I miss most is sports and friends, which I had a lot of until then. But I take it that at least they were sorted for me to the few real ones that remained. And, of course, my family helped me the most,” Josef winked affectionately at Monika, with whom he has two children. “We just had to deal with the fact that our lives were turned upside down,” tears appeared in Monica’s eyes.

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Men