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Home    Profile    Picture Gallery    Results    Quotes    News    Other    Links 30 August 2001 Alex talks to Alexandra's father Alex, the Romanian contact who is helping with the donation, has talked to Alexandra Huci's father and her father was very happy that we are trying to help them. He told him that although Tiriac and others have donated money, it won't cover all their expenses of the funeral and they have a huge debt. So many people attended the funeral and the 40th Memorial Day for Alexandra will come up soon too and that will be another expensive day for them. They had to move from Roman to Ion Creanga due to financial difficulties. In Ion Cranga they live in their grandmother's house and don't have running water. They have to walk down to a public well to get water. In Moldova, the winters are very severe so you can imagine how terrible this must be for them. For further comments about the situation and to read about the ideas, like a gymnastics-statue for her grave, go to: Ideas     27 August 2001 Source: 'Gazeta Sporturilor' Alexandra Huci was taken to her restingplace by hundreds of friends. The commune of Ion Creanga isn't big but neither small. It has about 1000 houses and shelters about 2500 people. On Saturday, when Vasilica Alexandra Huci was buried, there were over 5000 people in Ion Creanga and traffic was stopped for 2 hours. At one end of the town in a courtyard with two houses, a table was put across the middle and over 1500 people stood inside the garden but also on the outside of the garden. A photo of Alexandra, taken during her floor routine, 'beamed' on a corner, next to the plates with Sarmale (force-meat rolls in cabbage or in vine leaves) and sponge cake that was donated for the soul of a little girl. The people from the village, each of them with a candle in their hand, gathered around at 7 in the morning. Too little time to know all of them in the two months since the family moved there from Roman because of financial difficulties. (Alexandra's mother works in a dress-factory, her father worked in a steel factory, he's unemployed now.) The care of the two other children (sister and brother) was financially so difficult that they had to sell their apartment. So, even though they didn't know the people well, they came simply because 'one of them' was very unlucky, their child had died and they came to show their support. Vasile, Alexandra's father was too numb to help. Alexandra's older sister Ana Maria, stood next to her mothers lap, trying in vain to take all the grief from her mother. Alexandra's mother isn't crying, she simply can't anymore. The relatives are taking care of everything together with Lucia Mustata, the trainer who discovered and launched Alexandra. The group of Priests came at 11.24, they spoke shortly and the line of people started moving at 11.41. Children carried 50 wreaths (all gymnasts from Onesti, Deva, Bacau and Roman) and walked in front of the funeral car. After more than an hour and a half, stopping at 13 different 'gates' (it's necessary to do that so that Alexandra will be accepted into Heaven and at every 'gate', there's a short service.) [In Romania, they stop at important points or crossroads in a village that were important to the person who died. Coins are thrown down too. They believe it's necessary to 'pay your way' to Heaven.] ,over a 1000 people arrived in the valley where the church and grave-yard is. Maria Olaru and Claudia Presecan, former champions, stood there saddened. The Priests held their speeches and other people spoke too, their words could be heard through the special loudspeakers that had been installed since the church doesn't hold more than 100 people. People were kneeling down everywhere, praying on their knees for almost 2 hours. Alexandra, dressed in white, will go to God because she was good. The commune of Ion Creanga and Roman will never be the same.     26 August 2001 Source: 'Monitorul' Hundreds of people accompanied Alexandra on her last journey The funeral of Alexandra Huci was held on Saturday, 25th of August at 11 o'clock. At the head of her coffin stood her colleagues from Deva but also from the 'Nadia Comaneci' school in Onesti. Wreaths were laid on behalf of the President of Romania, Ion Iliescu, the Prime-Minister Adrian Nastase, the County Neamt and Hunedoara, the national gymnastics team, one on behalf of Nadia Comaneci, Maria Olaru, Claudia Presecan, Simona Amanar and Mariana Tomireanu etc. A total of 50 wreaths. The ceremony was lead by a group of Priests. The church and it's courtyard proved to be too small for all the people that wanted to attend the funeral. Emil Creanga, the school inspector for Neamt said: "The death of little Alexandra has left a huge gap in Romanian gymnastics as we have lost a great talent." The director from the school of Deva, Ion Badoi said: "Being triple national champion made Alexandra a renowned name in the gymnastics school in Deva. We are heartbroken by what has happened to her, her death came as a thief in the night. Alexandra was a special human being, a talented gymnast. She had the quality to become a shining star of Romanian gymnastics. Alexandra had a quality with which she would have probably done well at world level." Vasile Hadireca said: "I carry the message from the Romanian Olympic Committee and from the President Ion Tiriac. I'm so very sorry that I had to come here in this village because of the death of a child, who's life has become today, unfortunately, a memory. We regret that Alexandra has been taken from us, she promised to become one of the great gymnasts of our country." The words of the Priest Neculai Todirici, had most of the people in tears. "Alexandra carries the name of an empress. For most Romanians, she was an empress of Romanian sports, a true hope for Romanian gymnastics. Alexandra left her parental home because she wanted to get to the 'front' of gymnastics, like a soldier. Alexandra started school in Deva and now she had come here to rest. It's sad that somebody has to die in the prime of her life, because life is given to mankind to live! Alexandra wanted to live and she wanted to fulfil the debt that she had on this earth. A flower has wilted on a Romanian field but it will shine in eternal life. The earth wanted payment and Alexandra has paid for it with her young life. She has come here to sleep eternally." The Huci family received a donation out of sympathy from a Romanian gymnastics fan from Japan saying how deeply saddened she was by hearing the news and telling the family how sorry she is that now she won't have the chance to get to know Alexandra. After the service, Alexandra was taken from the church and carried to her tomb in front of the church. Shattered from pain, Alexandra's mother fainted several times within 5 hours of the service, that's how long the service took.     24 August 2001 Source: 'Monitorul' Goodbye Alexandra! Hundreds of people from Roman filed passed the coffin of Alexandra Huci. Relatives, friends, colleagues and teachers have paid their respects. Children of Alexandra's age stand guard at the head of her coffin. Thursday morning, the body of little gymnast, triple national champion, has been laid in state at the Club of Children and Students in Roman, where she took her first steps in gymnastics. Her body was transported in