Ester was born with a rare congenital defect. (source: Fakultná nemocnica F. D. Roosevelta Banská Bystrica)
Every week The Slovak Spectator brings you a selection of three short stories from across Slovakia from which pessimism and negativity are absent.
Novel intervention helps save newborn from breathing, feeding difficulties
A team of specialists from the F. D. Roosevelt University Hospital in Banská Bystrica, central Slovakia, became the first in Slovakia to apply a special palatal plate to a newborn who suffered from a rare congenital defect that caused her to have severe problems breathing and receiving food.
“Children with Pierre Robin sequence suffer from breathing difficulties of varying degrees immediately after birth,” said Markéta Abelovská of the neonatology clinic, as quoted by the MY Bystrica regional newspaper. “Some require ventilation support, others can breathe freely only in the prone position. For some, signs of obstructed airways appear only during sleep and are often diagnosed only with a sleep lab.”
The treatment was provided in cooperation with the Neonatology and Neonatal Intensive Care Clinic of the University Hospital in Tübingen, Germany. Among other support, it printed the palatal plate using a 3D printer in its dental laboratory.
“A great advantage is that it’s a non-surgical procedure,” said Juraj Abelovský of the Maxillofacial Surgery Clinic, as quoted by MY Bystrica, adding that until now children suffering from this disease had to be transported to Tübingen.
The team has already applied two palatal plates, and is currently working on a third one for another newborn, the regional newspaper reported.
Young cycling star has a unique medal collection
Viktória Chladoňová during a time trial. (source: Soňa Niková/Slovenský zväz cyklistiky)
Young Slovak cyclist Viktória Chladoňová has recently achieved great success in various major cycling races.
The 17-year-old first won bronze at the UCI Cyclo-Cross World Championships, then gold at the MTB World Championship in the junior category, and finally silver in the women’s time trial at the Junior ITT World Championship, thus completing a unique collection. She won three medals in three different disciplines in 235 days, the Sportnet.sme.sk website reported. At the UCI Road World Championships, she also won bronze.
In addition, she placed third in the time trial at the European championship, won the national championship, and the international Respect Ladies Race held in Nová Baňa, central Slovakia.
As Chladoňová told Eurosport after the race, the silver medal came as a surprise to her, because she did not have much training.
“I didn’t have any expectations as strong girls from the UK and other countries who were missing at the European championship came,” Chladoňová said after the race, as quoted by Sportnet.sme.sk, adding she was ready to give it her best.
The dream of the young Slovak is to win one of the big races, such as Tour de France, Giro d’Italia or La Vuelta, and to become a world champion in the women’s category.
Harvest Moon over Spiš Castle is published by NASA
A Hazy Harvest Moon (source: Petr Horálek)
The world could admire the beautiful scenery of Slovakia again, after NASA decided to publish a picture made in Slovakia as its Astronomy Picture of the Day. Called 'A Hazy Harvest Moon', it was taken by Petr Horálek, freelance photographer and populariser of astronomy from the Institute of Physics in Opava, the Czech Republic.
The picture was taken on September 18, when the “Harvest” Moon partially passed through the Earth’s shadow.
“I decided to observe this small but clearly visible partial lunar eclipse close to UNESCO’s Spiš Castle in eastern Slovakia,” Horálek wrote about the picture, in a post on his own website. “In this romantic scene, during an approximately 2.5-hour long sequence, the Moon is moving in the sky while the eclipse progresses to the hazy foreground as, during the show, more fog appears.”
He admitted that it was very tricky to finish the sequence as the fog was becoming thicker. He had to move several times around the original exposure spot to make the sequence complete. In the end, he succeeded.
“Thank you for still believing in me,” Horálek wrote in a Facebook post after NASA picked his photo.
Five feel-good stories published by The Slovak Spectator to read:
Mirna Khaleel Majeed Ayshoa Yousif Kaka comes from Iraq, but now lives in Slovakia with her family, studying information management in Bratislava and, at the same time, working at the Mareena civic association.
Jörn Kaufhold fell in love with Slovakia's natural environment. : he runs courses, workshops and animal tracking events for those wanting to learn more about nature and wildlife.
Steve Ditko, a legendary American comic artist best known for being the co-creator of Spider-Man, was born into a family with Slovak roots. He reportedly used to make bobaľky, a traditional Slovak Christmas dish, for his nephews and nieces.
Zolná, now part of Zvolen in central Slovakia, played a crucial strategic role in resisting fascist forces during the Slovak National Uprising (SNP).
David Timis believes that brainstorming potential is one of the most underrated ways to use AI-powered chatbots.
Political meme of the week
(source: Zomri.online)
Caption: Bridges in disastrous condition, mouldy hospitals and increased VAT plus a transactions tax, they can relax. A notebook has overtaken all the problems of Slovakia.
This political meme, published by the satirical site Zomri, alludes to a recent incident in parliament, during which opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) MP Lucia Plaváková was ordered to leave the chamber because of the stickers on her laptop. Subsequently, far-right Slovak National Party (SNS) MP Rudolf Huliak, known for is claim that LGBTI+ people cause climate change, declared that an MP advocating abortion “deserves no other name than a bitch” if she does not respect the basic “questions of life given to humans by God” and added that he does not even consider her a woman. The opposition called the situation and the behaviour of the SNS unacceptable.
You can send me your tips on good news stories about Slovakia or funny memes at: radka.minarechova@spectator.sk. Thank you!
