[ad_1]
Matthias Brunner learned to handle chess as an entrepreneur.
Matthias Brunner and Edith Locher Brunner have made fitness their job: after studying sports, they develop Aquagym programs and celebrate with them entrepreneurial successes. Then a viral illness changed his life. Edith Locher barely survived, her husband finds happiness in the little things today.
Interview: Mathias Morgenthaler
Mr. Brunner, you have been offering fitness classes in the water for 25 years. How did you become a pioneer of aquaforme?
MATTHIAS BRUNNER: My wife and I both studied sports. When the National Sports Federation – now Swiss Olympic – has looked for ways to get the least athletic moving, we have developed a concept for the swimming federation. Swimming has relatively high entry barriers because it is a technical sport. So we thought about how to get people to water more easily, and we developed our first water aerobics programs in the early 1990s. Soon we trained leaders who have launched such offers in their swimming clubs. The offers were booming, and later my wife and I started our own business in this niche.
What is fantastic about indoor gymnastics?
A great benefit of Aquafitness is that resistance can be regulated individually. , Circulation, coordination and agility are formed equally. Due to the buoyancy in the water, the weight and thus the risk of injury are considerably lower. Unfortunately, until now, only women have discovered it. Men usually only come to the aquaform when they can no longer play football or run because of back problems or joint problems.
Edith and your wife Edith describe themselves as lucky children, in good health and fit. Give some of the business a new life at an early stage, leaving room to travel together. That changed sharply at the end of 2016.
We returned with pleasure from a 3 months trip to South America on November 26, 2016. While waiting for our luggage at the airport, I suddenly started to shake. In a short time I had a high fever, I had chills. Then I had difficulty breathing, I went to the doctor and I found myself soon after in the intensive care unit, where I had to be artificially ventilated. My body went crazy because of a rare viral disease, but after a week, I was on the mountain thanks to the competent doctors of Bern Insel hospital and I was able to m & # 39; occupy the rehabilitation. On Christmas Eve, my wife became ill. With her, the course was much worse. It had to be intubated and connected to the heart-lung machine. When I was finally in the hospital with her, said a senior doctor, the life of my wife hanging by a wire. Then I realized: You can not do it alone, you have to get help.
Your wife was in danger of death for 10 days. How did you manage that?
I called my best friend on December 24, who was celebrating Christmas with his family. Half an hour later, he was in the hospital with us. Then we set up a support team so that every day someone is with Edith at the USI and I can recover a little bit. I was physically weak, but most of all, it was a big shock. We had never considered that any of us could die before the nineties – we were in good health and fit. In this difficult situation, the many discussions with doctors and pastors at Inselspital have helped a lot. I have the greatest respect for these people, who not only thought in terms of medical categories, but who supported me everywhere. It was hard to see my wife in a coma in the intensive care unit, swollen, full of tubes and blood. Without support, I could not have been strong at the moment and give him the best possible feelings.
Did your wife notice this?
I do not know, she has no memory of the first. 8 months after the illness. The first few days were dramatic, we knew that she could die at any time, one organ after another failed, the body so centralized the blood that she lost three toes on her foot right, and his left leg was amputated above the knee a. And yet, in this most difficult time, his will to live has shown. She has set aside so many setbacks. After a few days, when the heart beat a little harder, the pastor said to me, "If your wife did that, she will do everything." It was like a liberation for me.
A photo of carefree days: Matthias Brunner and Edith Locher on a walk
After six months, your wife was transferred to the paraplegic center of Nottwil, at the end of May, she was able to return home after 17 months, Does gratitude sometimes overwhelm you, which is no longer possible?
We are a couple since 1980, I am very attached to my wife and I am immensely grateful that she survived and her brain was unscathed. It took several months to talk again, but his mind was soon awake. Once, at the Inselspital, she wrote on a note: "Do not underestimate me!" Of course, most of our plans were thrown overboard, but we have a second life. I did not miss ski touring and traveling in the first place, but the common daily life. Now we can wake up together, clean the dishwasher – it's a great chance. For me, it is easier to accept the situation, I have eight months in advance in the treatment and I am doing well again. My wife is still very weak, after a few steps she is out of breath, her lung capacity is low because of the many scars. When you have to fight for air again and again, it is harder to stay positive. My most important mission now is to enable my wife to live as well as possible.
In their absence, they rebuilt the house and during those first few weeks they worked more as a nurse than as an entrepreneur. Is there not a danger that you neglect your own needs too much?
Yes, it must be installed after a few months; It is important that I have time for myself and for the company, otherwise I will not be a good support for Edith in the long run. But in the beginning, there was a lot to do. Of course, we are supported by government agencies, but disability insurance, for example, pays only what is so useful and useful, so no wheelchair accessible kitchen, no elevator to the under -Sol, no special tandem for common trips. Therefore, I recently designed Aquafitness training courses for instructors as a solidarity project. What we take beyond the cost price, it is directly in the quality of life of my wife. It's a good motivation for me to get up at half past five on Sunday and teach in Zurich, for example.
You are very positive. Where do you get this power?
I believe that the way we live, the one deals with fatalities. I've already seen the positive aspects in difficult situations in the past – as an entrepreneur, you learn not to be discouraged by mistakes and setbacks. Today, I focus on the creative space that remains with us and I am grateful for the things that were previously taken for granted. We knew in advance that friends are important, but in the last 18 months we would not have survived without the people who helped us talk about difficult things and treat them that way. If I can encourage others through our history, who also have to deal with chess, it gives me extra strength.
Contact and information: www.solidaqua.ch or [email protected]
You can leave a comment, or put a trackback on your site here.
«Overview
[ad_2]
Source link