a special car from Timisoara and was awaited by her former colleagues and people that she knew. Her fragile and angle like beauty that wasn't erased by what she had gone through. It seems that she is resting in heaven. Distraught, Alexandra's mother is just able to say: "This is an incurable pain that has broken my heart. There are no words to express how I feel. The place that Alexandra has in our heart can never be replaced by anyone else. Who could imagine that this would happen to us?" Inconsolable, yet overwhelmed at the homage given to her daughter by the government and local authorities. After she was laid in state at the Club of Children, Alexandra was watched over by hundreds of people from Roman, relatives, known-ones, colleagues from school and teachers who wanted to pay their last respect. A lot of former colleagues of Alexandra's parents, from Petrotub and Alpin, came to give their condolences to the family and to say goodbye to Alexandra and until late in the evening, thousands of people came to say goodbye to the little champion, who seemed to be a new Nadia. Alexandra Huci will be buried on Saturday morning, at the cemetery in Ion Creanga. She will be taken to her final resting place by her colleagues from the national team and by some of the trainers who were constantly by her side.     23 August 2001 Source: 'Gazeta Sporturilor' Malformation or head injury? The autopsy on Alexandra Huci, who died Monday morning of heart failure as a result of her brain haemorrhage, took place yesterday at the Legal Medicine Institute in Timisoara. Because it's been a high media case, everybody would like to know exactly how the tiny gymnast died. The coroners, however, managed to keep it all highly secretive. A terrible woman, who was too aggressive to do the work as a secretary, told Gazeta journalists that she couldn't even give them the names of the autopsy commision. She also said that we were creating too much commotion around this girl. What is it that the press isn't allowed to know? Mostly because the doctors wanted to know exactly whether her death was caused by an aneurysm or a contusion? The only doctor who was willing to talk, not confirmed by the coroners, is Antoniu Brînzeu, who's taken care of the little one since she was admitted to the county hospital in a coma. He said that there's talk of an aneurysm but not being able to talk about the results of the autopsy, seems a bit strange, if not dubious, and it leaves room for all kinds of speculations. Was the accident caused by a blow (to the head) or a congenital malformation? Alexandra's body has been taken home on Wednesday, to Ion Creanga, next to Roman. The funeral will take place on Saturday because her sister Ana Maria is in the middle of her exams. Maria Olaru and Claudia Presecan will be attending the funeral. Maria bought the clothes for her to be buried in. "I got goosepimples when I heard Alexandra's mother say to her in the hospital: 'Wake up! Maria is here. Didn't you want to be like her?' Source: 'Ziua' Alexandra died of a haemorrhage The director of the Medical Legal Institue in Timisoara, Milan Dressler, has confirmed that Alexandra has died of a haemorrhage. The results of the autopsy made it clear that her death was caused by the haemorrhage and not by a blow to the head. "The autopsy confirms the clinical diagnosis. There was no lesion to the head," declared dr. Milan Dressler. The newspaper also makes it clear that the malformation of which she suffered and which caused the vascular accident, could have never been treated. She has been suffering from an aneurysm since she was born, her blood vessel 'burst', causing the haemorrhage in her brain. The gymnast who trained at CSS Cetate Deva, was the junior champion in category III last year and she was one of Romania's most promising gymnasts. Source: 'Prosport' An Angel left 21 August, When Alexandra died at 11.15, her parents Maria and Vasile Huci couldn't seem to grasp what was going on around them. Also devasted was her trainer, Lili Cosma but also the gymnasts who stayed next to Alexandra until the last moment. Next to her tiny teammates at the bed-side were Simona Amanar, Maria Olaru and Claudia Presecan, all crying. 'What can be more horrible for a person than to have to bury their own child?' wonder the former champions. Sunday afternoon, the entire world was praying for her. A priest came to her bed-side and prayed along with her parents. However, around 6 in the evening, her condition worsened. her heart started to beat irregularly. Maria Huci, her mother, started to panic but didn' leave her bedside. The next day, during the morning, Alexandra's face started to change. "she was so pale and then I knew that the end was near," said Lili Cosma. Ana Maria, Alexandra's sister, was taking her Romanian exam at school in Deva, where she was a gymnast once too. She heard about her sister's death two hours after the exam. Before she heard the news, Ana Maria had taken a walk through Deva together with her colleagues who knew already but they didn't tell her. The director of the school, Ion Badoi says: "We will keep a permanent eye on her. We have to take care of her because she still has to take her math and geography exams. Her parents would have liked to bury Alexandra on Thursday, but if they don't delay the funeral, her sister won't be able to go." Maria and Vasile Huci have received $150 from CSS Deva but Ion Badoi also states that the school will try to collect some money so they can help the family with the transport and funeral costs. A lot of gymnasts in Deva come from Timisoara, their parents have also offered to help the Huci family. "I was there with her the evening when she came to Timisoara," said Anca Grigoras, the Federal trainer. Initially they thought that she had food poisoning because she vomitted. "She had eaten some cake that her mother had brought to her (her mother visited her the weekend before). Who thinks of a neurological disease with a child? I found her parents with the help of the police, they live in a village and don't have a phone," continues Grigoras. A Guardian Angel must have watched over Alexandra until her parents came. "It was terrible in the intensive care with so many very sick people from whom you couldn't tell if they were alive or not. Only Alexandra seemed a blond Angel." Source: 'Prosport' Goodbye Alexandra! 22 August, Romanian gymnastics is in mourning since Monday, when Alexandra Huci died. Her body will be taken home on Wednesday. "We will leave late so that we don't have to drive in the heat all the way home to Roman," said Alexandra's parents. Yesterday, around lunch time, they went to Deva together with Lili Cosma. "We had to spend a little time with Ana Maria." Ana Maria is in the middle of her exams and maybe Thursday evening or Friday morning, she will leave for Moldova. Her parents agreed to delay the funeral so that the entire family could attend. Thursday and Friday her body will be lied in state at the 'Casa Sindicatelor' in Roman. "We have lived there for 23 years and we have lots of friends and close ones there who would want to lay flowers," say her parents who moved to Ion Creanga about a month ago. The funeral will be on Saturday at 10 o 'clock. Former champion Simona Amanar stayed next to Alexandra for the last two days of her life. Touched by the tragedy, Simona has offered her support and said that she would like to help with the costs of Ana Maria's school education in Deva. "It would be a shame if she would be taken out of the environment that she is used to and I would like to help her." Simona has also bought the clothes for Alexandra's parents who came without black clothing. Ion Tiriac has also donated $700.     