Heroes we helped thanks to the Advent Running 2025

When little Pavlík came into the world four years ago, his start in life was anything but easy. Complications during birth meant he had to spend his first days in intensive care. Since then, both his and his family’s lives have been filled with doctors, therapy sessions, and daily challenges.

Even as a baby, it was clear that Pavlík’s development wasn’t following the usual path. Although doctors initially reassured his parents that everything was fine, they felt deep down that something wasn’t right — and they sought help early. Over time, doctors diagnosed Pavlík with childhood autism, moderate intellectual disability, attention and behavioral disorders, as well as sensory processing and sleep disorders.

Despite all the challenges, Pavlík’s family has built their lives around helping him grow, learn, and find peace in the world around him. Their days are carefully planned to give him every possible opportunity to move forward — to be calmer, happier, and more connected.

Pavlík regularly takes part in occupational therapy, snoezelen therapy, hippotherapy, and other activities that help him progress. He also attends a special school, where he’s doing really well — but the tuition fees are a heavy financial burden for his family.

How did the Advenťák runners help Pavlík?

The Advenťák runners funded Pavlík’s occupational therapy and hippotherapy.

Viktorka is a cheerful seven-year-old girl who came into the world under difficult circumstances — she was born with oxygen deprivation, hypotonia, and a large diastasis. Despite this, she was discharged from the hospital as an apparently healthy newborn. Over time, however, her development began to lag behind. When she was two years old, she finally underwent neurological examinations and her first stay at a rehabilitation spa, where she learned how to walk.

Sadly, as time went on, Viktorka stopped speaking, playing, using her hands, and even eating on her own.

On October 27, 2023, her parents heard the diagnosis for the first time — Rett syndrome. It is a serious neurodevelopmental genetic disorder that causes regression in psychomotor development and comes with many additional complications.

Viktorka cannot eat or dress by herself, she wears diapers, and she struggles to walk — outdoors she always needs support or a stroller. She has severe problems with motor coordination and cannot use her hands, which means she cannot communicate in any way, not even through sign language or picture cards. Despite all these difficulties, her understanding of language and her social contact are gradually improving.

During her stay at the rehabilitation spa, Viktorka was introduced to a special communication program on a tablet that can be controlled with her eyes. She quickly understood how to use this assistive communication device, and her parents would very much like to get one for her. Unfortunately, this device is extremely expensive, and neither the health insurance company nor the local authority agreed to cover the cost.

How did the Advenťák runners help Viktorka?

purchased a Tobii Dynavox communication device for Viktorka.

Mia is a 2.5-year-old girl who has already experienced life in four different families and whose brain was damaged during birth due to oxygen deprivation.

This little fighter has severe psychomotor developmental delays and currently functions at the level of a child around nine months old. She receives her nutrition through a tube directly into her stomach via a special pump and often vomits because she has severe reflux. Mia wears glasses with a +6.5 prescription to help her see the world, which fascinates her.

Mia is a very curious little girl who, despite her significant challenges, has learned to sit and crawl, is learning the sounds of animals, and constantly practices her mouth and tongue so that one day she can taste real food prepared in her new family.

Since May, Mia has been living with her new foster mother, who cares for her and also for a 15-year-old girl with atypical autism. Her foster mother exercises with Mia and works to help her eventually walk and run like other children.

How did the Advenťák runners help Mia?

The Advenťák runners provided Mia with a specially adapted stroller and arranged an intensive neurorehabilitation program for her.

Tomášek was born eleven years ago, and right after birth, he wasn’t breathing. At first, none of the doctors knew what was wrong with him. It wasn’t until fourteen days later that one doctor thought he might have a very rare condition called Congenital Central Hypoventilation Syndrome (CCHS).

CCHS is a congenital disorder of the nervous system in which the brain cannot properly control breathing, especially during sleep. Most patients require mechanical ventilation to prevent suffocation and to be able to breathe.

Unfortunately, this diagnosis was confirmed very quickly in Tomášek’s case. At the beginning of his life, he was unable to breathe either during the night or during the day. Over time, this has improved, and if he isn’t sick or extremely tired, he can now breathe on his own during the day. However, he still needs mechanical ventilation at night.

In addition to CCHS, Tomášek also has severe intellectual disability and atypical autism as a result of a brain hemorrhage he suffered after birth.

How did the Advenťák runners help Tomášek?

The Advenťák Runners provided Tomáš with essential equipment: an oxygen concentrator and a suction device, and also arranged hippotherapy for him.

When Filípek was still in his mommy’s belly, he was a completely healthy baby. Unfortunately, complications occurred during his birth, and he was born showing no signs of life. The doctors managed to revive him, but the consequences of his difficult start in life are something he — and his whole family — carry to this day.

Today, Filípek is a ten-year-old boy diagnosed with perinatal encephalopathy, cerebral palsy, and epilepsy. He cannot walk, sit, or crawl and has a moderate intellectual disability. He relies on a wheelchair and requires 24-hour care.

Filípek loves trains, the metro, and all kinds of travel and trips.

Until recently, his dad carried him everywhere in a baby carrier, but Filípek has now outgrown it.

