Pleased with the care

Broken knee: Bergfex doesn’t let it get him down

Ivankovits turned to the "Krone" to express his thanks to the team at DKH Schladming.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Sepp Pail, Paul Ivankovits)

Paul Ivankovits from Burgenland has been spending his summer vacation in the Enns Valley for decades. This year's stay ended with a shock: a slip broke the 75-year-old's kneecap. As painful as the incident was, Ivankovits is delighted with the hospital staff in Schladming.

One day before the end of his vacation, the Burgenland native paid a visit to the Eschachalm in the Schladminger Tauern. The tour came to an abrupt end: he slipped and landed with his knee on a stone. A centimeter-sized piece broke off the kneecap, he suffered a deep tear in the tissue above the joint, "the bursa was also damaged", as Ivankovits recounts.

"I thought I would have to jump out of the window"
The pain was correspondingly severe after the initial treatment in the emergency room at DKH Schladming: "I thought I would have to jump out of the window," the 75-year-old describes his agony in drastic terms. It lasted two days, but during this time he also grew fond of the hospital staff. Which is why he turned to the "Krone" to express his gratitude.

After five days in hospital, the man from Burgenland (left) was able to travel home to Zillingtal near Eisenstadt with his son and brother-in-law.(Bild: Ivankovits)

The staff were "extremely friendly and helpful" - "from reception to the cleaning staff". It didn't feel like a hospital, but "like a family".

Slowly learning to walk again - and back to the mountains next year
Incidentally, the painful experience has not dampened the mountain veteran's wanderlust: he wants to spend a few days in the region again next summer, as he has done for more than 40 years. "It's simply an area where we're always drawn to. I'll be sure to do something again next year!"