Since his accident in 2001 Andrzej Szymanski, polish speedway racer, has been stuck to his wheelchair. Instead of looking for sport successes and living a normal life he’s cutting his expenses so his disability pension takes him as long as possible. At the end of our seasons, CANAL+ will fund an extra donation of 10k PLN (approximately 2200 EUR) to help Andrzej.

29th March 2001 - this day changed the life of Andrzej Szymanski on motor speedway in Rybnik, Poland. An accident he was involved in caused spine fracture, hip and shoulder fractures, brain edema and lung damage. Another unwanted outcome was spastic paralysis - condition that causes extreme muscle tension, the same condition that hit another famous speedracer - Tomasz Gollob. Since that day continuing the sport Andrzej loved was impossible and on top of that - daily life became much more difficult.

While sport insurance is a norm nowadays, at the beginning of the millenium it wasn’t that popular, even in a sport known for its danger. Many speedway racers who were injured later on, while we’re not underestimating the tragedy they’re involved in, had a safety net of insurance so they didn’t have to worry as such with any financial implications of getting back to health.

Unfortunately for Andrzej, his options are limited. Even his club’s authorities, despite their promises, let him down and provided hardly any support. At the moment he claims only disability pension and gets occasional support from loyal fans and supporters. But the cost of living is constantly eating a huge chunk of that income. On top of that there’s a cost of rehabilitation and medicines. Not much is left for normal living.

There’s still light in the tunnel - Andrzej believes he’ll be able to stand again. He’s determined to recover and dreams of living a normal-ish life and he’s working hard to get there.

We’ve decided to help out - at the end of the seasons DTM and GT3, CANAL+ will donate 10k PLN (around 2200 EUR) to Andrzej to bring him closer to fulfill his dreams. We hope that this donation will make his recovery faster. We wish him all the best, on behalf of ROS staff, Fantasy Expo, CANAL+ and of course our wonderful community.

You can also support Andrzej financially here: https://pomagam.pl/eeqy760z

This article is based on the interview taken by po-bandzie.com.pl portal: https://po-bandzie.com.pl/andrzej-szymanski-drugi-raz-tego-zycia-bym-nie-wybral/