Bethel - The boy who learned to walk in Bethel

Even the longest journey begins with the first step. Artem is now on his way, but it took a long time before he could set off. The 13-year-old boy from Ukraine has severe mental and physical disabilities. He cannot speak and spent his whole life in a wheelchair or lying in bed before he had to flee the war in his home country in March 2022. He came to Bethel with more than 100 other children and young people who were also disabled. Artem learnt to walk so well there that he now regularly goes for walks. Always at his side: volunteer Christian Götze and his rough-haired dachshund Oakley.

In Ukraine, Artem lived in an institution for seriously ill children and young people until the start of the war. His mother visits him occasionally in Bethel, but the Bielefeld Youth Welfare Office has taken over his guardianship. To protect the boy, this report is only possible in agreement with the youth welfare office on the condition that his face is not visible and his real name is not mentioned. Artem actually has a different name.

When Christian Götze takes the time to talk to us, he talks with a mixture of admiration and disbelief about the staff at the Bethel children's and youth hospice. They nursed Artem back to health for eight months. "He was in a wheelchair when he came to Bethel, he was weak and cramped," reports Christian Götze. Thanks to intensive care and a variety of therapies, Artem's condition improved and eventually he was even able to get out of his wheelchair and take his first steps. "It's amazing what the people at the hospice have achieved with him," says Christian Götze, "he has made huge progress. It's a miracle." Artem now lives at House Mamre and is attending school for the first time: the Mamre Patmos School.

Christian Götze is 54, the father of two children aged 22 and 17 and works in sales at a company specialising in equestrian fashion. He is involved in the Catholic parish in his home town of Enger in the district of Herford. "I need people around me like the air I breathe," he says, "and if I can make them smile, that's a gift for me. It's the same with Artem. When I'm with him, I'm happy." For him, Fridays are finally Artem's day again. In the more than 15 months he has been with Artem, Christian Götze has got to know and love his little friend. So much so that he can no longer imagine not supporting him. "I want to help him on his way into life," he says, "because Artem should also have the chance to see something of the world."

Text: Philipp Kreutzer | Picture + Video: Matthias Cremer