The apartment door slowly opens. A small, dark-haired girl cautiously looks out and starts to scream. A shrill “Aaaah” echoes through the stairwell. “Pscht, Magdalena,” whispers her mother and takes the child by the hand. The three-year-old’s attention has already shifted to a doll. She climbs into her cot and snuggles up to the toys. In the next second she throws it against the wall. “You can’t take your eyes off my daughter,” says Ana Tita.

Lots of restrictions

Magdalena has microcephaly with trunk hypotonia. The genetic disease causes malformations and mental impairment. Eyes and ears as well as the brain and muscles are mainly affected. “She doesn’t walk straight, one foot is always in the air,” says the mother. When her daughter stood on her own two feet for the first time at the age of two and a half, that was a big milestone. She is also making progress in speaking. The girl can now express herself in simple sentences. Understanding is more difficult. Magdalena needs a hearing aid for this. Added to this is her poor eyesight, which is steadily increasing. She needs new glasses at regular intervals. “But she always tears it down.” The little one is constantly restless, especially when she falls asleep and when she eats, she puts a strain on her mother’s nerves.

The two live alone in a sparsely furnished apartment in Linz. A small sofa bed, a plastic Christmas tree and the cot fill the living room. The wall belongs to Magdalena. There she lets off steam in unobserved moments as an artist. Despite the modest living situation, Ana Tita feels comfortable in her four walls. Only a washing machine is missing. “Ours broke, I can’t afford a new one,” says the 33-year-old, who is on nursing leave.

full-time mom

She would like to work in a kitchen or do an apprenticeship in a hospital. But that is not yet compatible with Magdalena. “We have a lot of therapies and examinations,” says the single mother. Not all bills are covered by health insurance. “Sometimes I can’t sleep because I don’t know how to pay for it all.” She hardly gets any support from her daughter’s father. No help can be expected from her family either. “You don’t have anything yourself,” says Ana Tita.

It has become unusually quiet in the apartment. Little Magdalena had crept into the bedroom. Her mother jumps up and scoots over. “Oh no, what happened there?” The white cupboard and the white wall have been enriched by a few colorful doodles. “It’s good that I have strong nerves,” says Ana with a smile.

Source: Nachrichten