22 August 2001 Source: 'Prosport' In what did they invest their prize money? House in Timisoara Being in the top of the prize money awards of Romania after her return from Sydney, Simona Amanar was awarded for her two gold medals and her silver medal with almost 115.000 dollar. You can also add the 3 room apartment that she was promised as a gift by the mayor of Constanta, Radu Mazare. In stead, the youngster was offered a two room house by the municipality with a rent contract that will expire in 2004. As for the money, the gymnast has been very careful with her spending. She bought a two room flat and furniture for about 15.000 dollar in Timisoara where she's studying. "The rest of the money will stay in a bank account until I get married," she said. In the bank Also in the top is the 68.000 dollar earned by Maria Olaru, gold and silver medal winner in Sydney. "I thought to go into business but first I want to follow a management course," confessed Maria. At the same time it's also appealing to use some money to build a house. "I don't have a stable residence now so it doesn't really make sense to start any construction at the moment," she adds. Still, she uses some of her prizes she got after Sydney, like the Ford Ka she received. She got her drivers license in March, and for a while, when she only dared to drive shorter distances, she used to be a bit scared driving. "Now I can drive from Timisoara to Bucharest with ease. I don't have any problems with that now," she said. Unlike Maria Olaru, her colleagues whom are still in Deva and were also gold medallists in Sydney, Andreea Raducan, Andreea Isarescu and Loredana Boboc, haven't received their prize money yet. They are minors and will get their money when they become adults. (This is because lots of parents used to spend all their daughter's money which left them with nothing when they ended their gymnastics career). "We could get the interest from the money but up until now, I don't think that any of us has done that," said Isarescu.     20 August 2001 Source: 'Ziua' Alexandra has died today at 11.15 At the end of the article, there's way to support her family Gymnast Alexandra Huci, only 12 years old, and who was rushed into hospital on Wednesday, has died today. The doctors in Timisoara have done everything possible to save her life but their efforts failed. The malformation of which she suffered and which caused the vascular bleeding, couln't have been treated in any case. The little gymnast went into a state of being brain dead this morning and died at 11.15. "She died because of a haemorrhage which stopped all her vital functions. It's obligatory to do an autopsy which will take place very soon. Tomorrow she will be taken home," said doctor Dorel Sandesc, one of the doctors of the intensive care unit. Her parents, heartbroken, stayed at the hospital for 5 days, next to their daughter, and have refused to make a statement. Her father only went outside to sit on the stairs of the hospital and tried to calm down, supported by a colleague from work. Simona Amanar, together with a teammate of Alexandra, visited the hospital yesterday. Alexandra's trainer, Liliana Cosma, stayed at her bedside. She had accompanied Alexandra from Deva to Timisoara. Alexandra was certainly one of Romania's hopes in gymnastics and Belu and Bitang had an eye on her for the national senior team. A couple of days ago, Alexandra's mother had stated that "she never had any health problems up until now, there was no sign at all that she had some kind of malformation, she never felt sick." Everybody who came to the hospital was hoping for a miracle and the walls of her room were filled with icons. Sadly enough, the miracle didn't happen.     19 August 2001 Additional information Some people wondered where Alexandra was born and where she took her first steps in gymnastics so I posted two maps for anyone who's intrested and one of all the counties to give you an idea where Deva (county Hunedoara) is.          19 August 2001 Source: 'Prosport' Alexandra's parents refuse to accept that their daughter could die The only sound you hear in Alexandra's room is the sound of the life support machine. From time to time, doctors come in to see if there's even the slightest positive change in her condition. Every gesture of the doctors is being follwed with hope of those who are watching her. "I didn't sleep at all on Wednesday, it seems like I don't even feel the tiredness. I can't believe I'm watching her in this hospital bed. Last Saturday, we went to see her in Deva. We went to town, we ran, we went for a drive. Now, it's so difficult for me to see her like this, mostly because I know how much she wanted to become somebody. We can't do anything else than leave it all in God's hands," says Maria Huci with tears in her eyes. Trainer Liliana Cosma is trying to be strong. Her mobile phone rings continuously. Teammates and friends of Alexandra are enquiring constantly about her condition. "I can't explain what I'm going through. This girl was also my child. We, the trainers have the responsibility towards the parents for what happens here. At Easter, Alexandra came to my house. She was very talkative, she was a quiet girl so no trouble at all and she always told me when she needed anything. You could see on her face that she wanted to become a great gymnast. We were preparing for the competition of the Olympic Hopefuls in Constanta, which takes place on the 21st of September. What for?" cries the trainer. Her eyes go to the right were Alexandra is lying, it seems unreal. Her chest rises on the rythm of her breathing. 'Come on! Open your eyes!' The miracle doesn't happen but her parents do not want to give up hope. Alexandra was a very promising junior. In July 2000 she and her teammates Oana Rimescu, Lidia Rosca, Corina Bucureanu, Andreea Tinu and Roxana Becheanu won the national junior championships for teams in category III with a total of 190.619 and Alexandra won the individual competition (38.574) and in November she won the Alpen Adria Cup in her age group with 37.450 (second was Corina Bucurean with 36.850). (special thanks to Kate for sending me this information!)     