Former soccer player Marek Střeštík had his best sporting years while working in Hungary. At the same time, however, he and his wife Jana were going through hell after the birth of their disabled child. In the podcast prepared by the Bez frazí project in collaboration with Aktuálně.cz, Střeštík describes the difficulties associated with raising his son and also recalls the opportunity to represent Hungarians on the pitch.
Under-20 world runner-up Marek Střeštík had to combine football with difficult personal moments. | Video: no sentence
As Marek Střeštík himself tells in his story on the Bez frazí site, on January 16, 2013 he experienced the worst day of his life. His wife Jana gave birth to a son Tobík, with whom it was clear from the beginning that she was not well. But no one has been able to diagnose his problem for a long time.
Štřeštík and his wife fell into terrible uncertainty and began an endless cycle of visits to doctors and hospitals. “Those were extremely difficult times. Everyone told us it was terrible, but Janča and I had to handle it. We were there together every day,” says the former midfielder.
“I too have witnessed the fact that 85 to 90 percent of children leave their families in such a situation. It never even occurred to me,” continues Střeštík, who also came into contact with other children. and their mothers.
Son Tobík did not respond to the stimuli around him. Only over time did the parents discover if they could see and hear. They honestly rehabilitated the son so that he was capable of at least some basic movements.
It was only after six years that they reached a Motolo expert, who discovered the ATR-X syndrome in Tobík. He allegedly he was born as the second child in the republic with this rare disease.
“We traveled all over Central Europe before we found out,” says Střeštík. In Hungary they found suitable centers for further exercises to support his son’s condition, but also due to Streštík’s football career, the main burden of care remained on his wife’s shoulders. “She is an angel on earth,” says the footballer.
Tobík requires constant supervision from his parents, his gaze is absent most of the time and his brain cannot control his muscles properly. His tongue and some internal organs are not functioning properly.
“Maybe I wrote it somewhere, even if I don’t really believe in those things,” Střeštík reflects in the podcast. Since childhood he has not protected disabled children. On the contrary, he defended them, he felt a special energy from them. Therefore, he admits that when Tobík was about to be born, it is no coincidence that he was born in this family.
Last year he and his wife celebrated the birth of their second child Max, this time the birth was uncomplicated. “Now he and Tobík, who will be ten, are the best partners,” smiles Střeštík.
After the birth of his first child in 2013, he has been under constant pressure at home and on the pitch. At the same time, he was having a great football season and eventually won the Hungarian title with Györ.
“However, in the last match with Ferencváros, I broke my opponent’s leg, so the celebrations were not exactly ideal. I’m sorry,” he recalls. He received a six-month suspension for a serious foul.
At that time, there was also discussion in Hungary about the possibility of Streštík strengthening the Hungarian national team. The Komárno native has Hungarian origins on his mother’s side and one day went to visit Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
“We sat in the chancellery for three hours and talked about football. The prime minister knew a lot about it, but he heard a lot about it. He pleasantly surprised me. In one day I got a citizenship card and a passport, I loaned oath and I was Hungarian, “laughs Střeštík.
In 2007, he was there when the Czech under-20 team won a resounding silver medal at the World Cup in Argentina, and a year later he also played for the Czech adult national team.
That is why it was necessary to resolve the administration of the “transfer” to the Hungarians and, before anything could be done, the coach Attila Pintér, interested in Střeštík, left the team. “After he died. Later I thought maybe it would be strange to play for Hungary,” thinks 35-year-old Střeštík today.
He ended up in Györ in 2015, then went through four other Hungarian clubs. In the Czech championship he had already set the record in Brno, although he also counts the 2010 title with Sparta, for which he has played five games.
In the podcast, Střeštík also talks about how he passed smoothly to the manager after his playing career, or the completely different feelings he experienced in Brno under the guidance of coaches Petr Uličný and Karel Večeři.