To make it possible for him to continue going on trips with his family — or even just spend time in the garden of their home in the countryside — he needs a special stroller.

How did the Advenťák runners help Filip?

The Advenťák Runners purchased a JOSI Wismi G2 special stroller for Filip.

Eliška is a young eighteen-year-old girl, a wonderful source of laughter and sunshine for everyone around her. Yet she is imprisoned in her own body. She was born as a long-awaited and miraculous child through IVF, initially completely healthy. In early childhood, she experienced difficulties with movement and proper turning, but these were successfully managed through rehabilitation.

Over time, she was diagnosed with cerebral palsy – spastic diparesis, later progressing to quadriparesis. She also developed scoliosis, breathing difficulties, and rapidly progressing deformities that caused her hands to twist. Eventually, Eliška completely lost the ability to speak.

Her condition affects the central motor neuron and is a complicated form of juvenile spastic hereditary paraplegia with a confirmed pathogenic variant in the ALS2 gene. She also suffers from a sleep disorder. Eliška is the only patient in the Czech Republic with this diagnosis. The course of her illness can be compared to the disease that affected scientist Stephen Hawking.

How did the Advenťák runners help Eliška?

The Advenťák runners provided Eliška with a rehabilitation stay.

Kuba is a ten-year-old boy who lives with a rare, very severe, incurable, and drug-resistant form of epilepsy – Dravet syndrome, often referred to as catastrophic epilepsy. He experienced his first epileptic seizure as a six-week-old baby. Despite taking a combination of four medications, he still has several seizures every day – ranging from absences and myoclonic seizures to large, multi-minute convulsive seizures with loss of consciousness and stopped breathing, which can be life-threatening.

Dravet syndrome also affects Kuba with intellectual disability, autism, ADHD, hyperactivity, and motor difficulties. Even at his age, he relies on a medical stroller. He has a weakened immune system, dysphagia, loss of appetite (he eats almost nothing and requires nutridrinks), and many other health complications. He must follow a strict daily routine – every seizure erases what he has previously learned. Seizures can be triggered by elevated body temperature (even a common cold is dangerous for him), fatigue, changes in environment, hot weather, and especially emotions – he must not become angry or overly excited.

Kuba has difficulty walking, speaks very little, cannot dress or feed himself without help, wears diapers, and requires full-time specialized care. Epileptic seizures can occur even at night. In addition, he has an extremely high risk of SUDEP – sudden unexplained death in epilepsy patients. For this reason, Kuba must be constantly monitored, especially at night, so that emergency intervention, administration of SOS medication to stop a seizure, or first aid and resuscitation can be performed promptly.

How did the Advenťák runners help Kuba?

The Advenťák runners provided Kuba with a nighttime epilepsy seizure monitor.

Martínek has been dependent on a wheelchair since a difficult birth and requires continuous, 24-hour care. He is very capable and cheerful, attends a special school, and enjoys learning new things.

Until the very last minute of pregnancy, he was a completely healthy baby. Unfortunately, that final minute changed everything. After birth, he was not breathing and had to be resuscitated by doctors. They succeeded, but he began breathing on his own only after nearly half an hour. He still lives with the consequences today – he requires round-the-clock care, uses a wheelchair, and is practically unable to do anything independently.

Martínek is now 14 years old, but his motor skills correspond approximately to the level of a six-month-old child. Despite this, he is a capable, intelligent, and always smiling boy.

How did the Advenťák runners help Martínek?

The Advenťák runners provided Martínek with a rehabilitation stay at a sanatorium in Klimkovice.

Nataniel is an eleven-year-old boy who is living with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a rare genetic condition. This disease causes the gradual weakening of all the muscles in the body, including those necessary for walking, breathing, and everyday activities. Since last year, Nataniel has unfortunately been unable to walk and is completely dependent on his mother’s continuous care, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The diagnosis came shortly before his parents’ wedding, and since then, the life of the entire family has changed fundamentally. Despite this, Nataniel is a smiling boy who loves space, cooking, and board games. Even with his illness, he takes part in running challenges from his wheelchair.

His mother, Michaela, who herself battled acute leukemia in childhood, now devotes all her strength to caring for her son. Despite her own difficult life journey, she also helps others – she adopted an unwanted beagle named Drago.

How did the Advenťák runners help Nataniel?

The Advenťák runners provided Nataniel with neurorehabilitation at the Astra Center.

Sašík was born as a healthy boy who thrived during the first six months of his life. However, after his first year, he experienced a seizure in the form of convulsions, preceded by high fevers, and was taken to the hospital by the emergency medical service. Since then, he has been experiencing epileptic seizures and undergoing numerous regular examinations, during which hypotonia and delayed psychomotor development were diagnosed.

Recently, Sašík was diagnosed with a genetic condition – spinocerebellar ataxia. He is the only patient in the Czech Republic with this condition. His parents are doing their best to support his development, even though the prognosis is not very promising. More about his journey can be found on the website sasik.cz.

How did the Advenťák runners help Sašík?

The Advenťák runners provided Sašík with a three-month rehabilitation program at the Hájek Center.