18 August 2001 Source: 'Curierul National' Alexandra Huci needs a miracle Yesterday, doctors at the hospital in Timisoara have declared Alexandra 'brain dead' Yesterday morning, the medical team that are working on Alexandra's case, gave an update of her situation that was hard to accept, in the first place for her parents and relatives but also for everybody who's not emotionally involved: "She's brain dead and in a fourth degree coma. 48 hours after being hospitalized, her situation hasn't improved at all, on the contrary, her brain activity was interrupted in the last hours which means that she will never fully recover in a neurological point of view, her brain functions are heavily effected. Doctors have tried, in the course of Thursday, to remove blood from her brain by drainage. Unfortunately, it didn't help, the child was struggling between life and death in the intensive care unit under the watchful eye of the doctors and under the shocked gaze of her parents. Alexandra Huci was hospitalized on Wednesday evening in TImisoara when she was already in a third degree coma and was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm. It was caused by congenital malformation, diagnosed by the doctors after the brain scan. Yesterday, the life of the little girl depended on machine support. The medical team who take care of her are sceptical about a possible recovery. The head-nurse of the intensive care explains: "It's practically impossible that she will recover. She has been declared brain dead." The director of the Liceul in Deva, Ioan Badoi, where Alexandra goes to school, went to see her at the hospital and declared: "We are all very effected by this tragic accident. I asked the doctors today and yesterday if gymnastics could have influenced her situation. Their answer was simply no. On the brain scan they couldn't see any contusions or a haematoma from hitting her head. What the doctors Buzias, Sandescu and Ples ahve told me is that they inserted a drain to remove the blood from her brain in order to relieve the pressure. It's impossible to remove all the blood (caused by the bleeding). She's dependent on machines, we can't translport her to another hospital or abroad. They said that only a miracle from God can save her now." 18 August 2001 Source: 'Gazeta Sporturilor' Maria Olaru offers help Summary of Gazeta's article because most of the news is already known: Yesterday morning, Federal trainer Anca Grigoras, trainer Lili Cozma and Maria Micu from Clubul Scolar Deva and doctor Sanda Mocea, sat on the steps of the hospital in Timisoara and discussed the situation about Alexandra Huci. Lili Cozma's eyes are red through the lack of sleep. Anca Grigoras explained how she heard the news: "I was at a reunion of the European Union in Italy. I was just a couple of kilometres away from Romania when I heard the dreadful news. I travelled to Deva immediately and from there I went to Timisoara. All Wednesday night till Thursday I sat near her bedside. We took turns," she said, very effected by the tragic event. During their discussion, trainer from Timisoara, Maria Tomceanu and Marcel Benea arrived. Anca Grigoras declared: "It will be terrible when her parents arrive, we are waiting for them to get here. The girl comes from the area of Ion Creanga, close to Roman. Her parents left for Timisoara immediately after they got the news. They have phoned us, the poor people, from every city that they passed through." Alexandra's parents drove to Timisoara as fast as they could, nothing else mattered to them. Simple people, with major financial difficulties, Maria and Vasile Huci put their daughter into gymanstics so she could take part in sports. Her first steps in gymnastics were in Roman. Being a very talanted gymnast, she was selected for the Deva gymnastics school and got into the Olympic Centre quite quickly. When her mother arrived at the hospital, she fainted: "This can't be happening to my daughter! What is she doing here?" These heart-breaking words from a mother in despair, effected everybody around her. The nurse handed the parents white overalls and brought them to the hospital room where their daughter was lying. When her father came in, he started to shake. His strong hands, from all the hard labour, became very uncertain. Having difficulty containing herself, Maria Huci starts talking about Alexandra: "She loved gymnastics since she was little. She loved Nadia Comaneci. She wanted to become just like her. We are simple people. We don't have a lot of money. We wanted her to be a champion. When we had the opportunity to visit her in Deva, she was thrilled," she said. Suddenly, Alexandra's mother burst into tears and continued: "When they brought her here, I prayed for God to come with me." "Alexandra has a sister and two brothers. Her sister is two years older than Alexandra and was a gymnast in Deva too," says trainer Lili Cozma. Ion Tiriac phoned Deva and is very worried about Alexandra. He offered to transport her to a clinic in Germany. Even Maria Olaru is effected by what has happened. Being on a holiday in Turkey, she has made urgent phone calls to Romania, saying that Alexandra's parents could stay in her apartment in Timisoara. 18 August 2001 Source; 'Prosport' A prayer for Alexandra Yesterday morning, Alexandra Huci was operated on but her condition remains very critical. Her sister, Ana-Maria, stayed in a church in Deva all day. Wednesday night to Thursday must have been the longest night for the doctors of the Neurosurgical section of the hospital in Timisoara. They tried to save the life of gymnast Alexandra Huci (12 years old) from CSS Deva. Over night, Alexandra's situation got worse. Yesterday morning, she was operated on, in spite of the intial plans to examine her thoroughly at a private clinic in Timisoara. "With a third degree coma, the patient doesn't have any chance of living. I have made the decision to insert a ventricular drain because of the heavy haemorrhage. I have tried to relieve some of the pressure and to stop the bleeding but I haven't succeeded completely. The patient is in a more critical condition than yesterday and her chances of surviving are very small," said head-doctor Horia Ples. The girl, 12 years old and only 25 kilo, is being kept alive with the help of machines. Yesterday, her parents have been at her bedside all day. maria and Vasile Huci, who heard the news on Wednesday and came rushing to the hospital. "Our little girl was perfectly healthy. We never had any problems with her or with our other 3 children. She started gymnastics at the age of 6 and since then we hardly saw her. Look now where she has ended up! Who is responsible? I don't know who's responsible and I don't want to think about the fact that we might lose her. She came to Deva so many years ago, but nobody there has ever helped us," whispered her mother through her tears. Ana-Maria Huci, Alexandra's sister, is 14 years old. She gave up gymnstics but she wants to finish the 8th class in Deva because she started school there. She had been with her sister on Wednesday, until she left in the helicopter. Ana-Maria preferred to stay in Deva. "She went to church this morning to pray," said the girls from the boarding-school Liceul Sportiv. According to the doctors in Timisoara, the gymnast was born with a vascular malformation in her brain. They say that the examination excluded an aneurysm or a venous-artery malformation. After this morning's surgery, the medical team explained that "the patient suffered from a micro-malformation in her brain which produced the haemorrhage in the third ventricle. So, in other words, a capillary vessel in the middle of her brain 'burst'. It was impossible to see this on a brain scan." The doctor of the school in Deva, Vasile Vlase, said that Alexandra had been examined in May at the Centre of Sports Medicine, just like every other sporter who competes. Neither the trainers, nor the parents knew that she had some kind of problem. So, even though doctor Lucia Balanescu's opinion was that the tragedy had to be caused by hitting an obstacle during training, doctor Horia Ples, who operated on Alexandra, explained that this tragedy couldn't have been prevented. "If it wouldn't have ruptured now, it would have happened tomorrow or during any other day, even after being exposed to the sun. It has nothing to do with the training." He also said that the chances of recovering are very small but "maybe if a miracle happened, but she wouldn't be able to continue gymnastics neither would she be able to think normally every again, not to mention deficiency of movement which will remain after the accident. If she would survive, she would need 3 to 6 months to recuperate partially. Gymnasts Roxana Becheanu and Andreea Tinu are Alexandra's roommates. They say that she complained about headaches all week and on the morning of the accident, she asked them not to talk so loud. "We never thought she could have some kind of problem. She was doing light training and it didn't seem like she had any problems. She was doing jumps into the pit and she continued doing that but after a couple of minutes she felt sick." 15 August 11.30 - Alexandra felt sick during training after she did an easy jump into the pit; she was dizzy, she vomited and trainer Lili Cosma sent her to the doctor's office immediately. 