Hospitalized from November 2008, the former international gymnastics referee, the founder of the gymnastic high school from Onesti, Maria Simionescu (82 years old) is living quietly and lonely her drama. Suffering from a partial paralysis, she is now struggling to regain the motion functions within the left part of her body, which has been the most affected.

Time flies always in the same way in one of the rooms from the Elias hospital in Bucharest: slowly, transforming the 24 hours of the day in an entire week. The schedule is always the same:  medical gymnastics, treatment and TV, the last one seemingly “blocked” on two programs:  news and Animal Planet. Sometimes the noise of the trams on the street and of the bells from the Casin monastery disturbs the silence in the room. Only the few, always the same visitors, come and bring with them memories from the past and worries of a new world. Maria Simionescu, also known in the gymnastics world as “Mrs. Mili”, enjoys, like a child, each of these moments and every visitor

She wants to walk again

Full of life and wishful to recover as soon as possible, she is fighting her illness with dignity. “It is hard, but I am going to continue fighting. I need to walk again; I cannot stand anymore to lay in bed. I really want to be able to use my feet, to get out, to breathe fresh air and to have a walk. There are so many things that I would like to do…” she confesses. The death of her husband, two years ago, was the shock that completely unbalanced her life. After that, she isolated herself and she attended less and less sports events. The last shock came at the end of last year. A cardiovascular accident partially immobilized her in bed, the former strict gymnastics teacher becoming now a docile student.

Helped by Mariana Bitang

Now she is fighting for every step, helped by the friends who haven’t forgotten her, but also by the hospital personnel, lead by prof. dr. Serban Marinescu and dr. Daniela Safta, who are the ones taking care of her. Among the ones who gave her a hand, the closest is probably the former coach Mariana Bitang. She visits her almost daily, using every moment of the visit for trying to motivate her to do a few steps and for helping her with her exercises:

“Let’s see how much progress you have made. Please move your legs.”

“I’ll move them, but please lift up my left knee and touch my sole to see the strength I am pushing with.”

“You see that you can do it? You can manage by yourself. I know you can. Don’t use your hand! We are going to do it 10 times, ok?”

“Ok, ok, but two of them with support. Anyway, I think you would have been as good assistent as you were a coach.”

Mrs. Mili laughs. She is holding Mariana’s hand strongly. There is a warm atmosphere in the room, matching perfectly with the weather outside. Two pigeons are resting on the balcony and, looking at them, Mrs. Mili says: “They are my neighbours, they visit me daily. I give them bread, seeds, what I can find. I got used to their presence.”  The medical gymnastics hour approaches, and so does the day when she will be able to walk again, without any help.

“She has struggled for years to help the Romanian gymnastics school. All performances and medals that have been obtained are due to her.” Mariana Bitang, counselor for sports to the Romanian presidency.

Source: Prosport

Also today, other two articles have appeared in Prosport, referring also to Mrs. Maria Simionescu.

“Mrs. Maria”, containing a few thoughts about her life

“She made lobby for Nadia”, describing her lobby actions for the grade 10 before Montreal and for Nadia during the Moscow Olympics in 1980, when Nadia waited for 28 minutes to receive a 9.850 for a perfect exercise. A few interesting photos with Mrs. Maria Simionescu can also be found in this article.