One year after the arson attack in Vítkov, little Natálka is learning to walk

Little Natálka, the two-year-old who suffered serious burns during last year’s arson attack on her home in Vítkov, is learning to walk once again. Her mother, Anna Siváková, told the Czech Press Agency that for the time being the child cannot take a step unless someone holds her hand. The girl will soon attend rehabilitation to address problems with her right foot, on which she does not want to step. She then faces yet another operation, of which she has already undergone dozens. On 19 April it will have been exactly one year since the tragic events which changed the lives of so many people.

On 11 May those charged with causing the misfortune of this little girl and her parents, who were also injured in the blaze, will stand trial. Natálka’s parents will have to face their attackers. “I am not looking forward to it. I have no idea how I will respond once I see them,” Siváková says.

The arsonists, all right-wing extremists from Bruntál and Opava, threw three Molotov cocktails filled with gasoline through the windows of the house. Natálka, who was not yet two years old, suffered extensive second and third-degree burns over 80 % of her body. Her parents suffered lesser injuries.

The arson attack completely changed the family’s life. Even after Natálka came home after an eight-month hospital stay, nothing was the same. “We thought it would be better after she came home. We were wrong. That was just the beginning,” Siváková says. Little Natálka has undergone dozens of operations and is by now afraid of doctors. She screams desperately the minute she sees the hospital, but she will soon have to undergo another hospital stay. “We have to start rehabilitation in two weeks. Then they will operate on her hands. We will be in the hospital for a month. I don’t know how she will manage,” the young mother says.

David Vaculík, Jaromír Lukeš, Ivo Müller and Václav Cojocaru will stand trial under extraordinary security measures. They are charged with committing racially motivated attempted murder against multiple individuals, one of whom was a child. They could face life in prison. “For me it would be just if they received the harshest possible punishment. They have condemned us to a punishment that will last our entire lives. I think they should suffer as our family is suffering,” Siváková says.