11.40 - doctor Sanda Motea gives her the first treatment but the gymnast gets into a state of drowsiness and sleeps for 15 minutes. 11.55 - Alexandra wakes up but she starts to be delirious 12.05 - doctor Motea calls for the ambulance 12.10 - the ambulance assistant Elena Badau finds that the girl is already in a coma 12.20 - the ambulance arrives at the Paediatric hospital; on the way to the hospital, the girl receives heart massage 14.30 - after the girl was admitted at the Paediatric hospital, she was taken into intensive care of the County hospital. She's in a very critical condition 15.35 - establishing Alexandra's serious condition, the doctors decide to send her to Timisoara by helicopter 15.55 - the helicopter takes off from the cetate stadium to Timisoara 16.38 - the helicopter lands near the County hospital; alexandra is in a third degree coma 17.00 - the medical team of the neurosurgery, lead by doctor Horia Ples, begins the examination 18.30 - doctors conclude the examinations and say that the first diagnose is "the possibility of a malformation of a ruptured venous-artery causing the bleeding" 16 August 8.30 - Alexandra is being operated on because her situation has worsened 9.00 - doctors finish the operation but Alexandra remains in a coma of the third degree     17 August 2001 Source: 'Gazeta Sporturilor', 'Curierul National', Romanian TV Her life is hanging by a thread Yesterday was a regular training day in the gymnastics hall in Deva. The girls from Clubul Sportiv Scolar were already in the gym. After missing some elements, the gymnast Alexandra Huci, who's only 13, started to feel a little nauseous. However, she continued to train. While she was in the pit, the girl started to faint all of a sudden. After she recovered a little bit, she went to the doctor's office at 11.30, which is inside the school's courtyard and lead by doctor Sanda Motea. She complained to him that she felt like she had to throw up. Immediately, after examining her, the doctor gave her a suppository Lizadon. 15 minutes later,the girl went inot a state of drowsiness. Immediately she was transported to the Paediatric Hospital, and was examined thoroughly at the Deva hospital. the neurosurgeon specialist who looked after her, doctor Mahuleanu, decided that the little girl had to be transported to the hospital in Timisoara immediately because it's the only place nearby where they have the equipment to do a brain scan. During the helicopter flight, the machine which should have supplied her with oxygen, only worked for 10 minutes. Alexandra slipped into a first degree coma and then slipped into a second degree coma. Unfortunately the brain scan machine at the hospital in Timisoara was broken. At the moment, the girl is in a deep third degree coma, and according to the doctors who are watching her, her days are numbered. "As a matter of fact, the girl had a physical check-up in May. The only thing diagnosed was that she had a fracture in her hand. Gradually she resumed training. Everything went ok until yesterday's training," explained doctor Sanda Motea. Curierul National Alexandra Huci's chances of survival are minimal Alexandra Huci, the 12 year old gymnast, underwent surgery yesterday morning at the hospital in Timisoara after she slipped into a coma. The doctors tried to insert a drainage to reduce the brain haemorrhage. After the surgery, the gymnast of CSS Deva slipped into a deep fourth degree coma. The doctors who are treating her, say that there's a risk that she could be brain dead any minute and that her chances of surviving are minimal. By operating on her, the doctors hoped to improve the cranial circulation. The girl can't be operated on again because her situation is too critical. The doctors in Timisoara believe that this accident has nothing to do with her doing gymnastics because she suffered from a congenital malformation. Besides, you can't predict a stroke. Alexandra was recovering from a hand injury that she suffered two months ago. However, Dr. Lucia Balasescu, the paediatric that examined Alexandra when she was brought into the hospital, thinks that the girl must have hit an object when she fell. "When she arrived here, she was already in a coma. We drew blood for analysing and I asked that she would be seen by the neurosurgeon. At first I was confused because I didn't understand what exactly had happened to her. Afterwards, I heard from the school doctor, who talked to the girls teammates, that she had fallen during training. However, falling on a mat is nog significant for the state that the gymnast is in at the moment. She probably hit an obstacle during her fall," said the doctor. The trainer of the national team, Octavian Belu, stated that the president of the Romanian Olympic Committee, Ion Tiriac, has offered a plan to transport the gymnast to a clinic abroad but the state of the gymnast doesn't allow that. Adrian Stoica, the general secretary of the Federation, declared yesterday: "The girl was one of the best juniors at this moment. The trainers of the national team had an eye on her because, when she would have reached the age of a senior gymnast, she could join the national team. What happened is a major tragedy. Mariana Bitang said: "What happened to her has effected all of us. Alexandra is one of the best junior gymnasts. We had an eye on her for the national team." Alexandra Huci has a twin sister called Ana-Maria who is also a gymnast. The Romanian television showed an interview with one of Alexandra's teammates and she said that Alexandra had been complaining of severe headaches all week before the accident.     