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Doctor Raises Enough Money To Send Paralyzed Polish Patient Home

 Kwiatkowski, 59, worked as a carpenter before the accident.
Kwiatkowski, 59, worked as a carpenter before the accident.
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DNAinfo/Rosa Goldensohn

KIPS BAY — A paralyzed man will finally get his wish to return to his home country. 

Jan Kwiatkowski, 59, has spent six months at Bellevue Hospital after an accident rendered the Greenpoint laborer unable to move from the neck down. But thanks to an online crowdfunding campaign kicked off by Dr. Arthur Winer, a resident who cared for Kwiatkowski last year, the grandfather will fly back to Poland Friday.

"He's ecstatic," Winer said. "He can't wait to go home and see his family."

Kwiatkowski, who speaks only Polish, told DNAinfo in February that his hope was to go home to his daughter and her children in the town of Ostroleka. Paulina Pojawa, his daughter, said she wanted to take care of him there. 

“If he comes back here, I can get on the bus or just walk and see him every time he needs something,” she said.

Due to the severity of his condition, Kwiatkowski needed a flight that would accommodate a stretcher, and to bring along a doctor and nurse for the transport. Winer found a KLM flight that will accommodate a stretcher and costs $13,000. He and a Polish-speaking nurse will accompany Kwiatkowski on the trip.

Kwiatkowski and Winer developed a special bond last year despite their language barrier. Winer decided to take Kwiatkowski's hope into his hands, calculating the costs of flights and working out a facility that could care for him in Ostraleka.

He set a fundraising goal of $300,000, taking into account not only a special medical flight to Poland but all the costs of his ongoing care there. Thanks to over 500 donations, the fund has raised $50,000—enough, Winer said, for the flight, with $30,000 left over for ongoing care. 

When DNAinfo first published Kwiatkowski's story, Winer had raised just over $4,000 and was not overly optimistic about Kwiatkowski's chances of going home. But the hope of returning home kept Kwiatkowski going.

"It's been a really long road but I'm very happy we're able to do this," Winer said. "I wasn't sure it would happen."