As of: February 23, 2024, 8:00 a.m
Comments
Press
Split
A couple for twelve years, married for six of them: Johanna and Christoph Leydolph are fighting to regain their everyday family life after a serious accident.
© Florian Swoboda
It has been exactly a year since the Leydolph family from Aufkirch (Ostallgäu district) was struck by fate.
After a traffic accident, father Christoph fights his way back to life.
Kaltental – Probably very few people still know what they did on February 27, 2023.
Meanwhile, 27-year-old Johanna Leydolph from Aufkirch (Markt Kaltental) remembers it clearly.
For her and her small family, everyday life suddenly changes on that Monday when her husband Christoph has a serious traffic accident.
The fact that a year later he can sit at the dinner table again with his wife and two children is nothing short of a miracle.
It was minus 13 degrees on the night of February 26th to 27th, 2023. After the spring-like days before, fresh snow fell this weekend.
Also to the delight of Christoph, who built a snowman in the garden on Sunday.
This is one of his last memories.
On Monday morning Johanna wakes up shortly after 5 a.m.
The car headlights are already shining in the yard, her husband is clearing the car because he wants to drive to Buchloe.
From there we should take the train to Munich, where Christoph works as a prison guard.
Johanna is in the kitchen preparing a bottle for her daughter, who is only a few months old.
The father of the family briefly comes into the house again that morning (“forgot his wallet”), then he’s gone again.
The bottle isn't even completely empty when Johanna hears the siren outside.
“When I looked out the window, the whole sky was blue.
“I suddenly had a very bad feeling,” says the young mother, describing the moment.
A feeling that unfortunately wasn't wrong: Not even two kilometers away, a wild boar had run into her husband's car.
In combination with “road conditions from hell,” as Johanna later describes the lightning ice and snowdrifts, there was too much adversity.
Christoph Leydolph leaves the road, rolls over in the ditch and hits a concrete pipe.
Messages and calls unanswered
Meanwhile, his wife is experiencing anxious moments.
You can also read about it in her specially made diary, where Johanna has archived the chat history of the morning of the accident.
When speaking to our newspaper, she points to the many hearts and questions in the chat, but there are no answers to be seen.
Christoph neither responds to her messages nor to her countless calls.
It wasn't until an hour later when a police car drove into the yard that Johanna had clarity.
“He is currently still alive,” officials said.
The little word “Noch” pulls the rug out from under Johanna’s feet.
Help from the first moment
But from the first moment of horror, there was a lot of support: her whole family came to see her over the course of the morning, says the 27-year-old.
And: “The police officers did their job so incredibly well.” Johanna said gratefully that the officers took over phone calls for her, including the conversation with the Kaufbeuren hospital.
My news
Neuschwanstein trial: Who is the defendant really? read
“Pub service” with Bible and beer: Young pastor takes new paths
Surprise in the Neuschwanstein case: Defendant confesses to crimes - read action from “spontaneous excitement”.
At the beginning of 2024, the Bundeswehr is scheduled to move into the Generaloberst Beck barracks in Sonthofen
Is the compulsory internship coming for Bavaria's high school students?read
Now the bear is reading in Oberallgäu
The emergency room diagnosis for her husband is a long one: he suffers a severe traumatic brain injury and many other life-threatening internal injuries.
In retrospect, the temperatures below zero probably prevented Christoph from losing too much blood.
After he is stable enough after four hours, he is transferred to Murnau.
He lies there in an artificial coma for a month, Johanna is with him almost every day.
A couple for twelve years, married for six of them: Johanna and Christoph Leydolph are fighting to regain their everyday family life after a serious accident.
© Florian Swoboda
Today, when others tell her how strong she was during that time, her answer is pragmatic: “I had no choice.” Often she didn’t feel that strong, but maybe it was the small moments of progress, the hope and strength have given: For example, the tear that ran down Christoph's face when Johanna played him a voice memo from the children - or the first "I love you too" when Christoph learned to speak again.
“In the hospital they called me a ward miracle,” says Christoph.
“We all underestimated you,” a nurse later said to him.
In October he was finally allowed to go home again.
Christoph still spends hours at physio and speech therapy.
“The children are also the best occupational therapy,” says the father of the family.
Baking together, sledding or going to the cinema helps him.
Little by little, the young family fights back to everyday life.
But not everything is possible.
Because the family relies on both the stroller and the wheelchair, they urgently need a larger car.
And the Leydolphs are not left alone here either: at the carnival parade in Mauerstetten, for example, they benefited from the proceeds from the sale of bratwurst.
There is also currently a call for donations on the “GoFundMe” website.
The four of them's biggest wish: "Just go shopping as a family and go on a day trip - somewhere the children think it's nice."
“They can handle it”
After all these hard months, the Leydolphs believe in fate.
“We imagine that fate has a list of things that simply have to happen and that it chooses people who it believes can handle it.” And they showed that to everyone last year – including Christoph his fighting spirit, Johanna with her almost unbelievable confidence.