16 August 2001 Source: 'Prosport' Between life and death Gymnast Alexandra Huci from CSS Deva slipped into a coma after yesterday's training. The doctors are not very hopeful that she will survive. Yesterday, the morning training session in the hall of Liceul Sportiv in Deva, went without any problems. In a corner, Alexandra Huci was training alone in the 'padded pit' because the joint injury on one of her hands was not completely healed yet. After a while, the 12 year old girl went to trainer Lili Cosma to ask permission to go to the toilet. She returned after a couple of minutes telling her that she couldn't continue because she felt sick and had vomited. "I went to the doctor's office where she was seen to by the school's doctor, after which she was taken to hospital," says trainer Cosma. Alexandra was taken to the Paediatric Hospital in Deva where she was taken into intensive care. Doctor Sanda Motea says that the girl was conscience when she left the school: "It can be something inherited, you never know. She was conscience when I put her into the ambulance." This was contradicted by the ambulance assistant: "I arrived at 5 past 12 and the girl was already in a coma. I asked if she had fallen but she said she hadn't." Wanting to remain anonymous, the doctor on duty of the ATI declared that the gymnast was already in a coma but he refuses further comments. Three hours passed after the accident but her situation got worse. At 15.55, she was flown directly to Timisoara by helicopter, accompanied by doctor Motea. "The girl is in a very serious condition and she is waiting in the Neurosurgical section of the hospital for a brain scan. It was a pitty that we couldn't notify her parents. They live near Falticeni and don't have a phone," said the doctor from Deva, immediately after the landing. The helicopter arrived in Timisoara in 43 minutes. The doctors in Timisoara who are treating Alexandra, have examined her for almost 2 hours but came back from the laboratory disappointed. "She has an old congenital malformation about which nobody knew, it wasn't caused by trauma. She arrived here in a coma, but the first diagnoses is that we suspect that a venous-artery ruptured and caused the bleeding. It's certain that it's a blood vessel in her head but we can't see the cause of the haemorrhage," said the doctor on duty from the Neurosurgery, Dan Negoescu. Alexandra is being kept alive by the help of machines but her chances of waking up are very slim. "It affected all the girls, even though it's at CSS Deva and not at the Olympic team," said Mariana Bitang. She also declared that the girl couldn't have injured herself during training because she was just doing easy exercises being spared because she suffered of the fracture in her hand that happened two months ago. "Because she's still growing, they didn't force her rehabilitation so that we were certain it would heal completely. She is one of the best juniors. We also had an eye on her for the Olympic team," said Mariana Bitang about Alexandra, who's the national Romanian champion in category III. The director of the Public Health in Hunedoara, doctor Lucia Bulugeanu, states about the accident of the girl that "It's possible that she had a congenital malformation, an aneurysm, which tore due to cranial trauma like a fall or a blow to the head in this area. At the same time, there could also be talk about major physical effort which brings pressure to the brain and ruptured the 'bubble' in the blood vessel," she explained. She also said that one can live for years with an aneurysm if that area isn't exposed to physical shocks or elevated pressure on the blood vessels.     16 August 2001 Source: 'Cuvantul Liber Deva' Romania vs England, in the Olympic hall in Deva After last saturday's tri-meet against the teams of Bulgaria and France, the Romanian women's will compete against England on Saturday, 18 August. The competition will take place at the Olympic hall in Deva and Octavian Belu, Mariana Bitang and Adrian Barac will assess the performance and progress for the up and coming world championships of the following gymnasts: Andreea Raducan, Sabina Cojocar, Silvia Stroescu, Loredana Boboc, Andreea Ulmeanu, Carmen Ionescu and Alexandra Barac.     15 August 2001 Source: 'Prosport' An idle promise from the mayor The last two weeks, since she returned home to Constanta, Simona Amanar has been making phone calls and visiting the town hall trying to solve a problem that she doesn't understand. Radu Mazare, the mayor of Constanta, has promised her in public that he would give her a three room apartment, but the gymnast only got a two room flat of which the rent contract will end in 2004. The story began in the autumn, thousands of metres high up in the sky on her way back home from Sydney, when swimmer Camelia Potec nudged Simona and showed her an article in the Romanian paper that Mazare said that he would reward Olympic gold and silver medals won by the gymnast with an apartment. "I was really happy but I couldn't believe that this was true. Now, I can't understand why some people make promises when they don't have the intention to follow through," says Simona. It's been more than ten days since Simona is trying to solve what the rent contract, that has been signed in her name at the beginning of this summer, means. "I keep on going down to the town hall, I make phone calls but nobody can explain to me how I ended up with this apartment for which I have to pay rent for the next three years," confesses Simona. The confusion probably started at the Urban department who probably didn't know anything about the promise made by Radu Mazare," says the director of the County Youth and Sports Department, Elena Frîncu. Vice-mayor Aurel Butnaru insists that there is no way that the office he works for could just give houses away as a present. "Now we are trying to make some legal arrangements so that she could own the flat she lives in. We will resolve everything at the next council meeting, declared Butnaru. Asked why the town hall didn't find a legal solution before handing Simona the keys to the apartment that she has to rent, the vice-mayor concludes: "There has been some misunderstandings. I don't know where it has gone wrong. Simona has been trying to get hold of the mayor of Constanta for more than a week now but without any luck. At the beginning of this month, when she returned home, Simona received the contract but instead of the three room apartment that she was promised, she got a two room apartment with a three year rental contract in the central district. Together with Elena Frîncu, the gymnast went to the town hall to find out what had happened to the apartment that she was promised. "I sat in front of Radu mazare for two minutes. I didn't even get the chance to tell him what I wanted. Afterwards, I was sent to the vice-mayor who just shrugged his shoulders and told me that he was new here and had no idea what exactly happened to my apartment," said Simona. She remembers that, two days later, when she tried to see the mayor again, the secretary told her to come back a week later. Since then, it's impossible to get a definite answer. Radu Mazare was either in a meeting, or he had left the office. "At a certain moment, his secretary shouted at me: "What? Didn't you speak to him already?!" Yesterday morning, Simona got hold of the mayor for another two minutes. He told me that everything would be solved within two weeks. I'm not that disappointed about the house but at the way he made an idle promise. It was better if I just received a diploma or something similar. That would have been more honest."     14 August 2001 Source: 'French Federation' Results of the Tri-meet between Romania-Bulgaria-France in Deva on the 11th of August Team: 1. Romania 150.475 2. Bulgaria 137.725 3. France 136.275 All-around: 1. Sabina Cojocar 37.850 2. Silvia Stroescu 37.775 3. Loredana Boboc 37.300 4. Alexandra Barac 36.900 5. Andreea Ulmeanu 35.825 6. Clelia Coutzac (FRA) 35.475 7. Eugenia Kuznetsova (BUL) 35.350 8. Ralitza Rangelova (BUL) 34.700 9. Radostina Todorova (BUL) 33.650 10. Nelly Soupe (FRA) 32.900 11. Carmen Ionescu (didn't do vault) 27.600     12 August 2001 Source: 'FIG' and World Gym Drawing of the lots and some change of the Technical Regulations for the World Championships The drawing of the lots, which selects the starting order for Competition I and which serves as the qualification for the team, All-around and apparatus finals, was held in Denmark last week. Subdivision One (October 29): USA: vault RSA: uneven bars VEN: (bye) BRA: balance beam KOR: floor exercise NZL, DEN, PUR: (bye) Subdivision Two (October 29): GRE, UZB: vault BLR: uneven bars ESP: (bye) KGZ, SWE, LUX: balance beam TPE: floor exercise BEL: (bye) Subdivision Three (October 30): LAT: vault FIN: uneven bars HUN: (bye) ITA: balance beam GBR: floor exercise SRI, MAS: (bye) Subdivision Four (October 30): JPN: vault KAZ: uneven bars SLO, LTU: balance beam ARG: floor exercise CAN: (bye) Subdivision Five (October 30): GER: vault NED: uneven bars IND, LTU: balance beam CHI: floor exercise UKR: (bye) Subdivision Six (October 30): POL: vault MEX: uneven bars CZE: balance beam RUS: floor exercise SUI, CUB: (bye) Subdivision Seven (October 30): ISR: vault AUT: uneven bars ARM, TUN, YUG: balance beam FRA: floor exercise ROM: (bye) Subdivision Eight (October 30): CHN: vault SVK: uneven bars NOR: balance beam AUS: floor exercise For the first time at the world championships in Ghent!: Modifications of the provisions of the Technical Regulatins concerning the programme of the WC in Artistic Gymnastics. Competition I (qualifications) There will be no changes, format 6/5/4 (team composed of maximum 6 gymnasts, 5 performing an exercise at each apparatus, the 4 best scores count). Competition II (individual all-around competition) The 32 (before 36) best gymnasts of the competition I participate in the Competition II (maximum 3 per federation). They are split up into 2 froups of 16 gymnasts. The 16 gymnasts ranked from 17 to 32 begin the competition, then follow the gymnasts ranked 1 to 16. Competition III (apparatus finals) The 8 best gymnasts per apparatus of the Competition I participate in the apparatus finals. The starting order is drawn by lots. There will be no alternations one man - one woman but the 8 gymnasts per apparatus perform the exercise one after the other. Competition IV (team finals) The 8 (before 6) best teams of the Competition I take part in the finals. The format is 6/3/3/, which means that the team is composed of maximum 6 gymnasts, three of which perform an exercise at each apparatus and the three scores count. There are always two teams competing at the same time, which means the team ranked 1st and the one ranked 8th compete first, after that, the team ranked 2nd and the one ranked 7th etc. Then one proceeds to the 2nd rotation etc. Warming up If the conditions allow for it (nearness of the warming up halls), there will be no more warming up in the competition hall immediately before the competition. This regulation concerns the Competition III and IV.     11 August 2001 Source: 'Prosport' Flying above a field - Andreea Raducan has been filmed for a commercial. She's injured and won't compete for a while to not force her knee. A few days ago, the Romanian Gymnastics Federation has signed a contract with Kenwood, the Japanese electronics company. The agreement has been made for a period of two years and the Federation will receive 150.000 dollars. In the contract, signed by president Nicolae Vieru, it has been specified that from now on, during competitions, the gymnasts will wear the logo of Kenwood on their leotards. "They have already filmed a few commercials and we will probably see them on different posters or on TV," said Vieru. Once the contract was signed, an advertising company hired by the new sponsor, came to Deva on Wednesday to film a commercial. A part of the film features Andreea Raducan flying above a field of sunflowers. To achieve this, they needed a tractor. The gymnast had to get up on to the hood of the tractor where they had already put up a mat so that she was higher than the sunflowers, simulating that she was flying. It all took from 11 in the morning till 7 in the evening. After that, they filmed a short clip of all the girls in the training hall in Deva. The gymnasts trained by Octavian Belu and Mariana Bitang have a busy schedule ahead, leading to the World Championships in Ghent. (Belgium) Saturday and Sunday, a competition will take place in Deva between Romania, France and Bulgaria and at the beginning of September, a team of two female and two male gymnasts will leave for the Goodwill Games in Australia. Likely, Andreea Raducan, Sabina Cojocar, Marius Urzica and Marian Dragulescu will compete there. Raducan won't, however, compete this weekend. "We don't want to force her right knee but it's possible that she will perform on one apparatus. It's an old injury that seems to have reoccurred. An operation is out of the question now because the problem isn't that serious but knock on wood!," said Belu. Sorin Raducan, has applied to the Sports High School in Constanta. At the age of 15, he's mad about soccer. After begging his father until he gave in, Sorin will be in a mixed group of kids that want to become handball-, soccer-, or volleyball players. "On the first of September, I'll visit the school to see where I'm going to live and on the 15th I'll start school. I love soccer and my dream is to become a midfielder. I don't have any idols but I'd like to play for Steaua," revealed Sorin.     10 August 2001 Source: 'Gazeta Sporturilor' Simona Amanar reveals the story about her relationship with Cosmin Tabara When Simona Amanar was a member of the Romanian national gymnastics team, she was considered to be one of the most timid and shyest girls in Deva. She was never seen in the company of a man, not even towards the end of her career, so no one had a clue that she was living her own love story. Even trainer Octavian Belu has once said, laughing: "When I see Simi with a boy, I'll let the gymnasts beat me." Well, both miracles happened. In February this year, Belu was covered in whipped cream by his gymnasts in front of a hall filled with spectators and at the same time, Simona Amanar was blowing kisses to the stands where her secret boyfriend was sitting. The first photo It was a secret until today, when 'Gazeta' reveals the love story between the great gymnast and Cosmin Tabara, the son of the former parliament member Valeriu Tabara. After more than a year of silence, Simona Amanar appeared on a terrace in Constanta, holding Cosmin's hand, ready to pose for the photo-shoot for Gazeta's newspaper. "We have decided to talk about our relationship because in the end, there's nothing bad about it and we've got nothing to hide and at a certain moment, people would have found out anyway," explained Simona. Cosmin is sitting next to his girlfriend and they begin to tell their story, being interrupted every 5 minutes when a child comes up to Simona to ask for her autograph. They didn't see each other for 9 months In spite of the distance that seperates them, Simona being in Deva and Cosmin in Timisoara, they hadn't seen each other for 9 months! In July 2000, Cosmin Tabara plucked up the courage and went to Deva to take Simona out to town for a couple of hours on a Sunday. Until the Olympics, Cosmin had only visited Simona once before she left to Sydney. "I sent her ten messages on her mobile phone and I couldn't understand why she didn't answer me. I didn't know that she left her mobile phone at home," says Cosmin about the period that he couldn't get hold of his girlfriend and only saw her during the Olympic TV coverage. "Before she left, I didn't call her a lot because I wanted to leave her in peace, I didn't want to disturb her concentration for the Olympics," adds Tabara. After Simona returned from Sydney, Cosmin found himself worried again, not being able to get hold of her. "I didn't go to the airport because I wanted to keep clear of the press and when I couldn't get hold of her after a few days, I just thought that the success had gone to her head and that she had changed." "But he soon found out that this wasn't true at all, interrupts Simona, once I got my phone back. He found me at the 'Crowne Plaza Hotel' where I stayed with the rest of the team and I called him on Maria Olaru's mobile phone." They met at Milo's wedding On the 23rd of October in 1999, Lavinia Milosovici got married in Timisoara and invited all her former colleagues from Deva, among one of them being Simona, who just got back from Tianjin where she won the World title with the team. Lavinia's Godfather was the politician Valeriu Tabara, who brought his son Cosmin along and who was a big fan of sports and gymnastics. The two saw each other during the religious ceremoney and afterwards they got to know each other at the restaurant and it clicked immediately. They sat at the same table, they talked and danced all night and when they said goodbye, they exhanged phone numbers. "I knew Simona from TV, I read about her and I was up-to-date with her career because I like sports," said Cosmin, who played handball in school for more than two years. The two continued to phone each other and the long distance conversations got longer and more frequent. The Federation found out by mistake Simona says that from the moment that their relationship became a true relationship, they were almost inseparable. They continued, however, to be discrete so that nobody would know a thing until fate had other plans for them. One day, Cosmin lost his wallet, in which he had Simona's official papers too, and somebody found the wallet and sent it to the gymnastics Federation who discovered both of their papers together. Although they have known each other for some time, Cosmin only saw his girlfriend perform 'live' once. That was in February 2001, in Timisoara at the 'Stars of Gymnastics' show organised by Best Sports. Being a lawyer in Timisoara, Cosmin works in the city Bega and he wanted to keep his relationship with Simona a secret to avoid rumours. "It was during that tense political period and for sure they would have made comments referring to my father and we wanted to avoid that. Now my father is a professor again and works in his domain in which he's a specialist, agriculture, and I hope we will get some peace," says Cosmin. Left without her luggage Simona Amanar and her boyfriend both live in Timisoara where she's a student at the ANEFS, the University of Sports. Until now, for their anniversary, they didn't have the time to buy each other a lot of presents, he gave Simona a giant stuffed teddy bear and she bought him a bottle of cologne. They did have the chance to travel together, they went to Semenic, Virsad and the Liman's Valley. Here, it was obvious that Simona was head over heels in love because when they arrived, Simona noticed that she left all her luggage at home. "I stayed in the mountains for three days without having any of my things with me," laughs Simona. They are enjoying their holiday in Constanta together, relaxing and going out in the evening to meet friends on a terrace - "Neither one of us is a big fan of discos and bars" - or they stay at home watching a rented video. Although she has her driver's licence, Simona prefers to let her boyfriend do the driving. "Simo drives when we go carting or to the park, to the games with kids cars," laughs Cosmin, as Simona pinches him stealthy.     9 August 2001 Andreea adds difficulty Andreea has increased the difficulty of her beam and floor routine. On beam she added a split leap-ff on 1 arm-layout step out combination. On floor she opens her tumbling with a tshukuhara, 2nd. tumblingpass is a triple twist, 3rd tumblingpass is a 2½ twist into layout front and her last tumblingpass is a double piked somi. She also performs a beautiful triple pirouette in her routine.     2 August 2001 Source: 'Curierul National' Things have calmed down a bit in Deva Octavian Belu: "The only problem which isn't solved yet is that we still don't have a doctor." After the scandal in Deva, which was reported about extensively, the major problems at the national team have been solved. Marinela Jipa has been hired as the choreographer, administators have been brought to the Sport Complex in Deva and are occupied with making sure that everything goes smoothly and the most important thing that the trainers in Deva achieved was that the financial law has been adjusted and approved of by the government. Thus, trainers will receive 20% of the highest prize money won by the gymnast at world championships, European championships and the Olympic Games. The trainers at the regular clubs, who discover talented gymnasts, will receive 10% but the standard of earning for the sporters, who up until now couldn't exceed the 100.000 lei per person will be brought up to the standards of living of today. The only problem that hasn't been solved is the lack of a doctor. "It's very difficult to get a doctor here from Bucharest, mostly because he or she works at the hospital of a private clinic. However, Oana coming back to the team is out of the question," declared Belu yesterday.     1 August 2001 Source: 'Gazeta Sporturilor' Gina Gogean listened to the president of the IOC who talked about Andreea Raducan. For two weeks, the former gymnast Gina Gogean had the opportunity to relive the glory moments of former Olympians. The multiple champion was nominated by the Romanian Olympic Committee to attend an international camp in Greece, along with Laurentiu Bocioaca, professor of the ANEFS, the University of Sports. Each year, The International Olympic Academy, organizes a camp for young students from all over the world to offer them the opportunity to learn something about the history of the Olympics. 175 youngsters from different countries came to take part this year. "I was the only competitive sporter here. I was invited to talk to the people in Olympia, mostly students, about my experience as a gymnast," she explained. Besides visiting ancient museums and the 'stadium' where the first modern Olympics were held, Gina had a chance to talk to Juan Antoniio Samaranch, the former president of the IOC, and to the current leader Jacquess Rogge. Gina listened to a course about doping, where the case of Andreea Raducan was also talked about. Jaques Rogge:"I couldn't believe that a 16 year old girl would use doping. There was nothing I could do because these are the rules of the game. I had to punish her in some way. This is the first time in the history of the Olympic Games that a medal was taken away from a sporter but wasn't suspended."   Home  Next  Top of Page  Back to News  Back to Archive